Action camera advice

[leeubok]

Hi

 

Has anyone have some experience with the Volkano x adrenaline action cam?

 

TIA

I see you never got a reply to this. But I was also looking at some of the cheaper action cam options and wondering if it's worth it, or a waste of money?

[dave303e]

Do yourself a favour and go with the Fly 360 camera...

Epic videos

[scubes]

Hi 

 

I have been looking at the Drift Stealth 2 available online for 2k delivered.

 

It seems very similar to the Garmin Virb Elite mentioned a few times here.

 

Does anyone know how these 2 compare? The Stealth is half the weight it seems of the Virb but doesn't have GPS. It is also cheaper.

[Grey Hubs]

Get on to Gum Tree and look for the original Garmin Virb Elite - I've seen them going for between R2200 and R2500 for new old stock.

 

I have one and it is brilliant - have added a sample of video below. It comes standard with all the info on the right:

 

 

And then get this stem cap mount:

 

http://www.pinned.co.za/?subcats=Y&status=A&pshort=Y&pfull=Y&pname=Y&pkeywords=Y&search_performed=Y&q=stem+cap+mount&dispatch=products.search

 

Tom

Interested about the stem cap mount and how it mounts with the Virb. Please send pics.

The link does not exist. do you know who else sells this mount? This video looks more stable than a bar mount for some reason...

[Dexter-morgan]

I got myself a 3SIXT action cam from Takealot for R1400, well worth it, can record about 21/2 hours without any extra battery, 4K video.

[capediver]

Hi 

 

I have been looking at the Drift Stealth 2 available online for 2k delivered.

 

It seems very similar to the Garmin Virb Elite mentioned a few times here.

 

Does anyone know how these 2 compare? The Stealth is half the weight it seems of the Virb but doesn't have GPS. It is also cheaper.

Drift Stealth 2 has much lower specs...only 1080p @ 30fps...that's why its cheaper...VIRB tops out at 4K @ 30 fps, great res but demanding on post-editing unless you use something like Adobe Premier Pro set to convert source video to proxies (lower res for editing)....but its the 1080@120fps which is the best considering Youtube crushes everything sent its way! Drift also has no options for increasing field of view....VIRB can increase FOV at certain resolutions.

Admittedly have no experience with Drift, my go to is the VIRB with GoPro as backup...Excellence service and backup both locally and internationally from Garmin....

If price is the issue, try get your hands on the older GoPro Hero 4 Black....or the silver (with screen), still a great camera and not plagued by the audio issues of the new gen GoPro's

[Grey Hubs]

Drift Stealth 2 has much lower specs...only 1080p @ 30fps...that's why its cheaper...VIRB tops out at 4K @ 30 fps, great res but demanding on post-editing unless you use something like Adobe Premier Pro set to convert source video to proxies (lower res for editing)....but its the 1080@120fps which is the best considering Youtube crushes everything sent its way! Drift also has no options for increasing field of view....VIRB can increase FOV at certain resolutions.

Admittedly have no experience with Drift, my go to is the VIRB with GoPro as backup...Excellence service and backup both locally and internationally from Garmin....

If price is the issue, try get your hands on the older GoPro Hero 4 Black....or the silver (with screen), still a great camera and not plagued by the audio issues of the new gen GoPro's

I have the Drift Stealth 2 and Garmin Virb Elite.

For video on MTB - Garmin Virb is much better with stabilization and video.

Strange enough, I use the Drift for taking pictures when I travel or hike. Easy to carry in my pocket and literary a point and shoot camera. Iv'e taken some really nice pics with the Drift. Also use the Drift as a daily carcam.

[leeubok]

I admittedly haven't done my homework on action cams yet, I always just stare at them longingly in the shops. Even had the Volcan (or vulcan) in my hand the other day and was almost heading to the till when I thought perhaps I should compare it with other cams first. I haven't even heard of the drift stealth before, will google it now. 

 

So what is the most important feature for taking vids whilst out riding (mtb)? The stabilization feature that you get with the garmin and gopro?

[capediver]

I admittedly haven't done my homework on action cams yet, I always just stare at them longingly in the shops. Even had the Volcan (or vulcan) in my hand the other day and was almost heading to the till when I thought perhaps I should compare it with other cams first. I haven't even heard of the drift stealth before, will google it now. 

 

So what is the most important feature for taking vids whilst out riding (mtb)? The stabilization feature that you get with the garmin and gopro?

Resolution and frame rate....

Stabilisation is mostly electronic and can be handled by clever mounting (head or chest is the most stable...on the bike, especially the bars is the least and anything that uses an extension). Good sensor for video capture...cheap cams use cheap sensors and even at HD res, quality is poor with lots of pixellation.

Good audio also counts, most cams have it.

Good unit profile, the squarer the better, some cams just don't mount well like the Sony elongated style (for chest mounting anyway)

Options like wider angles, burst and slow-mo are cool too.

App for control

Good wifi and BT connectivity

Service, updates and backup

[Andrew_Smith]

AKASO EK7000

 

@BrandonF uses one and so far he is impressed with it.

[Tatt]

Interested about the stem cap mount and how it mounts with the Virb. Please send pics.

The link does not exist. do you know who else sells this mount? This video looks more stable than a bar mount for some reason...

 

Pic of the mount. Fits a Go pro mount which connects to the virb mount.

 

Video is very stable - not too sure how much of this is as a result of the image stabilisation setting in the camera.

 

Tom

[scubes]

that's interesting - from a physics point of view are the vibrations channeled through the stem and into the handlebar? 

 

where can i get this mount? i went to garmin's website and googled but no luck. 

 

 

Pic of the mount. Fits a Go pro mount which connects to the virb mount.

 

Video is very stable - not too sure how much of this is as a result of the image stabilisation setting in the camera.

 

Tom

[ChrisF]

Resolution and frame rate....

Stabilisation is mostly electronic and can be handled by clever mounting (head or chest is the most stable...on the bike, especially the bars is the least and anything that uses an extension). Good sensor for video capture...cheap cams use cheap sensors and even at HD res, quality is poor with lots of pixellation.

Good audio also counts, most cams have it.

Good unit profile, the squarer the better, some cams just don't mount well like the Sony elongated style (for chest mounting anyway)

Options like wider angles, burst and slow-mo are cool too.

App for control

Good wifi and BT connectivity

Service, updates and backup

 

sort of off topic .. but some might say just as important to get right ....

 

What are your steps in editing the video ?

 

What software do you use for -

- cutting and dicing the segments to make the final visual video

- what software do you use to get your sound-track into the video

- to what format do you export the video

- what steps/software do you follow to upload to Youtube

 

thank you

[Tatt]

Just phoned Pinned, they aren't selling them anymore. Found the one I have on an Aussie site: http://www.cellbikes.com.au/PRO-Sports-Camera-Stem-Cap-Mount

 

Tom

[Andreas_187]

Volkano 4K action camera, R999 from Game

[capediver]

sort of off topic .. but some might say just as important to get right ....

 

What are your steps in editing the video ?

 

What software do you use for -

- cutting and dicing the segments to make the final visual video

- what software do you use to get your sound-track into the video

- to what format do you export the video

- what steps/software do you follow to upload to Youtube

 

thank you

I use Adobe Premier Pro which is dynamically linked to After Effects for more complex editing like object tracking and text callouts. Its very powerful and has a huge range of tools for editing, with lots of people providing free plugins to show off their prowess. It displays your files in a timeline together with the audio track and you apply all sorts of effects. It takes a fair amount of time to get to know and the key is setting up the project settings so your footage is interpreted correctly. But once you have this done, there's no need to change unless you start using some really different gear.

Rendering/exporting the footage after editing is important as well and depends on what you want to do with the results...if its home movies, then go big and high but for online like Facebook and Youtube, you will need to throttle back as these sites compress you footage a lot. Most editing softwares have built-in presets for rendering to YT and FB but I tend to tweak them up and develop a custom render profile. Also high quality renders produce large files and you can use something like Handbrake to compress them without losing quality. Final Cut Pro on Mac has the same, called Compressor.

The great thing about PP is that you can pre-render your files to a lower quality for editing (Proxies). The edits you make while working on the proxy are applied to the full res files when you render. This allows for faster editing and you don't need a machine from NASA to edit 360 or 4K files. Also PP can render the movie separately using another program from the suite so you can continue editing while the files render. I render files to .mp4 because they are smaller files than say .mov.

Sony Vegas is another, quite easy to learn but Windows only.

Final Cut Pro is OK very slick but Apple only.

For first time and basic editing, Windows Movie Maker (Windows only and free) is good, simple, with basic transitions and text. Try to find the older version which can accept GoPro files without having to convert first.

Audio: Most editing suites deal with audio at the same time as video and have audio effects and transitions that can be used. You can also split the audio from the video which works well when doing complex transitions. I generally leave the audio alone either as raw or mute it and overlay with music. Music comes with its own issues of copyright but there are sites where you can get royalty free files. 

Uploading to YT is pretty straight forward, get an account and start uploading!

 

I hear a lot of stories about guys buying action cams and they end up in the bottom drawer after a few runs because the editing does take time. Yes it does but its rewarding. Also, these days, a lot of companies are developing apps for phones that when connected to the camera can download the footage and do a simple edit for sharing on the Net...makes things a lot easier if you just want to send out short simple edits from you action cam.

 

Enjoy!