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safety camera reco

by grantpet
Thu, Aug 13, 2020 12:58
16

practical advice please. I've read the reviews on all of the sites and haven't found a stand out option. I want a camera that will last a 4-6 hour ride and record near misses/dngerous driving. I don't need 4k or be able to edit and archive my rides. the cycliq camera appear to be the best option but many users report a lack of reliabilty and poor customer service when support is needed. Any advice would be very welcome please as I want to be able to record and report some of the dreadfullt dangerous driving that I seem to get every time I ride out. thanks all

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16 comments

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Kapelmuur | 4 years ago
1 like

Just to say that I have had good customer service from Cycliq.

My 2.5 year old Fly 12 developed a fault and after a short and constructive exchange of views they supplied a replacement free of charge.

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gazza_d | 4 years ago
0 likes

My recomendation would be one of the Drift Ghost cameras.
Either the Ghost X for £129 which has A5 hour battery life, or the newer XL for £150 which has better and waterproofing and a 9 hour battery life.
Both are quite stealthy and robust. They can be controlled via the buttons and small screen or via an app.
They have their own self adhesive qr mount and there are adaptors for GoPro etc.

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Tom_77 | 4 years ago
3 likes

If money is no object I'd go with the Cycliq. Think you'd be looking at about £400 to get front and rear coverage, which is more than I'm prepared to pay.

On my road bike I've got 2 Polaroid Cube cameras (£35 each) powered from a USB powerbank. Bit of a faff to use - plug each one into the powerbank, power each one on, start each one. Then reverse that at the end of the ride.

For my commuting bike I've got a motorbike dashcam (Blueskysea, £107). It took a bit of work to mount it - drilled holes in an old GoPro adapter for the front camera and the rear camera is screwed to a small block of wood. It's a lot simpler to use though, I just plug in the power and it starts recording and it stops when I unplug it. Also, the front and rear videos are in sync which saves a bit of hassle when editing.

 

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Arjimlad | 4 years ago
2 likes

Drift Ghost XL here, has great battery life. Has a "dashcam" setting which will write video in 1, 2 or 5 minute chunks & overwrite the oldest files when the memory card fills up. 1080 HDR recording is adequate for my purposes. 

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HoarseMann | 4 years ago
2 likes

I use cycliq cameras front and back. they've been reliable for me and of all the options I've tried, the least faff.

I did have to replace the fly6 battery after 18months (approx 4000 miles) as it started to just cut out mid ride without warning. I had used it a lot though and in all weathers.

I've not noticed any scratching of the lens, but I do run mudguards in the winter (you need to with a post mount camera or it'll soon be obscured by filth).

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huntswheelers | 4 years ago
2 likes

I use a Chilli cam ...latest version with swappable 4hr batteries...plus a 128gb card...

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LetsBePartOfThe... | 4 years ago
0 likes

any ideas on running GoPro cameras all day long. 
I don't want trailing usb cables, or swapping batteries every few hours.
Looking for a close-coupled long-range battery pack

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Hirsute replied to LetsBePartOfTheSolution | 4 years ago
0 likes

Does it have enough storage to run all day long ?

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LetsBePartOfThe... replied to Hirsute | 4 years ago
0 likes

Hi. Yes. Because it will loop by overwriting the oldest section ( assuming there was no incident preserved ).   
So it's just a matter of keeping it powered. Can't imagine the only way is to use cables. Hoping someone has designed a clip on battery or a powered mount

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Hirsute | 4 years ago
1 like

If you want to report the bad driving, I'm afraid you will have to do a bit of editing.

Cyclic does look good from the videos I have seen.  A cheaper option is drift ghost xl just does the basics, but has good battery life.

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grantpet replied to Hirsute | 4 years ago
0 likes

happy to do a bit of editing for reporting. do youuse one yourself?

 

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Awavey replied to grantpet | 4 years ago
1 like

Each police force is different so I cant say do or dont do this, but i dont edit mine, just upload the 5min file the incident happened in,and retain the files either side in case those are requested.

Cycliqs are ok, the plastic lens gets scratched though over time,which isnt great,especially in low light,and whilst I hadnt had much trouble with it over two years ,it shutdown mid ride the other week,maybe it overheated in the heat,but I hadnt realised it happened& then it sunk 30% battery in just an hours ride last night,again missing some critical passes I could have reported,so not sure if it's one offs or signs it's on it's way out

Saying that I used to use a go pro which had near enough the same problems,missed a corker of a left hook by a bus because the video failed to record,and battery life was far worse.

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Hirsute replied to grantpet | 4 years ago
1 like

I included extracting the relevant 4 to 5 minute part of the recording as 'editing' ie you need to use a video editor. I'm given to understand that this also enables you to remove any gratuitous language but I wouldn't know anything about that part, definitely not.

You can't edit beyond that without falling foul of the law.

I've got a basic drift ghost x, the app is better now but I tend to do what I need by slotting the sd card into a laptop.

I must be doing quite well now being selective on submissions as I have 5 in a row (edit now 6 - better change my username to snitch for the resident trolls).

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fukawitribe replied to Hirsute | 4 years ago
1 like

hirsuite wrote:

I included extracting the relevant 4 to 5 minute part of the recording as 'editing' ie you need to use a video editor.

Many cameras record, or can be enabled to record, video in small chunk files rather than one massive binary (struggling to think of any that don't...) - so "extracting"  a time-slice with the incident in question is more often than not just choosing the one or two files that include it and whatever context is required. 

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RMurphy195 replied to fukawitribe | 4 years ago
0 likes

I use a Garmin Virb

Advantages (for me) are

  1. Doesn't need a separate waterproof case
  2. Battery lasts about 2.5 hours, then I swop it for a spare one (batts are 5 yrs old)
  3. Can put a card in of your choice for the amount of storage you want
  4. Nice big slider switch on the side
  5. Viewfinder so I can see if the battery has run out and I didn't hear the warning!
  6. Nice sturdy handlebar mount
  7. Image stabilisation on the HD setting
  8. When batteries give up the ghost, get new batteries not a new camera

If I want chunks of video, I just switch it off for a few seconds then switch it back on under my control, so the thing doesn't decide to start a new clip just at a crucial moment.

If I want to isolate an incident, I switch it off after its all over then switch it on again. The later I have the last few minutes of the clip with the incident on the end of it.

Disadvantage for some people - a bit heavy for the helmet mount (I prefer not to have it mounted that way)

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grantpet replied to RMurphy195 | 4 years ago
0 likes

thanks. so you take a spare battery with you on longer rides? how much does aspare cost?

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