Lights, camera, action!

By Melvin Webb

Some months ago I decided to embark on a camera set-up for my motorcycle. I did

this for several reasons, the chance to film a forthcoming trip to Italy, the ability to

analyse my day-to-day riding and, not least, to capture some of the amazing things

we often see when we venture out on our bikes.

Only this morning I came across a white van man who didn’t even glance in my

direction as he entered a roundabout. Had I not been thinking for him and the

inevitable had happened then at least I might have some evidence on my side when

if it came to the insurance tussle.

Two months ago I caught on camera an incident

involving a home-owner, a chainsaw and a tree

falling the wrong way. The poor fellow could only

stand and watch as the tree landed on his house.

He might not agree, but I find it entertaining to

watch now and again.

So if you fancy filming whilst you are on the move,

where do you start and what do you need? Well I

thought I might share some of my findings with you.

It is fairly obvious that any camera system that can

be attached to you or your motorcycle will need to

be light and reasonably small. Furthermore if it is attached to your person then you

must consider the possible outcome of a mishap with the unit attached to you, it may

compromise your safety and injure you in the event of a crash.

There are two ways of approaching this type of filming set-up, either using purpose

designed camera equipment made for activities like motorsport or snowboarding, or

fashion something together from equipment you already have, like your camcorder.

I decided to go down the route of purpose designed equipment. That said, great

results can be obtained using a camcorder and a suitable ram-mount, so don’t be

put off by the complexity and/or cost of some of the set-ups out there. You can do

this at a very reasonable cost, maybe with equipment you already have.

Generally there are two types of purpose designed action cameras; self-contained

units or solutions made up of separate cameras and recording equipment. 

Self contained units are usually easier to configure and use but are typically larger

and, therefore, difficult to mount to you or your motorcycle.

Solutions that employ separate elements can be small, easy to mount, flexible in

operation and can provide you with better results. Remember though, each item of

equipment will need to be inter-connected, will probably have to be powered

separately from one another and may even come from different suppliers.

If you fancy just dabbling in this field or like things to be quick and easy then I

suggest you go down the route of the self-contained offering. I started down this

road and purchased a Tachyon XC camera from the USA. There are many other

similar solutions available though, have a look at the ATC5000 or the VHoldR. Like

the Tachyon, these are self-contained, easy to use solutions that will provide decent

results for you almost straight away.

I have to admit it didn’t last long though. I soon got frustrated with the self-contained

equipment and wanted something that provided better quality and would give me

more flexibility in terms of mounting options.

I decided to use a separate camera and recorder. The camera is small enough to go

anywhere and the recorder provides DVD quality footage. Some may be put off by

the wires but I found it a small price to pay for such flexibility.

The camera I chose is literally the size of my thumb and can be mounted almost

anywhere.  You should look for good colour saturation and decent light transition in

order to get the best results.

The recorder that I use stores the footage onto a solid state memory card. It is

powered from the bike, can record audio straight from my AutoCom and features a

remote control to make operation easy and, of course, safe when I’m on the move.

The combination of recording quality, minimal size and flexibility of mounting make

the separates approach a clear winner for me, but

whatever method you use to film your riding I am

confident you will find it worthwhile and maybe even

become a better rider because of it.

My current set-up is a Sony HQ2 bullet camera and an

HQR-2 DVR from Dogcam Sport. The bullet camera is

mounted to the top of the dashboard on my ST1300

and the DVR is located in the glove box. Images kindly

supplied by Dogcam Sport. www.dogcamsport.co.uk