Advice on cameras

I'd like to get a camera for safety purposes and guessing there are a fair number of people on here who have them who can give advice about quality and usability.

I commute and generally get around on my bike, though less often since having a scary collision last year and resulting injuries.

I'm most interested that the camera would actually capture an incident. Something that could capture a license plate at low light or night, as well as a wider field of view. I was thinking of a forward view, but do people recommend front or back or both?

Ease of use is next in importance. Looping sounds like a feature I want, but I don't know how much of a pain is it to reformat an SD card if you don't have looping. Could I just push a button on the camera when I am getting ready and be recording in a few minutes, or do I have to dump the card on my computer?

Mounting is another question. Is in best on the bike or on the helmet?

Battery life shouldn't be too much of an issue. I only need a minimum of 1-2 hours.

I also don't want to spend a lot of money. My limit is a little over $200, but I wouldn't mind if it were less :)

Are there any other features or consideration I should know about.

So far I have been leaning toward GoPro because they seem like they are good quality, good ease of use, many mounting options, and at least some models have looping, but they are pricey.

I've also been thinking about the Ghost X which seems to have thoughtful features that fit my needs, but the negative reviews have given me pause.

Would love to hear recommendations from folks here especially if they like their camera.

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Permalink Reply by ketoguychicago on March 16, 2020 at 2:38pm

Actually, I though we had this thread over the summer. I apologize, I can't find it, but I know people weighed in with stuff about go-pros, bike mount versus helmet mount, oh and I thought somebody mentioned that a camera doesn't actually offer safety, just some exciting footage about what wasn't as safe as we wished or something like that.  Get an extra battery and make sure it's quick detach so you can take it with you and so you'll use it. 

Permalink Reply by Douglas Knapp on March 21, 2020 at 9:14am

Thanks for the response. I did search first before posting, but I only saw a couple of posts from 2017 (or older) and I was hoping for something more up-to-date

https://thechainlink.org/forum/topics/cam-recommendations

https://thechainlink.org/forum/topics/action-camera-recos

In terms of safety, I didn't mean that it would lessen the chance of someone hitting me, just that I wanted footage that could help if I were hit. Safety probably isn't the best word, I was just trying to get across the features important to my use case.

In the end, I purchased a refurbished GoPro Session 4 on eBay and just received it last night. I haven't had a chance to test it yet, and looks like most of us won't be commuting for awhile.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Permalink Reply by ketoguychicago on March 21, 2020 at 12:28pm

Sure thing Doug.  How are you planning to mount it?  Helmet cam, handle bar cam, quick release?  Put it on the dog's collar for now and get some action shots from around the house maybe? <grin>  Glad you got it for refurb price too.  Keep us posted!

Permalink Reply by Douglas Knapp on March 21, 2020 at 4:25pm

I think on the bike. It came with a mount for a helmet, but my helmet has vents, so it would have to be off center. I'll try them both and see how it looks.

I didn't have an SD card, so I ordered that and the bike mount today. LOL, about the dog collar. I was actually thinking of doing that, but have to wait for the card.

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