zeeohsix

I am looking to upgrade my Sony mini-dv camera for an HD. Does anyone have experience with a hard drive version? I'm worried that the hard drive cannot handle the vibrations, and the occasional 360's, usually experienced on a road course. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

bowmanized

My girlfriend bought me the HD version and it would stop filming at the slightest bump. You definitely want to do the Tape edition or even one specifically made for car racing.

sperkins

This has always been a debatable topic. You will hear differing opinions (from experience) from everyone. For me personally - I used a Sony mini DVD Handycam for months with no vibration issues, but I hated having to convert the format to something I could upload to the web. A buddy let me use his hard-drive Sony Handycam at Barber and it work perfectly. I went to buy one, but his model was discontinued. I bought the next best one they had and it would shut off before I left the grid. .
I have since gone back to the mini DVD until I find something better.

zeeohsix

I figured as much. A salesman thought that they were "shock proof", but I didn't want to take his assurances on a $1200 camera. Thanks for your input.

vette dan

Stay away from a HD camera No worky worky. Either mini DV or a huge memory stick.

flink

Yep. I have a Sony HDR-SR12. It's a high-end HD camera with a hard
disk. It'll sometimes last a session without shutting down, but usually it'll
only get through a couple of laps. It has a menu option to disable the
drop sensor, but it doesn't help. It's heavy, too.

HD is wonderful. With it, I can read the instrument cluster and even the
teeny digits on the dashhawk ODBII monitor. But not the hard-disk based Sony.
A camera which records to SD-card would be a better idea.

I also use a little stereo external microphone which I clip down in a low
position away from the wind noise.

eg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C26IqAYRG_Y&fmt=18

autoxer6

I borrowed a friends HD camera. It worked fine in his Ford Focus, but wouldn't stay on through the first corner in my vette.

Then I bought a HD Cannon with and SD card. The SD card is the way to go. BUT!

The (gyroscopic) optical image stabilization rattled around in the camera and blurred the picture to the point where it was unusable. This feature can not be disabled. You can hear this device in the camera if you shake it. It cant handle race car vibration. Digital image stabalization is fine and usually helps.

My advice, get a camera with flash memory (SD Card, etc) and NO optical image stabilization.

The Spark

I've been thinking about this camera



http://www.goprocamera.com/index.php?area=2&productid=2

vette dan

It works fine. It's no hugh dollar camera , but it is super small.
Water proof and cool as heck.

Charley Hoyt

Check out www.chasecam.com. They sell a fantastic system. You can record the track layout, G loads in four directions, acceleration and braking, and much more.

Charley

Last C5

[/I]


Unfortunately that may be VERY difficult to find so a least try to find one that will let you turn the optical image stabilization off. If anybody has one or knows of one that will allow the OIS to be turned off, please post it up.

muskaroxs

I have a Flip Mino camera it has about 1.5 hours of built in memory. I paid $150 for this camera and love it! you can also review the video that you just recorded "the hero camera doesnt have a playback feature". I use a suction cup camera mount on the inside hatch glass and have never had a problem. Here is a video I recorded last year in my old car.
p.s. they just released a HD version of the same camera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjg_V...om=PL&index=45

sperkins

Well I tried something new this weekend. I put a cheap wide angle lens on my mini DVD Handycam at Roebling.
The view is much wider, but I'm not so sure I like it any better.
What do you guys think?

SIK02SS

for HD a lot of guys use the Panasonic LZ7 with an IO Port camera mount. 720P and you can find great deals on the cams on amazon

Z07coupe

I have been thinking about this unit:

http://www.camcordergenius.com/produ...=features#tabs

Anyone have experience with it?

muskaroxs

Here is my video from yesterday using my Flip Mino.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7KGnWj6-hg

Rob Willis

That's what I'm currently using, and it works well. Well, actually I'm using the older TZ3. However, I'm considering upgrading to a Aiptek A-HD.

ErnieN85

Aiptek A-HD is what I have. The video is great, sound isn't lots of wind noise. I going to try taping a cotton ball over the mike. A 4 gig card lasts quite a few sessions. I has a remote although mine doesn't seem to work most of the time. maybe it needs a new battery

flink

I've been down that route. Adding external muting to the mic decreases
the level of all sounds, so the stupid automatic gain control in the
camera just cranks up the levels and it's worse than ever.

An external mic which is clipped somewhere out of the wind is the way to
go.

I once ran a cable through the car and stuck the mic on the rear bumper
just above the exhausts. It sounded killer, although even with a neoprene
condom over the microphone, the audio was still clipping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf1Flu9yjkY

I swear, getting the damn video to come out right is the hardest part
of getting the car set up