(May not be the best section so feel free to move) I'm thinking about getting a camera setup to go in my trackcar as i have very little footage of it out on track. I have no experience of this sort of stuff so can someone help expalin the best route for me? I was thinking a bullet cam would be good due to the small size making it easy to mount. What sort of quality do they give / what resolution should i look for. Do these then need to plug into a camcorder/laptop/other recording device? I think solid state would be best due to the vibrations in my car. SD cards? size? how much footage will they hold? And cost, what would i need to spend to get a reasonable setup? Basically a beginners guide would be helpful. Cheers
Hi Steve, I'm using a modern still pocket camera that allows 2gb of film to be made at any one time which works out to be about 25mins of continuous footage. Put that together with an 8 suction cup mount from Maplins and avidemux (free off the net) to rotate the video and there you go. Gurds
Hi Steve, I'm in the same boat. I've looked into a few bits of kit but seem to keep coming back to the Gopro motorsports (wide) and the Dogcam DVR1 in the sub 200 category. I'm also considering buying a bullet cam and digital video recorder seperately. Does anyone already own the Gopro motorsports Wide?
Thanks for the info, I'm quite tempted by a sony HQ1 or maybe the HQ2, good brand and used by the BBC for helmet cam footage apparently? Just not sure on the recorder, i'd like something with a wired remote that could be mounted on the dash to start/stop easily.
I`ve been tempted to get a bullet cam myself, and those from Motorsport Cameras always seem to get good write-ups. www.motorsportcameras.co.uk I like the idea of the externally mountable ones.
I like the look of the DV500 from dogcam as its small and has a wired remote so the unit could be hidden away, only issue is the price @ 300
i’ve only just seen this, you could have borrowed mine to try out. Sony bullet cam with mic and toggle switch so you can use two cameras and choose which to record from
I use , well its been a while now, a bullet camera from rfconcepts and i think the time this video was shot a GVD800 video deck. I use now my camcorder as the two video decks i had met with a sorry end. I think the cams are about 100 and they're so strong i see no need to use anyting else. I've had stones fly at them, they've been sumerged in some right dirty stinky ****e hole water and even been involved in a big high speed crash at brands hatch were the video deck got burnt and crushed. http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=193189&highlight=barny+dex Mounts are very important so aim for the best, some tracks will frown at less well known mounts and not let you use it externally. Suction mounts with a decent ball mount work very well, mine are woods power grip bougt from GGr glass as they are used for glass handling. The ball heads are the smallest stainless ones i could find but not ever seen tem on the net. There are a lot of companies about now selling kits, but when i bought all my kit there was nothing around. I'd still go for a camcorder with AV In (not out but in as well ) which can take an external source, purely because it can double up as a conventional camcorder for normal camcorder use ie partys wedding etc. The bullet cam cams are simple to use and very robust and run from 12v ciggy lighter or AA batt cradle. A small peli case to protect the camera and a remote lead to control it mounted near the gear lever gives simple and easy use. Some links (im not affiliated just used them and recommend them ) http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/dvr_mini.htm http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/helmet_cameras.htm My camcorder Solid strut brace mount and microphone
If you're going to use a normal camcorder above like barny, don't use a HDD version. Mine shuts down in my car due to the vibrations.
Would it be worth trying varying grades of hardness sponge/foam liners to support/cradle the camera ? I've not used hdd cameras mine is (old) minidv - thays alloy bracket used to have the camera bolted directly so it!
If you keep the camera seperate ie; using a bullet cam and seperate recording device, you could keep the recording device isolated/insulated from shocks and vibration. I'm considering spending the good money on a decent bullet camera and using the most economical means of recording that I can find. I like Gurds idea, do you have any footage for an idea of quality?
Semi-related, i've been eying up a Go Pro HD mountable camera for surfing. Nowhere near as expensive as i'd have thought! http://www.superbiketoystore.com/sp...D-Motorsports-HERO-Wide-Camera/prod_5599.html They do non HD variants for less, results look pretty good though.
IMO having bought a bullet cam and 300 sony camera a few years back to film track days etc i would save a packet and get a Contour HD camera. Really easy to use and even has cool lasers to ensure the camera is set up correctly. Today the price has dropped to 179.18 but be quick as the price goes up and down like a yo yo from this shop on amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002QGSYZ4/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A39LSTY4A9J2UG Their are a load of mounts and even waterproof case. A mate has one of these and used it in the alps for MTB and the footage is full HD and pretty amazing! Amazon even have 16gb cards for really cheap also, http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-16GB-microSDHC-Memory-Card/dp/B002NTP06K/ref=pd_sim__7
Got the same one, there's some brief in car on my build thread from it. Prices are dropping nicely now, I paid probably 300 in July. Just the way it goes! The main issue is a lot of laptops can't cope with 1080p HD and it all starts to stutter. So AFAIK, graphics cards in the laptop are the next consideration, for post video processing. It's endless!
