Helmet Video Camera

Iceman wrote:Too much information ;)

TVM

PDP

but shouldn't this all be on the general wibble thread as not much content about action cameras and/or skiing?

I've had a Contour 1080HD for some time and got good results on ski and cycle helmets. Using a goggle attachment seems to produce less vibration than on a helmet attachment. But the trouble with both is the difficulty of panning separately to the direction of view (try skiing or cycling while looking sideways ...). This year I did better by hand-holding the Contour for some shots, which allowed me to pan the camera while moving. It also significantly reduced vibration.

I also tried my Canon EoS 5D Mk.II with f2.8 wide-angle zoom in video mode, held in one hand. Of course, the picture quality was much better, but at 2.5 Kg it was hard to hold for very long and I was nervous about falling over onto it. It really needs something like one of those 'C'-shaped brackets that hold the camera under the handgrip (CamCaddie in the USA) I'll give this a go next season.

Examples:

(As described below) Canon iXus held in one hand and poles in the other (as is obvious once I hit the sunshine).
+ Easy to pan
- Unexpectedly hard work balancing (see end).



Contour 1080HD, Hand-held
+ Easy to pan.
+ Less vibration than on goggle/helmet mount.



Canon EoS 5D Mk.II, 22 megapixels, hand held
+ Image quality
- Weight

I hate myself for disagreeing with Admin, but for many skiers, a chest held cam might give a a great view of their ski tips. Or worse, their boots! But I do take the point about safety.

I looked at a lot of helmet camera videos, but took the view that the output tended not to follow the line. Hence I elected to hold a normal digital camera in my left hand, and two sticks in my right. I felt that I had sufficient control to hold the camera steady, and focus on the line of the run. For both of the following runs, I thought a lot about the safety aspect, and in each case figured out a back up plan.

It should be noted that these are runs I know very well, and I realise this is different from videoing the odd holiday run.

So, at between 85 and 95 kph:


And, at about 65/70 kph: