Which video camera?

[barclayboy]

I have a little Xmas cash to spend and with Spa and S Club euro tour coming up I am thinking about recording the action. I have read the reviews and Go Pro seems a good option, however are there any other options out there? I would like the kit I buy to pick up the sound as well as the visuals and obviously fit the S (no roll bar) without causing any damage. Any suggestions? Thanks Gary

[v8s4me]

This was done with a GoPro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRcW4Dko4zc

The sound had to be added later though because we couldn’t fit the band in the back.

[HvdWeerden]

v8s4me said:

This was done with a GoPro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRcW4Dko4zc

The sound had to be added later though because we couldn’t fit the band in the back.

Actual video quality is much better of course ;-) Youtube compression ;-(

I am planning to buy the new Hero3 White edition, seems good value at Euro 249
Combine it with external mic near number plate and sound should be OK as well.

Amazon

[v8s4me]

Let us know how it works please.

[gammav]

I Have the Go-Pro 2

Video quality is superb as are mounting options, but audio quality from the built in mic was a little disappointing... not so much of a problem when snowboarding but couldn't cope with the spl of the Griff.

Sound is my business so I'm going to try external mic's when the weather improves...

If I were in the market now I would defo buy the new Go-Pro 3

[v8s4me]

gammav said:

Sound is my business.........

Please let us know how to get great exhaust sound on our GoPro videos. Thanks. Joe

[TVR-Stu]

A good place to browse options is the Dogcam website. I have one of their early 'lipstick' cameras and the quality is IMHO very good.

[Longers]

Gary,

I've tried a couple of cameras - an old style / conventional video camera which was not HD and although it seemed ok at the time is now poor in comparison to newer HD offerings. For reference it was what a lot of the "Italian Job" movie was shot with

At the start of last year I changed to one of these... http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/minidvr-hd-bullet-cam... Image quality was superb. When it worked! I kept getting erratic interference on the image & sound which got worse the faster the car went. Despite upgrading the firmware and replacing the unit Dogcam couldn't get rid of the problem so they gave me a full refund and I gave them extra £s for a http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/gopro-HD-2.html. It cost me more than I originally wanted to spend but I've only used it once and although it's quite a wide angle of view the image is absolutely excellent. One downside of the Go Pro is you cannot see where it's pointing (no viewfinder!) so I got the remote wifi pack as well (which wasn't cheap....) so I can set it up pointing where I want it to - using a free app on my smartphone turns it into a viewfinder. Also I can turn it on and off when driving, regardless of where it's mounted, which means less memory cards needed and not so much dull footage to edit out.

The only piece of the Go Pro kit I will replace soon is the suction cup. I think it's ok on the inside of the windscreen but I wouldn't be 100% confident of mounting it on the outside of the car. Seeing as the mounting flexibility is one of the beauties of these cameras I'm going to get a pump action mount which will be more secure. As you know I've got a roll bar mount and the more solidly you can mount the camera the better it will be.

As you'll know there is the new GoPro range available now but I'd be tempted to look for a deal on the previous model, there's nothing wrong with it and it really depends how much you will use it and want spend.

v8s4me said:

Please let us know how to get great exhaust sound on our GoPro videos. Thanks. Joe

GoPros are known for their poor sound quality when in exposed situations like a TVR V8S! You MUST get an external mic and mount it out of the wind. In the footwell or under your seat works well. Best place is near the exhaust (you may need to get an extension cable depending on where the camera is mounted), just remember to use plenty of tape to stop the cable rubbing on your paintwork. Also the wind noise can be reduced by wrapping the mic in clingfilm

Options discussed here... http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Also worth doing a search in the photo & video forum...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

As mentioned already dogcam are great. They were very helpful when I experienced problems with the mini dvr I originally got from them.

Gary, I hope you get something before Spa so I can hopefully see some footage of me on the track

Cheers,
L'rs

[Scoobimax]

I'm no professional, but I do fine with my iPhone 4S and £10 Tandy (I mean Maplins - showing my age there!!) screen mount - I can mail you an example from last years trip if you want Garry (maybe the Ring?)

Edited by Scoobimax on Monday 21st January 13:43

[gifdy]

I have the Drift HD camera. It was a present for skiing & mountain biking but I've also used it for track days. I went for the Drift as its a bit more subtle than the GoPro when stuck on a helmet and it had great reviews. The first one had to go back as it had a dodgy screen but I got a no quibbles replacement sent out within the week ( with another set of accessories ) . Very happy with it.

Couple of clips - the one at Castle Combe is a bit noisy as I had the mic in the airflow a bit.

V8S shakedown

Combe

[AutoAndy]

Scoobimax said:

I'm no professional, but I do fine with my iPhone 4S and £10 Tandy screen mount - I can mail you an example from last years trip if you want Garry (maybe the Ring?)

Ditto. For occasional use, my iPhone4 in a Halfords phone holder suctioned to the windscreen works well. The sound is OK, but could be better - eg, filmed just down the road from you Gary...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV5HVFTITZQ

Edited by AutoAndy on Monday 21st January 12:45