Bullet Cams etc

Westyfield2

Westyfield2

Westyfield2

Soldato
Joined
14 Dec 2005
Posts
12,488
Location
Bath
Hiya,

I'm after some sort of video camera to mounted on the Roll-Cage of the Westfield;
Winter%20upgrades1_disp512.jpg


= it's got to be quite light and compact, record to memory sticks and have a Mic input (rather than built in).



My initial thought was a Bullet Cam & Recorder:
  • ChaseCam PDR-100 Solid State (CF) recorder - that costs £470.00 and has a recording resolution of 720x576@25fps.
  • Sony 550/580TVL Bullet Cam - cost £170.00
Which totals to £640 :eek: and that seems too much for a solution that's only got a resolution of 720x576.



Then I had a look around at HD stuff, couldn't really find much about bullet cams, but found the Sanyo VPC-HD1000. It's a nice and small camcorder that records to SD or SDHC cards & is 1920*1080 and can do 30/60fps. Unfortunately as it's not a bullet cam it means the whole thing has to be mounted on the cage, but as camcorders go its nice and compact.
The HD1000 is near-enough £400.
sanyo-hd-1000-2.jpg




Soo, if anyone's got any experience or ideas about bullet/car-mounted cameras it would be much appreciated :) ............
 
That Sanyo seems good. It will give you ~90min of footage at full HD resolution but you need to purchase an additional 8Gb memory card. It also has microphone and headphone minijacks, so you could plug in a tie mic from the engine bay/exhaust for better sound capture. :) Just have to make sure the camcorder is attached properly... would hate for it to come away and go under your wheels. lol.

It is quite an expensive option as the one I had help putting together was this:-

Sport-Cam 480 Camera - With 12v Rechargeable Battery Pack & Head Band - £84.99
(http://www.sport-cam.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=cam12vheadband&cat=25)

Jessops Microphone TMM1000 Tie Clip - £9.99(x2)
(http://www.jessops.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?SkuId=3900)

DC Cable Extension (5m) - £11.99
(http://www.sport-cam.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=DCextension)

AV Cable Extension (5m) - £11.99
(http://www.sport-cam.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=AVextension)

2.5" HDD Digital Video Recorder/Player DIVX/AVI/MP4 - £24.99 + (£21.98 P&P)
(http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-5-HDD-Digit...ryZ86758QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

80Gb Western Digial 2.5" IDE HDD - £36.65
(Competitor link)

Cigarette Power Adapter (1.5v/3v/4.5v/6v/7.5v/9v/12v) - ~£5.00
(Competitor link)


TOTAL --- £217.57

But this is a bit more fiddly than getting the Sanyo, for example. (Hope the links I've left are ok?!?)
 
Last edited:
Bug One said:
What about the Oregon Scientific AT18. Can post links as obvious competitors.
Click to expand...

they are cheap but they are absolutely awful, check out any of the videos on youtube, they suck.

there's a company called dogcam'somethingorother' where i got my bulletcam and recorder from. the whole setup was a little under £300 i think for 640x480@30fps but the digital recorder that records to SD cards is absolutely tiny, smaller then a fag packet and has a built in screen. i used it for skiing and it worked brilliantly.
 
Firegod said:
That Sanyo seems good. It will give you ~90min of footage at full HD resolution but you need to purchase an additional 8Gb memory card. It also has microphone and headphone minijacks, so you could plug in a tie mic from the engine bay/exhaust for better sound capture. :) Just have to make sure the camcorder is attached properly... would hate for it to come away and go under your wheels. lol.

It is quite an expensive option as the one I had help putting together was this:-

Sport-Cam 480 Camera - With 12v Rechargeable Battery Pack & Head Band - £84.99
(http://www.sport-cam.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=cam12vheadband&cat=25)

Jessops Microphone TMM1000 Tie Clip - £9.99(x2)
(http://www.jessops.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?SkuId=3900)

DC Cable Extension (5m) - £11.99
(http://www.sport-cam.co.uk/products.asp?cat=47)

AV Cable Extension (5m) - £11.99
(http://www.sport-cam.co.uk/products.asp?cat=47)

2.5" HDD Digital Video Recorder/Player DIVX/AVI/MP4 - £24.99 + (£21.98 P&P)
(http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-5-HDD-Digit...ryZ86758QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

80Gb Western Digial 2.5" IDE HDD - £36.65
(Competitor link)

Cigarette Power Adapter (1.5v/3v/4.5v/6v/7.5v/9v/12v) - ~£5.00
(Competitor link)


TOTAL --- £217.57

But this is a bit more fiddly than getting the Sanyo, for example. (Hope the links I've left are ok?!?)
Click to expand...

Thanks :)

I better lookup some decent mounting options then....

The main problem (for my use) with your setup is that it's recording onto a Hard Disk, and I very much doubt it would survive all the bumps with race suspension settings and the G's with sticky slicks etc :(

I reckon the main issue with the mic will be mounting it out of the wind, re exhaust/induction noise; last year the engine at 4,500 was 99db (Combe sound test) and this year it's now gonna be reving upto 8,500 :D :cool: so that should be heard from anywhere!
 
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Bah you can do it cheaper than that, i did my whole setup for under a ton and its awesome.

Sport cam 480 http://www.sport-cam.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=motoxcam1 £54.99

Jessops mics x 2 £18.98

one of these i got mine for £15

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mustek-PVR-A1...ryZ73839QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

its solid state using SD cards, and even has a little screen to see what your recording and watch playbacks, and as an added bonus has a built in battery lasting 3 hours.

12v battery pack (dont buy from sportcam they are overpriced this is the exactly the same thing) £14

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Portable-12V-...ryZ48839QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Few cables etc.

thats £99 total.

As for mounting use the little black mount which comes with the sport cam, drill 2 holes in it, go to halfords get a suitable exhaust clamp to fit your roll bar, get sum rubber strip and wrap it round the bar, drill matching holes in the exhaust clamp, using small bolts bolt the black bit to the exhaust clamp and fit it to the roll bar over the rubber.

Result = awesome robust mount for £3!

image here : - http://www.mattinglis.com/upload/IMG_3008.JPG

exactly the same setup as above produces videos like this.
 
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I now use the sportcam powered mic though, i found every mic i tried was somewhat lacking with power of sound, i didnt want two mics in and out, i want the full on inside experience. So i use the powered mic and a small vid cam mic which only pics up bass strapped to the floor.
 
I would recommend helmet camera equipment from ActionCameras (www.actioncameras.co.uk) - it might be pricey, but with helmet cameras, the more you pay, the better the quality you get. I've purchased all my bullet cam gear from them (I use it mainly for karting)

Ultimately, it depends what you want to do with the video - if it's just for uploading to YouTube, then something like the GoPro all in one unit is more than adequate, if you want something broadcast quality, then you're looking at a POV1/bullet camera with miniDV or solid state recorder.
 
The ATC2K's pretty ropey, just a toy. To be fair, most of the really bad vids are caused by inadequate mounting, it's a heavy unit so you've got to have it fitted absolutely rock solid or it flaps. It's also very susceptible to interference. But you can get some decent vids with a good mount and location. Still not a patch on a real bullet cam, but lets not mess about, why would it be? The camera costs about half as much as a good cam alone, let alone recorders etc.

Are you discounting bullet cam - AV-in -any old camcorder? I'm tempted to get a dogcam and random Mini-DV camera next, they actually recommend that above most solid state stuff.
 
all these places sell the same cameras just rebadged, you can get even cheaper ordering from japan. I have a friend with the dogcam 480 and i know someone with a few of the action cameras 480, they are all identical cameras.

The trick if you want better quality go for a higher resoloution camera i.e.
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/sony-hq1-550-helmet-camera.htm

but to be honest i view my videos on the tv all the time and its fine.
 
Mattius said:
all these places sell the same cameras just rebadged, you can get even cheaper ordering from japan. I have a friend with the dogcam 480 and i know someone with a few of the action cameras 480, they are all identical cameras.

The trick if you want better quality go for a higher resoloution camera i.e.
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/sony-hq1-550-helmet-camera.htm

but to be honest i view my videos on the tv all the time and its fine.
Click to expand...

Yea I'd read that somewhere else about all the different brands rebadging the same Sony chips.

The main use for my setup is gonna be viewing on computers (both local and a bit hosted on the internet) so I'm after something better than 550tvl quality.

I've managed to find some clips from the HD1000 that have been uploaded and the quality seems alright (remebering that they've been reduced to save bandwidth)...
http://www.speedandmotion.com/pages/mounttest/index.html
http://www.speedandmotion.com/pages/cameratests/sanyorear.html
http://www.sanyoxactiusers.com/videos/drivetest.wmv (in this one the Sanyo HD1000 is the forward video, Aiptek A-HD is the rear video.)
http://www.speedandmotion.com/pages/videos/nissandrive021708.html

And although the HD1000 is about £400, I guess that can partly be justified by the fact that it can also be used as a standalone camcorder for family/holiday stuff too....
 
I got mine from local shop at a cost of £80 couple of years ago now - Its held up very well considering its had a beating on my ST220 and TomOs E39 M5 around the 'Ring


Lower the better :D
 
Firegod said:
That Sanyo seems good. It will give you ~90min of footage at full HD resolution but you need to purchase an additional 8Gb memory card. It also has microphone and headphone minijacks, so you could plug in a tie mic from the engine bay/exhaust for better sound capture. :) Just have to make sure the camcorder is attached properly... would hate for it to come away and go under your wheels. lol.

It is quite an expensive option as the one I had help putting together was this:-

Sport-Cam 480 Camera - With 12v Rechargeable Battery Pack & Head Band - £84.99
(http://www.sport-cam.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=cam12vheadband&cat=25)

Jessops Microphone TMM1000 Tie Clip - £9.99(x2)
(http://www.jessops.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?SkuId=3900)

DC Cable Extension (5m) - £11.99
(http://www.sport-cam.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=DCextension)

AV Cable Extension (5m) - £11.99
(http://www.sport-cam.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=AVextension)

2.5" HDD Digital Video Recorder/Player DIVX/AVI/MP4 - £24.99 + (£21.98 P&P)
(http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-5-HDD-Digit...ryZ86758QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

80Gb Western Digial 2.5" IDE HDD - £36.65
(Competitor link)

Cigarette Power Adapter (1.5v/3v/4.5v/6v/7.5v/9v/12v) - ~£5.00
(Competitor link)


TOTAL --- £217.57

But this is a bit more fiddly than getting the Sanyo, for example. (Hope the links I've left are ok?!?)
Click to expand...

That's basically the setup I have, but with a cheaper ebay bullet-cam and a different mic setup. Here is a vid I took before I got sound working properly:

 
Mics....

Thanks for all the recomendations guys
icon14.gif



Question about Mics, I see lots of you are using the Jessops Tie Mic. Is it a Condenser mic with a built in battery or a Dynamic mic? :confused: (I've read that the camera setup I'm thinking of doesn't provide mic's with power, so they need to have their own battery. :()


I've seen that FastFilms do a clip mic with built in battery which I reckon is the right thing, but its more expensive than the Jessops :(: https://sslrelay.com/www.fastfilmsshop.co.uk/sess/utn15484429399521a/shopdata/index.shopscript
Tiny, high quality microphone on a 6 metre long cable. Ideal for positioning the microphone to pick up the engine note, without hearing excessive wind noise (with standard built in camcorder mic). Only mono, but provides a clear sound at many frequencies. Complete with built in battery, tie clip (removable) and wind shield. We find it best to use when positioned in the passenger footwell, or even the boot.

Connection: 3,5 mm jack plug
Directional characteristics: Omni-directional
Frequency range of microphone: 50 Hz - 16 kHz
Impedance of microphone: 900 Ohm
Length of cable: 6m Link Cable
Microphone type: Condenser
Mode:l Mono
Sensitivity of microphone: 65+/-3 dB
Click to expand...


Also, Firegod & Mattius both use 2xJessops mics, I guess that's wiring two mono mics together to get independent left & right sound?
 
Westyfield2 said:
Also, Firegod & Mattius both use 2xJessops mics, I guess that's wiring two mono mics together to get independent left & right sound?
Click to expand...

I think the reason for this is to have one in the engine bay and one by the exhaust then feed them back through to a doubler (you know, one of those 2 into 1 splitters) and then into the recorder. :)

I think. lol. Still haven't bought the bits myself yet. :p
 
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