There was no article last week. I promise I had a good excuse. Well, AN excuse. I shouldn’t over-promise.

Let’s start with the motorcycle-related content. I installed some parts on Booger: brake and shifter levers, rally footpegs, USB port, front basket and BarkBusters.

The GoPro Hero8s, along with the help of a DJI Osmo Pocket, recorded all my garage shenanigans for posterity (and YouTube). Five frustrating hours were spent in the garage without everything on my list getting accomplished. I had footage, though. Fourteen hours of editing later, I am quite proud of the result.

Proud of everything except some of it looked like it was filmed on a potato camera and the audio was not ideal.

Even though I had three big pedestal work lights (10k lumens each) pointed at me and the room seemed bright, the image quality was not great. In direct sunlight, GoPros are just fine. I guess my garage with all those lights wasn’t as bright as a giant burning gas ball in the sky. In the motorcycle YouTube space, image quality isn’t really that important but I do wish mine was better. Fitting with my general modus operandi, I preordered an overkill camera.

VIDEO: Panasonic Lumix S5IIX

There is already a mirrorless camera in the BaldRider arsenal, a Fujifilm X-T2. I have used it for video work before but that isn’t really its primary focus. My Fuji is a photo camera first and video is a distant second. Being limited to 30 minutes of video at a time doesn’t match my style of filming everything and editing it down later. I considered all my options and watched a lot of YouTube on the subject but settled on a Lumix S5IIX. If I don’t film in 6k, battery power and media storage are my only limiting factors. Those can be resolved but not at the same time.

What the hell, Panasonic? I mean I guess you can have my money.

One thing I had forgotten since purchasing that Fuji way back in 2017 was that cameras are expensive. I could have stuck with Fujifilm and bought something like an APS-C X-H2S to continue to use the lenses I already own but my primary concern is low-light image quality. A 35mm ‘full frame’ sensor should do better than APS-C. We’ll see. An H2S costs MORE than the Panasonic, anyway.

Continuing with my lucky streak (getting a 2023 Trail125 when I did was nearly impossible), I received the new camera yesterday. Thanks to Samy’s Camera for getting it to me so fast when I didn’t even know when units would start shipping. I have a lot to learn. The instruction manual is 876 pages long and words are hard.

I’ll tell you one thing I learned right off the bat. It is heavy. I doubt I’ll be doing much handheld vlog stuff but that really isn’t my style anyway.

My old X-T2, lenses and supporting equipment are all up for sale. If you’re in the market, let me know. You’re supposed to sell the stuff you need to fund a purchase before you purchase it. I didn’t do that. I guess I’ll have to keep the Fuji if it doesn’t sell. That would be such a shame.

AUDIO: Zoom H1n-VP

If you’ve watched any of my YouTube videos, you’ll know that I’ve been struggling with since almost the beginning. I had a Movo ACM400 microphone connected to a Tascam DR-05X recorder when I first started. I won’t say who on the internet recommended this unit. It is embarrassing.

The audio was fine initially. Then it wasn’t. I don’t know what happened but it just stopped being fine.

The internet told me to buy a Purple Panda microphone which I did. I do everything the internet tells me to do. I never could get it working correctly with the external recorder. Either the audio would clip or the mic would pick up interference or both. I don’t think the Purple Panda cable is shielded very well. Maybe the Purple Panda and the Tascam just don’t play well together.

I thought it would just be issues with in-helmet audio. Using a ¾ helmet like my Shoei J-Cruise II can cause issues. Filming a video with the Purple Panda lavalier mic clipped to my shirt didn’t result in any better performance. Luckily, the GoPro on my head picked up most of the audio well enough that the entire project didn’t need to be scrapped. I’ve given up on that combination now and moved onto something else.

Shadetree Surgeon lists his audio equipment in the description of his videos. His audio seems to be just fine so I ordered the Vbest Life microphone he uses. Sure, I look ridiculous with two boom mics sticking in front of my face but I’m usually already wearing a bright yellow Aerostich. Looks are not my primary concern. This microphone has a bonus, too.

I don’t always record when I’m riding. Sometimes I just like to go out and ride. For those times, the Purple Panda’s 5ft cord is a nuisance. I could remove the mic from the helmet when I’m not using it or buy a second, non-recording helmet. Neither of those options are reasonable. The new mic doesn’t have a cord at all. Taking advantage, I bought a 12-inch cord and routed it to barely sticking out of the helmet pad and then bought a 36-inch cord to run between the short cord and the recorder. More connections are worse than fewer connections but at least I can get rid of dangling cords when I’m not using the microphone.

I also ordered the external recorder that is referenced in Doodle (on a Motorcycle)’s blog for in-helmet recording, a Zoom H1N. It is smaller than the Tascam and less complicated to use. With auto-leveling turned on, my clipping issue should be resolved. I could have had the mic recording directly to the GoPro but that I run my action cameras on external power and that would require additional adapters hanging off my helmet.

I recorded with the new setup on the ride into work earlier this week. I haven’t had a chance to review the evidence. It could be trash. The same user is operating it, after all.

I’ll have a review and comparison of all of the equipment referenced here soon. My Davinci Resolve skills need to improve if I’m going to get anything done. Fourteen hours of editing? Who needs sleep? I should also learn how to color grade but that’s another story for another day.

Time to get back out there on two wheels and make some more content. Or finish my to-do list in the garage and let the new camera roll.