Body cam recommendations?

Cyracus · April 4, 2022

I was assaulted by a group of thugs in my neighborhood out of the blue (*I'll cover details below), unfortunately there was nobody else around to witness. I filed a police report. Yada yada.

Wanna make sure I have good evidence to give the cops if anything like that happens again.
I don't know much about body cams, but I'd like something that secures to me, durable of course, and big plus if the battery is replaceable.

Details: I'm standing in a covered bus stop, playing a game on my phone, this guy I've never seen steps in, punches me in the face and starts teeing off, there's another guy behind him and a third with a 2x4. Fisty doesn't hit that hard. Idk if #2 hit me, focus was on #3 with the 2x4. I got away, they didn't chase. I ended up with a bum shoulder, a couple bruises, some scratches, and a sore ego... but it could've been worse.

Shimejii · April 4, 2022

This just seems like you want to be prepared for a situation that honestly a tazer or weapon would do you much better. Were you by any buildings that had cameras?

Remember witha body cam type thing, its gonna stand out, you will also need a very large battery back and such and hope that if that happens they dont just take it with them.

Hybris5112 · April 4, 2022

This is a interesting issue (Good to hear that you are alive and relatively unhurt btw).

I think the first question you have to ask yourself is how do you think you will wear this? A camera attached to a shirt or hat could be ripped off in a struggle but a more considerable mounting solution might be uncomfortable to wear or make you feel like you are standing out too much thus less inclined to wear it day after day once the shock of the event wears off.

How are you going to use the camera? Are you recording from the time you say leave work/school, wait at the bus stop, then reach your home or just turn it on at the bus stop.

This can greatly affect how you spend on looking for storage capacity or how much you sacrifice on video quality.

I think battery replacement isn't going to be much of a feature as everything is Li-Ion or similar for weight and power density requirements generally needed.

Maybe once we can answer these questions it will be easier to narrow down a recommendation.

Also for the record I agree with Shimejii that finding a means of self defense is a solution to be seriously considered if allowed by the laws of where ever you live. Otherwise finding a solution to avoid standing out in the open for prolonged periods of time such as a buying a vehicle or even a bike (lots of helmet cams for cyclists) or otherwise changing your habits to be safer.

Cyracus · April 4, 2022

37 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

This just seems like you want to be prepared for a situation that honestly a tazer or weapon would do you much better. Were you by any buildings that had cameras?

Didn't have a chance to use a weapon, they ambushed me, I had maybe half a second from him popping around the corner to getting peppered with punches with dudes stacked behind him. A weapon would've been great if they had chased me, and is definitely an avenue I'm looking down. Unfortunately no cameras anywhere nearby, so really the main thing I wish I had was a camera, thus my purpose here. I don't mean to be a dick, but if you cannot assist with my inquiry, I kindly request you just continue to another thread.

28 minutes ago, Hybris5112 said:

I think the first question you have to ask yourself is how do you think you will wear this?

How are you going to use the camera? Are you recording from the time you say leave work/school, wait at the bus stop, then reach your home or just turn it on at the bus stop.

This can greatly affect how you spend on looking for storage capacity or how much you sacrifice on video quality.

I'm fine with a bicep mount or on my chest. Probably gonna use primarily if I'm out anywhere alone, more likely short trips than long adventures.

If some asshat decides to attack me I can't stop it, but I want to make sure that I have video evidence to aid in their identification and capture (so can't neglect quality outright)
I probably won't need vast amounts of storage, but expandable via micro sd or something might be nice

Hybris5112 · April 5, 2022

This is the first time I have searched for something like this and its not surprising that this sort of thing is rather institutionalized.

You have what I would call a reputable company like Axom with their Body 3 (https://www.axon.com/products/axon-body-3) which looks like a true LE grade body cam but you have to contact them so I suspect that there is no way to buy a camera unless you are a police department or private security firm.

Going down the list the next brand that didn't strike me as completely questionable is Wolfcom.

https://policebodycameras.com/collections/halo-body-cameras/products/halo-body-worn-camera-includes-360-degree-clip-and-2-year-warranty ($499.99)

32GB of storage with no word on expandability that I could find and no word on how much footage it can hold but looking at their other camera I think 18 hours of video can be taken but I question that.

1296p resolution video

Requires the included software to pull video off.

140 degree lens.

Next model tier down is this: https://policebodycameras.com/collections/vision-body-camera/products/vision-body-camera ($299.99)

32GB of storage which they claim will hold 18 hours of footage (Used this for the above estimation) but 2.5 hours of battery life when constantly recording which sounds more realistic for how much video you can record. This is one reason why I don't fully trust everything on their site.

1080p resolution video.

Requires special software to pull video off and on the page they don't make it clear that you get said software. Since this is a cheaper model maybe that is where some of the cost savings is because they expect you to buy separately the software, again I am unsure.

120 degree lens

Finally we reach what I would call the bottom of the barrel. Boblov is a brand I kept running into in my searches and they are on Newegg for what that is worth but otherwise I can't find a company website.

https://www.newegg.com/p/2M1-00B7-000C4?quicklink=true ($93.99)

64GB storage with no expansion mentioned.

They claim 5 hours of battery life when recording at 1080p.

It has a on board screen for reviewing footage which is one of the main reasons why I am even bringing it up.

170 degree lens

Footage is otherwise pulled off by a micro-usb port with no mention of special software needed and its in MP4 format.

For $30 you can also get a body strap to mount it to. (https://www.newegg.com/p/2M1-00B7-000E3?Item=9SIAEU9B998664&Description=body camera&cm_re=body_camera-_-2M1-00B7-000E3-_-Product)

After that its even worse Chinese brands that look even more questionable than this Boblov brand and I feel aren't worth mentioning unless someone with more first hand knowledge can say otherwise.

On a whim I looked at GoPro. Specifically their older Hero 8 camera

https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/cameras/hero8-black/CHDHX-801-master.html ($280.00)

https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/mounts-accessories/chesty/AGCHM-001.html (Chest mount: $40.00)

Their specs are next to useless for the sort of questions I want to answer but if their images of the camera are accurate then it looks like you can put in a 32GB microSD card and maybe get 2 hours of 4k60fps footage and likely more at lower resolutions.

As for how easy it would be to use for this sort of application I can't speak for but its at least a well known brand with wider support than what else I found.

Sorry if this doesn't really help I did my best.