Choosing the right Action Camera & accessories

[biknut]

I made this with a first generation GoPro. I bought it used in, I think 2010. This was one of my very first videos. I had just made my first china girl, and was really proud of it. I wasn't trying to make a comedy, but the first friend I showed it to laughed his butt off. Turn the volume up.

 

[biknut]

I must have my timeline a little bit off. Time fly's when you're having fun. I forgot about this one, it was at least a year or two earlier than the Atomic BB video. This is my favorite. I made this with the same first gen GoPro.

 

[biknut]

It's a lot easier now to get good camera angles. Back in 2013 I mounted the GoPro on a car wash brush and attached it under a bicycle rack with wire ties. Back then fast eBikes were kind of rare, so I tried to show what the bike was like.

 

[biknut]

All my old videos are pretty bad compared to what I see now lol. Everybody is so sophisticated. I watch a "how too" video, and I only have a vague idea what they're talking. That's why I don't look down on people that don't bother to look at YT videos to learn how too fix their bikes before asking. Easy for me to say.

 

[m@Robertson]

Wouldn't it be a lot more economical to have a load of gravel delivered rather than buying bagged gravel? 2 1/2 tons in a dump truck. Or is this an exercise thing?

I missed that question way back when you posted it.

Its surprisingly economical. Home Depot sells me a 0.50 cu/ft for just under 5 bucks (Vigoro pea pebbles). As the project has progressed over time I have bought a whole pallet of 100 bags for $4.48 per bag, so 50 cubic feet runs $537 with the $89 delivery fee added.

If instead I have the cheapest gravel delivered locally by dump truck, the minimum is 3 tons / 2.5 cubic yards (68 cubic feet) for about $860. 5 tons / 4.1 cu yds is $1075. This nets me a pile of gravel in my driveway I have to deal with by the shovelful. WAY more difficult than lugging a self-contained bag (even dozens of them) around my house and in some cases over a fence with no gate.

But ignoring handling and looking only at cost, without the volume discount (49 bags+) I am paying roughly $10 per cubic foot bagged, versus $12.65/cu. ft. for 3 tons delivered. I have to go to 5 tons / 4.1 cubic yards to get my cost below what Home Depot is charging me for single bags ($9.70 per cubic foot). I have probably spread around about 6 tons (132 cu ft) which would be about $1123 delivered, or $8.50 per cubic foot.

So buying it by the bag at the discount place is easier to handle by the bag, I can do it in small bites and not have to live with a 6 ton mound of gravel in my driveway.

And I get the exercise to boot I would prefer to be able to carry more than 2 bags at a time of course, but its just not safe for my frame and wheels to do 150 lbs of gravel, whereas it is ok at 100. So I go slow, get a good ride in and it costs me $10 per trip.

At this point I have everything done and am now just replacing gravel that has washed away a bit, resettled itself a bit or making it deeper where I want to really be aggressive about reducing rain erosion.

 

[m@Robertson]

A lot of the bike video bloggers I follow hate the new GoPros because they claim they overheat and stop recording. That's probably not as much a problem for typical users as bike bloggers that let their camera run for hours at a time on group rides.

This is EXACTLY the experience I had with my one GoPro back in 2017. It got unbelievably hot and would shut itself down.

 

[pagheca]

A lot of the bike video bloggers I follow hate the new GoPros because they claim they overheat and stop recording. That's probably not as much a problem for typical users as bike bloggers that let their camera run for hours at a time on group rides.

Interesting. In the end I still haven't bought it (also because of import issues: I prefer to buy during trips to the EU or even better to the US). But I'm a bit undecided about what to buy anyway. I have read a zillion reviews, information, opinions, and would like to better figure out what to do.

My intention is not to put videos of my "exploits" on youtube but to mainly have some good memories to bother and annoy my family and friends, and especially to use it as a "dashcam" in case something happens.

 

[major masingil]

I have the GoPro Hero10. It gets pretty hot especially if you run it plugged in for time lapse photography. It's usually fine under normal filming conditions. It's a great camera with a lot of features and a huge accessory market. My biggest problem with it is battery life. Who wants to keep swapping batteries every 40 min or so? I don't know what battery life is like on the newer models, but you essentially have to bring a bunch with you to capture a days worth of fun. They're not cheap. I also lost some cool footage due to the battery being expired while the cool thing happened. I haven't been able to figure out a way to keep it sealed from the elements and plugged in to an external batt for long term recording. Although I will read m@robertson's write up to see how he solved it on his bikes.

 

[pagheca]

I have the GoPro Hero10. It gets pretty hot especially if you run it plugged in for time lapse photography. It's usually fine under normal filming conditions. It's a great camera with a lot of features and a huge accessory market. My biggest problem with it is battery life. Who wants to keep swapping batteries every 40 min or so? I don't know what battery life is like on the newer models, but you essentially have to bring a bunch with you to capture a days worth of fun. They're not cheap. I also lost some cool footage due to the battery being expired while the cool thing happened. I haven't been able to figure out a way to keep it sealed from the elements and plugged in to an external batt for long term recording. Although I will read m@robertson's write up to see how he solved it on his bikes.

Ha... that's a problem, thanks. I usually ride with a 20,000 mAh backup battery to keep my phone charged, but it could be used also to power it. Still, the heating problem and battery life are not ok...

QUESTION: For a while now, the emoticons on this forum have been appearing "out of phase" vertically for me: the top piece appears instead of the top... I don't know how to explain it better. Does this happen only to me? Or do I only see them that way? Nothing serious but just to understand....

 

[major masingil]

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QUESTION: For a while now, the emoticons on this forum have been appearing "out of phase" vertically for me: the top piece appears instead of the top... I don't know how to explain it better. Does this happen only to me? Or do I only see them that way? Nothing serious but just to understand....

The emoticon you used appeared normally for me. I rarely use them so here goes:

 

[major masingil]

There was supposed to be a cool emoticon in my last response

 

[m@Robertson]

I haven't been able to figure out a way to keep it sealed from the elements and plugged in to an external batt for long term recording. Although I will read m@robertson's write up to see how he solved it on his bikes.

Short version is I used a scuba box, and drilled a hole into it to let the USB power cable thru. Not good for scuba diving but just fine for a bike in the pouring rain. More details in that article.