Tachyon XC Action Helmet Camera

[Jonesy]

Ok... so I wanted a helmet camera and looked at all the options including the POV and could not justify the money especially the way the dollar is currently. Also the POV has great quality but it's not really that much better than the cheaper ones after you encode and upload to youtube etc.

We ended up ordering the Tachyon XC which is relatively new as it was priced right $150US and the specs were much better than similar priced players.

I've only done a few vids whilst trying to get it mounted and the angle right so once I have had a good play ill post a full review with sample quality.

Some of the specs that jump out are the ability to use SDHC cards upto 32GB. It records 640x480 26 Frames/s on the highest quality which uses 4GB per hr on the SD. I've got a 16GB card which will be good for 4 hours.

Shockproof, waterproof to 8m and comes with different mounts and straps etc. The camera is all enclosed and sealed no wires etc. You can check out all the specs here -> http://www.tachyoninc.com/main.html

And there's a sample of the encoded quality in two sizes at this link which is nothing exciting, just me getting the angle adjusted -> http://gallery.me.com/savagemonster#100121

[mudskipper]

Heya Jonesy!

We decided the same, recieved ours just before Xmas - havent really done too much with ours as yet....still trying to work out how best to mount it on our helmets... Not too fussed with the bracket supplied with the camera (allows a bit of movement/slop of the camera itself) and we kinda gather we will invest in some commercial grade velcro which we will attach directly to the camera instead of using the mount...

Bought a 16GB SDHC card for it - so should have plenty of recording time up our sleeves...that was a big plus to us!!

One thing we did sus out was the different settings/modes Superior, Medium, High and Long - we assumed the Medium being the 30fps would be the best quality - however after a few trials, we concluded that the Superior mode (28fps) was the best... Seems to capture frames very well with no obvious lag...

We note the colour is excellent in the video - you definately do need a sunny day for best clarity - the only negative is the poor audio and not being able to plug in a mic if desired - but understable as the housing is fully waterproof so a tradeoff (being the audio quality) was to be expected...

Other than that - thus far we are impressed with its compact, light weight body, and as soon as we tweak this mounting business, we are keen to start making movies...yeee haaa!!!

Cheers!

[Jonesy]

Very happy with ours so far for the price and the features. There's a crowd on the Gold Coast here that does the A Data SDHC 16GB cards for $50.

With regards to mounts, I've heard that Tachyon is working on some other mounts and they will possibly be posting out to anyone that purchased an XC, hopefully us included.

I've drilled 4 holes through the mount and through the visor/peak on my helmet and used bolts with nylon nuts. I've used washers at the front so I can adjust the angle by adding or removing them. I'll probably end up making a solid bracket wedge shaped when I get the angle sorted.

Best to remove the card from the camera and copy the files off using a card reader also as the camera does not power off the usb when transferring + it's not real fast. Using the card reader is getting around 10-12MB/s when transferring to the computer.

The thing is so light that that i used some race tape to strap it to my road bike helmet and it didn't move.

The audio I found is adequate especially when your in the bush and its just your bike it's recording and not traffic and ambient noise. The sound I think is fine if your going to put a sound track on your clips as well.

I looked closely at the Oregon and the Vholdr and 2GB max card size (standard SD) is a show stopper. I don't want to be swapping cards on the trail or keeping track of time till it's full.

Originally Posted by mudskipper

Heya Jonesy!
We note the colour is excellent in the video - you definately do need a sunny day for best clarity - the only negative is the poor audio and not being able to plug in a mic if desired - but understable as the housing is fully waterproof so a tradeoff (being the audio quality) was to be expected...
Cheers!

[minisman]

Sounds like a very good alternative. Much better than those ATC things.

Although it looks a little "Bulkier" does it feel heavy when mounted on your visor?

Also before you go buying heaps of cheap SDHC cards, you should consider write speeds of them. With my digital SLR camera, i can really notice the difference between using a regular SD card and a Sandisk Ultra or Extreme SD card. You may bet better results with a better quality card.

[Jonesy]

Originally Posted by minisman

Sounds like a very good alternative. Much better than those ATC things.
Although it looks a little "Bulkier" does it feel heavy when mounted on your visor?
Also before you go buying heaps of cheap SDHC cards, you should consider write speeds of them. With my digital SLR camera, i can really notice the difference between using a regular SD card and a Sandisk Ultra or Extreme SD card. You may bet better results with a better quality card.

I can't notice any difference with it mounted on the visor weight wise. It's very light and the plastic mount weighs nothing.

With regards to SDHC cards, yes your right with regards to speed and video. I use Class 6 SDHC which is ample. A Class 4 card would also probably do with this camera no problems. Based on 4GB per hour, thats only just over 1MB/second.

[Tman]

Im looking at getting one of these or something similar asap.

I have a ride on in a couple of weeks so I want to get something soon and I would assume that I would have to order ASAP considering that its coming from the States,.

Anyway how are they holding up? Any issues?

Would you still reccomend one? Im not up for a POV just a self contained unit like these.

[Jonesy]

Originally Posted by Tman

Im looking at getting one of these or something similar asap.
Anyway how are they holding up? Any issues?
Would you still reccomend one? Im not up for a POV just a self contained unit like these.

I've had mine for a few months now and had a chance to use it a fair bit. I'll still say they are good value for money but I've run into a few issues/teething problems with mine. They are:

- Batteries. Don't even bother with anything less than the energizer ultimate lithium which are what's recommended by tachyon (unless your going around the block for a 10 minute spin). Duracell's only last for about 45mins at full resolution.

- Buttons on the top (on/off and power etc) - After using the unit on a few dusty rides I've found that dust is getting in under the botton (not inside the unit) which causes the button to get stuck which switches the unit recording on/off randomly. Washing the dirt/dust out from under the button fixes this problem. Took me a while to work this one one. The buttons are very hard to press normally so you can't accidently hit them.

- On-board microphone - I think all of the cameras that have an inbuilt mic suck for sound quality. The biggest problem I found is when anything comes close to the camera or hits it (leaves branches, lantana), it sounds like you've just been run over. I guess this is an inherent problem with these all in one setups.

- Mounts - Although I've had no problems with mine the clip that connects the camera to the mount is somewhat below grade. I've had to drill holes through my visor as a secure mounting option as the side helmet mount does not give any angle adjustment. You can have the best camera, but if you can't mount it to the angle you want then it's useless.

- Image quality - the video is compressed using M-JPG codec (which I think is the same as the Go-PRO) and whilst it's acceptable, it's not going to win an competitions.

This is a great little unit and maybe best suited to some of the other extreme sports rather than trail biking where dust is a definite issue.

Initially I wanted a helmet came to have a play with as the concept of having a record of what your up to etc was exciting. I did not want to spend the the money on a POV at the time with the $ so stuffed as a first camera. I know there are others that don't have that budget either for a first camera.

Jonesy

[Simon]

Jonesy did you get any good footage of last weeks ride a beerburrem?

I was wondering how your camera faired against the VIO.

I was one that wasted the money on one (the dollar was at 98C at the time) Im happy with it.
Here is a hd vid I have done with the vio http://www.vimeo.com/3670294
The VIO uses AVI as the video type.

Couple of things The mic on the Vio aint that good and cuts out with high noise some times

Having a camera on a lead is very annoying with the head on the helmet and the body in the backpack. I have bought a mount kit from vio which comes with some cool bits.

I would like to see a helmet came thats all in one uses H.264 at 720 x 480
and will take 32 gig cards. and is not too big

(oh it would be nice if it turned up with a hooker and a bag full of cash as well!)

Meh you cant always get what you want

[Rickster]

They are a good unit but the mounting hardware sux the proverbial FAT ONE!!!!!!!
I have had all sorts of mounting drama's and for me on top like Jonesy's is no good as in tight single line I use my lid alot to deflect branches. I am going to try to mount it on my cheek/beak part of the helmet next.....mine has fallen off my helmet 3 times and have nearly lost it!
Do yourself a favor and spend alittle bit more and get something better. Shrek reckons the hero pro?? is the ducks guts @$350

[Jonesy]

Originally Posted by Simon

Jonesy did you get any good footage of last weeks ride a beerburrem?
I was wondering how your camera faired against the VIO.

Got all of the ride at Beerburrum, have not really had a chance to go through it.

There's no way that the quality is there compared to the POV. the AVI format is just a transport format, the POV actually uses MPEG4 (using the DivX codec) which I think is up there with H.264/Quicktime.

The tachyon is very grainy in full resolution especially when it starts moving.

PS Great Mt Mee vid from what I've watched do far. VIMEO is so slow, it's best to pause it and come back later and watch. Would be great if there was a VIMEO australian based server