Not bad for a $200 camcorder strapped to a helmet. Full downloads are about 140mb. The biggest issue with the videos is the interlacing. When playing the high quality video on your computer you can see the interlacing lines.

On a TV the videos look fine.

Chocolate Gulch Video (click below to play) (right click here to download hi-res version)

Corral Creek Video (click below to play) (right click here to download hi-res version)

I put a headlamp on the right side as a weight.  The lamp is great because you can actually use it to illuminate the trail at night and it serves its purpose as a counterweight.  However, the videos are all slightly crooked.  The headlamp was not heavy enough to counter the camcorder.  I’m going to purchase a larger headlamp and try again next week.

This first video is a tight technical trail with many rocks on the first part and two switchbacks.  I wanted to see how the camera did when I went over rocks and small drops.

The next video is a smoother trail. This is just a video to get an idea of how good the video can be. I have to find a smooth and steeper downhill for the next runs.

Hopefully the camera won’t be tilted next time.

Here is the first part of this article: Helmet Cameras for Mountain Biking (Part 1)

I have been creating helmet cameras since 2001 and the one thing I’ve found is that you have to sacrifice picture quality for convenience.  There are two types of helmet cameras for mountain biking.

Lipstick Camera or Remote Lens

This type consists of a separate camera lense often shaped like lipstick which is attached to your helmet.  There are cables going from the camera lenses to a recording device in your backpack.  While this type of setup is often the lightest for the rider’s head, this setup is the heaviest and picture quality and convenience is sacrificed.

In addition to the lens on the helmet, the rider needs to carry a recording device, batteries for the camera, wires and sometimes a small microphone.  In order to begin the recording, the rider would have to hit record on the camcorder and then place it in his backpack, put the backpack on, and then ride off.

Camcorder on Your Head

The camcorder on your head has always provided the best quality picture of any helmet camera set up.  By placing the entire camcorder on your helmet, you are using the camcorder’s large lens and all the electronics behind it.  You get it’s auto-focusing ability, its large CMOS or CCD and most importantly it’s image stabilization function.  There are also no wires going from your helmet to your backpack.

The main disadvantage of this method is the weight of the entire camcorder is on your head.  In fact, the weight of 2X the camcorder will be on your head.  This is because you mount the camcorder on one side of the helmet and you will need to counter-balance it with an equal weight on the other side.

My Recommendation - Panasonic SDR-S10 - Camcorder on your head method

Last week, I believe that I have found the “perfect” mountain biking helmet camera.  It is the Panasonic SDR-S10 camcorder.  While it is not the best in any separate category, it’s has all the attributes needed to be a good helmet camera.

• Low price ($230-$270)
• Records on SD card
• Super light weight
• Horizontally mounted
• Decent image stabilization

There are many reviews of this camcorder itself on the net, Cnet.co.uk has a very good review.  However, this article is about using it as a helmet camera so I won’t go through basic camcorder functionality or usability.

This camcorder weighs under 0.5 lbs.  Add another 0.5 lb counter weight to the other side of your helmet and you’re set up only weighs in at 1 lb.  I have found that you get used to this extra pound of weight very quickly.

The fact that it records on an SD card instead of a mini-DV or hard drive means that it can take the shaking and vibrations during a ride without missing a frame.

Being a horizontally designed camcorder enables us to mount this to our helmet very easily.

The fact that we are using the actual camcorder lens means that we get the benefit of using its image stabilization during our filming.

The Mount

The first thing I had to do was fabricate a mounting bracket to attach the camcorder to my helmet.  I created a template from a piece of cardboard and through trial and error I came up with two mount points on the helmet.  To mount the camcorder onto the mounting bracket I decided to use the tripod hole at the bottom of the camcorder.

Once I had the cardboard template completed, I created my mounting bracket out of a thin sheet of aluminum.  I mounted the camcorder using a bolt on the bottom and my main portion of the helmet camera was complete.

Details

The mount point on the helmet will be different for everyone.  This is determined by the type of helmet you have and also by the angle of your head while you ride.  To mount the bracket to my helmet I used two screws.  I drilled two holes through my helmet and used a tee-nut on the inside of the helmet.  A tee-nut (shown on the image to the left) has 3 sharp prongs that bite into the helmet.

With the aluminum bracket the weight on the left side of my helmet was just over 0.6 lbs.  I had to counter weight it with 0.6 lbs on the other side.  In the past, I just zip tied some lead strips to my helmet.  But this time I decided to make that weight useful.  I attached a small pouch to the right side of my helmet so that I could fill it up with things that I needed to bring anyway.  A sunglass case works perfectly to carry things.  So what works in the case?  Anything that fits that isn’t a hazard when you fall.

Go to part 2 of helmet cameras for mountain biking

Here’s a better way to dry your reservoir.  Use a paper towel holder.

A simple standard countertop paper towel holder works perfectly for this purpose.  Just flip the reservoir upside down and slide it over the holder.  Works with any type of towel holder.

This is where the wireless door chime security system comes in.  These door chimes are designed to sound when a door opens.  Using a magnetic connection, the chime sounds when the connection is broken as a door is swung open.  These systems have a range of above 150 feet.

To set this system up all you need to do is place the two sensors on two different items in your car.  You can put the larger sensor on the ground and attach the other sensor to your bike.  Position the bike so that the two sensors are almost touching.  Back in your hotel room, plug in the door chime.  If your bike is moved, the sensor connection will break and the door chime in your room will sound.

If you cover up your bike with gear or blankets, position the sensors so that any blanket or gear movement will trip it.  The goal here is to get as much notice as possible.  Placing the sensors on a car door may be better, however you run the chance of the thieves opening the other door.

Now I have two trains of thought on this type of alarm.  Since this alarm is silent to the thieves, it gives you a chance to run down stairs, call the police and confront them.  The hope is that you’ll suprise them before they’ve gotten hold of your bike and they’ll just run away.

You can add a loud shrieking motion detector that’s battery operated into the mix.  The principles are the same here.  Position it so that it will move or fall at the slightly disturbance of your things.  Hopefully the loud wailing siren will scare the thieves away.

In either case, you’ll either wake up to a door chime alarm or wake up the next morning knowing your bike is still safe.

Hopefully it wasn’t because of your uncontrollable bladder.  Most times it was likely due to your Camelbak laying on top of your bite valve.  While you were resting it was slowly draining your precious water supply into the ground.

Camelbak came out with the Hydrolock a few years ago, but we felt that this little gadget was well worth mentioning again.  For those who haven’t purchased a new Camelbak or bladder system in while.  or if you have some other brand name bite valve, getting this little $6.00 baby will prevent you from watering the dirt when you need it most.

The system is not 100% foolproof.  You have to remember to close the valve up when you aren’t using it.  Replacing the bite valve and getting the Hydrolock should keep you water nice and safe.

And while you are upgrading your bite valve, you should probably buy the Camelbak bite valve cover.  Nothing’s worse than having a bite valve caked with dirt when you need a drink.