Techalogic DC-1 Dual Lens Helmet Camera

The Techalogic DC-1 is a helmet-mounted camera that films in front and behind in quality plenty good enough to get those numpty drivers into trouble.

Firstly, let's not have the discussion about whether a cycle helmet is a right or proper place to mount a camera; nor about whether the pros outweigh the cons in comparison to a bike-mounted device. Let's assume if either of these things are an issue for you, you've already stopped reading.

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Secondly, no – the camera has not been left on top of a hot radiator. It's meant to look like that. By adding a banana bend, Techalogic has dealt with the problem of using one camera to film fore and aft without one end or the other pointing at the sky. It might not be pretty, but it works.

When combined with the double-jointed mount, which sets the camera high above the helmet, the overall look is, shall we say, conspicuous. I did think for a while that it might be so obvious to drivers that they were being filmed that they would be better behaved around me, but a few prize clots were apparently still happy to put themselves in the test frame.

Techalogic originally brought this camera to market with motorcyclists in mind, where maintaining the streamlined look of the road cyclist is not relevant. However, it's obviously spotted the potential market in cycling – particularly the rough-and-tumble of the daily commute – and sent us one to try too. Having lived with the DC-1 for a few weeks, I think it's definitely on the right lines.

Setting up

I dislike pre-ride faff, which only seems to have increased since my boyhood days of jumping on the 5-speed in jeans and trainers and just going. I particularly dislike techno-faffing (though I still do it) and a sport-cam I bought cheaply on the internet to provide some evidence of idiot driving has lain unloved in a drawer because it was just too much bother (and ran flat in 40 minutes). The DC-1 is still a bit of faff, especially when you first get set up; but as these things go it's about as simple as it can be, which encouraged me to use it; and as I got used to it, it got simpler still.

Once set up, there's just one button to know about, which you press and hold to turn the device on. Not only that, but it defaults to record mode, with a flashing white light to tell you it's working. Pressing and holding a second time turns it off. A quick press puts it into or out of pause mode. That's basically it.

There's one other function controlled from this button, and that is the Wi-Fi connection, which is how the device connects to your smartphone. Two short pushes of the button activate this. Two short pushes turn it off again. When you are riding it's important to turn this off, otherwise it severely shortens the battery life. Fortunately, or by good design, the camera 'remembers' whether the Wi-Fi was turned on or off last time it was used, so most of the time I left it turned off.

Talking of battery life, Techalogic claims two and a half hours. I added up 162 minutes (2 hours, 42 minutes) of 3-minute files from one charge. Regardless as to whether this is enough for your needs, the great thing is you can plug a battery into the USB socket, at which point the recording time becomes whatever size battery you care to carry around with you.

The supplied lead is long enough to reach the camera from a jersey back pocket and, having tucked the cable away behind a helmet strap, I didn't notice it. However, Techalogic advises against doing this in wet weather because the cover has to be removed from the USB port.

On your head

Mounting a device like this on the helmet is always a bit of a compromise and it's just the same here. Techalogic throws in a handful of different-sized 3M sticky pads and standard helmet mount clips, but I couldn't find anywhere on any of my four (!) helmets that gave enough surface area to stick one. Fine for a motorbike helmet, I suppose. Anyway, helmet manufacturers issue dire warnings about the effects of adhesives.

I used the strap mount, which was long enough to allow some manner of fixing on all the helmets, and used buckles rather than the dreaded Velcro to adjust, so it's easy to pull it tight for stability.

Where the strap can be made to mount widthways, like in the photos, this is straightforward. On one helmet I could only get it to go lengthways and this meant I had to take the mount apart and re-assemble it without the middle "knuckle" so the camera still pointed forwards. If you use the same helmet all the time when using the camera, your life will be simpler.

It's a bit hit-and-miss to point the camera in the right direction once you've put your helmet on. Techalogic advises using your smartphone to view the live pictures to provide guidance, but I couldn't actually recreate my riding position with any accuracy while trying to look at my phone, and certainly not while trying to ride the bike (really, don't do this). However, once I'd got the camera level I found it easier each subsequent time to get it right.

The clamp can be tightened securely enough not to move by accident. The whole clamp and mount unit is nice and chunky and looks well made. It's a standard slide-in mount, too, so you can buy after-market mounting clips to suit your needs.

The whole assembly feels a bit of a lump once it's on the helmet, but I soon stopped noticing when I was riding and it never moved about.

Software

The software is a generic piece called 'VF Cam' which downloaded and installed without problems (at least on my iPhone). You need to search in your phone settings for the camera's Wi-Fi connection and select it, after which you can make adjustments to settings such as resolution (1980Px1080/30 or 1280Px720/60) and exposure, or perform a card format. The pictures from both cameras appear live on your screen. You can also record this footage onto your phone device.

The software also lets you sort your video files and play them, either live or after downloading, via the Wi-Fi. This worked smoothly. Alternatively, you can put the SD card into your laptop and manipulate the files to your heart's content. I found the MP4 files ran trouble-free on my shonky laptop even direct from the card. A 128GB microSD card (not supplied) provides 9 hours of recording, after which the camera begins to write over old files. You can lock files to prevent them being overwritten.

This is done from a remote control unit, which can also be used to take still photographs. I did this once, just to test it. I thought it would be more useful to have a pause button instead. The remote unit operates from a small battery and doesn't use much juice and you don't need the Wi-Fi switched on to use it as it connects by radio frequency. The Velcro strap it comes with wasn't comfortable on the wrist, or all that easy to tighten onto a bike stem. The flat shape of the back of the unit itself made that worse.

A clear instruction manual is available online and the company is easy to contact. I had an issue with the camera apparently stopping recording after a few minutes on a couple of rides and dropped them a 'mystery shopper' email; I had a reply within minutes and a helpful phone conversation (press the reset button if you have any apparent gremlins). Since then, everything's run tickety-boo.

Picture quality

Last but not least, the picture quality is good, though it does pixellate a little when you or other objects are moving at speed. Also, with no image stabilisation, you may start to get travel sick when looking at your recordings. However, this was never enough to prevent me reading a car registration number when I needed to. The first time I submitted a close-pass report, the police welcomed the front-and-rear footage and told me they would be issuing a fixed-penalty notice (the culprit also had no tax or MOT).

The soundtrack, though, consisted mostly of wind noise, despite the rear-facing microphone – and me swearing on hills. Unfortunately, the mic failed to pick up a couple of car horn honks which might have been useful extra evidence. The sound level can be adjusted by downloading a little bit of extra software, which is easy to do.

Value

Cameras seem to come in two prices: ludicrously cheap (and correspondingly nasty) or more expensive than your third-best bike. The DC-1 keeps you covered front and rear for only £10 more than a Cycliq Fly6 rear camera (though that includes a light).

> Buyer’s Guide: How to choose the right bike camera

Most cameras we see seem to be bar-mount specific but we liked the TomTom Bandit Action Camera which can also be helmet mounted. That only points forward though, and costs £299.99.

Conclusion

Overall, the DC-1 seems a good piece of kit that looks as though it will last longer than some budget electronics, and if anything does go wrong there's help at hand right here in the UK.

Verdict

Despite the weird looks and the previously unknown name, the DC-1 is a neat idea, generally well executed