Action camera/ go pro for DS9

[polkadotpjs]

I'm struggling to find something that I can get accessories for but that's easy to use and not necessarily millions of pounds (slight exaggeration but some of the Go pro things are £££). I'd like a basic easy to use camera for cycling and scooting - so needs a helmet strap possibility and also a hand held stick for Tik tok or similar. Though I keep deleting Tik Tok but he likes sending me and friends stuff. Help!

[tommika]

Generic action camera are very good and are more likely to come with a section of mounts included at a fraction of the cost of just the equivalent GoPro with no extras.

Put down a checklist of what features he will need:

Modes / video quality - any current cameras picture quality will exceed YouTube, TikTok etc
Image stabilisation - A very nice feature to avoid the viewer getting motion sickness

How is he going to transfer (and edit)his videos?
All cameras are likely to have a cable option and the card can be removed if using a computer. But if the camera has WiFi or Bluetooth you can directly copy to a phone etc and may be a able to live view and remote control the camera using an app

Memory cards - 32gb is a good size, but extras are handy
Spare batteries (or a USB battery pack) if he is likely to be out filming a long time each day. See if you can identify the battery it uses and if it is a common battery


Accessories:
Case - ‘waterproof’ cases are an essential to protect from bumps, a few come with both waterproof & ‘skeleton’ cases to allow for the microphone to be open
GoPro style fittings are preferred for compatibility, and most use those

Mount selection- Check what is included in the pack, but there are many budget compatible mount sets

He will most likely need, or find a use for:
Handlebar bike mounts etc
Head strap
Mini tripod
‘Handheld monopod’ AKA selfie stick

(Add a chopped up Poundland bicycle inner tube as a rubber strap to make some mounts more stable)

[polkadotpjs]

@tommika thank you you much for taking the time to reply. I'll get my research going now I have an idea what to look for.
Regarding the accessories do you mean by go pro brand as they fit on all types including generic? Thank you!

[tommika]

[quote polkadotpjs]@tommika thank you you much for taking the time to reply. I'll get my research going now I have an idea what to look for.
Regarding the accessories do you mean by go pro brand as they fit on all types including generic? Thank you![/quote]
I wouldn’t tend to buy genuine GoPro branded fittings, but they will be to the ‘best’ quality
I would recommend the generic fittings that use the same type of fitting as GoPro

I have a mini travel bag stuffed full of the fittings I’ve acquired over time, some came with cameras and some came as fitting sets - I would keep my eyes open for cheap deals.
Some cheap sets are as good as genuine GoPro, and some are clearly a lower quality plastic but I’ve not had a problem with any of them.

If he gets into lots of filming then an optional extra is Polymorph plastic - this comes as a bag of beads. Put some in hot water and it forms a mouldable piece of plastic. This is brilliant for customizing fittings

[polkadotpjs]

Ooh yes I've seen that stuff. It's magic!! Thanks v much

[RevIMJolly]

Hello there - can I just ask as well, do you have any brands that you would recommend? Or packages that look good?

Many thanks

[tommika]

For cameras I have no major brand loyalty, and so many of them are clones - often with the same underlying chip.
My favourite was the Contour, which is tubular and is compact on the side of a head/helmet, much better than a GoPro box on the side. Contours have their own style of mount and mine also has a standard thread.
GoPro won the action camera war and the market is full of GoPro style nowadays and that’s where I’d say to go for a general use action cam.
SJ___ cameras tend to be good, but any generic brand measures up these days.
When someone’s got more serious and knows what suits them then they can look into what type/quality the sensor is, how good it is in particular modes etc and how well it performs in sunlight, indoors or whether it needs to be best at coping with going from indoors to out with the change in condition.

Nowadays pick a 4K capable camera that is at a reasonable price.



For accessory packs I would tend to go for these types:

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01CSB2M2C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dlC_5LNWFbG30AQ48?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21


You would be hard to find any brand difference between these accessory sets, some of my camera accessories have been CamKix branded.

To pick a selection, I would go for a range of different types of mounts and lots of the ‘arms’ that give choice. If it’s going to be put on and off many different things then opt for sets that have lots of spare 3m adhesive pads. When using the pads and particularly if being ‘active’ with a camera then always tether it as well, even if it’s just a piece of cord tied to the camera and the object, so if the mount fails the camera hangs on instead of flying off

Search you favourite online shop for ‘action cam accessories’ and you should find a few selection packs under £20. You could pay £10 to £20 for a single mount and these packs aren’t the finest quality but they give a good start, plus sometimes quantity helps a lot to solve the mounting problem of the day. I’ve gathered a number of packs which means I have a bag full and can put together some form of mount such as attaching a camera to me, a bike, skateboard, car windscreen, a helmet, a wall, a tree etc or even just putting an action camera on top of a stills DSLR*

• To put an action camera onto a stills camera I use a ‘hot shoe flash mount’ which I’ve never seen in a section pack that included them. Mine have used the ‘normal’ threaded mount of cameras. Some action cameras have a threaded socket on the camera and GoPro style mounts on their case, but particularly as they get smaller the threaded mounts may no longer come on all action cameras.
  
  www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KFUBALM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ayOWFbD1WH1Q3?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21
  
  www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MU73LLA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_DWNWFbEYZQWK3?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21