Patrick

He,


uh,





drove real slow resulting in better picture quality!

mji911

Hey Guys; Thanks for all the input I really appreciate it. I run PCA "G" class #323. Hope to see ya at Mosport. Mike

Wreck Me Otter

I have a similar setup, the HiRes Race Cam/Sony GVD-1000 and I'm pleased with results over my previous bullet camera. The Race Cam housing has a scrollable filter that you can scroll down to cover the windshield area to help reduce the contrast between the bright outside light and interior. This is critical. The Sony mini-DV deck is mounted in a padded Pelican case on the floor to reduce the vibration damage.

APKhaos

Kudos to Race Cam for recognizing the problem that has resulted in dubious quality video from even the best bullet cams, and doing something about it. It would be great to see some video shot using this setup. If you have some Kim, a link would be much appreciated.

I'm always getting questions about this from TrackVision users. It will be terrific to send them to a vendor who has solved the problem.

cdodkin

Yep - great idea!

It's a graduated filter, that 'darkens' the top of the frame (where the light comes in through the windshield), and gradually fades out to clear for the darker interior of the car.



You can retrofit one of these filters to any camcorder that allows screw on filters to be fitted to the front of the lens (most do).

For the Panasonic model I mentioned, it's a 37mm thread on the standard lens, so you'd use a 37mm grad filter like one of these:



Probably the blue one would be good in this case, giving a darked blue sky through the windshield, and a well balanced interior.

If you use a wide angle adapter on the camcorder for more in car action, note the size of it's screw thread for the correct grad filter.



This Raynox 0.5X Pro Super Wide Angle Conversion Lens (available from AMAZON ) will fit 37mm camcorder lenses, and will then take a 62mm Grad filter on the front to reduce the inside/outside contrast in the shot.



In this case a 62mm Tiffen Neutral Density Grad filter, which darkens the top of the shot without adding any color to that part of the image.

You need to take some test footage to make sure the filter is lined up ok to the windshield, then you're good to go.

Chris.

APKhaos

Superb post, Chris. Great info. Thanx!

FWIW, most decent DV camcorders seem to handle the contrast extremely well. The bullet cameras have notoriously poor metering, typically providing a perfectly exposed interior and a completely washed out image through the windscreen. The graduated filter may be the answer for bullet cam users.

Patrick

The race cam filter is a sharp cutoff vice a gradient. You adjust it after you set the field of view, you don't have to compromise to support the gradient.

cdodkin

So, you can go with a 'pro' filter holder, that will allow you to adjust the position of the grad filter, making it completely adaptable to any situation on the car.



COKIN make a whole series of filter holders and square filters, which allow you to not only angle the grad filter, but also move it up/down or side to side, to make sure the darker area of the grad sits exactly over the windshield area.

There are a whole range of adapter rings, so you can attach the filter holder on cameras or wide-angle adpters from 25mm up to 118mm.

The filters are square, and there are different ranges of ND grad to choose from.


The square filter slides into the mount, allowing total flexibility when aligning to the windshield - it's the pro solution.

Chris.

cdodkin

You'll be amazed at how much better the DV cam picture looks with the ND Grad helping the contrast to even out.

You'll get more detail outside the car, and more detail inside the car, without it looking like an obvious 'effect'.

And it's not a huge expense to try it out.

Chris.

cdodkin

For those that are unsure about suction mounts, here's the set-up my pro photog buddy Kurt Jones uses:



That's a very expensive DSLR hanging off that single cup mount!

He gets great moving still shots:



And he's used the same mount with a DV Cam to shoot the following video, edited on a Mac computer.

AUDI S4 Video

Chris.

JackOlsen

I used a $35 suction mount for the first time last week, and it held fine. It is rated at 22 pounds, but was only holding a bullet camera. Still, I was concerned about what the 'effective weight' of the camera might be when the car was going 130 mph and the camera was up there in the clean air above the roof.



Incidentally, that's a neutral density filter on a piece that's made for telescopes -- cheaper than the photography-grade stuff I looked at, which is good, since it takes some hits up there.

Rick

Are there any bullet camera on which you can mount a graduated filter? I think that's the answer...but I just can't swallow the expense of the race cam. Also, I'm sort of hoping to buy two lower cost cameras and setup a PIP system (front & rear).

Thanks,

Rick

Wreck Me Otter

But Rick...even a Race Cam iis just over the cost of ONE Skip Barber day......

Also, Race Cam comes with stereo microphones that work well.....

Tony - I have video, but I need to find a host for it/them.

Rick

Kim...my wife thanks you for the help!! I'm going to order a Race Cam today.

Which Pelican case do you have? Any issues with heat/cooling for your recorder when it's inside?

Wreck Me Otter

Hah...the slippery slope.....

I think I have the 1300 (http://www.pelican-case.com/1300.html) as my Sony deck fits in there nicely.

I've not had any overheating issues, but you always have the option of drilling holes in the sides or top. I decided to leave it fully enclosed to prevent water from getting in on those rainy race days....I removed the **** on the side of the case and drilled it out for the cabling and I drilled through the centers of the feet of the case for mounting bolts that go through the floor pan.

However, I've only run 30 minute sprint races or test sessions, but I have run a couple of back to back 30 minute sessions without problems either.