Dan Wendling

I just ordered a camera mount to attach my Sony HDR-CX300 HD video camera to my Shark Bar (Harness Bar). The bar is 1.5" diameter and should be plenty stiff to keep the vibration down to a reasonable level. I elected to go with RAM mount parts instead of an ioPort or BK mount. The RAM mound uses 1.5" rubber ***** that add more holding power while adding more high frequency vibration damping (at least I think so).

Also I wanted to be able to get the camera as forward as possible to allow for a better view out the window since my camera has a wide angle lens.

Camera will be controlled via my TraqMate HD

The parts I elected to use are:

RAM-271U-12 Mounts to harness bar
RAM-201U-D Arm to connect to camera mount
RAM-237U Provides 1/4-20 stud for connection to camera

A good source for these parts is below. Many other places do not seem to carry good stock.

http://www.themountdepot.com/

Comments anyone !!

flink

I use the similar Sony HDR-SR12 on an IOport mount.

The camera's really heavy, but the mount seems to handle that OK. I have had bad vibration problems (my car's as stiff as a board), but positioning the ioport mount so that the bushing is in the vertical plane seems to help quite a bit.

The camera konked out all the time recording to hard disk. Recording to SD card fixed that.

Don't put the camera a long way forward! Mounting it towards the rear will allow you to record driver steering inputs. It also makes for more informative videos, IMO - if all you can see is road whizzing past then it's harder to understand what's going on.

Disable autofocus - manually set the focus to infinity. I had one video in which a big bugsplat in the windshield made the rest of the clip go all blurry.

Disabling image stabilization doesn't seem to affect anything.

External microphones are good - clip it to something non-rattly down below the seat, away from all the wind noise.

If your camera records in AVCHD format like mine then I hope you have good video software It's a PITA. I'd dump the Sony and get something like a contour HD if I wasn't afraid that it'd take me another year to get that to work right.

2000BSME

I hope that isn't a harddrive camera. They don't do well in racing situations. Too much vibrations. You need a tape recording camera.

jvp

Dan -

The Sharkbar is, from my experience, a horrible camera platform. As thick and solid as it may seem, it resonates way too much. I can't record any track events with my camera mounted to it without some serious shhhhaaaaaakkkkkyyyy ccccaaaammmmmm.... If you get motion sickness, watching my videos may actually make you sick to your stomach, that's how bad it is.

Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done to help the bar either. It sits too high and has no connection points to the car other than the two seat belt bolts on the B-pillars. To solidify it more, it really needs another touch point with the car.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. :-( See if you can engineer up another camera mount. My next experiment will be this mount. I've already run those photos by the lead instructor at Summit Point Raceway, and he said it's no problem as long as the strap stays connected (in case the mount comes off the window). The mount is available here.

jas

Dan Wendling

Thanks for the good news on the Shark Bar.

I will look at adding some additional support to the Shark Bar?

Problem I have with mounting the camera so far to the rear of the car is the limited view out the windshield. With the OnStar mirror being so large and the windshield profile so low it provides very limited view of the road.

Perhaps mounting the camera outside the vehicle is the way to go?

Dan Wendling

Seems to be a couple of different experiences on the use of the Shark Bar as part of the camera mount.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1574238083-post7.html

2000BSME

FYI, I use a filmtools/manfrotto mount, but I've forsaken the suction cup for a rollbar mount. I just made a clamp plate for my roll bar and screwed the Manfrotto mount onto the plate. A suction cup isn't really up for track duty imho. It would more than likely hold, but it requires constant attention, so that it doesn't fall off and hit your knee or something.

jvp

Without adding lower supports between the Sharkbar and the rear deck, there really isn't anything you can do to it. It's a good harness bar. It's **** for a camera mount.

You'd be surprised at how little a problem that actually turns out to be once you start recording video. Ideally, the best place to mount the camera is the front windshield. But there's no way in hell a track organization is going to allow that because there's no place to secure the camera with a strap.

Again, I'm not sure any track org would allow that unless you could also secure it with a strap. They wouldn't want the camera flying off and smacking someone else's car.

jas

jvp

A roll bar will work as a camera mount because it has more touch points with the car and isn't as likely to resonate. Unfortunately, that's not the case with the Sharkbar.

That remains to be seen, but I'm not sure I agree with you. Firstly, this mount isn't a typical suction cup mount. You don't press it into the surface, you vacuum it. It has a little pump on it that you actuate to evacuate the air from under it. Once it's gotten a grip on the surface, it holds very tenaciously. I was actually able to use it to pull the hatch closed from inside the car.

Further, the strap I have wrapped around it won't let it go anywhere. It's connected to the child seat anchor point in the rear of the car. IF it falls (which is highly debatable), all it'll do is hit the carpet and stay there.

jas