kary993

Did a search but did not find much. What are peoples opinions about any of the in-car video systems which include cameras and enclosed recording equipement that dampen vibration and protect the recording hardware?

Thanks for your help!

JackOlsen

With a little, you can make your own. I keep my pricey DV camcorder cradled in a cushioned holder, then run two $70 lipstick cameras into it, by way of a View-2.com box that puts the picture from one inside the other. I put one camera on the edge of my rear wing, and the other in the cockpit.

Nordschleife

if you have a little budget to play with check out stack - they have a very nice solid state system.
R+C
PS Lipstick or 'stump' cams are cheap treat them as a disposable

ltc

I have seen and heard very good comments about the RaceCam system:
http://www.racecam.com/
You can buy it direct or from StableEnergies in NJ IIRC.

The recorder they sell/recommend can be purchased from them or from any of the reputable online stores (B&HPhoto, J&R Music....etc) for a bit less $.

A RaceCam install is #1 on my list of next winter's projects for the car.

billlynes

Hey Jack,

Can you recommend a source for the lipstick cameras. Just bought a Cannon mimi dv and need a remote camera.

Glenn from Denver

Nordschleife,

By a LITTLE budget you must mean something in the neighborhood of $6000 for the SS DVR alone...that's not a little in my book!

Mike A.

Bill
Check out:
www.hoyttech.com
www.catchitcam.com

JackOlsen

The image quality from my Sony lipstick cameras are by no means as bad as that (compressed) frame grab suggests, but they're not as good as the camera itself. Then again, I wouldn't want to hang my camera out in a 140-mph airstream.

I found it here.

The basics on it:
Weather Proof
Signal System: NTSC
Image Sensor: 1/4” SONY Super HAD CCD
Effective Pixels: 510 x 492
Horizontal Resolution: 420TV lines
Lens: 3.6mm
S/N Ratio: > 48dB
Min. Illumination: 1Lux/F1.2
Shutter Speed: 1/50(1/60)-1/100,000 sec
Video Output: 1.0Vp-p 75 Ohm
Power Consumption: 12VDC, 111mA
Dimensions: 23mm x 61mm

Order the BNC-to-female-RCA adapter fitting with it for another $2.00.

I don't think most groups are going to allow anything held on to the outside of the car with suction cups. I use a lipstick camera mounted to the rear wing on my car. It feeds into a MiniDV camcorder in a padded case.



I bought a 50-cent plastic box at the drugstore, then put the camera in it, wrapped in saran wrap. Then I used that expanding-foam stuff you use to fix leaks in the house, and let it custom fit around the shape of the camera.



The wing location gives in-car footage an interesting look. You can see the front wheels turning during slides, and also see the driver's hands on the steering wheel in the same shot.

Click here for an example of an off-track excursion, and how you can see the way the car breaks loose a little better from this perspective. (File is 5.4 megs and Quicktime.)

I used to mount the camera itself to the roll bar, but my car shook the thing so much that I had to take it in to get repaired twice.

I recently decided to add a second camera, and I'm taking an all-digital, no-moving-parts approach. I got a $69 Sony lipstick camera and a $160 digital recorder that puts Mpeg4 footage directly onto SD or CF memory cards. The downside is that the image quality won't be quite as good as the stuff I shoot with the DV camera. But the bottom line is that I never watch this stuff on a television. I'm almost always compressing it down for use on the computer, or posting it to the web -- so the low-cost new system will give me everything I need, and not have any moving parts to break.



I've also added a mount in one of my front cooling openings (where fog lights usually go).

Eric in Chicago

Nice set up Jack. What power source do you use for the MiniVCR? I have the racecam system and was looking for something besides my Sony camera to record to. Is there a way to start recording with the unit tied down and secured (remote LNAC control or something else)?

Thanks in advance

IrocMan

Whaou Jack, nice system !
I was watching Derek Bell Incar 956 yesterday evening -one more time - and was thinking we should all have incar video systems for DE.

I will probably do it like you

kary993

Jack,

I like the digital recorder soultion. I found it on the web, but it does not say what memory cards come with the unit. Do any of them come with it? It also says in the low res mode it will record around 3 hours of video, what other modes are there? Do you know there resolutions?
\
Any draw back with this digital recorder that you have found?

Thanks for the tip and the help!

Nordschleife

I had forgotten how expensive hings had got since the dollar had declined so much against the Euro.

R+C
its a seriously nice piece of kit however

JackOlsen

My priorities with my system were to make it cheap, light, durable, and... cheap.

The quality would be better with better components, but I'm watching these things for data, more than thrills, and I do most of the viewing and sharing with computer-size files.

I haven't used the digital recorder in the car yet. I think there are a few key missing features on it, unfortunately. It records to Compact Flash or Secure Digital cards, which is nice. I think it has a 512 meg max, but the nice part of it is you can just swap the data onto a laptop and keep re-using the one card. The file sizes are enough to look okay on a television, and are fine on a computer. They're a lot like TiVo files. Not great, but adequate.

Negatives? Plenty. It is controlled by a remote only, but has no indicator lights on it for when it's recording. This is no big deal if you're recording off of your home entertainment system. You can see what's going on on the screen. But in your car, it's a problem. I'm looking into getting some kind of monitor for it (either an old Sony WatchCam, or maybe one of those little lcd screens they put in SUV's so I can tell if my cameras are pointed in the right direction and that the thing's recording.

Positives? It's tiny, light, and reasonably priced. You have no moving parts and no media to replace. You can leave it permanently mounted in the car and just move the memory card to your laptop. Eventually, I'm going to get it up and running, powered by a 5V supply off of my car's 12V power.

JackOlsen

Here's a link to a 13-meg MPG file of video shot at my local track:

Right-click or save-as to get it on your hard drive.

The link.

I'm still working on the washed-out-video issue, and I'm also going to put in a better microphone. This file was compressed from DV tape, not the digital recorder.

When I get my DL-1 data logger, I'll be able to overlay RPM, throttle position, lateral G's, and all that other good stuff on the videos.

kary993

Just wanted to thank you guys for the good information you provide me. I have to say after investigating all these solutions none of them are very "turn key" in nature. Some offer some nice features like the view-2 while others are just basic and cost a lot for little more than a camcorder on a rollbar mount.

I think the biggest issue is one that Jack touched on briefly and that is power hook up. Once you realize, in the case of the view-2 set up, that you need power to two lipstick cameras, 1 control unit, and power to a DVR/recording unit there are four power lines needed. I really do not want some tangle of wires coming out of the cigarette lighter to power all this stuff and nor do I want all this stuff cluttering the car while I am on the track. I guess I need to look into hard wiring this stuff into the car so it is a clean installation. Also turning DVR on and off is a problem if your DVR does not support LANC since it would be enclosed and would require opening it up to turn it on and off, a real pain after awhile.

At any rate, I like the View-2 concept/output because you can do many things with it. I guess I just need to take the plunge to work out the details. Its all in the journey as I have found of many years of modifying my car.

Anyone else have the same feeling as I just described about this?