I want to mount a camera in my car, so that I can analyze what I was doing in a race. I'm concerned that some cameras won't last long with the beating it will receive in a very stiffly sprung race car. I have other questions, also:

--Does a 16:9 aspect ratio camera do away with the need for a wide angle lens?

--Is it a good idea to tie the camera down on the mount, to make the attachment stronger?

--What cameras work best for this purpose, for, say under $500?

I'd be most interested in personal experience people have had with in-car video, both good and bad, but I'll take hearsay.

Thanks.

 

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=332928

 

I've seen a couple of these types of systems offered lately. One or two bullet cams, a direct-to-CF-card mpeg recorder, and an inline picture-in-picture processor. Total kit seems to go for about $1000, maybe half that if you just go for one camera and no PiP. Seems like it would be the way to go.

Anybody got feedback on the various outfits putting these things together? For instance, ChaseCam?

 

i was using a dv cam cannon optima in a pelican case on my bike..crash worthy and no vibration problems to the reecorder...the sony lipstick is ok it does tend to flare...you may be able to throw a filter in the front of it ..the beauty of them is they are cheap (in comparison to other solutions) so if you destroy a camera no biggie...

Samsung SC-X105L camera w included lipstick cam (no tapes needed) records to internal memory. around $550ish
JVC GZ-MG30 (no tapes needed) records to internal memory i think is more than the samsung

 

"Does a 16:9 aspect ratio camera do away with the need for a wide angle lens?"

aspect ratio has no bearing on lens..its just the shape of the image...so in theory yes ou would still need a wide lens

"Is it a good idea to tie the camera down on the mount, to make the attachment stronger?"

ide think it would be good so if it does come loose it dosent go flying down the track

I simply taped doen my bullet cam to my hood (you can get interchangable lenses for the sony bullets) image vibation wasnt bad coushined it with som cloth....the deck was in a pelican case in the top glove box that was filled with rags no problems....ghetto ....yes works...yes..cheap...oh yes....

 

Here something cool: An iPod type device with a lipstick camera:

http://www.archos.com/products/video_recor...=global&lang=en

 

Sooner or later, a DV camera will get vibrated into oblivion. The direct-to-memory-card cameras now produce an image (at 640x480 and 30fps) that will look fine on a big television, great on your computer, and -- more importantly -- are cheap and have no moving parts.

I still use two cameras with a picture-in-picture box. But I also recently picked up a 'helmet cam' which is a tiny, self-contained camera, mic and recorder that will put two hours of full-quality footage on a SD memory card. It can be mounted just about anywhere, inside or outside the car (it's weatherproof). I'll be using it for a reverse angle (in addition to my normal camera). This is helpful in race incidents to document who was at fault in an incident. I'll also use it for shooting right at suspension components or aero pieces.



I got it for $95 delivered by entering the coupon code 'moon' at this site.

Info on the camera here.

Sample footage shot with it here.

 

That's freaking awesome Jack, nice find. Does it record a timecode?

 

Yeah, nice find! I'd be interested in a setup like this with a remote mic input. Did you run into anything like that during your research?

 

There are some straight-to-memory-card cameras you can run audio and video. I'm pretty sure this one comes with both audio and video line-in ports. It's about $150.

What impressed me about the helmet cam is that (unlike a lot of the newly-imported stuff) it has a really straightforward interface and a durable-looking design. You turn it on with one button, start/stop recording with another button, and a display counts down how much recording time remains. Unlike the Aiptek, though, it doesn't have a display (although orienting it and aiming it is very simple).

640x480 video does not have image quality that is quite as good as a DV camera. But if you're looking to get in-car videos, I think it's fine.

Here's a clip I just shot with the helmet cam when I went out to get a taco. I was just holding the camera on the dash. Of course, once it's compressed down on YouTube and chopped to 15 fps, it's difficult to make any judgment on quality. But for comparison's sake, this short clip was recorded from a bullet camera onto DV tape.