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My commute is extremely short, but I still get stupid passes etc. I used to get very wound up but I’m learning to let it go, there are more important things in life
That said I would like a helmet camera as a deterrent
So I need something mega cheap, that does rolling recording so I don’t have to wipe memory cards and with some kind of LED that flashes on the back so maybe some of these idiots will avoid trying to kill me
There are tonnes on eBay but none of them seem to (as far as I can tell from the poor descriptions) match those 3 points
Anyone got a camera they can recommend?
TBH if your going to have a camera then you want to be able to use it if its needed especially in the dark or poor light in winter.
Flashing red LED for the back of the helmet are nearly free on ebay...
My helmet has an integrated rear light, what I meant was a camera with a light in the back which flashes when recording, like a go pro does on the front. That way it is obvious it’s a camera and not a light
I’m not too bothered about actually using footage, I’m not a YouTube warrior and the police don’t even seem to pay attention unless you are actually killed, in which case it’s kinda not relevant to me
The nearest would be the Cycliq light / camera.
As for a small 'recording' light. I'd suggest that most tawts passing close don't look far enough ahead or pay sufficient attention to notice a 6ft tall rider on a bike with multi coloured kit. And big lights. So there's sod all chance they will notice a 2mm diameter blinking LED on a small black lump of plastic strapped to your helmet or seat post.
I used a GoPro session on my longer commute. Cheap cameras don’t tend to be good in poor light, I worked through a few options from cheapy cheep to not quite GoPro and in the end should’ve just got a GoPro. You can pick them up used now for less than £100 and they’re great.
The only negative is that you have to periodically delete footage, it won’t loop record but I just got into the habit of doing that every 2 days.
I've just bought an Akaso Brave 7 LE as I wanted something like a Go Pro but couldn't justify the cost but still wanted decent footage. So far it's been great. I've not used it in your intended application but it came with loads of mounts, two batteries and a USB charger so would be handy for commute videos. It had a waterproof box for submersion but is rain proof outside of the box.
Had a Drift Ghost XL camera for a couple of months
Meant to be 1080p and have a 9hr battery life
Battery life has been good but the video quality is poor, no stabilization, its a bit hit and miss with regards to being able to read number plates
Have just bought a GoPro Hero 8 for MTB use so going to give it a go on the commute and see how it performs, battery life is 1.5-2 hrs at 1080p so will have to charge it every 2 days (my commute is sub 30 mins each way)
Ive bought an extra battery for longer rides, so can swap them over after the first one runs out