Recommendations sought cheap front & rear bike recording cameras with loop recording

Looks ok. I'm not convinced it's actually 4k though. Looks like it's upscaling from a 1080p sensor. I'd try running it at 1080p to see how legible numberplates are, you might find it's about the same and would save storage on the SD card and increase battery life.

I'd also try without the stabilisation if using it just as a safety camera. Again, you might find numberplates are just as clear with stabilsation off, it would increase battery life and crucially, any swerving or movements you made would be captured real-time, rather than with stabilisation lag, which would produce better evidence if required.

I've taken stills from footage at three resolutions: 4k, 2.7k & 1080p (just random rubbish on my desk)

There may be some difference between the three but its slight...Think i'll try running it at 1080p on an actual cycle to see if it makes a difference.

Really good point about the "swerving" - the stabilisation smoothes out turns of the handlebars (it's quite strange looking) - I hadn't considered that reducing my reaction to a close pass would be a problem! thank you.
I was too focused on being able to read number plates!

Possibky because of the additional battery load maybe? I've the next best thing, the Varia RCT715 which, when paired with a GPS head unit, gives time/date/position/speed overlays on the video. I've had 7+ hours running time when set to record on radar vehicle approach and while it seems expensive, if one adds up the sum of the parts (decent light, camera and radar), it's not too bad. I've given up on my old GoPros (Hero 4 & Hero 4 Session) as the battery runtime is just not enough. Like others on this thread, I'm also in the market for a decent front camera to go with the rear. 

I have a Hero 7 White, which doesn't have GPS capacity, but to be honest it's pretty easy to sync the video with my Garmin data through Virb when I want overlays etc, I'd sooner save the battery. If I didn't run a Garmin as well it would be handy though.

What I want is the certainty: if no accurate GPS on the same unit then no time/ date display at all. It's either right, or not at all.

wtjs wrote:

I seem to be the only person on here who is at all interested in GPS cameras. I have a GoPro Hero 7 Black, but I think that was their only GPS model- they haven't offered one for years. Nobody wants this facility, which works very well, so nobody makes them

Just for info, wtjs, I happened to be looking at this page this morning whilst sorting out a problem with my camera and it appears that the Hero 8,9,10 and 11 all do, in fact, have GPS capability. 

https://community.gopro.com/s/article/how-to-use-gps-performance-sticker...

I don't think anyone has solved the price, battery life, image quality problem, so you will get a variety of views.
I have a drift ghost XL but the image isn't as good as other cameras but on the other hand 8-9 hours battery.

This is footage from the Kitvision Escape 4k that I got last year. The image quality is reasonable for the price, but its really tempermental to use. Have missed quite a few close passes:
https://youtu.be/h3S3r5hMynY

It was mounted to the handlebars sort of using the supplied mounts (the proper mount broke, so I MacGyver'd a new one from the other mounts)

I did actually look on that site but failed to find that !

Hirsute wrote:

I did actually look on that site but failed to find that !

Quite tempted myself at that price, weighing up the pros of having a rear camera as well as a front against having yet another thing to remember to charge...

Rendel Harris wrote:

Chilli are doing two cameras for £82 plus P&P (£3.90) at the moment, you'd need two 32 GB SD cards as well, about £6 each on Amazon. Should bring you in under the ton and perfectly adequate for your requirements.

 

https://chilli-tech.com/content/new-bullet-action-camera/

They look seriously impressive for the money.  Would like to see Road.cc review them  

Thanks!

I'm quite happy with mine, I use it with the supplied handlebar mount although a Velcro attachment is provided for helmet use as well. It's ok for daytime use, not very good at night but then again I'm not sure if any cheap camera  is. Battery life is quite good, I charge it up after every ride. Thinking of getting another to use as a rear camera. Also I think a spare battery is provided as well.

Thanks for that link.  I've been looking for a rear camera for a while now and the Hero 4 I used on the front is having battety issues.  I've heard the Chilli cameras are not so good at night but at that price they'll do me a treat as I rarely ride in the dark.