The most recent camera up for testing is a fixed outdoor action camera at $70CDN shipped. Promising a 120 degree field of vision and resistance to water and shock this camera will be mounted on the motorcycle to provide a fixed forward view of the ride.
Initial impressions are positive, with the camera working in the way the documentation describes and a few test clips being recorded properly (I was able to set the time and date the VERY first time following the documentation on this unit).
Update: 16 May 2012 – Video clip from my commute home.
I am impressed with this little camera, although the video size is not encouraging (about 16 minutes of video ate up almost 2Gb). I’ll look at a better mounting system under the front fairing, and see how that turns out.
Update: 18 May 2012 – Recorded a couple of test clips this morning (the Action cam now being equipped with a 8Gb TF card), the first to demonstrate the benefits of placing a piece of electrical tape over the microphone.
For the second clip I mounted the camera on the passenger grab handle, which resulted in somewhat shaky video of my posterior with a sliver of traffic visible on the left. Far from optimal.
I’ll experiment with other mounting locations, and (of course) post the results here.
It took a while to make it here (35 days in transit) but the newest dashcam has finally arrived. Initial impressions are positive, with fit and finish feeling a little more substantial than the last two.
Cost was slightly higher on this model at $39.06CDN (Micro SD card not included).
It’s in the car and powers up and records just fine, I’ll review the footage in a few days and see how it does for capacity and low-light etc (whether the battery keeps the clock current).
Update: 16 May 2012 – So far so good, the unit powers on and off when it should and the clock hasn’t required setting since its initial install. Will post a sample video clip shortly.
Update: 18 May, 2012 – Nothing, so far, to shake my initial impression of this unit.
It Seems to record about 3-4 hours of video in 5 minute clips on a 4Gb TF card. Field of vision is better than the previous units and I haven’t had to adjust any settings (or reset the date or time) since I installed it.
I know, I know… It’s been ages since I’ve written anything firearms related at all. Well today I got dragged out to the range for some tinkering with technology (target cam – fail / DVR Glasses – Meh) and even got in a little trigger time versus some steel plates.
The video is a little disappointing, but has potential for future range trips.
(I did finally manage to set the clock on these glasses AFTER the range trip – so future videos should actually have the correct date/time)
Wanted to go for a quick ride, but was a little nervous about the looming rain after a close call yesterday. Decided I’d start checking out some of the sights around our town, having been here almost two years I’m running out of excuses why I know nothing about the city unless it exists on my drive in to work, or serves Vindaloo.
Todays destination was the HMCS Haida (which I remember from my childhood as being at Ontario Place, but has since moved to Hamilton), a WWII era Destroyer that was decommissioned following Korea and the Cold War.
It is closed for a few weeks yet, so I wasn’t able to tour the boat, but did snap a quick photo and used the ride as an opportunity to test the new DVR Sunglasses.
I did manage to beat the rain home, but was only wheeling around for about an hour. If the weather holds I’ll likely sneak out again today as it’s back to work tommorow.
The third (and final) Sunglass DVR I’m testing cost $60CDN, three times the cost of the versions I tested earlier. The good news is that these look like sunglasses, rather than pregnant bifocals.
Video quality appears the same (a low light test is likely in the near future) but the true benefit of this version is that it appears to save the video files in 900Mb chunks, and if you let it run non-stop it doesn’t eat the video but saves what it has left.
As a significant con the glasses lack any padding on the bridge of the nose, and seem to be configured for someone with a wider head than me (I plan to fix both of these issues, but inside a motorcycle helmet they are not of any real consequence).
So a half hour ago I found myself sitting in the passenger seat of a taxi, holding my helmet and gazing out the rear window as my motorcycle grew smaller and smaller in the distance.
I can have her back tomorrow, this is more dependant on the weather than anything else right now, 3 hours work according to the book, and they’ll climb all over her. 1042km on the clock now, with this service out of the way I can zip around like a maniac for the whole season.
Still don’t like her spending time away from home, though, not one bit.
Almost identical to the first pair I tried out, this pair seems to have different colored LED flashes, but functions in all other respects like the first pair.
I’m going to trim the buttons less aggressively this time, so I don’t have to mangle the internals with a pocket knife.
Will see if these glasses suffer from the same “ghost file” issue that the other pair did, and if there is any difference in field of vision or image quality.
(This is the second of three pairs I’ll be testing – the first was free, this pair cost $20CDN, and the final pair costs $60)
Edited to add: Am seeing exactly the same reliability issues with this pair as the first. Recorded my ride into work and back, the recording TO work was fine, the recording FROM work turned into a ghost file and the camera froze requiring a hard reset.
I’m not sure what is causing the problem, but these glasses can really NOT be relied upon. Additionally I can still NOT set the date/time on these things! So an inexpensive novelty, rather than a useful tool.
