There haven’t been many updates on here for a while...sorry about that... I’ve been ill recently, so I’ve done nothing but scouting since the Macclesfield meetup really.
A couple of weeks ago I started feeling better though, so I popped up to Whinlatter to check out the condition of the competition track and to try out a new video camera I’ve picked up.
Whinlatter was wet. And cold. And you can get really demotivated riding solo in those conditions (especially with the 45min walk to the top of all the trails). Still – I managed to get a few good runs in before calling it a day.
The camera I picked up is an Action Cam 3: VGA – I’ll say right now, dont expect it to be anywhere near GoPro quality; it’s a £40 camera after all...but someone at work had one they didn’t want and for £20 I thought I would give filming a go. My thinking is at that price its pretty disposable if I dont like it or it doesn’t work.
The camera is really easy to use – it has a single button and uses a micro USB to record on. It’s a solid metal construction, similar to the Ultrafire torches I use for nightriding and comes with a range of mounting possibilites. The video quality is ok but the audio is crap – but it pretty much always is when it’s only picking up the wind rushing by. If anyone is looking for an uber cheap camera to throw in a bag and capture some riding footage with, then this is definately an option – but dont expect to be the next One5Media.
You’ll notice there are no vids up from Whinlatter...that’s because I didn’t realise what sort of angle you need to mount the camera on your helmet at, if you want to record anything other than your front wheels and the floor. Pretty dull stuff...
I eventually worked out how to mount it properly and went out yesterday evening to Longride Fell to give it another go.
I will say in advance this is supposed to be a first test and me just messing around – I was shooting the trail that lead back to the car (so slow and not very interesting) and I did the “editing” in literally 3mins last night. I think the music works though J
Oh and the ending...the idea was to stop at the gates and try and crouch underneath and roll down the road to my car. I didn’t realise the gate wasn’t locked...
