Dbltime

Need to buy a video camera that is:
easy to aim while mounted to the roll cage
easy to use, start and stop
reasonable quality without breaking the bank

Any suggestions?

Cory M

A racecam would be best, I don't know what they cost but they're very small and easy to aim. My friend who has used one swears by it. I've got a Panasonic digital video camera (Costco about $300) and an I/O Port camera mount ($1-200) and it works surprisingly well. The camera doesn't vibrate much at all and the audio is pretty clear. It was easy to mount and I get a view of the track, the top of the steering wheel and the shifter. When mounting it just make sure that both of the front corners of the car are clearly visible so you can see the apexes when reviewing the tape. You can't reach it when strapped in so you'll waste a few minutes of tape sitting in pregrid, I just bring a few blank tapes and put a fresh one in before each run.

ltc

Bill,
Are we talking piggy bank?
Racecam (standard resolution) is ~ $1K without a video recorder (you supply your own).
http://www.racecam.com/#specifications

http://www.racecam.com

It's on my list too....just not near the top yet.

TMH

I've been using an old Canon Optura 10 camera that I bought used off eBay for less than $200. It works quite well with the I/O Port mount ($100). I also hooked up a 12vdc to 7.2vdc adapter, to keep from having a (heavy) battery hang off the back of the camera. This has served to reduce vibration significantly.

Only issues are that I wish the angle of view could go wider, and you have to de-mount the camera to insert a new tape, as it is a bottom-loader.

If you can, get a camera with a LANC port (Canon or Sony). This way you can purchase a LANC remote button (about $60) which is hard-wired to the camera (plugs in) and allow you to start/stop recording at the press of a button, which can be easily located within your reach even when strapped in.

I have recently taken a step forwards/backwards with the camera system. I bought a digital CCTV camera with >500 lines of horizontal resolution and a zoom lens (step forward), and I am going to be recording with a Sony Video Walkman (bought used), which utilizes Hi-8 format (step backwards from my miniDV camcorder). I haven't used this yet, but I am hoping that it will add flexibility to my system. Any camera can feed the unit, so I can mount a bullet or lipstick camera on the roof or on the front bumper, if I so desire. It is easy to change the tapes in the unit, and it has a LANC port for a remote, which will make it easy to use in the car. Also, since the camera only has electronics now (and no tape drive mechanism, motors, etc.), it is lighter than a camcorder and should be less prone to any vibration. I still have the camera mounted using my I/O Port mount, attached to the roll bar.

Good luck and have fun,
Tom

Dbltime

Hmmmm... So you buy a 1,200 racecam package and a $400. video recorder? I did a quick read of the racecam site but what are the advantages of the racecam? As I undestand it the racecam keeps camera tucked away in a safe box.

I think Tom's ideas may be my ticket. Thanks for the tips!

JackOlsen

I may simply not know about some existing technology out there, but I'm surprised no one has come up with a video camera that records directly to Compact Flash (or Secure Digital) type memory cards. My $189 "still" camera will record digital movies until my ($50) 1-gigabyte card runs out of space (which is a lot longer than most track sessions) -- and it does it with no moving parts whatsoever, in a package that's considerably lighter than my digital camcorder. The expensive camcorder needs periodic adjustments when the internal works get vibrated loose from the conditions inside my 911. Off the shelf, it cost me about five times what the no-moving-parts "still" camera did.

Why hasn't someone made a camcorder that eliminates any recording system that involves moving parts? Or better yet, why isn't there a simple video recorder that can take a signal from a $150 lipstick camera and pipe the video directly into a Compact Flash or Secure Digital chip? Seems like it would be cheaper to manufacture, and infinitely lighter.

M758

I too use a cheap old video camera and an I/O port mount. Works fine for me and has done so for 2 years.

PS... for me a $2k viedo set-up is 1/5 the value of my race car so I must go cheap.

TMH

I'm going to use a Sony GV-A500 to record and play-back, and I am using a Sanyo CCTV color camera. The Sony should be easy to "mount": I'm just going to have it in a padded case and use a couple of restraining straps to hold it securely in place, probably on the floor behind the driver's seat.

There are MiniDV versions of these nice units, but they are closer to $1000 in price. I think that I got mine for the $350-$400 range, and I needed it to dump some old Hi-8 tapes to DVD anyway (no longer had any Hi-8 Camcorders!)

Be sure you get a CCTV camera which runs on 12vdc (or even a higher voltage, as long as it is DC). I didn't check the one I got before I bought it (~$60). It is a nice unit and all, but needs 24vAC! I had to buy a small inverter (~$15) and AC transformer (~$10) , strip everything from its housings, and mount them to a little board (which I have attached to the smuggler's box lid). Not a big or expensive deal, but a little more to work with.

Tom

Jarez Mifkin

I bought a Sony Micro MV Handycam a couple years ago as I was told it was going to be the next "Big" thing...It's very compact and works great in the car, problem is that Micro MV is NOT compatible with DV which means the only editing software available is the one that comes with it and it SUCKS! So my .02 here is get something DV not MV.

mitch236

is your car worth that much?!?!

Jarez Mifkin

oooooo ZINGER!!!!

ltc

OK, being and electrical engineering geek who at one time designed disk and tape storage devices, the answer is density.

If you calculate the amount of memory required for streaming (compressed) video for X period of recording time (where X is minutes/hour), you quickly exceed the capacity of the largest CF/SD device available today. Tape can hold GB's of data, not MB's.
The good news is the difference between magnetic and solid state memory density is decreasing, and high capacity solid state memories are set for release.

Hmmn, this sounds like an interesting basement project...............

JackOlsen

Well, as a test, I just set up my camera and let the video shoot. I got 35 minutes on the 1 gig card, at 30 fps. I guess if I changed it to 15 fps, I'd get over an hour of footage per card. The camera shoots Quicktime video at 320x240, which is what I'd use for archiving my laps on my computer, or integrating them with DL-1 or DL-90 data logging. The card cost me $65, it turns out. With three cards, or a laptop at the track, I'd never need cassettes, and I'd have dramatically better battery life, less weight, and no moving parts.

And if coming up with a simple CF recorder isn't enough of a project for the electrical geeks out there. someone tell me how I can use the pulse for an electronic speedo to generate a digital reading for my MPH on a display that could mount to my dash for in-car footage? Ideally, I'l like to have MPH, brake on/off, and throttle position all display on a board that would be visible in the frame of what I shoot in the car -- a poor man's RaceCam.

Jarez Mifkin

for brake on off, just get a cheap red light at autozone, tap into the brakelight wire at the master cylinde, and hang it off of the front part of your cage.....works GREAT!

Brian P

I'm not sure about how the cameras work, but if there's any compression going on, you aren't going to see those same storage rates once you start moving the camera.

Also, the other difference with the DV cameras is that they shoot at 640x480. That's a bit useful if you want to show people on a big screen.