Cheap 4K action cams on a motorcycle (as a dash-cam alternative, or making your own motorcycle film

[S21FOLGORE]

Definition of cheap : under $100 USD for everything you need to start.
(batteries, charger, camera mount, etc etc)

Well, if you are reading this,
most probably you are not a motovlogger / professional film maker,
and you really don’t want to spend $350 for GoPro Hero 8 black, right?


You are thinking to use them as a “cheap dash-cam alternative”

or,

you just want something to capture the memory of journey.

Either way, you are not interested in investing over $300 for action cam,
not interested in spending a lot of money / time for post production.

So, ...
I’d share some latest info about ‘CHEAP action cam”
using two cameras as examples.









Camera 1
Dragon Touch Vista 5

DSC00042 by T K, on Flickr


https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Touch-Vista-Waterproof-Accessories/dp/B07XRNCT25/

Currently around $80 on Amazon.
This is a real 4K camera. Basically rebranded more famous / popular
Akaso V50X which is just around $100.
(Akaso always costs more than the same unit sold under different brand.)
https://www.amazon.com/AKASO-V50X-Waterproof-External-Accessories/dp/B07TYKS8SF/CK9


Camera 2
Dragon Touch Vision 4

DSC00041 by T K, on Flickr


https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Touch-Underwater-Batteries-Accessories/dp/B07GZNFNYM/


Currently around $50 on Amazon.
This is a fake 4k camera. Basically rebranded Akaso EK7000, which is “Amazon’s choice”, “Amazon’s #1 seller”
right now.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HGM33HG/ref=psdc_3350171_t1_B07JR1XZ78



#1 Some important things you may or may not know (Before we start)

Price: How cheap can you go?

Around $75 to 100, that’s what I’d recommend.
(Such as Dragon Touch Vista 5 / AKASO V50X)

NOT because they are real 4K cameras, but because over all build quality
(and performance as video camera)
significantly drops when you go down to $50-75 price range
(Even Chinese manufacturers have to cut corners to keep the production cost THAT low.)

And that “difference in build quality” shows in the areas such as

date/time set up gets cleared (reset) EVERY TIME you change the battery

Battery loading gate is so cheaply made and flimsy.
You always wonder if you’re going break or loose it.


Audio /wind noise
Well, to be honest, for dash cam duty, you don’t need audio. Period.
(I have Mobius on my S4R as a dash cam, and I didn’t do anything about wind block,
simply because I installed it as dash cam. )

DSC00044 by T K, on Flickr

(I really like its discreetness. Unless you are really into spy cam, you can’t tell where the camera is.)

DSC00045 by T K, on Flickr


However, if you are going to show the video to friends, post them on Youtube, etc,
this is something you have to think about.

(Even though I have posted many video that were taken from dash cam footage
(therefore, with full of wind blast noise) on Youtube, it’s better to minimize the wind noise f
or viewing pleasure.)

Dragon Touch Vision 4 comes with (cheap) lapel mic, and it can use any auxiliary mic.
(But the aux mic jack is “sub-mini”, so you will have to buy adaptor separately.
AKASO EK7000 also has the same mic jack. I’ll telly why, shortly after.)

Dragon Touch Vista 5 (and AKASO V50x), you can use their lapel mic.
(which are currently unavailable.)
You can’t use usb-c to mini jack converter + regular mic.
So, if you want to use external mic, you have find theirs.



Fake Amazon review and dirty business tactics

ALL cheap action cams coming from China on Amazon around $50- 70 price range with with
external mic jack, 4K, have THE SAME hardware, therefore, they all have the same problem
/ quality level of video/audio quality.

Don’t think all these sellers make their own cameras.
Dragon Tech Vision 4, AKASO EK7000, Bolfan, Apeman, Victure, Crosstour, etc, etc,
ALL OF THEM use Mstar 8328Q Chipset + Sony IMX179 Sensor, and
they all have the same problem.

M-star by T K, on Flickr

IMX179 by T K, on Flickr

This hardware is obsolete, low quality, and getting really cheap.
So, the manufacturers of these cheap action cam in China are buying these hardware
for real cheap and just putting them in a cheap plastic housing.
AKASO EK7000, which are sold at about $55 on Amazon, is really $25-$30 worth camera
with touch screen.
Yet, 70% of buyers giving 5-star rating.
Do you know why?

Because these companies offer “free gift” for those who write 5-star reviews on Amazon.
(In extreme case, they offer 100% refund if the buyer writes 5-star review.)

So, you can’t trust Amazon’s customer review.
Because quite a bit of 5-star rating reviews are fake.
And, if they are not fake, they were written by clueless people
who don’t know anything about video camera.

Are GoPro cameras over priced?

The simple answer is , No.
There’s a difference between
“I can’t afford it” and “the product is overpriced”.
The less intelligent people tend to use the word “over priced”
when they can’t afford something.

To be honest, if you can stretch the budget up to $200,
buy GoPro HERO 5 Black (E-Commerce Packaging), which are now on sale
at around $150, then call it a day.

https://www.amazon.com/GoPro-Hero5-Black-E-Commerce-Packaging/dp/B01MT0TJOM/


But, I still wouldn’t buy them,
Partly because I’m not a fan of GoPro foam factor.
Partly because I’m not really an “action cam” guy.
(I’m more of a “dash cam” “security cam” kind of guy.)

Okay, enough about talking.
Let’s take a look at some example videos.

(Keep in mind that videos posted on Youtube ALWAYS lose quality.
If any of you really wants to watch raw file, let me know.
I will try to share raw video file, maybe using Googledrive or something.)

So, Vista 5 was in waterproof case (look at the photo near the top)
shot in 1080p 30fps


youtu.be/FDSwip46eJw



Vision 4, used with lapel mic (battery powered, not included cheap mic)

DSC00040 by T K, on Flickr

shot in 1090p 60fps.
DON”T shoot in 4K with these cameras. Video quality totally sucks.


youtu.be/proHl6_klXA



(Because Youtube lowers the quality of the video, maybe it’s a little bit difficult to see the difference.
Posting them on Vimeo is better, but, as a free user, I’m limited to 500MB per week to upload.
I’ll have to make short (like 15-second) video, which I might to do, anyway.)

<to be continued>

 

[R3DS!X]

Great bike. I used to have one and I miss it very much to this day. One of my great regrets.

 

[davidji]

Good detail. Thanks!

I've used action cam as dashcam for awhile, and key issues I've seen are
1. night video quality. This is why I use a Gopro Session now, and no longer use my old Contours which are useless at night.

2. Convenience. Does it have a seamless turn it on and loop video mode? If not is it easy to delete video? Session loop mode doesn't work this way. Contour had a delete button. With the Session I need to remove the card and delete video every week.

3. Battery life/power. My Session sometimes runs out of battery before I get home. Maybe I need to ride faster? A friend runs his Session 5 plugged in sometimes, but it didn't work for my Session.


Any comments on the any of the above with those cameras, especially night video? Can you read an illuminated license plate at night?

 

[atoyf]

Fantastic post, please continue. what storage card do you use?

 

[Whammy]

Good Post! Good content Whammy appreciates this post:thumbup:teeth
Whammy doesn't like the"stop amateur" cameras at all.
They aren't sexy,they cost too much and it all started with a hello kitty web cam.
Not to mention the Ceo is an asshat.


Whammy uses authentic San Disk cards.

 

[auntiebling]

cool
which one is mounted under your turn signal?

 

[S21FOLGORE]

cool
which one is mounted under your turn signal?

That one is "Mobius".

youtu.be/7wmIyD1fM4M

The important feature of this camera as Motorcycle mounted dash cam

1) small and discreet

2)relatively cheap but high video quality and reliable

3)you can swap the battery to capacitor if you are using it for dedicated dash cam duty. (No heat generating problem)


youtu.be/https://yPX4ssAiplE

I have the same set up for both on my motorcycle and on my car.

Battery swapped for capacitor, powered by vehicle's battery.

Auto on-off (it starts recording as you turn the ignition on, stops recording when you turn the ignition off.)

Loop recording in 5 minutes segment file.
64GB micro SD card holds roughly 5 hours of video.
After 5 hours, it automatically starts over writing on older files.
(You always have the last 5 hours of your ride recorded on Mobius.)

I set them at 1080p 30fps, at this setting, bit rate is about 18mbps.

I wrote a little bit about this dash cam set up here.
http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=70891.0

I posted some samples on Youtube, but they are scaled downed to 720p.
And Youtube video doesn't really show the quality of the original file anyway.

youtu.be/57axWoBnVDQ

 

[S21FOLGORE]

Good Post! Good content Whammy appreciates this post:thumbup:teeth
Whammy doesn't like the"stop amateur" cameras at all.
They aren't sexy,they cost too much and it all started with a hello kitty web cam.
Not to mention the Ceo is an asshat.


Whammy uses authentic San Disk cards.

Fantastic post, please continue. what storage card do you use?

I use San Disk for most of my cameras, too.
Both of these cameras seem to be not the "card sensitive" ones.
(Some cameras are, such as Mobius I posted above.
I specifically purchased Kingston class 4 (YES, class 4, NOT 10) 32GB, which has been rated as most reliable card for this particular camera.)

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...MIrsjZ2pKl6AIVUxx9Ch1GZACYEAQYASABEgLLuvD_BwE

I have San Disk Extreme Pro in my Sony S6400

 

[S21FOLGORE]

Good detail. Thanks!

I've used action cam as dashcam for awhile, and key issues I've seen are
1. night video quality. This is why I use a Gopro Session now, and no longer use my old Contours which are useless at night.

2. Convenience. Does it have a seamless turn it on and loop video mode? If not is it easy to delete video? Session loop mode doesn't work this way. Contour had a delete button. With the Session I need to remove the card and delete video every week.

3. Battery life/power. My Session sometimes runs out of battery before I get home. Maybe I need to ride faster? A friend runs his Session 5 plugged in sometimes, but it didn't work for my Session.


Any comments on the any of the above with those cameras, especially night video? Can you read an illuminated license plate at night?

I'm going to try to shoot the night video.

I prefer to run the camera on vehicle's battery.
These cameras work on external power, do auto on-off, proper loop recording. (which are essential for dash cam duty.)

 

[S21FOLGORE]

Great bike. I used to have one and I miss it very much to this day. One of my great regrets.

Thanks.
Yes, of all the generation of Monsters, this one is my favorite.
(ST based single sided swing arm chassis, identical to the classic 1st generation Monster look)

 

[S21FOLGORE]

Manuals for these camera

https://www.dragontouch.com/manual/vista5.pdf

https://www.dragontouch.com/manual/Vision4.pdf



Sound check

Yes, clear & crisp audio is important even if you are not a pro, even if you are shooting video for casual

Dragon Touch Vista5 in water proof case


How much wind noise does Dragon Touch Vista5 pick up?
How much wind noise is muffled by water proof case?


youtu.be/PqQPv5SPM4U


Dragon Touch Vision 4 in skeleton case with external mic
(Lapel mic that’s powered by its own battery, NOT the one that came with the camera)



youtu.be/UnXylj9XDwk




Dragon Touch Vista 5 without waterpoor case audio example


youtu.be/jodUpuXScAc

... compare to Sony A6400


youtu.be/LS-vmNdQ8b8

 

[Tom G]

Whammy uses authentic San Disk cards.

Sandisk was sold to WD a few years back, no more authentic. Should not make a difference these days.

 

[justanotherg20]

Are GoPro cameras over priced?

The simple answer is , No.
There’s a difference between
“I can’t afford it” and “the product is overpriced”.
The less intelligent people tend to use the word “over priced”
when they can’t afford something.

+1

I've had, and lost a couple of GoPros I use as helmet-mounted dash cams so I've gone to the cheap sub-$50 Chinese knockoffs. They're good enough as far as establishing liability in case of an accident but they are clearly not GoPro image quality.

 

[YUPIT]

i have the akaso and apeman;
honestly for the price, its good value; specially if you want to start a vlog on your bike.
go pro is kool and would buy it butttt;
the way i see it is
1.is the image/sound quality good enough?
2.if i drop it and lose it?; ehh its less than $100 so i get over it quick.
3.if i need to; i will buy a go pro; and i will still use them knockoff as a 2nd/3rd camera at different angles; rather then buy 2 or 3 gopros.

by all means buy whichever you want; but i think this cameras are worth the money imoo :dunno

 

[S21FOLGORE]

If you are making money out of your video, or if you are "no expense spared" type of guy, then GoPro may be the right choice for you.

Realistically, if you are mostly showing your video on Youtube / facebook, etc,
then, extra cost you put into purchasing the latest GoPro doesn't really make any difference.

And, if you are "no post production whatsoever" type of person, GoPro (Hero 7 & 8 Black)'s slightly better audio doesn't mean that much.

Yes, they have "pro tune" function.
Yes, they sell "wind sock".

But, non of them eliminate the wind blast noise on a motorcycle (traveling faster than 30MPH.)

(Plus, you have to spend another $50 for their external mic adapter.)

Even with GoPro, those who professionally or semi-professionally make motorcycle video usually record audio separately, and sync in post production.

To be honest, this (recording the sound with digital sound recorder located where it doesn't get wind blast) is the easiest and simplest way to eliminate
the wind noise.

This video demonstrates very clearly how it is done.


youtu.be/VD80yKfu_dQ


Pretty simple, isn't it?

The problem is, including myself, most people (unless you want to do motovlog) can't be bothered bringing Digital audio recorder EVERY TIME
going out for a ride.