mista33

i want to post up some in-car vids but i dont have a camera. i'm looking to install one on my harness bar but i dont know what kind or brand of camera to get...can someone recommend any good ones?

m610

I use the IOPort camera mount on my harness bar. Works very well. I also tape a bullet cam on/in my car for different views. Duct tape also works well. Here's a pic of the camera on the harness bar with a bullet cam on top the car.



As for camera, just get something reasonably modern, and digital, with Firewire at least for getting the video onto your computer. Expensive cameras can get you better optics and also better performance in high, low, and normal lighting conditions.

Try to get a camera that has an A/V in/out port that you can use to play back to a VCR and can also accept input for an external camera or VCR. I use this feature on mine a lot to capture video using the bullet cam.

Audio can be a bigger challenge. Unless you wondows are rolled up you'll get so much wind noise that the audio will cut out. I've been taping mics to my rear bumper and that is working pretty good.

I've got a couple of videos up on www.streetfire.net. Just do a search for "Prelude", and you'll find my track videos on page 9 and 11.

__________________

71dsp

I have an IO Port camera mount if you're interested. It's only been used a few times, and it's in very good shape.

m610's points are very good. I record with a mini-DV camera. Video is great, but audio is a challenge. I haven't found a set of mics yet that work well. If I use the camera's mics, the audio is so-so.

mista33

great info guys thanks for the help, and billy you have the actual camera or just the mount?

71dsp

IO Port only makes the mount. You use a standard camcorder.

Qveon

stickypod. I have one and highly reccomend one! I use it at all my autocrosses.

__________________

m610

Also think about the lens, how wide an angle shot can you get. My camera, mounted on my harness bar, has too narrow a field of view to see much inside the car. Pretty much just my right hand, and out the windshield.

You can see the camera in this pic.

__________________

mista33

^^^ what camera and mic are you using?

m610

Camcorder = Sony DCR-TRV-80 NTSC
Bullet Cam = www.jonescam.com They have a much wider selection than they did when I bought mine
Mics = also from JonesCam, but I'm looking for mics rated for 110 dB. The one's I have are better suited for normal sound levels. I'll also put a simple high-pass filter together to help eliminate wind noise and other rumble.

__________________

mista33

cool thanks for the info

m610

Here are some samples of videos made using the bullet cam mounted in different locations.

Driver's side door:
Click here to see Video

Roof:
Click here to see Video

Front bumper:
Click here to see Video

I have posted these links before, but thought it would be relevant to this thread.

I'll try to get my trunk-cam video uploaded soon.

__________________

snotshake

I am very new to the camera world but think that the jonescam.com cameras are fairly expensive for what I'm trying to do. What I want to know is how I can tell the quality of the camera just from the specs.

If that made no sense, think of it like this. Are cameras like speakers where you just have to see the video in order to know the quality or are there certain specs that distinguish a decent camera.

I am relatively new to the autox world so I don't need anything high quality, just something that can record my performance.

__________________

http://www.carster.com/Andrew