Hey all, Thinking of picking up a head cam to record my explorations a bit easier. Does anyone have any recommendations? I would need something that can work while having a respirator on, but I don't really see why any headcam would cause an issue there. Hopefully looking for something not too expensive, as I am on a budget haha.
Get a used GoPro on ebay. You can find them for a great price (the ones for good prices are the ones you've got to bid for). I'd rather not have worn on the head because it might get in the way (respirator straps, headlamp, sunglasses). I'd rather have it rigged to my chest, it's more secure that way as well. There is also an alternative to that, which is a chest rig for your phone camera. You'd only be spending around 30 bucks for that.
It tends to pick up an annoying rattling noise from the camera rattling around in the waterproof case. A little bit of TP stuffed in with the camera dampens the rattling.
The brand on my first one was "Contour" I think it was called a Contour Roam. For wearing it I drilled a hole through a baseball cap and used a 1/4" nut to "mount" it. lol
I ended up getting a DJI Action camera as an upgrade and it came with a head strap/mount.
Only issue I have had with either is I usually have an LED light panel attached to the top of my camera and it can interfere sometimes.
On a budget, I am quite happy with go pro 10. it was just 250$ on amazon recently. Stabilization is impressive, especially if you enable horizon. (I may be biased here because my last go pro was seven generations ago) Battery life is non-existent, but enough if you don't push it to the max (not that my computer can handle 4k anyways). Recommend a chest harness. 2.7k at 60 fps with horizon.
Posted by Jeremys556 Hey all, Thinking of picking up a head cam to record my explorations a bit easier. Does anyone have any recommendations? I would need something that can work while having a respirator on, but I don't really see why any headcam would cause an issue there. Hopefully looking for something not too expensive, as I am on a budget haha.
Since the topic of GoPros has come up, I'd like to share my underground video camera rig. My gear is a number of years old now and probably ready for an update. That said, the philosophy of the setup is still valid and it takes great video.
The camera is a GP-8 housed in a Ulanzi cage. The cage provides additional protection, and more importantly, the ability to mount a clear filter in front of the lens. If I scratch the filter, I can screw it off and throw on another one. Not so easy when I scratch the camera lens. It also has a battery door with an opening for a USB cable which solves the battery life problem.
The light panel is an Aputure F7 which provides an amazing amount of light. It also has color control so you can dial-in the color temperature you like.
We are underground for hours at a time and I'm running the camera for much of the time. Rather than carrying around a bunch of batteries, I use a Andecine battery plate with a NP-F900 battery. That powers both the GoPro and the light panel so I never run out of power. I may need to change chips, but not batteries.
All of that is mounted on a cheap 'C' handle that costs $15 all over Amazon.
This setup has worked amazingly well considering the places I've taken it.
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Posted by Kabes Get a used GoPro on ebay. You can find them for a great price (the ones for good prices are the ones you've got to bid for). I'd rather not have worn on the head because it might get in the way (respirator straps, headlamp, sunglasses). I'd rather have it rigged to my chest, it's more secure that way as well. There is also an alternative to that, which is a chest rig for your phone camera. You'd only be spending around 30 bucks for that.
I was thinking of getting a chest mount for it, but I was worried it might not record what i'm actually looking at
I was thinking of getting a chest mount for it, but I was worried it might not record what i'm actually looking at
Whether it's a head mount or a chest mount, you need to be aware that you are filming and control your body motion accordingly. A friend of mine was wearing a head mounted camera when we were out. When I got the video it was unusable because he was looking all over without any thought of what the camera was recording. The video would make me motion sick.
If you are considering putting your videos online, or even making videos for you and your friends, you probably want find some video editing software and start learning video editing. There can be a substantial learning curve for editing if you want to make them look good. I won't even get into what a struggle audio can be. LOL!
I agree with the idea of a used GoPro. Even a couple of generations back, they are really good.
Abby Normal
"Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem." Ronald Reagan
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