Video camera help

TruWrecks

TruWrecks

Banned
Okay video gurus.  I need to solve a video issue with my camera on bike.  I have both a Panasonic SD1 and a Canon HF10. Both capture amazing video as a hand held.  Both of the vibrate like hell on a SportbikeCam mount.  I have tried isolating the cameras with rubber washers to make the mount float better.  When I run the engine the video looks great.  When I start running up the engine the video gets fuzzy.  The SD1 does better with image stabilization on.  I have only run the HF10 with IS on.

I have tried RAM mounts and the SportbikeCam mount. So far the SportbikeCam mount is the smoothest, but still not good enough with my cameras.

I know there is a way to get glass smooth video with a handheld.  I have seen many videos like that.  I need suggestions how to smooth out the videos with my cameras.

Thanks.
 
If your camera's stabilization is "Optical", you are screwed unless it features some way to LOCK IT OFF of that - a feature I have never seen in a handheld. Digital Stabilization will fix a lot, but optical works like a bobble head and vibrates to the moon. I mount my digital stabilized cam to my sportbikecam mount, and the HD optical stabilized cam to my helmet - yeah looks dumb but pictures are smooth
 
more options to try might be skipping the washer soft-fits, tighten it down normally, and strap TAPE across it to cut "end of stick" mount bounce.  I also thought tape over it, and a tennis ball under it might cut the added vibrations but have never tried it myself.  Depending on what you want to accomplish, you may need to dial in your suspension to compensate since the bike turns into a large, fast moving tripod dolly.... maybe a few pounds less air in tires for better bump absorbtion and softer suspension settings for less hard knocks on bumps
 
looks like yours both have OPTICAL, like my HV20.  I hate that.  but what are ya gonna do?  maybe send Canon a letter and tell them they need to think of us sports guys use and include an optical lockdown and high quality DIGITAL stabilizers for us.  I don't even NEED ooptical stabilzer!  nice camera, if i was shooting something I wanted smooth, I'd use a tripod.  Idiots.   it would be so cheap to INCLUDE digital in there [although I think the optical stabilizers are pratially digital too]
 
I know my videos aren't of the picture quality you want; it's the only one I have any experience with, so I can't be of any assist, here, bro.

Friends of mine use the gas-cap mount and take theirs to the track, rendering very smooth video, but...that's the track.

Good luck!
 
I got very good video from a Panasonic Digital 8 camera and a Mantis Mount.
 
WWJD, you might be on to something there. I know my Panasonic I can turn off the optical stabilization, but I know it will never be as smooth as a digital stabilized cam. I know Canon has made the HF10 to be able to lock out stabilization but I haven't tried it on the bike yet. I might have to look into some of the Sony HD cams if they support SD cards. I'll also try removing the rubber mounts on the SBC mount to see if that gives me any added smoothness.

I know I'm going to get some bumps as the suspension works, but I know I can get better rusults than what I have.

Thanks for the input guys.

beerchug.gif
 
I just did a few tests with my camera mount.  Yep, it's the optical stabilized lenses causing the problem.  With the stabilizer off it's slightly better, but still pretty bad.  My cheap GoPro camera is rock solid on the camera mount.  The video quality doesn't even lose focus.  The GoPro doesn't have any moving parts so I'm sure that helps.  The optical zone lens groups also cause problems on the bike.  Looks like the Canon is going back.  I can't see having two camcorders that suffer the exact same problems.

I guess I need to look into a better system with a fixed lens. It's a shame because I wanted to use a camera that does DVD quality. None of the motorcycle specific ones that I have found do that.
 
Any decent camcorder will do DVD quality... do you mean "Hi Def"? I think the two cams you mentioned were hidef and I bet they look great, but that darn floating stabilzer crap -- although it's more pro like I guess -- really don't fly for us on bikes. Yes, get one with NO OPTICAL stabilizer, they will all have digital at least, and you will do much better on the bike. and avoid DVD writer camcorders but I bet you already know that.
did you go here? http://www.camcorderinfo.com/ratings.php#
sites like that are very handy, but you will notice most of the top ones use "optical stabilizer" since it is the better quality system for filming. I have not found a HiDef cam withOUT optical stabilizer yet.... but I stopped looking when I got my HV20. it too is optical, but, man oh man, everything I film likes like the discovery channel HD!! I just cant attach it to the bike

one other thing: HiDef is a WENCH to edit. assume you need 3-4 times the space AND CPU power to work with HD file formats. and the no linear frame design of HD makes it software picky. I think Vista will process it, but I had to buy a special editor to edit HD - and I still haven't actually edited any yet
biggrin.gif
 
Vista doesn't edit Blue Ray formatting. I use Ulead 11.5 Plus for that.  I found an HD camera from Samsung that's DVD quality, and uses digital stabilization.  It's the Samsung SC-HMX10.  It uses SD also.  The downside is that it only records 720p, but that's fine for the type of recordings I want to do.  I will do some testing with it after I get some sleep.

Thanks for the info.  I'll let you know how things pan out.

beerchug.gif
 
I use a helmet camera on my bike and I've never had a problem with stability...this is where I got mine at

Helmetcamera.com

This is a link to a video that I made..mounted the camera on the side of my Bike using Gorilla Velco...I have some other video's but for legal reasons i'm not able to post them up...lol

one of my Video's
 
I did a short video test with the Samsung mounted to the bike running. It was very smooth with, and without, the image stabilizer enabled. The only real movement was when I bumped the camera. Tomorrow I'm going to do another test on the road.

Thanks again for the info on the bobble-head cameras. I'm keeping the Canon for off bike filming. The Samsung might just become my primary bike camera if all goes well tomorrow.

beerchug.gif
 
I use a tank mounted DVD camcorder, it works great imo!

009.jpg


The first video was done with the DVD camcoder shown in the picture. The second video (with music was done with a mini dv camcorder that took mini tapes!


My Webpage


My Webpage
 
Looks pretty good. I'm going to take my new camcorder on a few short test ride tomorrow morning to see if it does any better. The Panasonic suffered a lens cover spring issue since I last used it a few weeks ago. I took it to get it fixed on the warranty and the store offered to give me full trade value toward a new camera since the SD1 was discontinued. The Samsung and a few other goodies is the result.

Thanks again everybody. I'll post results on the new camera tomorrow evening.
 
I had a few short test rides today and the Samsung camera did outstanding! It's pretty smooth for the comp and rebound setting I had on my bike from the track this week. If I back off the suspension a click or two I bet it would be pretty much glass smooth.

beerchug.gif
 
NPD3507 @ Jun. 13 2008 said:
I use a helmet camera on my bike and I've never had a problem with stability...this is where I got mine at

Helmetcamera.com

This is a link to a video that I made..mounted the camera on the side of my Bike using Gorilla Velco...I have some other video's but for legal reasons i'm not able to post them up...lol

one of my Video's
Click to expand...
Did you buy the complete set-up or did you just get the camera...?
 
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