Mark in Baltimore

Is anyone running a decent hard drive camcorder that has an AV input jack for a lipstick cam? I just spent an hour and a half at Best Buy looking at hard drive camcorders and my head is swimming. I don't want to go with a miniDV tape system because I'm sick of having tapes around. I also don't want the DVD system because of the recording time limitations.

As a result, I'm thinking of going with a Race Optics lipstick camera. The only way these things hook up to the camcorder is through an AV input, which I think is the same thing as a line input. I know that hard drive camcorders can be prone to shutting down due to vibration, but I will put the camcorder in a padded case or bag.

See this thread on camcorders and lipstick cams.

One other must-have feature is a remote control so I don't have to ask grid workers to turn on my camera for me. Additionally, this camcorder will be used beyond track events and will, thus, be pressed into duty for the usual family stuff.

Thoughts? Thanks for any help!

race911

Just get a Chasecam and be done with it? I don't know anyone out here who has had long term success with hard drive recorders. Memory card ones, like Archos, sure. And the cheapie Aiptek, the lower end one without the optical zoom records in native 720p, or accepts external inputs (though not in 720p). At least that's what one of the local Miata guys picked up and has fiddled around with the past couple of weeks. Wind noise is horrible with the internal mic. He's got a link here: http://video.thenobot.org/miata_aiptek_test.mov

mglobe

I've read some comments about hard drive cameras not working very well in cars. Apparently the disk drives shut down due to the vibration/shock being greater than they can handle. Tape or flash card cameras are probably a better choice.

tkerrmd

I have the chase cam it is great.

Mark in Baltimore

Looking at your stable, Ken, I have a feeling our budgets are not very similar. I'd much rather not have to drop $700 for a family-use camcorder and then spend another $1,000 for a car-specific system.

So, are you saying that, even with the hard drive camcorder locked away in a padded bag or a small, foam-cushioned Pelican case, the hard drive camcorders are not lasting long and/or are cutting out due to vibration?

I think what you've read are circumstances where the hard drive camcorder was attached onto a roll bar mount. I want to use a lipstick cam and then put the camcorder into a padded bag or case. Also, many of the hard drive camcorders can use a CF or SD card, although it apparently sacrifices some resolution.

race911

Certainly if you want to double dip, the Chasecam isn't the answer. But the hard drive recorders have all failed in the (mainly BMW) RACE cars of guys I know. And that's in padded boxes with aux cameras.

Do check out the Aiptek at about $100.

And don't think our "budgets" are much different. Mine might even be less! Sure, I have a lot of hard assets. But I do EVERYTHING myself. Which makes it odd that the last 3 cars I've bought were new/fully built. Only thing I don't do is hard machine work; I would if I had the tools. My cousin who built/is building the 910's and 907's has pretty much everything. And I don't do paint or bodywork anymore. Hate it.

Mark in Baltimore

Tom, thanks for the photos!

Dammit, so the cameras in padded boxes went belly up? There goes that plan . . .

When I have five race cars and a progressive stacker trailer, then I'll know that our budgets are on par with each other.

Thanks for the tips. Which Aiptek are you talking about? Are there any lipstick cams or would the camcorder just mount to the rollbar?

Tom W

I abandoned the DV tape for a ChaseCam and have never regretted it. If you are buying a bullet camera anyway, the ChaseCam PDR is $595, not $1000. The bullet cameras Randy sells are also very good for use in a race car. A 12 Gb CF card for $100 will last the whole weekend too (at high resolution). You can turn it on very easily with a LANC.

My setup ... ChaseCam and SS1000 (for PIP with 2 cameras) mounted to the side of the tunnnel. Traqmate unused Hotlap timer and LANC above the spot for the center switches.

Mark in Baltimore

Thanks, Tom. With a wide-angle lens, lipstick cam and recorder, I thought the cost for the whole kit was pushing $900, shipping not included.

Manny Alban

I bought the 4 year 'we replace it if it breaks' extended warranty on my mini-dv camcorder. I got one that has the av input if I decide to use a lipstick camera. Normally I never get electronic extended warranties, but this was reasonable and since the camcorder was going to be used almost exclusively on the track, I figured, why not? The last three camcorders I had last less than 3 years of track duty.

Mark in Baltimore

Manny,

So your camcorder uses tapes, right?

bobt993

Mark, I have an Archos hard drive that has worked just fine for 3 years. The key was mounting it in the glovebox on the lid. When you close the glove box, the unit sits in a nearly vertical position minimizing direct vibration to the drive. Holds an entire season and can record widescreen.

DrJupeman

Mark, I bailed on hard drive recording because my standalone hard drive recorder would skip. This was annoying.

I have since bought a new AVCHD camera from Panasonic. It records to SD cards. Sebring in February will be my first in-car test with it.

Bull

Mark, given my experience with hard drive recorders, I would not even try it. I received one as a gift and tried many different ways to use it. None worked when recording to the hard drive in the car. Best Buy refused to allow a return/exchange because the 14 day period to do so had expired, even though the sales person sold the unit to the person buying it for me as the "perfect camera for that application" when she told him what the only use would be. I can use it with SD cards, but it has no AV input capability. One of these days I will get a ChaseCam set up.

Manny Alban

Yup, mini-dv tapes. I don't keep very many tapes, so having them accumulate isn't a problem. I mount it directly to the rollbar. Very little to no shaking on the video. I'm sure the camcorder itself is getting vibrated a bit, but the stabilization seems to do the trick.