Photography and videography is a big part of capturing the experience on a Brevet cycling holiday so sharing bike camera tips with our guests is a great way to help you capture that magic moment.
Experienced mountain biker and all round alpine adventure lover Paul Williamson shares his top bike camera tips fresh off the bike from testing out the new ION Air Pro bike camera before it launched.
Over to you Paul.
Bike Camera Tips to Shoot Bike Videos like A Pro!
Here are a few of my top bike camera tips to make sure you get the best out of your action camera and record those epic moments and of course, share and show them off to your mates.
Bike Camera Tip 1: Choose the right camera for the job
Standard cameras, phone cameras and clumsy video recorders strapped on with tape or glue and other ingenious methods are neither user friendly nor will they produce the quality high-res footage you want to take home after a day blazing the trails or descending Alpine cols.
You need something that is light and straightforward to operate whilst being rugged, waterproof, and built to eat dirt – or at least capture the moments when you do.
You want to focus on the ride, not the camera, so make sure it is easy to use.
Bike Camera Tip 2: Ensure you have a secure mounting
No-one wants shaky unwatchable shots, or worse – lose the camera itself. Make sure your camera is secure by using the proper mounts for the job.
Make sure your camera comes with a variety of mounts, ball joints and straps that easily clip the camera in place, these should be included with the camera, not an optional extra.
For the best Point of View recording I like to use the helmet mount, giving me more flexibility to shoot the scenes I want when I’m riding.
Bike Camera Tip 3: Take a test shot
Make sure your camera has a “viewfinder” so you can set up a test shot and check everything is lined up so that you get the angle that you want.
One feature I loved while testing the ION Air Pro was using the ION Wi-Fi Podz, it allows you to easily check the image before via the smart phone app.
Bike Camera Tip 4: Choose an interesting angle
Feeling like you are “in the action” means that you need to ensure you have some perspective or a reference in your shot, and you’re not just shooting the blue sky or dirt road.
Ensure you have a fixed element in the frame like your handlebars, front wheel or even mount it facing backwards to get some footage of your mates. Being able to have some flexibility is good too; a camera with a cam-lock system will allow you to turn the camera 360° to change the angle quickly and easily at speed.
Bike Camera Tip 5: Shoot and Share
Sharing footage with your mates – whether it’s nailing the perfect line on an Alpine hair pin bend or stacking it off road (which; let’s face it; are the real crowd pleasers) are best viewed in HD. But a full HD version will take longer to send or upload and use more data when sharing online.
My Air Pro records in full HD with a second smaller QVGA version at the same time, making for really easy and quick upload to Facebook or YouTube.
Bike Camera Tip 6: Editing
Keep it short and interesting – consider taking shorter video clips more often, making it easier to edit together the best bits of footage. There are several editing suites available, including iMovie – which is easy to use and quick to operate – and Final Cut which is a more professional tool for the dedicated user to create studio quality movies.
Bike Camera Tip 7: SD cards
A lesson learned the hard way; don’t skimp on your SD card, get a class 10 memory which allows faster recording rates to ensure best quality videos. On average a 32GB card will give you about 4 hours of recording at full HD.
Happy filming, look forward to seeing some great YouTube clips!
Author Bio – Paul Williamson
Name: Paul Williamson
- Age: 38
- Location: UK
- Ride: Specialized Enduro Pro
- Discipline: Downhill & Freeride
- Favourite UK Tracks: Hamsterley Forest, Durham & Fort William, Scotland
- Recent Best Biking Experience: Megavalanche 2011, Alpe D’Huez
- Biking Hero: Steve Peat
- Other Interests: Snowboarding & Photography
- Pets: Jake, Labrador
About the ION Air Pro
The ION Air Pro is designed with the rider in mind, it’s simple to use and simple to share; making the riding rather than the camera your focus. It also comes with 8GB of free online storage to make it even simpler to store your footage securely online and share it with your mates.