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Cheapo Sunglasses Camcorder

(15 posts)
  • Started 13 years ago by Wilmington's Cow
  • Latest reply from Greenroofer

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  1. Wilmington's Cow
    Member


    Sunglasses Camcorder by blackpuddinonnabike, on Flickr


    Sunglasses Camcorder en Face by blackpuddinonnabike, on Flickr


    Sunglasses Camcorder Buttons by blackpuddinonnabike, on Flickr

    For the princely sum of £15 on eBay (and there are plenty available at that price) I've replaced my dead Veho Muvi. I was looking for something that could be worn easily and comfortably on a head not wearing a helmet - and a pair of sunglasses seems a good plan.

    They're comfy to wear, and feel pretty solidly built. Easy to use, which is probably just as well given the fabulous pigeon English of the instructions booklet. "Use USB Line connect compter, clik can to movd compter on the tabletop playing (when wil to use PC Camera, must standby statns".

    Allegedly records at 30fps, but looks a little bit closer to 25fps (I'll put some examples online after a couple of commutes), but copes with changes in brightness quite well, and records indoors with no issues (so should be reasonably good in the duller, darker days). One thing I've found is that my set-up has my head tilted down (obviously my eyes are looking more straight-ahead, I'm not riding staring just in front of my front wheel), so to make sure something is in shot that you want to record then you have to very deliberately stare at it.

    This also ties in with the angle of the lens not being the widest (I think the new Veho Muvi Atom has something like an 82 degree range), but since it's a camera only to be worn on the head and not handlebar mounted then the width of the lens isn't as important as it will always point where you want it to. And of course, being head-mounted, it means you get none of the shake encountered by handlebar-mounted systems.

    One slight issue, there's a date stamp on the replay (February 2007... With the time constantly counting) which is a bit annoying. There is a PC mini-CD that I think can be used to turn off this feature. I'll be trying to find out on my other half's laptop...

    First impressions? Very very good (when you consider the price).

    Posted 13 years ago #

  2. wingpig
    Member

    "Mirrored lens that can shed ultraviolet radiation"

    It looks like they support the have option of allowing the insertion to record of a card TF/Secure Digital recording expand for the size increase ability. User receipt post-arrival postage confirm, description internet site web ebay.co.uk inclarity greatness to add confusion?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  3. Greenroofer
    Member

    I found these instructions on the Interweb, and they work fine for my Muvi and may well work for your glasses too. Many of these micro cameras actually use the same electronic gubbins. If, when you connect to the PC, the glasses advertise themselves as a Syntek device, then you can set the time and turn off the timestamp without using the included CD (useful if you run a not-Windows PC).

    Here's what the Interweb says

    'To set the time correctly, create a file called “time.txt” in the root directory of the camera/sunglasses. Open it in your favourite text editor and type the time using this format.

    2010.11.05 13.45.30 Y

    That’s “YYYY.MM.DD HH.MM.SS” The “Y” at the end tells the camera to place a timestamp on every video and picture. If you don’t want a timestamp, write it as

    2010.11.05 13.45.30 N

    Once the file is saved and the camera turned on, the time will be set and the file automatically deleted.'

    I've had good results using colons in the time, not full stops (HH:MM:SS)

    Posted 13 years ago #

  4. splitshift
    Member

    These look intriguing ! not being too techn informed,how long do they record,time wise. do they record sound as well. If they wernt a camera are they okish sun shades ?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  5. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Here we go, a moronic First Bus driver obliged with footage for me tonight.

    [+] Embed the video | Video DownloadGet the Flash Video

    Posted 13 years ago #

  6. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    @splitshift - apparently give about 4-5 hours of recording time. Take Micro SD cards (I've got a 4GB in). And they are very very lightly tinted, so can be worn most of the time. Not baaaad shades, but given the bulky bits on the side I'm not sure I'll be wearing them off the bike (though I have tested them in the car as well).

    Posted 13 years ago #

  7. SRD
    Moderator

    anth that's basicALLY the same maneouvre a first bus pulled on me (although at slower speed). please write to them!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  8. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Oh don't worry, I WILL - and sending them a link to the video!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  9. splitshift
    Member

    sounds good, less obvious than cam on truck dash ! amazing some of the stuff i could capture ! Would be better than just holding my mobile when on my bike as well ! just watched the vid, reminds me of a time, while getting lessons for my hgv, we were at livi test centre, just having a break and lothian buses were doing likewise, it was pointed out that to meet timetables the drivers of modern omnibuses were trained in the old system of, manouver, signal, mirror. We laughed, not any more ! yet more mental death wish cyclists on great western road again today.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  10. kaputnik
    Moderator

    I can't wear sunglasses that aren't my prescription ones, otherwise I can't see.

    I still want to get some sort of evidence capturing recording device though without having a giant plastic block on top of a helmet.

    Do you think you could get something like that and cut / unscrew the camera part out (i.e. bin the lenses and legs) and bodge it onto a helmet or a cap, or is there wiring within the frames?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  11. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Worst Bus: "Into the garbage chute, flyboy!"
    Anth: "Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!"
    Worst Bus: "I have you now."

    Posted 13 years ago #

  12. spytefear
    Member

    Awesome - love the mean look in pic 2
    Will be having some of those!
    @Kaputnik take the frames to your optician and ask for prescription sun lenses to fit the frame

    Posted 13 years ago #

  13. spytefear
    Member

    Just watched the vid on my mobile - totally unbelievable - you need an Air Zound to be heard mate, shouting ain't gonna not do you no good (checks negatives, yeah that's right... is it?)

    Posted 13 years ago #

  14. wingpig
    Member

    Are they still broken?

    For entry-level light-weight test-concept cheapness I've a cursor poised over the Veho MuVi (003) at the moment, but wonder if it's worth going up to the 005 for a bit more resolution (and possibly slightly better low-light/night number-plate-discerning capability).

    Posted 13 years ago #

  15. Greenroofer
    Member

    I've got a Veho MuVi 3 and it's definitely entry-level proof of concept stuff. It's not hugely reliable: I often look down and see that it's stopped recording for some reason and it's not got a huge capacity (I'm on the bike about an hour a day, and it needs charged every other day). It generates about 3Gb of data in that hour of travel. It got a bit more reliable when I bought it a faster and larger Class 6, 8Gb card.

    I have it on the handlebars. If it was helmet-mounted it would be hopeless, as you'd never know if it was working or not.

    I've not tried it in the winter or at night yet.

    So, proof of concept yes. Long term solution, no.

    Posted 13 years ago #

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