In car track day camera

[911god]

Im looking for a track day camera to mount ideally to the cross section of the roll cage in the back of my 997 gt3. whats best to get or anyone have one they dont want? easy use as well pls

[HorneyMX5]

It's a n brainer, GoPro all the way.

Some examples on here: www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Horney-Racing/24317712...

[911god]

HorneyMX5 said:

It's a n brainer, GoPro all the way.

Some examples on here: www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Horney-Racing/24317712...

cheers

[spyderman8]

911god said:

Im looking for a track day camera to mount ideally to the cross section of the roll cage in the back of my 997 gt3.

That far back, most cameras will include a lot of the inside of the car - you may find it too much. You may also have problems with exposure since there will be massive contrast between the inside and outside light levels.

The GoPros certainly offer the best image quality - that's why TV companies are using them more and more for in-car footage.

[911god]

spyderman8 said:

That far back, most cameras will include a lot of the inside of the car - you may find it too much. You may also have problems with exposure since there will be massive contrast between the inside and outside light levels.

The GoPros certainly offer the best image quality - that's why TV companies are using them more and more for in-car footage.

I got someone coming back to me on one. They best dash mounted u recon?

[Robbo66]

spyderman8 said:

The GoPros certainly offer the best image quality - that's why TV companies are using them more and more for in-car footage.

Not sure about that... I use the Contour HD, better than any clunky GoPro I can assure you.

[911god]

Robbo66 said:

Not sure about that... I use the Contour HD, better than any clunky GoPro I can assure you.

something like this ?? http://www.amazon.co.uk/ContourROAM-Waterproof-HD-...

[chris_w]

Robbo66 said:

spyderman8 said:

The GoPros certainly offer the best image quality - that's why TV companies are using them more and more for in-car footage.

Not sure about that... I use the Contour HD, better than any clunky GoPro I can assure you.

And I use a Drift HD which, whilst it might not provide the all out picture quality of the Go Pro, comes with an integral screen (which makes positioning much easier) and a remote control which allows you to switch it on and off whilst strapped in. And is considerably cheaper.

As said above, watch out for the wide angle lens cameras - they can place you too far back in the car and leave the windscreen a bit lost in the overall picture. But will work well mounted on the dashboard I would imagine but personally I like seeing what I'm doing with the wheel.

[sneakybear]

It's got to be a Contour for the format flexibility, that smooth HD and the range of lens options. So much better than a GoPro in almost every way (except price). I also use mine skiing & cycling in all weathers and it's survived numerous tomahawks, over-rotations, crashes... GPS metadata can be inserted into each second of the file and it lasts ages both recording and battery wise. It's light and the mounting options are great too.

Downsides include fixed distance and price.

http://contour.com

Edited to say... you can use your iPhone or Android phone as a viewfinder & controller too. Just get the free app...

[911god]

chris_w said:

And I use a Drift HD which, whilst it might not provide the all out picture quality of the Go Pro, comes with an integral screen (which makes positioning much easier) and a remote control which allows you to switch it on and off whilst strapped in. And is considerably cheaper.

As said above, watch out for the wide angle lens cameras - they can place you too far back in the car and leave the windscreen a bit lost in the overall picture. But will work well mounted on the dashboard I would imagine but personally I like seeing what I'm doing with the wheel.

yes me too. ill look at the Drift

[CK_N4S]

I'm currently running on GoPro Hero cameras for the car for all round pictures.

These are some of the videos we did this summer from our alpine trip and Nürburgring

Stelvio http://www.youtube.com/embed/UwIPZ-pF04o

7:56 BTG lap of Nürburgring http://youtu.be/depZJVeDQJo

For it to be a smoother thing to use, you need the Wi-Fi remote Pack, and the outboard screen for setting the cameras up. Right now, we are just guessing our way along - except for the cagemount which is under the roof, with an arm extending it further down - a bit shaky solution though.

If I did not already have 3 GoPro cameraes to use for this, I would go for the racelogic solution instead. VideoVbox

Gives you the data from the car systems also, to give you a better idea of what you are doing, and where to improve! Also ensures the feed is syncronised, which we do on the GoPros by honking the horn right now

CK

[Jevvy]

CK_N4S said:

For it to be a smoother thing to use, you need the Wi-Fi remote Pack, and the outboard screen for setting the cameras up.

And this is where the drift stuff wins hands down - does all the above out the box for less ££

http://driftinnovation.com/camera/drift-hd

Also has 2 recording angles "Recording Angles: 170° at 25 / 30 / 50fps / 130° at 60fps"

[Klippie]

Here's a couple pics of my set-up in my Cayman, front and rear Full HD 1080p bullet camera's with wired DVR's with external mics, connected to the cars 12v sockets recording time on a 32GB SDHC card is 5.5 hrs at 1080p at high bit rate.





They are made by this company - http://www.koonlung.net/pro_show.asp?id=108 - I bought mine from here - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Full-HD1080p-Sports-Acti... - I own a Drift HD170 Stealth camera which is pretty good but this blows it out the water for picture quality and easy of use.

Some stills captured from a recent run to Fort William...







view

Its exactly the same as this one - http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/minidvr-hd-bullet-cam... - check the price, there is a review of it here - http://www.trustedreviews.com/dogcam-mini-dvr-hd_C... - and here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkqvYIaQLmg

[chris_w]

Jevvy said:

Also has 2 recording angles "Recording Angles: 170° at 25 / 30 / 50fps / 130° at 60fps"

I didn't realise that, that's very useful to know thanks! Will teach me not to read the instruction manual...

[Robbo66]

sneakybear said:

It's got to be a Contour for the format flexibility, that smooth HD and the range of lens options. So much better than a GoPro in almost every way (except price). I also use mine skiing & cycling in all weathers and it's survived numerous tomahawks, over-rotations, crashes... GPS metadata can be inserted into each second of the file and it lasts ages both recording and battery wise. It's light and the mounting options are great too.

Downsides include fixed distance and price.

http://contour.com

Edited to say... you can use your iPhone or Android phone as a viewfinder & controller too. Just get the free app...

So do I, but the big problem is wind noise if mounted externally, as with all cameras....one of me skiing....you get the picture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN5pwjUJVaA&fea...

[Rhodie]

I'm currently running on GoPro Hero cameras for the car for all round pictures.

These are some of the videos we did this summer from our alpine trip and Nürburgring

Stelvio http://www.youtube.com/embed/UwIPZ-pF04o

7:56 BTG lap of Nürburgring http://youtu.be/depZJVeDQJo

For it to be a smoother thing to use, you need the Wi-Fi remote Pack, and the outboard screen for setting the cameras up. Right now, we are just guessing our way along - except for the cagemount which is under the roof, with an arm extending it further down - a bit shaky solution though.

If I did not already have 3 GoPro cameraes to use for this, I would go for the racelogic solution instead. VideoVbox

Gives you the data from the car systems also, to give you a better idea of what you are doing, and where to improve! Also ensures the feed is syncronised, which we do on the GoPros by honking the horn right now


Good results, what settings do you use, I find r3 better but have exposure problems if the sun is very bright. The inside of the car looks great but overexposed outside. I have the GoPro mounted upside-down from the middle of the front bar of roll cage.

Rhodie

[CK_N4S]

Rhodie said:

Good results, what settings do you use, I find r3 better but have exposure problems if the sun is very bright. The inside of the car looks great but overexposed outside. I have the GoPro mounted upside-down from the middle of the front bar of roll cage.

Rhodie

We generally go with r5 for video.

Cagemounted camera is upside down between the seats, but with extra links to extent it a bit.

The lighting issue could be corrected by trying out the light source measurement setting on the camera, but this would need you to carry a laptop and cables to check, change setting and try again. At the Ring with about an 8 minute lap to try, and massive waiting in the pits, its not the right place to try.

I think we are spotmeasuring light at the moment.

CK

[DiscoColin]

spyderman8 said:

911god said:

Im looking for a track day camera to mount ideally to the cross section of the roll cage in the back of my 997 gt3.

That far back, most cameras will include a lot of the inside of the car - you may find it too much. You may also have problems with exposure since there will be massive contrast between the inside and outside light levels.

Make sure that they are set to spot meter and this is not generally an issue. An alternate to mounting on the cage is to stick one of the supplied VHB adhesive mounds to the inside of your windscreen behind the mirror and hang the GoPro from that.

If mounting to the cage using the GoPro roll bar mount it can be a pain and you need to use enough links that camera shake can be a factor unless everything is locked up tight with a screwdriver. A better alternative is to just get the quarter inch thread (tripod) adaptor for it along with a Manfrotto clamp and a ball head. That works like a dream. I am currently trying to decide what is the best way to mount an iPhone there though (while I care not for actual times, the Harry's lap timer app produces nice video with speed, track, rpm and gear for a tiny fraction of the price of a racelogic setup). Currently it looks like a phone case, bonding tape and a metal plate coupled with the clamp/ballhead mentioned above will be the way to go.

[Ekona]

Do they make a camera like the GoPro or the Contour that allows you to leave it hooked up to a power source in the car, so you never need to worry about charging the battery?

[HorneyMX5]

You can run the GoPro with the USB cable supplying power. THis is what I'll be doing in my MKII Golf when I've finished building it.