(this post should probably be over in the geekblog?)
Yesterday’s road trip wasn’t just a jolly on the VFR down to London for the fun of it.
Oh no.
The purpose of the trip was to visit Action Cameras, to pick up a Drift Ghost HD.
And to have lunch with young Daniel.
Anyway, the Drift Ghost HD.
I have been in two minds about where to stick the camera (settle down at the back).
The two choices (for forward-facing cameras) are either fairing-mounted or helmet-mounted.
Fairing-mounted cameras offer a very stable, shake-free platform. And they give a great point-of-view (cornering, banking, swerving).
But on the negative side of fairing-mounting, you only get a fixed-view aspect. And only being able to see what the camera is pointing at could be a fail.
Helmet-mounted cameras can show you what the helmet-wearer is looking at. And that’s a big win. And also, it’s the whole point of mobile-mounted cameras.
On the negative side of helmet-mounted cameras, you can sometimes get a lot of distracting lateral movement.
Over the last few weeks I’ve spent a lot of time looking at footage filmed with both techniques.
I find I’m leaning towards helmet-mounted cameras.
The video work of motorcyclists such as Baron von Grumble, The Pickle, and Premises 187 have influenced my mounting views.
I’ve spent today looking at how I’m going to mount the Drift Ghost HD.
The camera comes with a range of mounts as standard.
There are two 3M adhesive-backed, mounts. One is curved and the other is flat.
The curved mount is a perfect fit for the top of my HJC helmet.
I’ve test-mounted the Drift Ghost HD to a point just behind where the visor opens to (I prefer the visor to be open, if it’s not pissing down, up to speeds of 70mph).
I’m using double-backed carpet tape as my test adhesive. Once I’ve applied the 3M adhesive, the mount becomes permanently fixed, and I need to make sure the camera is in the perfect position when I mount it.
I can adjust the left/right aspect, by swivelling the camera on its mounting pole, before I tighten it to prevent further movement.
And the camera lens is rotatable (in the photo above, the camera is actually mounted on its side).
But I need to get the view right, so that when I’m in position on the bike, the view is forward, not angled downwards (I’ve seen a couple of those – not by any of the three motorcyclists I’ve mentioned though!).
I’m going to muck about with the camera for a few days.
I’ll record some test footage, but probably not test footage on the bike – the double-backed carpet tape is very sticky, but it won’t stand up to a bike journey.
It’ll be interesting to see how it looks.