Anyone got a camcorder? « CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum

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Anyone got a camcorder?

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Started 14 years ago by Dave
Latest reply from miggy_magic
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Dave
Member

I have a cycling-related experiment I'd like to conduct which would involve the use of a video camera (just to record a census of passing riders from the pavement, nothing risky and bike-mounted!)

Although I have a helmet cam, I don't think the quality of it is necessarily that good so I thought I'd put a query up here to see if any trusting soul has an actual camcorder-style camera they'd be willing to lend for, say, a week (ideally with a tripod thread mount on the bottom, but beggars can't be choosers!).

In traditional CCE style, I can offer to repay generous souls with an exclusive ride of Edinburgh's most visible invisible bike (or beer, perhaps).

Thanks,

D.

Posted 14 years ago #
spitfire
Member

yes, and tripod too
beer you say?

Posted 14 years ago #
Dave
Member

What, maybe you missed the bit where I offered a ride on the most dangerous bike in Edinburgh? ;-)

Basically I want to gather some data on the proportion of riders who look behind them when pulling out to pass a parked car.

I'm especially interested in trying to figure out whether people with headphones pay more or less attention to the road than people without. However, would be a lot more valuable to record things like gender, type of bike, and other context which is more than I could write down on a busy section of street.

Hence I'd like to set a camera up for half an hour or so at various points, I can stand beside it and read a book, and then record the results properly later by watching back.

Ideally I need something which can be connected to PC without too much drama, as we don't have a telly.

I have two offers now. Oo-er. I'm not sure what is the most convenient way to go (am happy to collect).

Posted 14 years ago #
spitfire
Member

ah well, need telly for mine I am afraid, unless you use the DVD-R mini disks and put that in the PC
Also, do you not need to be careful filming people in public? I know that if you are filming someone who is happy to be filmed (ie a family video) and people are in the background that is OK but when the background becomes the reason you are in tricky water?
Maybe better just to sit and watch, with a dictafone so you don't need to write things down faster than you can talk...

Posted 14 years ago #
steveo
Member

Nah fairy sure you don't need to worry about it. You can have no expectation of privacy in a public place this isn't France.

As long as any identifying features are suitibly blured if you publish it then you don't really need to worry.

Course doesn't stop the police deciding to move you on but from a courts pov you should be fine.

Posted 14 years ago #
kaputnik
Moderator

I've thought about how you might go about doing bike surveys in the past and have a small amount of experience doing bird surveys. And larger amounts doing small mammal surveys...

Anyway, I came to the mental conclusion that a team of 2 people, armed with clipboards and pencils and a pre-defined grid to tick could capture pretty much everything needed. One person captures details of the rider (gender, bike type, apparell etc.) and the other captures the details of the behaviour you want to observe. It works in wildlife surveys.

If you can't get a volunteer then Spytfyre's dictaphone suggestion sounds really good.

Posted 14 years ago #
Smudge
Member

Video traffic surveys are normal, indeed common practice. Generally photography / video outside is only a problem near high security areas or where overzealous and undertrained people get involved. (not the photographers, the enforcers!)
Note. taking film/photographs of minors is obviously different!

Posted 14 years ago #
Dave
Member

As steveo says, we're not in France. You can even video minors assuming they're in a public place - that's not to say you wouldn't get hassle, but there's no rule against it at all (for those who follow such things, there was a kerfuffle in Romford recently over a journalist trying to take photographs of a cadet parade.)

I only know this because when I first looked into getting a headcam, there was a fuss over whether it was legal to video traffic (particularly publishing people's registration plates) but it turns out that this is, in fact, fine. There is no privacy in a public place, period.

In an ideal world it won't be that obvious that there's a camera rolling, since otherwise people might be modifying their behaviour... 'blind' and 'double blind' and all that

Posted 14 years ago #
cb
Member

I think you will need to disguise yourself with a long blond wig. or something.

Posted 14 years ago #
Kirst
Member

You don't have a telly? What's your furniture pointed at?

Posted 14 years ago #
kaputnik
Moderator

You don't have a telly? What's your furniture pointed at?

A wall. (with the carpet and coffee table inbetween)

You don't have a car? how do you;
* get to work?
* do the shopping?
* get from A to B?
(answers on a postcard)

Posted 14 years ago #
spitfire
Member

Spytfyre's dictaphone suggestion sounds really good.
Someone spelled it right :)
joy!

Posted 14 years ago #
Rabid Hamster
Member

Bushnell Camera Traps:
You could use one of these clamped to a column discreetly and leave it for a few days.

http://www.scottcountry.co.uk/products_cat.asp?main=164&link=homecat_head

Not cheap but if you intend doing lots of surveys etc. it might be worth the investment. Uses SD cards and simple to use; you can even get camo versions for the Innocent Railway surveillance!
You'd need to Tesba-band it and probably a padlock as well, or put it out of reach of Edinburgh's wildlife! (Urchinus Edinensis).

Posted 14 years ago #
Arellcat
Moderator

...the proportion of riders who look behind them when pulling out to pass a parked car.

IANAExpert but I'm going to estimate 5%. You might also want to note, for the stretch of road in question, the number of parked vehicles (as fewer might increase the chances of shoulder checks) and the number of moving vehicles per unit time (as more might increase the chances of general observation movements, including shoulder checks).

...put it out of reach of Edinburgh's wildlife (Urchinus Edinensis).

Need to get your binomial nomenclature in check. I think you mean: Homo urchinus edinensis RabidHamster, 2010. :-)

Posted 14 years ago #
kaputnik
Moderator

I've done camera-trap surveying before (birds).

It's perfectly possible to camouflage the trap well from animals. However, the very act of installing it and removing it in a public space will arouse curiosity.

There's an inherent problem with camera traps in that you don't know if they've worked until you get the footage home and try and watch it. There's also a lot of overhead required watching through whatever footage you get and capturing data. At some point you still have to do a pencil and clipboard exercise - if you have the time to stand at the side of the road guarding the camera, why not cut that part (and the cost and effort) out of the equation entirely...

Posted 14 years ago #
wingpig
Member

Of course, if it was your own/borrowed deliberately-parked car you could hide the camera inside...

Posted 14 years ago #
Dave
Member

I have thought of that, although I'd feel a bit rude creating an obstacle just to see what people do!

Suggestions for likely roads welcome. Plainly needs to be somewhere without a bus lane, without parking restrictions, yet busy for both bikes and cars.

(Causewayside/Buccleuch St perhaps?).

Should ideally have a good variety of locations to make it a bit more robust.

Posted 14 years ago #
miggy_magic
Member

Dave, I know Leith Walk has a bus lane, but there are almost always double parked cars outside La Favorita. I seem to have to pull out into the normal lane quite a lot anyway. However perhaps doesn't have as many cyclists as other parts of town.

Posted 14 years ago #

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