Video camera for riding on a holiday on horseback

[Mxflamingnoravera]

I am about to go on a riding holiday and am thinking it would nice to have some moving memories of my ride. Does anyone here have a recomendation for a body or helmet cam that is easy and safe to use? It is not to record my riding, more to see the countryside and speed etc.

All the helmet cams I have seen (apart from cambox which is not currently available and more than I want to pay) look like they stand too proud of my helmet and could get caught on a branch or knock my head awkwardly if I were to take a tumble.

What have you used successfully? Under £150 if possible.

Be careful mounting one on a helmet, Michael Schumacher had one on his ski helmet and it didn’t help.

I would never use a helmet mounted camera. V dangerous if you take a fall.

@Footballcominghome that is exactly why I am nervous of anything helmet mounted.

I would check to see if you are allowed to take one, and be very honest about your riding capabilities. Unless you're a pretty decent rider (and if I'm being honest I would doubt that you are if you're wanting to record a holiday) it could dangerously distract you from what you should be doing. Apologies if you've had your own ponies at home from age 5 to 35.

@dunkaccino I think she means a wearable camera not something she’ll be holding.

I know a lot of riders who wear a go pro on their chests with a cross fastening

There are plenty of body cams out there.

Have a look at some for dog walkers - many use them to record walks in case they need proof for insurance purposes.

I can't see it being a problem to wear a camera on your chest.

I do mean a wearable camera. It's a distraction - if you're good you can fiddle with a camera, adjust your position to get a great shot, look down & twist to check the camera etc and you have a sticky arse and good balance if something happens. If you're not good, then faffing with a camera is not good and not good things are more likely to happen.

I think OP means she'd just set it up before the ride and just leave it to record while she was out.

I've been riding since I was 6. I'm 59 now, I've not Olympic standard but I'm competent over a cross country course, I've done small competitions and I had a pony from 10-15 years old when boys took over as my main interest!

I now only have time to ride on holiday, I'm going alone so I've no one to "share" the experience with, hence wanting a body cam to share it with myself.

Ive ridden all over the world and never had any photographic or moving images of my experience. I'd like to have this for this ride. I'm riding from the mountains to the coast of Wales.

I had a go pro but I’m sure you can get cheaper versions. They are tiny really and the helmet mount was fine. It was in a case so you can leave the mount on the helmet and just take the camera out when you’ve finished. It is a bit fiddly to get the mount on - from memory you fed it round the straps so it didn’t interfere with your helmet. Alternatively it came with a chest mount but I’m not sure how effective that would be for recording as you need to have camera about the horse really.

Above the horse.. not about!

I think I've left it too late now, but thanks anyway folks! Maybe someone else on the ride will have on who can share their film. Never mind, there are some things we cannot keep, except in our memories.

@dunkaccino

I do mean a wearable camera. It's a distraction - if you're good you can fiddle with a camera, adjust your position to get a great shot, look down & twist to check the camera etc and you have a sticky arse and good balance if something happens. If you're not good, then faffing with a camera is not good and not good things are more likely to happen.

That makes no sense. I’ve got a go pro I use when I hack out. I set it all up before I get on. Once I’m on I press the button on the camera and off I go.

A gopro with a chest mount/straps. Plenty second hand gopros about that will be within your price range.

I'll shove my phone on an elbow strap and use headphone controls. I'm leaving tomorrow, so it's the only option now. It'll be grand.

As you’ve mentioned it may be too late for you, but there is an abundance of decent action cameras.
There’s no need to go for the latest GoPro as there are so many clones and alternatives, you can probably pick one up along the way

Aim for as small as possible and for a bundle that includes the camera and some fittings. You will need to add a micro SD card and ensure you have a power source. It’s handy to have some USB power packs to recharge during the day, and/or spare batteries.
Even better if you have a laptop (plus a suitable card reader adaptor) to copy and clear the card for more footage - alternatively carry extra cards to swap

Even the cheapest cameras will have decent quality modes that exceed the standards of YouTube etc. So don’t worry if the camera doesn’t have the latest mode - you can get cheap cameras running at 4K
The highest quality cameras are better at passing between bright light and darkness such as walking indoors on a sunny day. But all will cope once they have had a moment to adjust

Don’t screw anything in to a helmet. Use stick on pads and add a tether line - the tether ties the camera to an extra point on your helmet etc in case it gets a hard knock

If you get the chance then buy a cheap accessory bundle with a range of mounts from Amazon etc. These will tend to have body straps, lots of various sized mounting arms, more sticky pads and floats

I preferred the Contour style cameras which are barrel shaped and mounted to the side of a helmet. They went out of business as GoPro cornered the market, but there are a few similar designs about

@Tommika I wouldn’t recommend tethering a camera to a hat. Imagine you take a fall directly onto the camera, it would be pushed through the hat into your head. Hats are designed to crush on impact and absorb the force, they were not designed with these cameras in mind.

I've given up for today, I'm just about to head to the yard, but good advice from all. I'm uncomfortable with a helmet cam so I'll look at body cam for next time. As I said earlier, some things cannot be captured or owned and this for me, this time is one of those things.