An interview with Andy Lawson, talking about the Innov Camera system fitted to his GSA

 

Please provide a short overview introduction to the product.

The product is called the Innov K2, a dash cam type camera. Hard wired onto the motorbike wiring loom. I found a suitable place to put the pencil like camera on the front of the GSA. Basically, it can record constantly because it comes on when you start the bike, and it is just like similar sorts of dash cams you have in cars. And it’s there to record your journey as you ride along.

Video files

It records segmented files, so individual files are all configurable and you can just use it as a history of your riding. I suppose, the reason I got it was for my own peace of mind for it is creating a record of all the events going on during my rides and maybe there will be times it could come to show how things evolved.

Why did you choose the Innov K2?

I have tried cameras that one just sticks on a mount on the handle bars or wherever, but then you have to turn them on or off, which is not very satisfactory. I looked at the GoPro and I just saw how expensive they were. It is not as practical for you have to keep taking it off. It’s powered by batteries that do not give a long recording time, which means you’re going to have, quite a number of batteries in reserve.

Anyway, I was looking at some other camera systems with the same sort of features, small, almost like a pencil sized camera, same sort of recording unit and you can have multiple cameras on it, but they were really, really expensive mainly done for the race industry. They do produce some excellent footage but given the cost the Innov looked a more realistic proposition.

 

How much did your system cost?

So the one I bought was a two camera setup, one on the front of the bike and one on the back both connected to a digital video recorder DVR. It takes a  micro SD card up to 128 MB. The price was around £280, if I recall

The bigger the card the more recording time, and I think when I last checked, I’ve got something like 9 hours recording on it. Once the memory becomes full, the oldest files are over written, so it’s a continuous loop. The size of the files are configurable too. The camera comes on with the ignition and then turns off when the ignition is off. However, the set-up has a live feed, so the camera will come back on if there is a sudden movement e.g., when parked up and some nice person manages to smack into the bike while parking.  Very practical.

 

How difficult was it to fit the system on your bike?

I had a good read of the instructions but in the end, I got North Oxford Garage to fit it for me. They charged me for doing so but they are authorised Innov dealers and I thought, if there are any future issues, I can take it back to them to sort out.

 

What do you find are the best things about it?

The quality of the videos are excellent and you can use them at night as well. They’re quite happy to work in low light conditions. I looked at a lot of examples of videos of other people who had bought the Innov and they’re very happy with it. It’s got sound recording. There’s a built in microphone which will record the ambient sound, but a microphone can be fitted inside a helmet to make a voice over on the ride.

Click the link for footage taken with the front camera https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvM09W78n80

Click the link footage taken with the rear camera https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UDiJ2tCvRM

What are the downsides?

Getting the images off the DVR is a little bit basic. You have to download an app for your smartphone, whether it’s an iPhone or Android, or you can use your iPad/Android tablet if you want to. The device must connect to the Wifi of the Innov and then when connected you go through and select the file(s) you want to download. This works ok but it would be nice if it was perhaps a little bit easier, but obviously the more things you add to it the more complex it becomes.

 

How do you rate it

So how would you rate it out of seven? One to seven, where one equals waste of time. Seven couldn’t live without it.

I’ll probably say six because you’re not going to buy anything else specifically for recording.

It’s not going to protect me, but it’s going to give a history and if there’s an investigation, it may show I was in the right and not responsible. I suppose it is a sort of insurance.

And the reason I got it is because of the number of times you hear of cars/trucks etc., pulling out in front of you or somebody smacks you in the back, so I thought, well, why not?

 

Any other comments?

Because of the COVID situation, I have not used it as much as I would have liked, so there will still be things to learn to get the most out of it and about a good workflow for editing the video files.

These cameras are fully accepted in this country but I am concerned about the situation in Europe.

Ian Dobie wrote a very good article covering this in the Spring Newsletter, and there is probably not much point in going over it again. The article can be found here

https://bmwcluboxford.com/the-use-of-dash-cams-abroad

Would I have bought it knowing this information, I guess so but if I want to go to Austria what do I do about the Innov? I’m thinking of possibly of some push on caps to go over the lens, but I haven’t researched for any yet.

Note:

Innov have now released the K3, which is an updated version and is comparable in price to the K2. This now includes an external mic, a remote control and can take a 256GB micro sd card. There is also a K5, which is around £100 more expensive, but has 4K cameras which is a far higher quality resolution.

Further information can be found here https://innovv.co.uk/