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| I do get ears pics. |
Seriously.
I do not understand.
I should probably back up and say that I dislike videos in general. In large part, that's because I'm a very fast reader, so it takes waaaay longer to watch a video than just read a good summary. There's an element of George Morris saying "video hides a lot of flaws that pictures show off" too.
But my personal quirks aside, what is the deal with helmet cams? When they first became a thing, I watch a Rolex video and that was kind of cool I guess.
They are obviously popular with lots more than Rolex competitors nowadays. Can someone tell me why? What do they bring to the table? Do I need to throw caution to the wind and BUY ONE NOW???
I have no idea.
Thoughts?
I'm interested to see what kind of responses you get - I've never really seen the appeal, either.
ReplyDeleteI can't account for their uses while riding... but I will say, strapping one to a less-than-sober friend at a party makes for some awesome footage ;)
ReplyDeleteBahahaha!
DeleteI personally wanted a helmet cam so I could relive my cross country rides. That's about it.
ReplyDeleteHowever I absolutely love watching helmet cam videos. Especially the videos Doug Payne does for cross country. He provides a detailed voice over that basically describes his methods over each jump. I find it simply fascinating and quite helpful to see a first-person view on the approach to certain types of jumps.
I like the really big event ones - the WEG one that Peter Atkins did at Lexington, some of the Rolex ones. I don't entirely understand the lower level ones, at least as an uninvolved spectator. I can see how I would want to re-live my ride and have that record personally, but I don't entirely understand why a stranger would want to watch one of mine!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of seeing a course in the way you will from horse back, I saw one video that was a split screen of the helmet cam and a regular from the side video, very cool. All in all though I'm not crazy excited about them. I think it might be cool to wear one on a trail ride and then speed the footage up.
ReplyDeleteNot something I would spend my money on, but if someone enjoys them than good for them!
ReplyDeleteI love videos and find the helmet cams a very interesting POV to watch!
ReplyDeleteI don't watch all the helmet cam videos but every now and then I think they're neat. I wouldn't buy one either but a friend of mine has a Go Pro and we've talked about hooking it up to my helmet just for shits and giggles.
ReplyDeleteI think this is probably one of those "you like or you don't" topics. I don't think there's going to be much that can convince you to enjoy videos if you don't already!
ReplyDeleteBut honestly I LOVE videos and I post them a bunch. If no one watches them, that's fine because I don't post them for the love, I post them because I like to see where I came from and how I've improved. Sure videos show faults that can be hidden with a single shot but you know what else? Because I obsessively video, I can pull just a simple flat video from last year and this year and put them side by side and see that I've improved. I love that.
As for helmet cams, love them too even if I don't wear mine as much because they're extremely boring for flat work (unless you fall like I did my very first time wearing my GoPro... that was epic). But I think the GoPro videos are also really just for the rider since they can get very boring, especially at the lower levels. Still, I like watching mine.
Whew, apparently I felt more strongly about videos than I realized. :)
My sister rides with a helmet cam (eventing). I usually groom/gopher at her shows and I only see a few fences of her course. I love watching her video after so I can see her entire course. We can re-watch everything and discuss the good and the bad.
ReplyDeleteI just got one, and we will see how much I truly love rewatching my own rides... However, it allows me a hands-free way to record and share my point of view.
ReplyDeleteThe first real video I took: I shared how the once-difficult-to-catch pony has become an easy-to-catch pony. I think it will allow me to go back and evaluate my XC courses with my coach in a more detailed manner. I think it will also allow me to create more-structured and effective ride time on the flat. I can see where I waste time... where I could be working on multiple aspects at the same time... where perhaps I need to work longer on one side or another to balance my directions... Who knows! I've only had it a week! ;)
I actually think they are kind of cool because you can watch upper level competitions from first person view.
ReplyDeleteBlasphemy. I love helmet cams. All the helmet cams, all the time, all the levels, all the venues. I could care less if anyone watches mine, but I like having them to go back and watch for myself to see where I might have messed up on a ride, or just to relive the fun.
ReplyDeleteI think it's one of those things where eventers LOVE them, and h/j folks don't love them. It seems to be a common theme!
DeleteI think it's SO interesting to watch people driving or jumping or galloping with them, and extremely not interesting to watch things like dressage or ringwork with them. Maybe that's the reason behind it....
Cause we're selfish and we like to relive our rides, and make other people relive our rides with us!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I use mine to prop up on a fencepost and video my rides, so I can actually see what we look like since I live the life of a recluse and have nobody to video me ever.
Is it just me, or do helmet cams make the jumps look smaller than they are in real life? I watch a helmet cam and think "that's a large jump" and then I jump-judge in person and think "OMFG why do people do this craziness!?!"
ReplyDeleteThe fish eye does shrink the jumps. It also flattens hills and makes other obstacles look smaller. I took helmet cam riding up a six foot, vertical rock face during an endurance ride, and on the helmet cam it looked like it was only a foot and a half!
DeleteZenyatta's trainer posted a helmet cam of a morning work, back when she was still racing - and it is awesome. Even the most jaded and easily bored person should find it enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI know that half the videos I post are nowhere near as funny/entertaining/cool to other people as I find them to be... but I post them anyways because people can always chose to skip them if they aren't interested.
ReplyDeleteI don't own a helmet cam, but if I did I wouldn't really expect people to be interested in the little jumps I do. I would love to have it for myself, to be able to somewhat relive that memory. But I'm obsessed with pictures and videos just for that reason, I don't want to loose those memories.
I had a hard time getting into them at first, until I found one of the Doug Payne ones mentioned above. Then o got really into them, without sound.
ReplyDeleteI want one...! just to add to my video edits! But I love videos...easy to see where you are making mistakes..
ReplyDeleteI'm an endurance rider and get to see a lot of diverse trails with lovely views. I can't always pull a camera out of a saddle bag to take a picture, but I can roll the helmet cam. Then again, I love photos and videos in blog posts soooo...
ReplyDeleteI feel like the jumps always look tiny from helmet cam perspective. My cross rails would look like trot poles
ReplyDeleteidk - i pretty much just love videos in general. helmet cams are a way to experience the ride on a more visceral level - literally able to hear the horse's breathing and hoofbeats, and count down strides to the fence.... it's just really cool to me.
ReplyDeleteall the same tho - it's out of my price range, and i'm usually more interested in the videos from people whose skills far exceed my own lol
Yes on motorcycle, as proof of cause if in accident.
ReplyDeleteSometimes on horses, only if complicated terrain or other environment where I want to review my performance.