What's the best way to film on a bike?

I've got a miniDV camera and just wondered if anyone has any experience filming, first person view?
Is it good to try and make a mount for the handlebars?
Any comments are greatly appreciated
thanks

first person? i would mount it to a helmet,you may look like a complete nobhead but it would get the angle right

i've used the helmet before- its good.
However if you're gonna get really creative i like the brake mount area.

I made a clamp for the top tube, one for the forks at low level and one for the seat tube. Some gaffa tape could also work and held my camera in place really well. I'd go for a proper mount though. Try the tripod/camera mount attached with two hose clamps and some "security" gaffa/duck tape. It's not pretty but it holds it still.

Like to see the results as mine were shot on a tiny camera and the quality was crap.

try here for inspiration

http://www.digave.com/videos/how.htm

If you mount the camera anywhere on the bike you will always get a lot of vibration/shake, mounting it on your head/helmet will give you a smoother result as you naturally 'float' your head about your body as you ride, it acts as a steady cam / vibration dampener.

Also if your camera has optical image stabilization switch it on, electronic stabilization is not as good (you take a quality / resolution hit) but the shaky image thing is such a big factor that I would use it in this circumstance.

Also a cheap wide angle lens (or converter) screwed on the front will improve bike footage massively as it not only widens your field of views but also smoothes out the shot. You can get real 'el cheapo' plastic clip on jobs from Jessops for around £20. I would go for a x0.5 or x0.6.

This guy has done loads of MTB videos and has instructions/suggestions:
http://www.petefagerlin.com/video_how_to.htm

thanks guys, lots to think about, i'll just have to start by making myself a mount

lucas has 2 cams mounted to the helmet, you can get a smaller attachment that will fit on the helmit and be easyer on your neck

You could stick this (below) on your helmet (sorry about the massive picture!) - and feed in into the AV inputs on (most) video cameras, the camera can then be in your rucksack/bag.

SpyCam™ - £39.99 from Maplins

http://www.maplin.co.uk/images/Full/n84cj.jpg

htay i've used the helmet before- its good.
However if you're gonna get really creative i like the brake mount area.

I used an old reflector mount to hold my old fuji digicam in place when I made these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwdpf7_AGGc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lSMKa6CTw0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnOiMoBYeq8

The camera I used was a bit shit and it was a bit dark. Also you seem to get more of a shaky cam from the bike. If the camera is mounted to you it's gonna have some kinda shock absorption.

btw the filming is from my old street and local industrial estate in Sunny New Basford/Forest Fields Nottingham. Go there on you next holiday.

if feel nausious after just watching that short clip (and this is coming from a person with a dodgy attenae and flicky channel 5)

if you mount it on a bike won't it just get shaken to pieces the picture will be arse
body mounted at least you'll get some kind of suspension / reduction in rattling around

Just get one of these?

http://www.shinyshack.com/product.php?prid=211171&pn=Action-Camera-ATC2000-%20-2GB-SD-Card&gaw=8pp4f&gclid=CMj75bTuz40CFQfmlAodvB6k6w

For the truly dedicated, a home made bike steady cam:

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY%3a-Bicycle---Steady-Cam---mount/

dicki if you mount it on a bike won't it just get shaken to pieces the picture will be arse
body mounted at least you'll get some kind of suspension / reduction in rattling around

tallsam The camera I used was a bit shit and it was a bit dark. Also you seem to get more of a shaky cam from the bike. If the camera is mounted to you it's gonna have some kinda shock absorption.

It's like an echo.

:D

tomiskinky Just get one of these?

http://www.shinyshack.com/product.php?prid=211171&pn=Action-Camera-ATC2000-%20-2GB-SD-Card&gaw=8pp4f&gclid=CMj75bTuz40CFQfmlAodvB6k6w

I've tried one of these Oregon Scientific helmet cams (albeit the older ATC-100) and they are really crappy. You can get much better results for practically the same price by using a regular digital still camera in video mode. I've recorded quite a lot of video with a Nikon S1 attached to my handlebars. For an example, see here.

Yes, there is a lot of rattling, although it's partly due to the fact that at the time I made this movie I hadn't yet figured out how to get the attachment right, and that the road surface was particularly bad. I agree with everyone else that a helmet mounted cam would be better, but I couldn't find a good mounting kit. The rider would also have to train himself not to move his head left and right much to avoid the nauseating swinging effect. Luc Brunelle must have had to practice for months to be able to make such amazing videos.

The de facto standard mount kits for anything other than helmets are made by RAM. They claim to have some degree of shock absorbtion.

View angle is a major issue. On ordinary cameras like the one I made the video with the angle is far too narrow, which has the tragic consequence that the motion actually looks slower than it really is. On the other hand, object appear closer than they are in reality.

. For the truly dedicated, a home made bike steady cam:

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY%3a-Bicycle---Steady-Cam---mount/

thing is the results are really not all that great, considering the amount of time he must've spent making it.

It's not just the shaking with bike mounted cams. If they are mounted on the handdle bars as you coorect your stearing / balance you get a shot that swings left to right all the time giveing the viewer a headache.

tallsam [quote]. For the truly dedicated, a home made bike steady cam:

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY%3a-Bicycle---Steady-Cam---mount/

thing is the results are really not all that great, considering the amount of time he must've spent making it.[/quote]

It's not a real steady cam. There are no counterweigths and no dampening. Springs alone don't help that much.

Another annoying thing about handlebar mounted cameras is that when you pedal standing up to accelarate and pull up on the handlebars you will get a left-right swinging effect.

Helmet + cheap mini DV + gaffer tape. So quick, so simple and so cheap.
Don't crash!
Its how we film when we go snowboarding.

risi thing is the results are really not all that great, considering the amount of time he must've spent making it.

It's not a real steady cam. There are no counterweigths and no dampening. Springs alone don't help that much.

Actually I didn't see the little movie link when I posted that - and yes you are right the results are not great for what looks like quite a bit of work, a lot of the vibration has gone but it still swings all over the place.

I would call anything that stabilizes camera motion a 'steady cam' (of sorts), the Coen brothers use a large plank of wood with the camera in the middle and a bloke on either end to stabilize the camera for moving shots in a lot of the their films.

Here is a hand held steady cam thing I made a couple of years back (counter weights and all) - without the camera mounted. It is mainly from skips, old bike parts I had lying around and general rubbish people had thrown out - the main base bar is a an old spirit level, the centre pole is two stanchions off a dead manitou suspension fork held together with seat post clamps, a 1-1/8th stem for the hand grip, a old crutch for arm support etc etc - the only thing I bought was the little monitor for something like £40 from Maplins. I even made my own counter weights by melting roofing lead in a pan on the stove and pouring the molten lead into ingots.

Jesus fucking christ, didn't I have anything better to do ! Still the results were great, I might think about designing a lightweight bike mount (??)

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/2324/29cg.jpg

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/1708/12ru4.jpg

....can you recommend a good and cheapish! DVD cam?

kipsy ....can you recommend a good and cheapish! DVD cam?

Of the consumer formats, for both standard definition and High definition.

DVD cam = ok quality
HDD cam = better quality
DV = best quality

If quality is not your main concern a DVD cam is pretty convenient.

I wouldn't hold out too much hope of using a DVD cam or a HDD cam on a bike as the vibration will stop the lazer (on a DVD) or writing head (on a HDD) and 'park' it when you go over your very first bump, I have no experience of using a DVD cam on a bike, but I did mount a little JVC MC500 (a HDD cam) on the front of my bike and even a slightly rough road (think: every road in London) parked the write heads even at slow speeds, I imagine that the DVD cam would do much the same.

DV (tape based) is not only superior quality (I have shot stuff on DV for Channel 4 and the BBC - and they are pretty fussy) but does not suffer the above problem, as the tape is wrapped helically and tightly around the record head, so you can strap it to a mountain bike going down hill at 30 miles an hour and it will continue to record. DV, DVD and HDD are now all around the same price (perhaps HDD being a little more expensive).

Your other option would be one of the newer solid state cameras, no moving parts, shake it all you like, it don't mind !