As every YouTube motorcycle video creator knows, figuring out how to easily and safely get riding shots and interviews can be complex.
Thankfully Sena has come to the rescue with its 50c, which has quickly become an important part of my video and audio toolkit.
Post your Sena 50c comments or questions here.
Before I received the Sena, trying to shoot helmetcam video meant jury rigging an action camera with adhesive to my helmet and hoping it wouldn’t fly off at some point. Worse, there was no easy way to capture conversations between motorcyclists when riding.
The 50c solves all that with a 4k camera and excellent noise cancelling technology packed on top of an already strong Bluetooth communications system that allows riders to record either MESH or Bluetooth conversations in a small, sleek, ergonomic package. It even worked with smartphone calls during video recording when I tested it with my Samsung s23 Ultra.
Size-wise it’s about the same as traditional Bluetooth motorcycle helmet communication devices.
The Sena shoots video in resolutions up to 4k at 30 FPS (frames per second). It also has built-in image stabilization that can be turned on or off for videos shot in 1080p at 30 or 60 FPS.
I shoot my work in 4k whenever possible. I know some riders have criticized the Sena’s lack of 4k image stabilization but I’ve found as long as I use my video editing software’s enhanced stabilization the 4k video produced by the 50c is still acceptable.
The Sena’s image quality isn’t as good as what you can achieve with the best action cams but it’s certainly serviceable and those units can’t touch the Sena’s convenience or multipurpose use case.
For motorcyclists that want a video record of their rides for insurance or other purposes the Sena is an easy way to accomplish that without the hassle of installing a dashcam-type device.
Perhaps the most important feature of the 50c is its excellent ergonomics, which contribute to using it safely. The last thing you want to be doing is poking around while riding, trying to hit the button on a traditional action camera or struggling with a smartphone app. That’s a recipe for a potential accident.
The Sena 50c solves this by incorporating an easy-to-use button in a natural spot that riders are already used to thanks to traditional bluetooth headset units. For those that do prefer to control the Sena with a smartphone, it has a big red button to start or stop recordings. The wifi video signal from the 50c to my smartphone remained strong during by riding tests.
The Sena pipes in reassuring voice prompts and sounds so you know each-and-every time that you have successfully started a video recording or taken a photo.
The 50c accepts MicroSD storage cards up to 128 GB, meaning you can shoot well over an hour of video, even when shooting in 4k. The video review at the top of this post includes a wide variety of sample video from the 50c, with each clip labeled so you’ll know which shots and audio tracks are coming the Sena.
I recently put the Sena to the test on a motorcycle shoot at the Tail of the Dragon in Deals Gap, North Carolina. Here’s the full video so you can judge for yourself. The video was produced using four cameras, of which the 50c was one. Experienced motorcycle videographers will be able to tell which shots are from the Sena by keeping the vantage point of the shots in mind.
The 50c uses two different smartphone apps. One controls the camera while the other controls functions such as MESH and FM radio presets. It includes two different types of mounts. The one I’m using allows the rider to set the camera at different vertical angles. The lens is easily rotated horizontally using an adjuster next to the camera lens so you can calibrate the landscape perspective to your liking before setting out on a ride.
It comes with a boom microphone and a second, more compact mic to accommodate a wide range of helmet styles.
The 50c supports Apple and Google voice assistants. It executed my “Hey Google” commands even at highway speeds and allowed me to take a phone call by simply saying “hello.”
I found it easy to connect to other riders using Bluetooth or MESH. If the other rider has a newer Sena it’s as easy as scanning a QR code generated by the app. Once you’re ready to download your video you can plug the 50c directly into your PC and it will be recognized as a drive so you don’t need to remove the MicroSD card.
In order for your PC to able to see it as a drive both the unit and the camera will need to be powered on. Sena allows you to run the unit with the camera powered down to conserve battery power when you’re using the 50c for things like music, phone calls or MESH chats with other riders.
I can’t give you a true battery estimate since I ran out of storage space on my MicroSD card before the battery died but I’d guess when recording in 4k it would last somewhere around two hours. When the camera isn’t running I’d expect to get a full day of riding out of it. If I find that’s not the case over a longer period of time I’ll update this post.
The Harman Kardon speakers provided me with the best sound I’ve yet to experience in a motorcycle helmet.
Two things I hope Sena will add in future versions are 4k image stabilization and HD Radio so riders can receive more local over-the-air channels. But that’s no reason to wait.
There’s not another motorcycle Bluetooth communications unit on the market – that I’m aware of – that can touch the 50c’s versatility.
Sena provided EV Rider with the 50c featured in this review but did not have any editorial input into this post or video’s production, nor did it see an advance copy. EV Rider’s editorial policy regarding review units is available here for anyone that would like to review it.
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