The best Sports & Action Video Cameras: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

There are a bunch, I think Yi is sort of the "better" of the knock offs but just a quick amazon search yielded this: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07B2W96JH/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07B2W96JH&pd_rd_w=ozMTO&pf_rd_p=f0dedbe2-13c8-4136-a746-4398ed93cf0f&pd_rd_wg=Btis5&pf_rd_r=67RCCK7FCSVTTRW5W62C&pd_rd_r=87988a9d-0160-11e9-b54d-a3f4d08ced8f

​

Which if I had to guess is just a re-branded Yi.

Grab the Yi action cam - https://www.amazon.com/YI-Action-Camera-US-White/dp/B016EIGEGU and the waterproof case, and you can use any of the gopro mounts. (or the cheap generic gopro mounts on amazon or ebay)

You can buy a case full of accessories for cheap off Amazon. Like this

Proshot isn't bad, but IMO it's kind of expensive for what it is. For $30 on Amazon you can get a pile of different mounts, not just for the helmet but all kinds of applications, and then you can do a mount like Jake theGardenSnake does in this video. IMO, that's a way better deal, because it gives you the ability to mount the camera wherever you want, at any angle/orientation, and it gives you tons of extra mounts as well, so you can try different camera locations and see what you like. The Proshot is tried and true, but it's also just one fixed perspective, for one helmet. Another thing with GoPro mounts, if you figure out a setup you really like, take out the big thumb screws and replace them with set screws, or just socket head cap screws, and loctite them in place. Cleaner look, less stuff to catch the helmet on.

If you want to get started with an inexpensive action camera I'd look at Dreki for camera recommendations https://youtu.be/qITwOtfKmaE

...and pick up one of these kits that have all kinds of fun mounts to try: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01171X0UW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_dl_3F4VPFSCNC2XW9YQF9QS

Amazon - I needed to replace 4 helmet cams... I was using Mobius Actioncam, and at $100 ea, it was kinda pushing what I wanted to spend.

Saw these recommended as a budget action camera - I'm sold already.

1080p. 90 minute battery. Spare battery included. There's like 15 mounting accessories. All for super cheap.

Worth it, imo. Picking up 3 more. Helmet and rear camera for 2 riders.

You can get the Xiami Mi 4K for $250 on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/YI-Action-Camera-Night-Black/dp/B01FU9ZIMU/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1478741824&sr=1-4&keywords=xiaomi+yi

Thanks, it was a good day up until that point.

It's the Mobius Action Camera, on Amazon for $70. I mount mine under the brim of my hat because it is so small and lightweight.

https://www.amazon.com/Mobius-Action-Camera-1080P-Sports/dp/B00DP1WYD2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1533322361&sr=8-3&keywords=mobius+action+camera

Don't get something stealthy, get something super conspicuous. I never get harassed now that I have a big, doofy camera sticking out the top of my helmet. Amazon has some cheap Gopro knockoffs that work well for commutes. I'm using the $60 "FitFort" model, which came with a mount, waterproof housing, and four batteries.

Edit: This guy, basically

I used a mobius camera for some time. It's cheap, good quality, has better battery life than a GoPro, and is far easier to mount. You can stick it anywhere with a strip of duraloc or quality velcro.

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Box-Mobius-Action-Camera/dp/B00N6AWQ5I

This is one of those cases where having the video may save the biker's ass. What's recommended to mount on a helmet? I imagine one of these GoPro knockoffs but I am not sure if they have loop recording like dashcams.

I currently use my S6 for all the vlogs I record since that's the only really decent camera I have. It's funny you asked this question because I'm looking for another camera around this price point.

If you bump your budget up like $10 you could get into decent cameras to start off.

The GoPro hero retails at $129.99 on Amazon, but you could maybe find it cheaper used on eBay or something. It'll shoot 1080 at 30fps and 60fps at 720. Only thing is that it doesn't have a lcd screen so you won't be able to preview any footage. This was my first choice since I was looking for an action cam. The wifi one is like $199 and will allow you to preview footage on your phone, but for that price you could get something else like the GoPro session that shoots 4k and is smaller.

The Nikon CoolPix L340 is like $130-ish on Amazon (probably cheaper somewhere else) . It has a fixed lense and shoot only 720p video. I'm assuming probably just 30fps.

There are also some Samsung point and shoots around this price and lower, but the out of the box sound quality is probably terrible. I'd go with with either the GoPro or the CoolPix to start. You could also jump up into the $199 range which starts to offer very good quality. OR....you could also buy one of those handy cams too lol. I have one and it shoots decent video (1080/720 w/ 24-60 fps), but I feel stupid using it outside the house. Hope this helps a little bit! Good luck in your vlogging ☺.

So, just yesterday on reddit, someone listed this ~$43 camera they use for front+back for under <$100. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X9Y2NFY/

They said they just keep the charger next to their bike at home and recharge the batteries as part of their routine when putting away the bike.

I just added it to one of my Amazon lists but haven't had a chance to do research on it. The sample images look good and it's cheap enough that I might buy one just to test.

https://www.amazon.com/YI-Action-Camera-US-White/dp/B016EIGEGU

My brother got this Yi and it has great video quality. He got it for 80 on amazon though, not sure if the price has gone up or if he got it on sale. Either way, its a bit closer to your price range

I bought a $40 Chinese gopro knockoff from Amazon and a little flexible tripod thing. Works pretty well for my purposes (ie watching/improving my beta etc). I'm sure it'd be alright for making youtube videos or whatever if that's your jam. Not gonna make the next Reel Rock on it or anything but it does the job.

Camera

Tripod

I got a 50-in-1 accessory kit for like 40$ CAD on Amazon. I would go with that. High quality for the most part, comes in a great hard travel case that holds all the pieces. I'm really happy with it

Here is the kit (Amazon Canada)

Camera is the EK7000 i bought for vacation on Amazon last year.

Mount is one of these GoPro chin mounts

I started with the cheapest cameras I could find with decent quality in Wal-Mart. Camera with a screen that face you brand name was "Onn" worked pretty good. I stepped up to action cameras like knock off go-pro types. Definitely didnt regret buying it for like 30-40 bucks from Wal-Mart.

P.s. walmart is budget friendly for starting anything as a SW in my opinion.

Eventually I made enough to buy a 400 camera, bluetooth and WiFi capable. But I barely use it. Bottom line research camera types and the quality. If your serious about making ypur own digital content it takes a bit of leg work.

I have dragon touch vision 5 from Amazon, they're great I got two for angles really crisp pictures and video. Dragontouchcamera

"Surf cam" is just a term for a webcam pointed at a surf spot.

If you mean a waterproof action camera, this U$70 has a lot of positive reviews. I personally use a Sony.

https://www.amazon.com/AKASO-EK7000-Sports-Waterproof-Camcorder/dp/B01HGM33HG/ref=sr_1_3?crid=U4VVX50A4J7E&amp;keywords=akaso&amp;qid=1668869027&amp;sprefix=akaso%2Caps%2C69&amp;sr=8-3 I got the Akaso EK7000. It only records up to 2.5 hrs and needs two batteries for that. But I charge them before going out on my commute.

Do you mean GoPro? I just use a cheap Chinese clone that's good enough https://www.amazon.com/AKASO-EK7000-Sports-Waterproof-Camcorder/dp/B01HGM33HG. For a full camera depends a lot. The housing is probably hundreds depending on brands. Lights depends if you use mounted on rig or hand mounted. You'll need to practice handling the whole rig. This is after you have perfected your bouyancy 😅 do you can keep everything steady. So most of the time just use a go pro size thing 😁

This thing: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B2W96JH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1

I find that just having its mount on my helmet is enough to make drivers a little less shitty. One of my favourite stories is the time a driver screamed at me because I was in the road, then saw my (empty) helmet cam mount and quickly zipped off. Not sure if Wellington has the same problems with shitty drivers as where I live does, but if it does, this may help. I might recommend something with a larger battery if you do more riding, though! This runs out rather quick.

Best deal ever was an Activeon CX that came with a waterproof case, $29 new. Battery lasted 2 hours per charge. Simple but effective, case finally leaked and nuked the camera after a couple years. Wish I could buy another. Got https://smile.amazon.com/AKASO-EK7000-Sports-Waterproof-Camcorder/dp/B01HGM33HG/ instead, and its ok, but just make sure your sd card is compatible as its prone to file corruption for longer recordings if its too slow/old.

I deliver on a motorcycle, so I have a GoPro that covers everything. You can have a body cam, I got my GoPro clone for $13 and it works great. You can get a cube type that goes on your chest or on a hat for < $99 IIRC.

Other tips are to have the bags sealed. One restaurant missed 1/2 the meal (2 burritos) and I told the guy the bag is sealed, he said yes. Not all are sealed thou.

https://www.amazon.com/AKASO-EK7000-Sports-Waterproof-Camcorder/dp/B01HGM33HG/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1U24KQ2PZZYZ9&amp;keywords=action+camera&amp;qid=1663260814&amp;s=electronics&amp;sprefix=action+camea%2Celectronics%2C146&amp;sr=1-3

Pretty sure these are highly rated.

Watch the size of the MicroSD card they'll take. Mine is limited to 32G and that's about 3.5 hours at 720.

IDK if they make an all day one, but something in the range of 4~5 hours would be nice.

You can get chest straps and other attachments all over the place.

I'd answered a similar question in this thread a few weeks ago so I'll copy my answer here in case it's useful:

&#x200B;

One of the cheap action cam options on Amazon or Costco would work. I have this one which I'd bought for like $45 a couple years ago and it came with a bunch of cheap accessories including a mount which works on handlebars.
The only issue I've had with that camera is the battery life is terrible so I have a 5,000 mAh battery bank, which I bought for like $10 from Best Buy a year or so ago, zip tied to my handlebars and plug in a microUSB cable to the camera so I have seemingly days worth of battery capacity for recording. I'm happy with it.
I don't know if I'd be comfortable having an expensive GoPro or similar camera because of the risk of it being stolen when my bike is locked somewhere. I guess you could take it with you but I prefer the convenience of just locking my bike and going about my business since I don't care too much if this cheap one is stolen, even though anything being stolen sucks.

Its funny, I used to have a Dragontouch 4k action cam and it worked GREAT but it was just an action cam and I couldn't get one to work for the rear of my vehicle.

So I started looking for something I could link a rear camera to.

One of the cheap action cam options on Amazon or Costco would work. I have this one which I'd bought for like $45 a couple years ago and it came with a bunch of cheap accessories including a mount which works on my handlebars.

The only issue I've had with that camera is the battery life is terrible so I have a 5,000 mAh battery bank zip tied to my handlebars and plug in a microUSB cable to the camera so I have seemingly days worth of battery capacity for recording. I'm happy with it.

I use this one. Small, light, cheap. I’ve forgotten to turn it off after my run and as a result have captured a ton off footage running the timer, shit talking the boys, even the entire ride home. Point being…good battery life.

Black Box Mobius Pro Mini Action Camera - 820mAh Battery - 1080P Full HD Mini Sports Action Dash Cam - DVR Video Recorder with WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) Large FOV, Motion Detection & Time Lapse https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00N6AWQ5I/

Look on Amazon for copycat GoPro (aka faux pro) action cameras. They're small, light and much cheaper than a GoPro.

Here's an example of a very popular one.

Camera: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B2W96JH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_4ZQYAAAAR0YR9M7BKSA2

Was $49 when I bought it but it looks like the price jumped an extra $20 I would just suggest using your phone if you can’t afford the camera. The only reason I use the camera instead of my phone is to free up my phone’s battery and because the camera takes batteries so I don’t have to worry about recharging while working.

Harness: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZELEKIS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_H409PDKJVA6ZFCBVA8CW?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1

Hope that helps you guys out. I definitely recommend grabbing these or something similar. Good luck out there.