New compact camera with short movie capability

[Blackhound]

Lost my compact camera on my last ride (didn't check attachment) which was an Olympus something which I was never 100% happy with. So now need to replace. I had also been looking at getting a Virb, GoPro or Contour as well but never quite convinced myself to dive in.

I had noticed that both Composite Neil and Dave Barter use regular compacts for there movies which they post on here. A proper video camera would produce better results but in truth I am unsure how much I will use it. Do I have the patience to keep stopping and starting and generally faffing with them despite liking results.

(The Olympus would do movies but it was incredibly poor quality which I tended to just delete and battery life was dire.)

So what is out there and nice that might do a decent job of both? As I have not really looked into this I am unsure of options to attach compact camera's to body or bike like GoPro etc.

[Dave Barter]

I use a Canon S110 because I love the stills it produces and cannot be arsed with camera/bar mounting. My style of filming is exceedingly dangerous and not to be recommended as one handed riding often has its consequences. I find it so simple though to hoik the camera out of a strap mounted holster and capture the moment. I'll never produce high production quality videos as a result.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I've found that with a reasonable camera app my ipod touch can take better pics and video than my fairly expensive camera. There's also the added bonus of it having maps, kindle, audio books and a whole host of other 'entertainment' ... weighs nowt either.

[johnnystorm]

I'm with Stu on this. My Samsung Galaxy S4 Active Does video and photos better than any camera I'd be bothered to take with me. Similar added bonus that Stu mentions plus waterproofing, geo-tagged images, I'll take it anyway as its a phone, etc.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Galaxy- ... +s4+active

[Dave Barter]

Main advantages of compact over phone for me are:-
a) I can carry spare batteries and not have to fanny about with charging pack mid ride
b) spare SD cards so endless capacity
c) no fannying about with lock screens
d) proper zoom, not optical
e) works fine in gloves
f) can't be interrupted by my daughter ringing for wifi password/extra pocket money/location of Rizlas etc..

I can see the argument for phones just does not work for me

[johnnystorm]

Main advantages of compact over phone for me are:-
a) I can carry spare batteries and not have to fanny about with charging pack mid ride
b) spare SD cards so endless capacity
c) no fannying about with lock screens
d) proper zoom, not optical
e) works fine in gloves
f) can't be interrupted by my daughter ringing for wifi password/extra pocket money/location of Rizlas etc..

I can see the argument for phones just does not work for me

My Phone takes spare batteries, a 64gb SD card, lock screen swipe straight into camera, has a glove friendly screen and the ability to selectively switch off the phone/wifi/mobile data/gps

Granted it hasn't got an optical zoom but with decent hi-res images you just crop from the larger image.

[Blackhound]

Thanks all, food for thought. I have a Samsung something (S3 maybe) but never looked at the movie function though battery life is now hopeless. Won't rush into a purchase as I do have an older, battered, camera lying around.

[mountainbaker]

Kevin,

I have a samsung S5, and the camera if phenomenally good for a phone 16Megapix still and full HD vid. I'm going to use it on Tour Divide next year as it's also waterproof, and on Airplane mode it lasts for several days easily, and can still Geotag photos if you have location settings enabled. It'll also charge off the dyno hub if i ever get around to buying one.

[johnnystorm]

Thanks all, food for thought. I have a Samsung something (S3 maybe) but never looked at the movie function though battery life is now hopeless. Won't rush into a purchase as I do have an older, battered, camera lying around.

New battery about a tenner?

[composite]

I actually use a couple of different cameras depending upon what I'm doing.

The ubiquitous GoPro which actually has got less and less use during the 4 and a bit years I have had it but I have picked it up again more, in recent months. Great for strapping to the bike but the "features" that make it useful for that are it's short comings for most other stuff.

When I want to film some really nice stuff and have time to setup shots etc. I use a Canon 600D DSLR. Changeable lens make me happy. The quality of image from this is great but it takes more effort and is not really the type of camera I want to take riding that often. I have done it though and it's not as much of a pain as you might imagine. I have a decent microphone for it as well so I can get good audio too. It's what I used to film the interview sections with Stu in the WRT2014 video.

I wanted to get a small compact for taking photos on trips and bought an Olympus SH-21. The pictures it takes are very average and if it only did this I would have been a bit disappointed. However it shoots HD video and actually does this very well, like surprisingly well. In all honesty that is all I really use it for since getting an iPhone 5c as the camera is great on that and means that if I'm only taking pics I can carry one thing less.

Once I have got all the footage for my "Year in bikepacking" project I'm thinking of trying to make a bikepacking/bike video solely on the iPhone just to see what I can get out of it.

[tyredcranky]

If I may add my two pence, the Virb is absolutely terrible. I know someone with one and the stabilisation and general quality of the image/codec is poor. You can't compare it to the GoPro, not even the Hero 2, which I have and is looking pretty dated now... but there is another secret weapon out there.

The Sony AS100VR Action Cam:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-AS100VR-Sp ... action+cam

There's a dedicated YouTube channel by Sony too:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ActionCamfromSony

[Blackhound]

tyredcranky - Saw a good review of Virb in relation to a GoPro which is why I considered it, may have a look at the Sony or an old model at a discount price.

Neil - Took a short video on Saturday night in the van awning, will see what it looks like when I get chance to download it. Will take another in daylight this week as well. I found an old compact but cannot find a usb lead that fits it to download pics!

Off for a ride on this sunny morning.