I ride Enduro and sometimes what some would consider "Hard Enduro" type trails on full on off road bikes (not dual sport) I purchase a camer but I ended up returning the Hero 5 last year as I had many problems with it. It was just released at the time so maybe some of the kinks have been worked out in firmware.
I'm trying to decide between 3 cameras at the moment all about $400 as of this writing (GP Hero 6, Sony x3000 and the Garmin Virb U30) with the Sony being favored simply for the optical stabilization. I'll list what I see as the selling points of each camera for my needs, but what I think I need may not really matter in practice?
I would like to utilize some kind of chinbar mount, either Proshot, or the Dango Designs type. I like the idea of the Dango since it's transferable to other helmets and can be used off the helmet quickly.
Also all of these cameras are capable of 4k filming, but I think 1080p is more than fine for my needs. 4k just eats battery and slows down processing. I think most of the time I would film at 1080/60fps or maybe 120fps if I know i'm going to want to slow the footage down in post. and the option for 240 is nice if you know the shot is going to look great slowed down..but not practical to film in that rate 99% of the time
I don't really see myself posting a lot of videos on youtube as a motovlogger or anything, it's more for my personal use, my friends and I have been practicing some cross-training enduro stuff and it's a great tool to get feedback on your technique or what your suspension is doing through an obstacle. That's why I liked the hero 6 for the ultra slow motion. On the other hand I like to have a cam running all the time just to capture those few moments on the trail when you say "**** I wish I had that on film" some that I can think of off hand: chasing a bear up a tree (not on purpose) bobcats and rattlesnakes, and of course filming your buddies coming up short.
I also like the idea of the dango designs gripper mount so you can easily hop off the bike and film hand held third person footage. but don't know anyone with it.
Sony Considerations:
GoPro Hero 6 Considerations
Garmin Virb Ultra 30 considerations
I'm trying to decide between 3 cameras at the moment all about $400 as of this writing (GP Hero 6, Sony x3000 and the Garmin Virb U30) with the Sony being favored simply for the optical stabilization. I'll list what I see as the selling points of each camera for my needs, but what I think I need may not really matter in practice?
I would like to utilize some kind of chinbar mount, either Proshot, or the Dango Designs type. I like the idea of the Dango since it's transferable to other helmets and can be used off the helmet quickly.
Also all of these cameras are capable of 4k filming, but I think 1080p is more than fine for my needs. 4k just eats battery and slows down processing. I think most of the time I would film at 1080/60fps or maybe 120fps if I know i'm going to want to slow the footage down in post. and the option for 240 is nice if you know the shot is going to look great slowed down..but not practical to film in that rate 99% of the time
I don't really see myself posting a lot of videos on youtube as a motovlogger or anything, it's more for my personal use, my friends and I have been practicing some cross-training enduro stuff and it's a great tool to get feedback on your technique or what your suspension is doing through an obstacle. That's why I liked the hero 6 for the ultra slow motion. On the other hand I like to have a cam running all the time just to capture those few moments on the trail when you say "**** I wish I had that on film" some that I can think of off hand: chasing a bear up a tree (not on purpose) bobcats and rattlesnakes, and of course filming your buddies coming up short.
I also like the idea of the dango designs gripper mount so you can easily hop off the bike and film hand held third person footage. but don't know anyone with it.
Sony Considerations:
- Best stabilization hands down
- higher bit rates available for recording (if sd card supports them)
- better mic when not in the waterproof housing
- Form factor sucks for chinbar mounting. I've seen Everide's method which I could duplicate, just not sure it would hold up where I ride (constant face slapping branches) Maybe a dango mount with gopro adapters holding it off to the side a bit?
- Waterproof once in the housing, but then it's very bulky and heavy and the microphone goes to crap
- will do 240 fps, but only in 720p
- 3.5mm mic adapter built in!
- splash proof naked (optional lens protector costs $30 and is rectangular)
GoPro Hero 6 Considerations
- form factor that is conducive to chin bar mounting (which I think is the best view) and allows you to see what the camera is doing
- excellent processor and 240fps available in 1080p which makes for awesome slow mo
- rear touch screen display makes it quick and easy to change settings
- waterproof without a case
- easily replaceable lens protector
- tons of accessories available
- I'm told the EIS in the Hero 6 is the best there is right now, but I don't know that even matters since you can apply warp stabilization in post....to me if it doesn't have OIS then it's a wash since EIS can be done in post to whatever level you would like. the built in EIS does make post editing quicker if you are happy with how they are doing it.
Garmin Virb Ultra 30 considerations
- uses GoPro mounts, so will work with Chinbar mounting
- needs case to be waterproof but still seems to be comparable to Gopro?
- physical start/stop switch (when it's forward you know you are recording...no asking "Is it on?")
- decent audio even in it's waterproof case
- Video specs are not as high as Sony, or GoPro but it has G-Metrics, wifi, bluetooth, and ANT+ which will let you connect wireless mics or other sensors...of course the more you turn on the more battery it uses.
- gmetrics overlays are kind of cool, but I would probably only use heart rate and maybe mph.
- It would be nice if you could overlay the GPS on top of google maps to trail mapping (I don't know if this is possible?)
- I like that it has the ability to take a photo with the shutter button even when recording video
- from the footage I've seen the EIS is on par with Hero 5 but not up to the Hero 6 level, but as I said I'm not overly concerned with EIS as I don't like the un-natural "chicken head" things it does to the video quality and it can always be added in post.
