Cheap alternative to gopro finaly

bzhwindtalker

bzhwindtalker

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Lyon, France
Hello all, I have been researching a good waterproof sport cam, I had a kodak playsport, a Crocolis HD extreme cam, and lately a RD 32 II.
The latest one is 120$ from dealextreme or chinavision. The reviews from techmoan are pretty good :

[youtube]TKQSRQ7lfwM[/youtube]

The video bitrate is good (best of the 3 cams I tested) at 13mbs. It does 1080p at 30fps, 720p at 60fps. Recording is done on a micro sd. Changing the modes is very tricky, you need to connect the cam on an external monitor :oops:

Still, quality is very good for the price, see some vids I took with it in 720p :

[youtube]IrCjNLRw45E[/youtube]

Mauimart has one too :

[youtube]U-qhcfrPdk0[/youtube]


Overall it is a very good cam for the price, esepecially now that the new accesory kits are out, but i'm still trying to get hold of one of those :
http://www.redleaf.pl/zestaw_uchwytow_3.html
 
I had a cheaper alternative to a go pro once. In it's waterproof can, it looked like a great little cam. Worked good as a helmet cam.

Put it on the handlebars of the bike exactly one time, and vibration killed it. This is a different brand, and I don't even recall the brand of the crap one.

But look at some of my go pro vids, I've been shaking the crap out of those things for about two years now and they work great to this day. Just saying, you won't likely regret getting a real go pro.

Does this cam come with any good mounts? The go pro mounts have been pretty outsanding too.
 
This camera already took some serious abuse. RC planes crashes, and the camera fell 3 times on the ground while riding on the trails. This one seem to handle vibrations just fine. The problem is that you don't have the option to replace the case if you damage it...
 
That's really good to hear. I was sure dissapointed in the one I got. It was at Sams Club, and deeply discounted from msrp. Guess why? I found a 20 buck turnigy cam to be more durable. That cam though, I never quite knew if it was running or not. I was really happy to get a go pro, and have the little icons on a screen telling me what mode it was in.

But no doubt about it, the go pro is an expensive little sucker!!!
 
How well does this video camera do with "steady cam" suppressing & subduing vibration "shake" vs GoPro???

Can you borrow a GoPro to do side by side simultaneous video for comparison?
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-Meters-Underwater-Waterproof-Night-Sports-Helmet-Camera-HD-1080P-RD32-II-/221075623974?pt=US_Surveillance_Digital_Video_Recorders_Cards&hash=item3379225026

CVS used to have their "Disposable" $40 camcorder that you send to them and they make a 40 minute DVD of what you've recorded. It was popular to hack into them to change the software a bit and add plugs to charge it and transfer video, so people would use them on the nose of model rockets, etc. My understanding is that it held up great.

But then, that was an EXPENSIVE camera compared to these Turnigy units. $12.22??? I'm even looking at the "One time only offer" of $11.56. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__13987__Turnigy_30FPS_Ultra_Mini_DigiCam_without_memory_card_.html?gclid=CL79lNOm3LECFYIbQgodK2IAug

Pan tilt camera mount, $3.99? A transmitter and receiver in PAL (Peace At Last) is better than in NTSC (Never the same color) but you have to figure out about recording and playing on an American TV. I don't know that you guys can still handle NTSC.

Just an educated guess, but I could see this camera to meet or even beat the GoPro. $97.99, with a probable one time only offer not yet poppping up. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=25656

All that is the experimentor in me speaking. The Video Professional says stick with the GoPro for anything important. Check out this job I'm thinking I should apply for. http://www.spacex.com/careers.php?nl=1&jvi=oc6DWfwB,Job&jvs=Indeed&jvk=Job
 
The Problem with the RD32 is the Codec it uses on the video side its terrible,buggy and not supported by hardly any video editing programs meaning you have to convert the clips (if you can) to something suitable first (check the techmoan review of this camera on youtube) you can pick up a Gopro HD hero for or a Drift HD here in the UK for £150, the RD32 is nearly £100 when you factor in postage, the Gopro and the Drift are far superior cameras IMHO and they are not much more money. The video quality of the Gopro and the Drift is far superior and the Gopro is truly waterproof i.e. submersible.

I made this mistake years ago with cams, dont buy cheap you will just regret it.
 
I just got an RD32II this week and I've been playing around with it.

Knoxie you're half right about the codec. The avi files that this camera outputs already contain h.264 streams, so to use in ANY vid editor you just need to change the vid container, which you can do for free with ffmpeg. I use a script so it's just drag and drop - done. Takes as long as it takes your computer to write to your disk.

Mac
ffmpeg -i ~/Desktop/input.avi -vcodec copy ~/Desktop/output.mp4
Win
ffmpeg -i C:\input.avi -vcodec copy c:\output.mp4

I tried mounting the camera to my ebike but my ride is so rough there was to much jello effect to be usable.

So now I'm using the mounts that came with it and I've stuck it to the side of my motorbike helmet. It's much smoother this way.

I might add some vids to this post later if I get a chance to explain.

EDIT: My issue with the GoPro is that it was born at the top of the ugly tree then hit every branch on the way down, then when it was lying there on the floor it was hit repeatedly with the ugly stick, then the ugly tree fell on it. I don't think I've ever seen a piece of modern tech that is so fugly. They desperately need to redesign the case on those things.

Kudos
 
The video from them isnt bad to be honest its just the price is too high still for me esp when the Gopro and the Drift have come right down in price and there is a lot of competition in this market now, its also a huge growth market too, Gopro are by a very long way the leaders in this tech, you see those cameras everywhere, pro TV folks use them all the time, whilst they are by no means broadcast quality they are pretty decent, anyways in this age nothing has to be broadcast quality to get an airing on TV.

The cheap cam Market is improving, I recently picked up one of these

smartcam.jpg


It was 50 quid! delivered, did a few tests with it yesterday and I have to say the quality is very good indeed, it does full HD well the specs are below.

You could use this on your bike although it isnt as rugged as an RD32, but it does have a built in screen tilt and swivel and comes with all the mounting hardware.

http://smartcamdirect.com/smartcam_camera.html
 
Slightly confused with the specs there, the vid says 1080P test footage, yet the specs say the max resolution is SXGA which is 1280 x 1024 not 1080P.

Still, the vid looks OK though.

Agreed re GoPro. They have become the standard for in-car shots for TV etc. There's a good vid on youtube of a RC plane with a GoPro and a RD32ii attached and it shows the comparison, the GoPro is miles better of course.

Kudos
 
It does do 1080P although I havent tried that mode yet as my card isnt fast enough :? I need a class 6 or higher, funny though as I use that card on the Gopro at full res, the Gopro isnt quite as fussy and maybe more efficient video wise, for use in the car I dont need 1080P thogh as 1280 x 720 is fine, I am going to run this as a dash cam for fun mostly.

There are a view reviews of this cam on Youtube and techmoan does a review of the slightly older model, great service from the Ebay seller though and I think he has distro rights on them in the UK, so if you want a decent HD cheap dash cam this is a good choice as some of the cheaper ones are pretty bad as you can find out on the techmoan youtube channel.
 
What about the RD39? http://dx.com/p/rd39-waterproof-5-0mp-cmos-sport-wide-angle-dvr-camcorder-w-av-out-tf-mini-usb-black-silver-223967
IMHO a store selling me a gopro would cost me $200-300 depending on which model I select.
This one is $66 shipped and water resistant.
 
This one is 73 shipped and 170deg viewing angle and 12mp 1080p! http://dx.com/p/sj75-1-3-2-12-0mp-wide-angle-1080p-hd-sports-waterproof-camera-w-hdmi-tf-usb-av-out-grey-192405 sold out but I'm sure it will be back.
 
I thought people were using the key-chain cameras. 808 #16 $40.
 
We need an update from bzhwindtalker. If he uses one to make his great videos, then that's good enough for me at these prices. My GoPro is so big and bulky in comparison.
 
You guys need the new "Moebius" keychain style cam. I'ts not waterproof but has a brillant picture quality for 70$
here is a full review from a trusted source :
[youtube]7wmIyD1fM4M[/youtube]

The RD 32 II is great underwater, better than the gopro 2 but the 3 has it all. In low ligtht the rd32 II sucks :eek:
 
I played around with some cheaper cameras when flying RC. Most worked ok, or well enough to get moving pics. Then I got a gopro, and instantly saw the diffrence. The Gopro is a professional grade camera, with imaging good enough that it's used for Network TV. The cheaper cameras just aren't.

But by the time you load it up to youtube, it may not matter much. So if all you want is some fun footage of your ride that you can throw on youtube, you probably don't need a Gopro.
 
D-Man said:
I thought people were using the key-chain cameras. 808 #16 $40.
Click to expand...
These cameras are awesome. Even the SD ones work pretty well. Not terribly vibration resistant but I could get a fairly good recording from my quadcopter when it was appropriately mounted. Turns out it fell off said mount one day and was never recovered or replaced.
 
Forget #16, go with #26 for $11.

http://www.amazon.com/keychain-Looping-Driving-Recorder-SPCA6330A/dp/B00CTKLQN4/ref=pd_sbs_misc_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=08DBPCGCRBT0D8C3WJNS
 
Keep in mind 30fps looks like ass on anything fast paced: racing through the woods on an e-bike? Mobius only records at 60fps on the 720p setting. Mobius still looks brilliant though. I am getting one for a remote controlled airplane application.
From the research I have done, Mobius looks to be the best sports cam on the market right now for the money.
 
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