Articles
About Bicycling Video
|
Search sheldonbrown.com and sheldonbrown.org
Starting in 2006 with the introduction of the first GoPro camera, miniature digital video cameras have become increasingly popular with bicyclists, to record rides, assist with instruction, document riding conditions and provide evidence in case of a crash. The articles listed on this page describe some of these cameras, ways to use them, and techniques for editing video which they produce.
A modern camera with many advanced features, including image stabilization
A small, versatile and inexpensive camera, but i've ahd a reliability issue.
This camera takes video in the round, keeps it upright and points in the direction you are riding. Pricey, though!
The first high-definition GoPro, very reliable. I still use one.
Contour was GoPro's main competition around 2012. My Contour camera has neat features, laser aiming and a rotatable sensor. It served me well until I dropped it and it went out of focus. This is supposed to be fixable and I've tried, but I have yet to succeed.
Techmoan, Matt, reviews action cameras, thoroughly, with a sense of humour. (Spelling is intentional: he is British). Note though that he reviews new cameras and so he can't test reliability. I've had a couple of Mobius cameras he recommended quit just after the warranty ran out. Otherwise, his reviews have been very helpful.
Some newer cameras start-stop in synch by wi-fi, but it is also possible to synchronize using hand claps, a variation on the classic Hollywood clapperboard technique.
A description of the different types of image stabilization and how they work with bicycle video.
A free video processing application that runs in Windows, with a large array of plug-ins, useful especially for preprocessing.
Deinterlacing improves the display quality of old standard-definition videos, especially as displayed on a computer screen. There is a rather good deinterlacing plug-in for VirtualDub.
Deshaker is a highly configurable image-stabilization plugin which produces excellent results with bicycle video. You must change the settings, though!
By default, VirtualDub saves in .AVI format, but with some plugins and a workaround, it can save to .MP4, which makes smaller files and works better in video editors.
An article on another site -- helpful with old tapes.
I use Pinnacle Studio Ultimate software, which is derived from very high-end Avid software. Review is here.
You'll want a picture in picture when shooting front and rear video. Pinnacle has accumulated several different ways to create a picture in picture, with overlapping features. This article will help you figure out which module to use.
Preventing and recovering from some bad behavior.
Last Updated: by John Allen