what action camera should you buy for
mountain biking I'm going to answer that
question today give you some
recommendations and help you understand
what makes an action camera good for
mountain biking specifically I'm sure by
now you've heard about the hero 7 black
which is GoPros new flagship camera a
lot of people have been calling this a
game changer and GoPro claims it has
gimbal like stabilization we'll talk
about whether the 7 black is the right
camera for you but also explore some
other options that cost less than $400
let's start by examining a few
well-known scenarios in which action
cameras are used for mountain biking
Brian from bkx II makes his living off a
first-person video every week he's in a
different remote location with one
chance to film an entire trail perfectly
no needs Pat's today every day should
probably be a d-pad day since Brian
speaks during his rides perfect audio is
essential with 10 plus minute videos he
also needs buttery stabilization because
anything less would give his viewers
motion sickness to achieve perfect audio
and video every time Brian makes big
sacrifices he straps this mechanical
stabilizer or gimbal to his chest on
every ride on the gimbal is a
three-generation old GoPro Hero 4 which
happens to have the perfect microphone
for mountain bike vlogging this GoPro
must be unscrewed and reinstalled on the
gimbal every time Brian changes
batteries plus the gimbal itself has its
own set of batteries now multiply all of
this by 2 because Brian brings a spare
camera gimbal and hardware set to
protect himself against failures this
camera setup is uncomfortable complex
and sometimes even inhibiting but that's
what it takes to post two to three
quality videos to YouTube every week
blake from global mountain bike network
relies on a very different setup he
rarely rides with anything but a basic
unstabilized gopro this can range from a
hero session on his helmet to a hero
five sticking out of his jersey this is
a shockingly simple arrangement which is
very lightweight convenient and easy to
operate GM bien edits their videos with
lots of third person shots so the GoPro
footage is usually in short spurts the
hero session blends in provides good
enough footage and doesn't inhibit
Blake's movement in any way so here we
have two very popular and influential
mountain bikers utilizing camera rigs
which are on opposite ends of the
spectrum but most riders fall somewhere
in the middle they want quality footage
with a minimum of hassle enter the hero
7 black this is GoPros new flagship
camera featuring in their words hyper
smooth stabilization from a chest mount
it's lightyears ahead of anything that
came before it and from a helmet it's
even more staple I also like it a lot
better than a gimbal for shorter clips
no it's not as stable but that's a good
thing when you want to feel the rider
lean into a turn or dive into a steep
shoes gimbal stay level with the horizon
often dumbing down the perception of
rider input and trail steepness I do
want to make clear that gimbals are
still the best option for people like
brian who post longer videos showcasing
epic locations it's just that most of us
are only trying to capture a short clip
or study a course for an upcoming race
for $400 the 7 black is in a league of
its own but what if you want to spend
less
I personally think the best alternative
is GoPros previous flagship camera the
hero six black this is currently for
sale for three hundred dollars and it's
better than the Hero seven silver which
GoPro also currently sells for three
hundred dollars
it also has most of the same features as
the hero seven black aside from hyper
smooth I've been using this camera on my
helmet for months and the footage is
quite good drop below that price point
and you won't find very effective
stabilization the two generational Hero
5 is still available but the
stabilization on that is quite primitive
Sony makes some really high quality
action cameras but they have a limiting
form factor that isn't the best for
mountain biking the e 4k plus is
certainly cheaper but I haven't seen any
good mountain bike footage from that I'd
even consider the Rilo except it's $500
and doesn't have as good of image
quality as any of these cameras so what
is the best option for 200 bucks my top
pick is the hero 5 session GoPro doesn't
make this camera anymore but you can
still find it online fairly easily the
Hero 5 session actually shoots in 4k
something GoPros newest $200 camera
doesn't do it's also stealthy compact
water-resistant and really easy to pop
out of its case the audio quality is
arguably better than the current
generation GoPros and the battery life
is impressive best of all these cameras
are reliable which is why I still see
them on people's helmets everywhere and
it makes me wonder why do they stop
making this this is one of GoPros most
beloved products and I almost don't want
to tell you to grab one while you still
can
so those are my three picks for action
cameras ranging from 200 through four
and yes they're all GoPros Amana GoPro
fanboy and in fact I'm actively looking
for alternatives it's frustrating to me
that GoPro stopped making the session
which everyone loved it's also
ridiculous that people like Bryan are
forced to buy old Hero fours for their
superior microphones
and on newer GoPros this $50 audio input
box is a slap to the face for God's sake
is the same size of the GoPro but
despite all of this these cameras are
dollar for dollar the best thing you
could use to capture first-person
mountain biking footage of course these
are my opinions if you disagree by all
means outline your argument in the
comments we're all here to learn but
before we wrap this up I'm sure that
some of you still want footage that
looks like this at all costs
[Music]
so here it is meet the ride runner 5000
dis consists of a chest strap a GoPro
karma stabilizer a hero six black the
$100 extension cable an external audio
recorder because the sound from this
thing is unusable and of course this big
heavy controller which fits neatly in
your pocket don't forget a spare $100
grip in case you run out of battery if
you want to spend $800 on all this you
might guess
as far as I'm concerned chest-mounted
gimbals are now legacy products if your
income doesn't depend on getting silky
smooth footage why deal with the hassle
after all we're out there riding to have
a good time so keep your priorities
straight and don't let camera gear spoil
your fun thanks for riding with me today
and I'll see you next time
[Music]
you