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They say buy cheap buy twice, well in this case that looks to be sound advice. I bought this camera off ebay for £36.69

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113248673676

It appealed because I liked how discreetly it could be fitted. I didn't like the idea of a big camera stuck to the side of my helmet, or sticking up from the handlebars, go pro style.

So I fitted it yesterday and this is how it looks

front

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j244/anth_85/FBCC67AF-CBC3-4971-AF94-FDC410D577AC_zps9lxk1h1n.jpeg

rear

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j244/anth_85/C95421A7-214D-44FC-9BB6-4869CF49B789_zps1x9kdb7h.jpeg


To be fair I did miss read the listing, i thought it was 1080p front rear, and it is only after going back to it that it is 1080p front and 480p rear.

But as you can see from this recording of my commute this morning the quality is woeful


that is the higher quality front, the rear is worse.


The files I pulled off were only 720p even though I checked it was set to 1080p so I don't know if it is actually capable of it. But even so at 720p you should be able to read vehicles registration plates, that's kind of the whole point.


So can anyone suggest a similar style camera that does front and rear but actually functions as a decent camera?


Edit, i'm fine with two separate cameras. Maybe two like this


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MOTOR-BIKE-MOTOR-CYCLE-ACTION-HELMET-SPORTS-CAMERA-CAM-FULL-HD-1080P/263729722826?epid=1541879425&hash=item3d678435ca:g:tp8AAOSwJota~z6R:rk:4:pf:0


My concern with them is keeping the power connector waterproof and the auto on/off on start/stop.

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Need to decide why you want a camera. If it's just to capture the idiots who knocks you off you don't need broadcast quality footage so cheap cameras are fine.

If you want to be the next BVG then get a ghost camera or whatever he uses these days.

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I'll admit I came on to here expecting to see a glowing review. However when it comes to things like cameras I'm not surprised - things like GoPro are expensive but generally speaking the quality (both build, output and how easy they are to use) is top notch.


Something on the bike like that fitting would work well for me, but not at that quality.


Re. number plates and incidents, if you were to report to the police (eg they hit you and drove off) the number plate would need to be clearly visible in the footage. At least, it's a very specific question when submitting any video footage to my local force.


Nag ebay for a refund for not as described!

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Yup that's pretty crap, you might want to look at something that does 60fps too if you want clarity


https://innovv.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6rXeBRD3ARIsAD9ni9C0PEKCbHFdxHwvVkohD96r-jZfM8IBQUKygaCjg-iHEcFK8dFmpJAaAuzREALw_wcB


Not cheap

 

Its only 1080p.. lot of money!


Easy enough to wire cheap cameras together if you can work a drill and soldering iron and achieve similar results for a fraction of the price.

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I'll admit I came on to here expecting to see a glowing review. However when it comes to things like cameras I'm not surprised - things like GoPro are expensive but generally speaking the quality (both build, output and how easy they are to use) is top notch.


Something on the bike like that fitting would work well for me, but not at that quality.


Re. number plates and incidents, if you were to report to the police (eg they hit you and drove off) the number plate would need to be clearly visible in the footage. At least, it's a very specific question when submitting any video footage to my local force.


Nag ebay for a refund for not as described!

 

I have sent the seller a message to give them a chance. I like how they look fitted, but the quality is just too poor to be usable. The only reason I put it on was in case of an accident. I had no intention of putting anything on youtube

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Not even YouTube though - you'll want a clear view of the number plate for the police/insurer if you need it.

 

yea i know, that's what i mean. You cant see the plates at all which makes it near pointless.

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had a read through but it doesnt look like a solution was found to the auto on/off and waterproof power?

 

I had an idea how to do it, but didnt get round to it. Started using a Mobius camera instead, but thats not waterproof without a case.

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had a read through but it doesnt look like a solution was found to the auto on/off and waterproof power?

 

I had an idea how to do it, but didnt get round to it. Started using a Mobius camera instead, but thats not waterproof without a case.

 

care to share your idea? I might progress it, I have a couple of lithium batteries that are smaller but the same voltage as that 18650 that's inside, which would free up some space.

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Would be sharper if you could get it focused. On some you can just turn the lens to focus them.

 

Agreed. and youtube says its 720p 60fps.

Op - Are you sure you have the camera setup right? they are normally 1080p@30fps or 720p@60fps. the youtube videos suggests its running 720@30fps.


'

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My mobius has started recording erratically, got back home the other day, the card should have had about 30 x 3 minute clips on it, but it had 5. I'll try a different card as the quality of the camera is second to none.


Bought one of the cylindrical ones to try, £22.50 on ebay :mrgreen: probably a fake.



Thoughts after reading the other thread.


Linear voltage regulators will get hot, having to drop 12v to 3.7 or 5v.

You can get shorter versions of the 18650 battery (18630?)

You can get 2.5mm jack plugs & sockets.

You can buy a power off delay module on ebay for about £4.50, just ordered one for my new tracker:


https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F163041659429

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My mobius has started recording erratically, got back home the other day, the card should have had about 30 x 3 minute clips on it, but it had 5. I'll try a different card as the quality of the camera is second to none.


Bought one of the cylindrical ones to try, £22.50 on ebay :mrgreen: probably a fake.



Thoughts after reading the other thread.


Linear voltage regulators will get hot, having to drop 12v to 3.7 or 5v.

You can get shorter versions of the 18650 battery (18630?)

You can get 2.5mm jack plugs & sockets.

You can buy a power off delay module on ebay for about £4.50, just ordered one for my new tracker:


https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F163041659429

It was a long time ago, but I think the problem I had was that it didn't auto power on when the power came on.

There were different firmware versions though so that might now have been solved.


The mobius cameras are great. I've had a few.

Here is my modified mobius helmet camera:


https://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=92&t=56759&p=886710&hilit=Mobius#p887164

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Would be sharper if you could get it focused. On some you can just turn the lens to focus them.

 

Agreed. and youtube says its 720p 60fps.

Op - Are you sure you have the camera setup right? they are normally 1080p@30fps or 720p@60fps. the youtube videos suggests its running 720@30fps.


'

 

yup, 100%. I checked the settings before leaving this morning, 1080p and as soon as I stopped I quickly turned off, got the seat off to get at it before it powered down. Went into settings as it still says 1080p. I've pulled the memory card out and the files at 1280x720p. Premiere pro is reading it at 720p 60fps. I might try setting it to 720p on my way home and see what that looks like!


at the moment I am leaving it on the bike until I get something better sorted. Something is better than nothing in the case of an accident and I doubt it'll be worth shipping back to China for the sake of £36

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Would be sharper if you could get it focused. On some you can just turn the lens to focus them.

 

Agreed. and youtube says its 720p 60fps.

Op - Are you sure you have the camera setup right? they are normally 1080p@30fps or 720p@60fps. the youtube videos suggests its running 720@30fps.


'

 

yup, 100%. I checked the settings before leaving this morning, 1080p and as soon as I stopped I quickly turned off, got the seat off to get at it before it powered down. Went into settings as it still says 1080p. I've pulled the memory card out and the files at 1280x720p. Premiere pro is reading it at 720p 60fps. I might try setting it to 720p on my way home and see what that looks like!


at the moment I am leaving it on the bike until I get something better sorted. Something is better than nothing in the case of an accident and I doubt it'll be worth shipping back to China for the sake of £36

Are you able to set the FPS separately to the resolve? Maybe if the FPS is set at 60 it ignores the resolve setting

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Are you able to set the FPS separately to the resolve? Maybe if the FPS is set at 60 it ignores the resolve setting

 

nope, not at least anyway i can see. I tried the 720p setting this morning and it's recorded 720p 60fps again. The seller has replied asking for a video of the issue so I am going to do that this afternoon.

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It is Chinese


China is a strange place where manufacturing is concerned. It is a communist state that allows manufacturing and profiteering. The manufacturing is around 20 years old and the management suffers from having no legacy managers and intellectuals they were persecuted and effectively left the country in the 1960s.


Consequently manufacturing is in the hands of managers with little capability and they make classic errors that western managers stopped making 100 years ago.


One of those errors is when profits don't reach expected levels they simply buy cheaper materials with little regard for suitability or they change the product and downgrade it mid production run without telling anyone.


These errors are generally avoided in the west because managers have had their fingers burned by doing it many years ago and modern managers understand what is reasonable and are generally highly trained to avoid such practices.


There is another consideration in the mix, a product that is manufactured 15,000 miles away is subject to costs of company profit, export costs shipping costs import costs end locale stockists costs and supplier costs.


A product costing this little is unlikely to have been manufactured for more than 8 or 9 pounds, the cost of a meal or a couple of pints in the pub.


The likelihood of it being up to the job is therefore low. Even in the west these extra costs are inexorable and unavoidable, a ford motor car costing 20,000 pounds will have been manufactured for no more than 6,000 pounds, the extra cost is the cost of delivery, stocking, and supply to the consumer.


The true value of a product then is around 25% of its retail value.


It was Benjamin Franklin who coined the phrase, don't buy cheap because you must set aside the same amount to buy again when the cheap product fails, buy expensive and it will last.


Chinese manufacturing is in a similar state of gestation as American industry was when he found the need to make that statement. I would buy western gear rather than Chinese. Having said that some Chinese products are good and they are getting better and some offer immense savings that make similar western products unpalatable.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi I am in the market of a Helmet cam too, did you manage to find one ?


I want one that works in the dark as I work 2-10 so need something that works well in low light, see footage of different cams but always in the day and hardly at night and don't want anything to expensive either.

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I've got two of these - one in the car and the other on the bike. Great VFM, lots of spare mounts, adhesive pads, waterproof case provided. Records at 60FPS/1080p, playback is good quality - I've used it twice when witnessing an accident and both times the insurers accepted it as evidence. I'd ignore the 4K reference, I've not got anything that will play back 4K to confirm, but I suspect it will be limited to regular HD given the price. Reasonably good quality in the dark too, doesn't get too affected by glare from lights but you have to be pretty close to clearly catch a licence plate at night. For the money, they've been a great bit of kit. I'd advise getting a couple of spare batteries and a charging dock as the record time is ~1 hour on a full charge, does me fine for commuting but longer than that it either needs externally powered (via usb) or the battery swapped out.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Campark-Underwater-Waterproof-170%C2%B0Wide-Camcorder/dp/B01DF2D30I?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_7

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I didn't know you could buy cameras that fit to the bike. I thought helmet cams were the only option. I would have thought bike mounted ones would suffer from vibration but your videos look fine, apart from the resolution, though even that looks good enough to get evidence if someone causes you to have an accident.

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