Bike Video Cameras
 

I am considering mounting forward and aft facing video cameras on my bike so the authorities can identify the culprit if I get hit by a car. I would appreciate any recommendations members of this forum might have regarding such cameras.

Actually you'll find more posts about cameras in the Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets sub-forum.

If you go on long rides, your options are going to be really limited unless you're willing to use a separate battery pack. That I'm aware of, the Cycliq Fly12CE is the only thing that'll get you more than a couple hours without an external pack. FWIW, I've gotten 6+ hours out of it.

I use the Drift Ghost XL camera sometimes. It has up to 9 hour battery life and records up to 1080 30fps. It is a favorite of motorcyclists.

The Drift G4K work well, but the minute you increase the recording quality, the battery life plummets & using two batteries you might get 2.5ish hours of record time with the max'd 128 card.

That's a different camera from what I use. I have no problem getting more than 2.5 hours.

I did realize that being the case. I have not set the quality of my recording lower, kind of a trade off for seeing things vs identifying my surroundings. The camera will overwrite until the power is depleted. That is usually the case for longer rides, yet I typically know what to expect so the camera is not rollin the entire time. If an animal ruins my ride, idc if thats recorded. It's the dumb flunk drivers that get there few frames of fame that I am watching out for.

If you are that paranoid about getting hit then cycling isn't for you. You need to find a different hobby

After about a year of owning two budget cameras, I would be looking for these requirements.

Long lasting battery in temperatures from -10C to 55C at a video resolution that can read licence plates.

Spare batteries and a separate battery charger. Check if you can buy more spare batteries too.

Date and timestamp remain as you change batteries.

The following don't exist yet but you might as well ask in case there are good solutions.

Good internal microphone that can pick up a conversation 10ft away while in its waterproof case.

Audio recording that stays in synch with the video recording.

Waterproof case that gives you access to the micro usb ports if you want to use an external microphone.

Dead is dead, even on repeated video playback.

yeah, but is it youtube; drop dead funny or local obits; dropped by cyclists dead? Only the footage will reveal that.

You could probably adapt a little Nanny Cam for your use and even stay at high quality images by reprogramming it to shoot 2-3 frames a second. You could also use a cell phone battery extender to extend the recording time. The cheap little units are quite adaptable. I don't know if helmet mount or bike mount is better. I have one recesed into the nose cone of a modle rocket. In parachute failuer it has proven to have pretty good G resistnace too.

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/dab...d&odnBg=ffffff

That frame rate wouldn't work. 30fps is barely adequate, at times.

Approximately.

I've been using the Drift Ghost XL (1080) for a year or so. The company claims 9-hour battery life. I've run it 4 hours with no problem.