vroom

Yeah but Warren, with all that weight that things gonna cost ya at least a few 10ths on the autocross...

WarrenW

HAHA! Yeah, at 26lbs, it would damn sure add SEVERAL seconds. But I wouldn't put a $50,000 camera in that kind of danger.

The intent of my post was to tell the original poster, cthree, that those handycams are not used for professional television production unless it would be put in a place where you can't risk losing a $50,000 professional camera. But then, maybe that's what cthree was using it for, he just wasn't too clear with his explanation.

Now, back to the topic of this thread...

Warren

cthree

So tell us about your in-car mount for that thing, you know like they use on Speed TV I'd especially like to know how you get it under the seat for the footwork shots

For clarity consider reading the topic title "In-Car Video Setup"

JackOlsen

A quick update:

The Mustek recorder's 'high quality' setting is only 320x240 pixels, which is definitely inferior to what you'd get from most camcorder formats.

For computer use, the 320x240 is fine. The following videos are all blown up to 640x480, which increases the image area four-fold, and naturally hurts the image quality. If you have the Windows Viewer show them at half size, you'll see the recording in its native size. It's not bad.

Each of the clips are WMV and about 10 megs.

This video compares the recording quality of the Mustek PVR and my Canon Mini-DV camcorder:

PVR versus DV

The next two videos compare the newer Sony SuperHAD bullet camera and the older HAD one. It also shows the picture-in-picture setup.

The first clip, recorded to the Mustek PVR:

Camera comparison to DV

The second clip, recorded to Mini-DV:

Camera comparison to PVR

msm_s2k

Excellent comparison ... PVR quality reflects the $95 cost.

Can we get a comparison with the quality with the in car video from

twohoos

Heh-heh, here's the one SpeedTV uses -- that's TK interviewing our own ultimate lurker (OK, now TOV owns him ):
http://www.vtec.net/news/news-item?news_item_id=438223

Still don't think it'll fit under the seat.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled thread...

Elistan

I've never understood Sony's pricing of the Video Walkman. The MiniDV version has a 4" LCD display and can record a video signal to MiniDV media. It costs $1300. However, the DCR-HC32 video recorder also has the ability to record an external video signal to MiniDV, plus has it's own 20x optical zoom lens! Albeit the display is only 2.5", but that's why you watch the stuff on a computer or TV. I simply don't understand why anybody would purchase the Video Walkman over a regular MiniDV camcorder?

Heck, the Digital8 Video Walkman that doesn't even have a screen is still $700! Compare that to the $350 recorder that can record externally as well.

ps - JackOlsen, thanks for the info about the camera with the settable exposure. I have a ConeCam that's useless when mounted in the car because everything outside is a nearly featureless white blur.

rworne

The other thing I noticed experimenting with my camcorder is that the tape mechanism doesn't take to kindly to the bumps, vibration and rattling that goes on during "spirited" driving. My Canon GL-1 takes excellent video hanging off my camera mount between the roll hoops, but you do see rapid subtle brightness changed "flickering" caused by all the shaking when the road starts to get slightly rough or in the canyons.

Remotely mounted cameras piped into the recorder strapped to a seat improves it a lot, but a solid-state recorder would be best if the resolution is adequate. It's a helluva lot less bulky too. The only problem is that DV is so much easier to edit than MPEG video.

Finally, syncing the video isn't an issue if you use a 2 or 4 in one color video multiplexer (like those used for security cameras). Pipe all the video into the box, set up the output (PIP, one camera, two cameras or more) and record the ouput to one video recorder. Everything is synced from the get-go.

WarrenW

See, Speed Channel doesn't use handycams either. The camera in those pics is the same kind of camera I use, a Sony BVW-D600.

Warren

bighead

you can always consider your options...

http://www.xtremex3.com/en/products/

I believe the setup is around 3g's