raria

Normally, I never take pictures. But I'm thinking I may as well record the events before I get more senile ...

Using my cell phone produces quite good pictures, but its a hassle to take it out of my jersey, unlock it and then take a photo. It involves me stopping way too much.

I was leaning towards a head mounted camera which you can just press a button and hopefully the picture will be good enough quality.

Any comments if my approach of a head mounted camera is the best? How do you take photos? Any suggestions for good head mounted cameras for snapping lots of photos.

Abu Mahendra

One of the fundamental components of photography is framing. This is achieved by looking through the viewfinder or view screen, but this is impossible if the camera is perched on your helmet. Framing before the fact, and camera on helmet don't mix. What you need is a camera that lets you frame after the fact. Some 360º cameras allow you to do just that. Shoot now, frame later in post-processing.

​​Seek out a 360º camera that converts to normal, 'flat' images in post-processing

tspoon

On some recent trips I used an action camera with a handlebar bracket, set to take a picture at a predetermined interval. There were a few good photos, mixed in with a lot of forgettable ones. One day I actually mounted the camera to the helmet, it then records what you were looking at, which is not always the road, which makes it slightly more interesting. I liked the aspect of suddenly coming upon an interesting perspective when looking through them once I got home. I also like setting them to be a rotating randomised computer wallpaper, where I could try to guess exactly where I was in that photo, quite a while later. In the end though, I abandoned that strategy in favour of stopping and, as mentioned above, putting a little effort into framing the photograph. In some ways this involves staying mindful while moving, constantly looking for a beautiful or noteworthy perspective. I actually really like the change in mental outlook this can help create.
For my next trip I am thinking of using my phone camera on a handlebar bracket to perform time lapse photos, but also take a separate camera and stop for a few pics also.

Machka 

I carry a small point-and-shoot, and stop when I want to take a photo.

indyfabz

Choose your subjects wisely and you won' have to stop so much.

waddo

You only live once. Get an action cam with stabilisation and some kind of video camera or phone for other stuff. Learn how to edit it, Your memories will fade, but digital video will not.

Here are some of my permanent memories.

https://www.youtube.com/user/waddo

KraneXL

A voice activated gopro or similar. Just don't mount it on your head if you use it for video unless you want to give your viewers vertigo.

A chest mount is inexpensive, makes a perfect vantage platform, and is easily accessible whether by hand or voice activated. I actually had my chest mount for 3 years (used it once when I first bought it) before I figured out how great it was at taking video.

I don't personally use my gopro that much for stills though, I have other cameras I prefer to use for that.

Abu Mahendra

Nothing wrong with mountin a Gopro on a helmet. This vertigo bit is absurd.

The suggestions so far do not address the issue of framing the images while not looking through the camera because it is perched on top of one's head. Unless, of course, your photography technique is "spray & pray".

saddlesores

three words:
kodak.
disposable.
camera.

and three more:
tiny.
handlebar.
pouch.

https://www.amazon.com/Disposable-Ko.../dp/B000OFW65I

rm -rf

My Galaxy S5 phone has an optional direct photo button on the lock screen. But it's still not that simple to pull out the phone, swipe the camera icon, blind aim, and click within the photo image to take the picture. I do it occasionally.


I used to bring my tiny Canon SD800 on rides. I could pull it out of my jersey pocket, press the power button, and take pictures one second later. I did blind aiming, and cropped and straightened when editing the photos later. Maybe one of ten shots was usable, so take lots of them!

It was expensive way back then, so I made a cord loop and and put it through the wrist strap. The cord was sized to let me keep the camera in my jersey pocket, and loop over my head and one shoulder. Then I didn't worry about dropping the camera.

I still bring it occasionally. Now, this 7 mega pixel camera is obsolete, so I just added a few narrow strips of Gorilla Tape to make the case easier to hold securely, and don't worry about dropping it. The cord loop was a little annoying. Now, it's no big loss if I do drop it.



I brought a ziploc bag in case it rained, and worried a little about sweat getting on it through my jersey.

A recent example photo, resized.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, I'd look at water resistant cameras. These come in all price ranges, with different capabilities and picture quality.

For example: Fuji XP130
A video review here.
It has a power button next to the shutter button. Easy.

rm -rf

The Gopro type of action video cams have an extremely wide angle view. That's great for scenes close to you, or panorama style photos. And it's sharp focus both close and distant, so no focusing is necessary.

But that's going to limit the type of photos you can take.

dgodave

You do know that with both android and ios phones you can access the camera without unlocking, right?

jefnvk

The action cams don't take the best pics, IMO. Way too wide-angled, although I am to understand some post processing software can fix that to an extent.

Like @Machka, I keep a point and shoot either in my back jersey pocket, or the top of my handlebar bag. I can turn it on, take a pic, and put it back without ever stopping. If I feel something is picture worthy, I probably want to stop and look at it though.

indyfabz

Please enlighten those of us who are relatively new to the world of smart phones. (I have an iPhone something or other. At least a six. Maybe a 7. Work gave it to me.)

indyfabz

Man. I had a nice Cannon POS. Got it as a gift in 2008. First digital camera ever. One day on tour I stopped on a bridge over to take some photos. My hands were slippery from sweat. Camera slipped and went straight to the bottom of the Delaware River.

jefnvk

I've got an iPhone 7 from work. On the lock screen, if you swipe from right to left, the camera app activate.
On my personal Android, there is a camera icon on the bottom right, that you click and swipe towards the center of the screen to turn on without unlocking.

My favorite was my old Windows Phone, which actually had a dedicated hardware button to turn on the camera and act as a shutter button!

indyfabz

Coo-El. Thanks. At first I tried it on the screen where it asks for the pass code. That didn't work so I tried on the screen before that and Viola!

dgodave

On my android you just double click the on/off button to open the camera while the phone is locked. And the volume button takes the pic. You dont even need to touch the screen.

jefnvk

Yeah, I suspect the Androids are all over the board. I just gave that a go, it just opened my lock screen.

pdlamb

Huh, learned something today!

As to the terrible amount of time it takes to pull a phone or camera out and take a picture, well, I could send you all the pictures off my wife's phone. I'm really grateful for cell phone cameras; without them, I'd be broke between film and processing, and we still wouldn't have any pictures to look at. It takes a certain amount of attention and skill to take a picture that's worth looking at, IME.

Tourist in MSN

Most of the time my photos on a bike trip are where I stopped, put my feet on the ground, put an elastic over my front brake lever, and took my waterproof point and shoot camera out of my handlebar bag to take a photo. The reason for the elastic over the front brake lever is that when the front wheel flops over, if I have locked the front brake lever so that the wheel does not turn then the wheel does not roll which could cause the bike to fall over.

Sometimes I get off the bike to take the photo. Especially if I want my bike framed in the photo.

There are a few rare shots that I took while riding, but I rarely do that as it adds some undue risk. Maybe 2 percent of my biking trip shots are while I was riding. I have a wrist strap on my camera so if I had to let go of it for some reason, it will still be hanging from my arm. Since I store my camera in my handlebar bag, it is not that hard to get my hand through the wrist strap and then grab the camera for a shot. The hardest part is getting my hand out of the strap after I put the camera back in the handlebar bag.

I prefer a real camera to a cell phone camera, but that is a personal preference. I quit using a flip phone about a year ago, since then use a smart phone. But I am only slowly starting to use the phone camera and then only when I do not have my camera with me.

fantom1 

How serious are you about quality shots vs just remembering things?

If quality doesn't matter much (like you seem to be implying) then just get a handlebar mount and place whatever camera or action cam you want on there. You might prefer just taking 10 second videos too.

If you want to take good photos, stop and take good photos. Can't have your cake and eat it too as they say.

jack002

Go to settings, lock screen, app buttons. You set it there.

fietsbob

big memory card has capacity for many more images

than a handlebar bag full of 36 exposure rolls of 35mm film..

fantom1 

Plus you need to grow a hipster mustache and wear denim to use one.