Best camcorder for use in car?
10-09-2006, 05:12 PM
#1
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Best camcorder for use in car?
I recently bought a JVC camcorder with an internal hard drive. I was trying to use it this past weekend on a p-car fun run but it seems that the vibrations/jolts would cause the camcorder to give a recording error. I guess the internal hard drive could not take the vibrations. Has anyone experienced this?
Do I have to go to a tape style camcorder? What have others used succesfully?
Do I have to go to a tape style camcorder? What have others used succesfully?
10-09-2006, 05:44 PM
#2
Drifting
I've had good luck with still cameras which do video as well (Flash-based). You're obviously limited to your recording length, but the one I'll be using will do 30 minutes of video at 640x480x32fps uncompressed on a 2GB card (will be significantly smaller once compressed on the PC). The camera also has image stabilization which makes a big difference in video quality.
For longer videos I use an old Hi-8 tape camera. Poor to mediocre video quality, and still craps out on a rough track, but can record for over 2 hours on a tape.
For longer videos I use an old Hi-8 tape camera. Poor to mediocre video quality, and still craps out on a rough track, but can record for over 2 hours on a tape.
10-09-2006, 06:13 PM
#3
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The mini-dv one I was using over the weekend took excelent quality pictures and didn't have any issues with bumps (at least from the sections I've watched so far). The battery we have only lasts about as long as the tape (1hr), but you can get longer of both of those if you want, or just have the battery charger/camera running off the cigarette lighter as you're driving.
I also use the camera for stills because we don't have a still camera. All the pictures I've put up on here were taken with it, so you can see its fairly good with stills as well.
I also use the camera for stills because we don't have a still camera. All the pictures I've put up on here were taken with it, so you can see its fairly good with stills as well.
10-09-2006, 06:14 PM
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Just bought a canon zr 80 off of ebay. Have I/O Mount and did not see any vibration, and wind noise was low. Mine came with a fish eye and a wide angle lenses. Fish eye is great...see the whole WS and dash as well as RPM, steering and shifting. I thought that there might be that weird wrap around thing you usually get with a fish-eye, but not so. Let me know if you need more info. I got it for $150.
10-09-2006, 06:33 PM
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I've been wanting a MiniDV camera- somewhat cheap. I gave up and resumed using my Kodak still camera's 320x240 video ability. It's ok and with a 2GB SD card, I get a whole weekend's worth of driving.
10-09-2006, 06:37 PM
#6
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Originally Posted by billthe3
The mini-dv one I was using over the weekend took excelent quality pictures and didn't have any issues with bumps (at least from the sections I've watched so far). The battery we have only lasts about as long as the tape (1hr), but you can get longer of both of those if you want, or just have the battery charger/camera running off the cigarette lighter as you're driving.
I also use the camera for stills because we don't have a still camera. All the pictures I've put up on here were taken with it, so you can see its fairly good with stills as well.
I also use the camera for stills because we don't have a still camera. All the pictures I've put up on here were taken with it, so you can see its fairly good with stills as well.
I believe you were using a JVC right? What model was that? I only bought my model because it came with a remote but I suppose that isnt an issue as long as I keep the camcorder within reach.
10-09-2006, 06:53 PM
#7
Originally Posted by Andial951
I recently bought a JVC camcorder with an internal hard drive. I was trying to use it this past weekend on a p-car fun run but it seems that the vibrations/jolts would cause the camcorder to give a recording error. I guess the internal hard drive could not take the vibrations. Has anyone experienced this?
Do I have to go to a tape style camcorder? What have others used succesfully?
Do I have to go to a tape style camcorder? What have others used succesfully?
Interesting, we have the 20gig version at work(sears) and its on closeout, I was gonna wait a bit to buy it and get it cheap but if there seems to be problems with recording and bumps then I'll stick to my zr200 canon..
I would go with the Mini-DV kind of camcorders because the media is less expensive and seems to be alot more durable in taping than a mini dvd or hdd.
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10-09-2006, 07:54 PM
#9
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Mini-dv is just mini digital video, or something like that. It takes these suckers:
Mine is actually a Canon, optura 20 to be specific. I think they've discontinued that particular model, but the optura line is still around (they're just up to higher numbers/letters now). We got this one instead of the other models because this was still decently sized - we didn't want to get one of those ones that are the size of a mp3 player or something that can be hard to hold steady in your hand. At the time we got it I think it was around $600 or so, but that was over three years ago so I don't know prices currently. I'd expect for a camera of equivalent quailty with current specs would cost about the same.
Here's a website with all the specs and whatnot of the optura 20.
http://www.dvspot.com/reviews/canon/...ew/index.shtml
For the sake of getting stuff to the computer from the camera, mine does it two ways - is has a regular sd memory card that takes all the digital stills/video, and then to get the video itself onto the comp it came with a firewire cord. I use adobe premiere to edit the files on the other comp (better only because its a 64 bit proc, and stupid premiere won't run on non-64bit amd systems...), but I'm stuck with windows video maker on this one.
Mine is actually a Canon, optura 20 to be specific. I think they've discontinued that particular model, but the optura line is still around (they're just up to higher numbers/letters now). We got this one instead of the other models because this was still decently sized - we didn't want to get one of those ones that are the size of a mp3 player or something that can be hard to hold steady in your hand. At the time we got it I think it was around $600 or so, but that was over three years ago so I don't know prices currently. I'd expect for a camera of equivalent quailty with current specs would cost about the same.
Here's a website with all the specs and whatnot of the optura 20.
http://www.dvspot.com/reviews/canon/...ew/index.shtml
For the sake of getting stuff to the computer from the camera, mine does it two ways - is has a regular sd memory card that takes all the digital stills/video, and then to get the video itself onto the comp it came with a firewire cord. I use adobe premiere to edit the files on the other comp (better only because its a 64 bit proc, and stupid premiere won't run on non-64bit amd systems...), but I'm stuck with windows video maker on this one.
10-09-2006, 07:55 PM
#10
Nordschleife Master
The IO Port camera mount has a rubber base which may help dampen vibrations and keep the hard drive happy.
I use a 4-5 year old Sony MiniDV camcorder and it takes excellent video. I personally think its not necesary to get anything super high res..as 90% of places you will probably be uploading video to will lower the quality to save space. The reasoning i had was noone is going to want to download 300 megs to watch a 4 megapixel 1 minute long video of me autocrossing in super high def wide screen.
. Maybe if i was a better driver that would be different. But consider looking around for a used MiniDV cam if its only purpose is going to be bolted to a harness bar or roll bar.
I use a 4-5 year old Sony MiniDV camcorder and it takes excellent video. I personally think its not necesary to get anything super high res..as 90% of places you will probably be uploading video to will lower the quality to save space. The reasoning i had was noone is going to want to download 300 megs to watch a 4 megapixel 1 minute long video of me autocrossing in super high def wide screen.
. Maybe if i was a better driver that would be different. But consider looking around for a used MiniDV cam if its only purpose is going to be bolted to a harness bar or roll bar.
10-09-2006, 08:00 PM
#11
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Oh yeah, my camera mount was one I made the night before, but it basically is a crude version of the i/o port one. Its got some rubber plumbing connections between the mount and the harness bar (damn bar screwed up my interior panels that were flawless... 
issed so the only time the video looks shaky is when there was a decent amount of bumps in the road. Most of that was probably because of the way I had the mount positioned - the camera was sort of on the end of the mount's arm with the arm extended all the way. If the arm had been in a more compact position I would think it would show less vibrating.
Now my only issue is that the stock exhaust is so quiet you can't hear anything from the engine in the video. Only wind and interior rattles.
issed so the only time the video looks shaky is when there was a decent amount of bumps in the road. Most of that was probably because of the way I had the mount positioned - the camera was sort of on the end of the mount's arm with the arm extended all the way. If the arm had been in a more compact position I would think it would show less vibrating.Now my only issue is that the stock exhaust is so quiet you can't hear anything from the engine in the video. Only wind and interior rattles.
10-10-2006, 09:23 AM
#12
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If your camcorder takes an input video signal... you can always go bulletcam! They can be had pretty cheap, and the quality is far better - many samples on my webpage...
10-10-2006, 10:12 AM
#13
Nordschleife Master
A trick to reduce windnoise without buying a boom mic attachment is to tape a cotton ball or gauze pad over the microphone. I used to get really bad wind noise at auto-x and the camcorder compensates by lowering the sensativity (thus lowering the volume). With the cotton ball or whatever in place i get plenty of engine noise (i have a loud exhaust) and very little wind.
If you are interested in seeing the differnence, search around on YouTube for MetroNY autocrosses. The earlier videos i upload you can hear alot of the windnose, the last 2 or three ive uploaded have minimal.
If you are interested in seeing the differnence, search around on YouTube for MetroNY autocrosses. The earlier videos i upload you can hear alot of the windnose, the last 2 or three ive uploaded have minimal.
10-10-2006, 10:36 AM
#14
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Originally Posted by Techno Duck
A trick to reduce windnoise without buying a boom mic attachment is to tape a cotton ball or gauze pad over the microphone.
10-10-2006, 02:31 PM
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Tried a JVC hard drive camcorder and got the same issue - at speed as soon as the memory buffer is full the recording cut out.
Perhaps JVC are particularly sensitive.
Perhaps JVC are particularly sensitive.