2nd camera to mount on bike: suggestions?

Moto Mengy

Motovlogger from PA, USA
Mar 23, 2020
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Hello all, I run a GoPro Hero 8 Black on my helmet but I'm considering buying 2nd camera to mount to the handlebars looking back at me. I see many other motovloggers doing this two-camera setup today and I have to admit I like it a lot.

My suspicion is I don't need anything as fancy as a Hero 8 for this. I see a lot of people running a Hero 5 Session on the bars and I'm leaning towards this myself. I can get a renewed one on Amazon for $130 which isn't too bad IMHO.

Any suggestions for an affordable fixed handlebar camera?
 

HippoDrone

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Jan 2, 2017
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2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660
I utterly love the Hero 5 session cameras, I so wish they would bring them back with the new tech of the 8.

I 100% recommend them, not the Hero Session, but the Hero 5 Session. They are discrete, so don't look stupid on the bars, the stabilisation is just about good enough to damp out bike vibes and the battery is not terrible on 1080/60. you can also power them while recording, so could plug it into a bike USB and have all day power!
 

WildOn2s

WildOn2s Vlog
Feb 18, 2020
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Indian Chief dark horse
Hello all, I run a GoPro Hero 8 Black on my helmet but I'm considering buying 2nd camera to mount to the handlebars looking back at me. I see many other motovloggers doing this two-camera setup today and I have to admit I like it a lot.

My suspicion is I don't need anything as fancy as a Hero 8 for this. I see a lot of people running a Hero 5 Session on the bars and I'm leaning towards this myself. I can get a renewed one on Amazon for $130 which isn't too bad IMHO.

Any suggestions for an affordable fixed handlebar camera?
Ya plenty of cameras out there. its just a different view so it changes the screen and keeps viewer engaged a bit longer. Don't know for a fact but think it does help.
 

WildOn2s

WildOn2s Vlog
Feb 18, 2020
115
100
28
44
San Antonio,Tx
I ride a
Indian Chief dark horse
I utterly love the Hero 5 session cameras, I so wish they would bring them back with the new tech of the 8.

I 100% recommend them, not the Hero Session, but the Hero 5 Session. They are discrete, so don't look stupid on the bars, the stabilisation is just about good enough to damp out bike vibes and the battery is not terrible on 1080/60. you can also power them while recording, so could plug it into a bike USB and have all day power!
i do wish they brought it back
 

Madlad

Absolute Madlad
Apr 24, 2020
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Canada
I ride a
2014 Yamaha R6
I just ordered a hero 7 black because it was on sale; I plan on putting my current hero 3+ on the bike, I just hope that it doesn't look terrible with the vibration. Will report back with results lol
 
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WEB

L Plate Member
Feb 14, 2020
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If you haven't bought anything yet, maybe consider a 360 Camera so you can turn it around and get shots of other things as well as your head. I know nothing about them but it seems like a concept.
 

Moto Mengy

Motovlogger from PA, USA
Mar 23, 2020
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I ride a
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They are discrete, so don't look stupid on the bars, the stabilisation is just about good enough to damp out bike vibes and the battery is not terrible on 1080/60. you can also power them while recording, so could plug it into a bike USB and have all day power!

Now that's interesting, I could easily plug my USB port near the bars into the Session 5 then!

I'm not worried about bike vibrations at all on the bars. The new Goldwing's fork design pretty much eliminates all bar vibrations, it's smooth as silk even on bumpy roads.


If you haven't bought anything yet, maybe consider a 360 Camera so you can turn it around and get shots of other things as well as your head. I know nothing about them but it seems like a concept.

That's a super interesting thought. I've seen a few motovloggers trying them out and they do seem handy. It would cost more of course because those 360 cams aren't cheap, but yes it would allow me to get all manner of views on my rides as well. I think I'm going to look into a 360 now that you mention it.

Maybe I'll get the cheap Session 5 for now and a 360 Cam in a year or so. I could demote the Session 5 to a walking hand cam at that point, LOL.
 

Meifesto

Semi-Suicidal Dutchie
Jan 5, 2013
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Yamaha XT660R
I love the Firefly S8 as a secondary camera.
Works great, and not as expensive.

S9 is out already i think (?), so that might be a better option. ;)
 

Moto Mengy

Motovlogger from PA, USA
Mar 23, 2020
1,115
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I ride a
2018 Honda Goldwing Tour DCT
Yeah the Firefly S8 does look to be a pretty good camera, but it seems to go for about $150 and I can get a Hero 5 Session for under $130.

Still thinking about a 360 camera though, going to do some research on that today.

Lots of choices, lol.
 

Meifesto

Semi-Suicidal Dutchie
Jan 5, 2013
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I ride a
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Yeah the Firefly S8 does look to be a pretty good camera, but it seems to go for about $150 and I can get a Hero 5 Session for under $130.

Still thinking about a 360 camera though, going to do some research on that today.

Lots of choices, lol.

360 will come here as well, as soon as i win a grand or 2 xD
 

Madlad

Absolute Madlad
Apr 24, 2020
104
94
28
Canada
I ride a
2014 Yamaha R6
I just ordered a hero 7 black because it was on sale; I plan on putting my current hero 3+ on the bike, I just hope that it doesn't look terrible with the vibration. Will report back with results lol

I got a really good angle, but alot of vibration on the Hero3+ or maybe it was just the shite roads here. I'll see what I can do to stabilize it in post. On my next video you can see the results for yourselves and maybe save some money ;)
 

humes

Colorado Motovlogger
May 17, 2020
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Denver, CO
www.instagram.com
I ride a
2012 Ducati Monster 696
Playing around with this myself. I did go with a second GoPro Hero 8, though (was on sale for ~$200).

As for how I mounted it, I purchased a ram ball that screws into where my OEM mirrors went and bought additional pieces. It's still too low of an angle and close up for my liking, so bought some additional arms to extend it out a bit that are coming in Friday.

And for editing (in case helpful for you), Final Cut Pro has a "multicam clip" option, so I turned on both cameras, clap within view of both so I can sync later, load both into separate files in a project folder (e.g. /helmet, /handlebars), import into FCP, grab the first two clips from each, set up a multicam clip, sync to when I clapped, then overlay all the additional clips (since GoPro's cut into multipart clips).

From there, easy to edit in real time and flip to each angle in "angles" view. Not sure what you use for editing software, but guessing may be a similar path to managing edits. One thing I am still looking to do is get my two cameras to import into FCP based on camera name or such, so the different views are nicely organized into sub-folders, etc.

Should get to play more this weekend and can report back just for mutual sharing/learnings.
 
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STR-Rider

Triple Rider
Aug 20, 2015
37
39
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Tokyo, Japan
triple-rider.com
I ride a
Street Triple RS (2018)
I just started adding a 2nd camera on my videos and possibly adding a 3rd view since I now have 3 cameras. Currently running a main Hero7 Black on the helmet and a Hero8 on the handlebars. Since the Hero8 has the USB-C on the opposite side, I've not changed my helmet setup to match the Hero8 (yet) and I'm not sure I will, lol.

For editing, I use Premiere Pro CC and depending on how the clips synch, I just nest the clips and then make sure they're lined up in the nested sequence. After that, I just go through hitting 1 or 2 to switch camera views depending how it looks. (Premiere Pro CC has a auto-synch feature for multi-camera but I've had problems when clips are different lengths. Manual works fine...)

For the 3rd camera, I'm trying to see which view works best. Candidates are front facing at the mid-fork level, Front facing but on the right side, at the passenger foot peg or a rear facing from the tail.

I've had serious bad luck with remotes. It always locks up when recording... I think the remote I got is just junk. (official GoPro Smart Remote)

360 Stuff - Thinking about it, but not sure how it will really work unless I just do city view rides which people seem to like.
 

Moto Mengy

Motovlogger from PA, USA
Mar 23, 2020
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I ride a
2018 Honda Goldwing Tour DCT
Playing around with this myself. I did go with a second GoPro Hero 8, though (was on sale for ~$200).

Where did you find a Hero 8 for $200? The cheapest I've seen it yet is $340.

Two Hero 8's would have the benefit of sharing battery packs, which would be handy.
 

HippoDrone

Admin
Jan 2, 2017
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2017 Suzuki GSX-R750
2020 Beta 390RR
2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660
also the batteries from the GoPro Hero 5, 6 & 7 also fit the 8! :)
 

humes

Colorado Motovlogger
May 17, 2020
106
136
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Denver, CO
www.instagram.com
I ride a
2012 Ducati Monster 696
Where did you find a Hero 8 for $200? The cheapest I've seen it yet is $340.

Two Hero 8's would have the benefit of sharing battery packs, which would be handy.

Hmm, glad you asked me to clarify as I just looked up my receipt and it was $299, not $199 like I falsely recalled. Thought I got a deal on it, but seems $299 is what AMZN has listed as well.

FWIW, I'm also liking two of the same GoPro's so I can do the same settings to keep my edits consistent; e.g. I fiddled with white balance and other settings and wanted both to match. Stabilization should help on handlebar, too.
 
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HippoDrone

Admin
Jan 2, 2017
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1984 Honda CB100-N
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2017 Suzuki GSX-R750
2020 Beta 390RR
2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660
I am lucky with where I work, I get a discount on things like GoPros occasionally, and my work gives us a Christmas voucher we can use in that store too, so I got my Hero 8 for £230 iirc... and for how well it videos, was well chuffed.
 

STR-Rider

Triple Rider
Aug 20, 2015
37
39
18
Tokyo, Japan
triple-rider.com
I ride a
Street Triple RS (2018)
also the batteries from the GoPro Hero 5, 6 & 7 also fit the 8! :)
True, but supposedly some features of the 8 are disabled when using the older battery styles. (Just Hypersmooth I think) But yeah for generic stuff, they work fine.

and for how well it videos, was well chuffed.
Had to look that term up, learned something new. :)
 
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