Video Camera Recommendations

[Umai Kakudo]

This retailer has a couple of the higher end self contained systems: http://www.vis-comm.com/Race_Team.php

The Elmo system is apparently used by Porsche Super Cup teams - http://www.elmo.co.jp/suv-cam/en/index.html



The new VholdR HD camera is out with specs on their website: http://www.vholdr.com/contourhd/overview



They have a good comparison chart between the other popular cameras in their segment:

http://www.vholdr.com/contourhd/techspecs

The price looks to be $280 but there may be some supply issues currently.

For these small POV cameras HD means computer 'HD' and not the same as you'd get from DVD HD or a HD camcorder.

Nothing beats watching footage from a real HD camcorder on a big screen plasma in perfect clarity and aspect ratio! Just be prepared to burn several hundred GBs of hard drive space!

[a_ahmed]

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...283&CatId=3359

[turtl631]

Can't see if it says whether it's solid state, but it just says "hard drive," and having owned a Creative MP3 player with a hard drive, I'd stay far, far away. They can't even stay together at the gym, much less strapped to a rollcage bouncing over curbing.

[AceInHole]

I've had decent results with my Aiptek A-HD. Thinking about getting a wide angle lens for it:
http://www.amazon.com/Bower-Large-0-.../dp/B000M7QE6A

There's also a 0.45x lens as well, but for autocross the wide FOV seems to help (especially since half the time you're looking out a side window as a driver).

[Longfellow]

You linked to a wide angle fish eye. That wouldnt be a good idea for video.

[AceInHole]

I dunno, I've seen some decent fish-eye video... The huge FOV helps for certain types of racing, and it seems to translate the speed a bit better.

There's always something like http://www.amazon.com/Sunpak-CAM-211.../ref=pd_cp_e_1 for non-fish-eye lovers.

[Longfellow]

Thats what I would do. Cheap fish eye lenses are will distort and blur the image towards the edges. so your "wide angle" really isnt all that wide anymore.

I've had that problem with add-on fish eye lenses for my camera. I'd stick to a standard wide angle lense imo.

[Umai Kakudo]

Axis has a good post on various video options with some great technical tips on various types of hardware and their shortcomings.

http://axisofoversteer.blogspot.com/...ar-camera.html

Worth a read.

[gawdzilla]

reviving an older thread...

throwing around the idea of setting up video for HPDEs this season. I'd like to have some footage here and there to analyze after tracking to help improve my skills. I own an OLD 8 year old 2MP p&s camera that can practically be thrown in the trash (i think it only supports up to 256 mb sd card and i own a big baller 128 for it lol), so I'm looking for something more up to date. was thinking about just buying a newer p&s camera with decent video support, but then realized i'd probably nevr use the p&s part.

anyone seen the sony "bloggie"? $199 msrp and 1080p is nice but i'm sure 720p is more than enough for me. USB charging is cheap/free to make a little charge cord to keep the camera going on the track and not worry about batteries dying. Also, sony has moved to SD cards with this one which should cut down on media costs. It seems similar to the Aiptek mentioned above. Has a little better zoom which might be useful as I plan to suction it to the rear windshield in cabin. Onto the suction thing.. i'm guessing the bloggie has the standard 1/4-20 mounting screw on it for tripods. the link on the previous page isn't working. i'd like to get a suction that is known to work and not fall off. chasecam.com?

[gawdzilla]

Originally Posted by shoes59

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=320353408655

Looks to be from the same manufacturer as the Go Pro unit but seems to offer a wider range of adjustment. My little Canon unit isn't going to be mounted on the outside so having something weatherproof isn't a concern.

which mount are you referring to here? ebay link no longer works unfortunately, and i don't want to buy a suction that is going to fall off the first time i use it

the panavise 809 seems to have good reviews on amazon

EDIT: yay, bought the bloggie cm5 and panavise 809. hopefully it's a decent camera that can provide a stable video.