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POV Camera- Handlebar or helmet?

9K views 29 replies 14 participants last post by  PsyCro 
#1 ·
I am looking for video creators to engage and share experiences in a designated channel.
In my personal experience - the POV camera delivers better results when mounted on the helmet rather then the handle bar. Did you get the same results? Is there a way to improve footage on handlebar - because the angle is unique, but the video comes out shakey...
Thanks!
Avidan
 
#4 ·
I have the HD Hero (1080p)

What you need:

-A flat plate, aluminum would be lighter, but I had a piece of steel and used it.
-Velcro, or something to reduce any contact related noise and something that works to help hold the mount in place. ( I used heavy duty velcro).
-Zip-ties to secure it down.
-A flat GoPro mount to adhere to the piece of metal

Make sure the surface is very clean, use denatured alcohol or something similar to prepare the surface for the 3M tape.

Sorry, it is not a great shot, but it gives an idea of how it is made.



It has not come unsecured, nor does it show any sighs of doing so yet. The 3M tape is some strong stuff. (Make sure you let it sit at least overnight at room temperature to create the best bond. It is actually recommended 24 hours I believe.)

-Brett
 
#5 ·
acerz said:
I am looking for video creators to engage and share experiences in a designated channel.
In my personal experience - the POV camera delivers better results when mounted on the helmet rather then the handle bar. Did you get the same results? Is there a way to improve footage on handlebar - because the angle is unique, but the video comes out shakey...
Thanks!
Avidan
Neither, go with a chest mount imho I don't actually own a camera, but I love to watch videos. Chest mount is more immersive for the viewer because they see the rider's arms reacting to the trail and see the bike moving underneath the rider, plus the helmet mount is a just a bit too high to feel like a normal perspective. I know the footage can be shaky like Carraig042 said, but imho it's rarely too shaky and instead highlights the roughness of certain trails and what the rider is having to deal with. To me its just another reminder that this is real, off-road mountain biking, but I can certainly see how some wouldn't like that style and would prefer stable instead
 
#7 ·
I like the view from a chest mount the best, like Boomn said, it's more immersive. The other angles I like are more "artsy", like the underside of the downtube so you see the tire and front suspension action, or a chain/seat stay so you see the trail and the riders feet while they pedal.
 
#8 ·
While I also prefer the chest mount angle, the mounting is almost always shaky so it makes footage hard to watch after a while. Given the option between helmet and handlebar, I would go with helmet every time. Make sure you get whatever mount you decide on mounted down tight. Even on my helmet with a goggle strap mount, I will get some camera bounce if I don't have the strap secured tightly. I'm running a Contour GPS/1080 and currently using the Contour goggle strap mounts.
 
#9 ·
Helmet mount is too high, and for cams like GoPro HD, high mounting makes the trail features look all flat and lower than actual and makes the trail seem much easier in the video.
I use chest mount with my GoPro HD myself, but will be trying the seatpost/bar mount.
I took some videos of me snowboarding with head mount since chest mount won't show the view ahead, and it was smoother than ski video I took with chest mount, however.
 
#12 ·
I have a Vado HD cam. I have both a stem mount (purchased) and a helmet mount (home-made). I found that the helmet mount was much smoother and not as shaky. I recorded both my commute to work and a mountain bike trail (on a diff. bike). Got the same results where helmet was better.

I guess its because your body absorbs most of the impacts and the head sees the least of it. Either way.. helmet cam gave me much better results. I also like that the helmet cam gave me videos that made it seem like i was there "driving" (which i was.. but u get the point lol) The other mount just looked like i was going for a ride as a passenger. Altho the other mount is going to come in handy when i want to get a rear view by mounting to my seat tube.
 
#13 ·
zebrahum said:
While I also prefer the chest mount angle, the mounting is almost always shaky so it makes footage hard to watch after a while. Given the option between helmet and handlebar, I would go with helmet every time. Make sure you get whatever mount you decide on mounted down tight. Even on my helmet with a goggle strap mount, I will get some camera bounce if I don't have the strap secured tightly. I'm running a Contour GPS/1080 and currently using the Contour goggle strap mounts.
how secure does your chest mount hold to your body (not just camera to mount)?
 
#14 ·
boomn said:
how secure does your chest mount hold to your body (not just camera to mount)?
I didn't mean to imply that I personally have a chest mount, I do not have one as there is no easy chest solution for Contour cameras. In watching footage from chest cameras, it is very obvious that the webbing that makes up the wearable mount isn't good at stabilizing the camera. You can almost always see excessive camera shake and bouncing. I think if you were to put an additional elasticized strap on the mount, it might reduce the camera shake. I think it's a great camera angle, but the wearable technology hasn't caught up to the picture quality.
 
#18 ·
Itchy The Clown said:
No.

If the cam is mounted properly on the helmet it will mimic the field of view of the humans eye (sans the parallax/binocular perspective which accounts for the flattening).
Right, but those errors make everything look flat even when it's mounted from the same perspective as human eyes whereas a lower perspective, though technically not matching the normal field of view, flattens the trail less to a degree that it looks more real
 
#24 ·
boomn said:
I didn't mean it would capture everything, just that the lower you go the more you capture.
??

It's still POV and the trail will be just as flat. You're trying to capture a 3d world with a 2d capture device.

The only way to try to make the steepness meaningful is to not shoot POV and use off-bike camera angles.

Even then, it's very difficult to convey how steep the trail is.
 
#25 ·
Itchy The Clown said:
??

It's still POV and the trail will be just as flat. You're trying to capture a 3d world with a 2d capture device.

The only way to try to make the steepness meaningful is to not shoot POV and use off-bike camera angles.

Even then, it's very difficult to convey how steep the trail is.
I just realized you're only talking about flattening the slope of the trail anymore, whereas I was still talking about flattening the features of the trail like you had also mentioned at first.

I agree regarding the slope of the trail that a POV camera will never capture that, but I stand by my statements in relation to trail features
 
#26 ·
boomn said:
I just realized you're only talking about flattening the slope of the trail anymore, whereas I was still talking about flattening the features of the trail like you had also mentioned at first.

I agree regarding the slope of the trail that a POV camera will never capture that, but I stand by my statements in relation to trail features
They are one and the same (slope and trail features - flattening). 2d vs. 3d. Moving the POV camera doesn't help.

Just the facts...
 
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