Chase cam or similar suggestions...

[AI#97]

Looking for some suggestions/alternatives to the $275 chase cam. Heck, you can buy a miniDV camera for $199 these days or cheaper.

Anyone have any experience, good or bad with other cam setups and what where they? Looking to do some suspension shots and low angle shots at TWS. With the speeds we are carrying there, the video should be awesome especially out of Moe Larry and Curly!!!

I believe Glenn has a lot of experience with this?

Thanks!

MW

[Todd Covini]

I just found this cam...video looks great, but unsure of the specs.
(FWIW...I competed at this event a few times in the 90's and pretty proud of my convertible times.)

http://www.xtremerecall.com/Vid_Pop_Ups/Automotive/ferrari_race_sm.htm

(also check out the drag race video...the unit is definately durable!!!)

Also...Chicane23 is doing a Chasecam groupbuy and looking for others to go in. The Chasecam looks to be the best right now with onscreen G-meter...but let's let some good old fashioned competition tell us if the Chasecam or the Xtremerecall unit would be best.

Boudy...your incar camera setup available for public consumption yet?

[AI#97]

I just a bought a panasonic lightweight cam that stores MPEG2's on SD cards for $199. I am going to run the old miniDV cam with a lipstick auxillary cam in some of the suspension areas for views there.

Chase cam looks cool but that 8-900 buy in sort of suxx.

[chicane23]

Also...Chicane23 is doing a Chasecam groupbuy and looking for others to go in. The Chasecam looks to be the best right now with onscreen G-meter...but let's let some good old fashioned competition tell us if the Chasecam or the Xtremerecall unit would be best.

Boudy...your incar camera setup available for public consumption yet?



The group buy has been complete. This system has been given the Mark Bettin seal of approval. Really nice setup and great picture.

If anyone is interested in a world class setup, please look at Chase Cams.

BTW, Chase Cam is mandated by SCCA World Challenge to be in every car that competes in World Challenge.

This is from the SCCA rule book . Article 2.9.11.1, p77 "All cars competing in a World Challenge event shall have a digital in-car video camera system from Chase Cam (http://www.chasecam.com)".

Multiple cameras, G-Force meter, replaceable lens, 72, 90 and 120 degree lens that are swappable, LCDs, Remote controls and a number of different mounts.

[y5e06]

you might look into these
http://goprocamera.com/
http://www.goprocamera.com/index5.htm
very small camera, includes 4 or so adhesive mounts that you can place where ever you like.
standard forward looking, rearward, even small enough for some heal/toe action.
Its smaller than it looks, with the water proof case its smaller than a cupcake (hmmmmm, cupcakes!) Pretty basic though.

I used one for one race last event image better than I expected. I've been trying to get a copy as we downloaded it on someone elses pc.
a guy that runs HPDE's owns a small shop in austin that sells these. If you haven't bought one yet you might check it out at cresson.
http://www.soulspeed.com/index.htm

[ShadowBolt]

you might look into these
http://goprocamera.com/
http://www.goprocamera.com/index5.htm
very small camera, includes 4 or so adhesive mounts that you can place where ever you like.
standard forward looking, rearward, even small enough for some heal/toe action.
Its smaller than it looks, with the water proof case its smaller than a cupcake (hmmmmm, cupcakes!) Pretty basic though.

I used one for one race last event image better than I expected. I've been trying to get a copy as we downloaded it on someone elses pc.
a guy that runs HPDE's owns a small shop in austin that sells these. If you haven't bought one yet you might check it out at cresson.
http://www.soulspeed.com/index.htm


Bill Kim is the guy's name.


JJ

[y5e06]

Bill Kim is the guy's name.


JJ

no, Bill sold out and moved to Vegas.
now owned by Colin (who worked for Bill)

[ShadowBolt]

Good. Bill was a disaster on alignments unless you know what specs you wanted. He set my son's camber at negitive 3 degrees and told him it would not wear his tires out. This was his every day driver!
JJ

[AI#97]

well, this was on the lowest quality setting to extend recording time and it was overcast and foggy saturday morning but quality isn't too bad. I am also impressed with the sound quality compared to my miniDV which was affected by vibration, wind noise and sound level.

For 199 bucks with the editing software to cut out the useless stuff at the beginning and end, NOT a bad deal at all. I am going to have to modify the mount as the lense is about 2" lower than the previous camera. With the mirror so close, it's almost like a split screen!


http://www.aggie97.com/MSRC1.mpg right click, save as...170 meg.

[jeffburch]

Shoot, that camera looks pretty good.
Tough to see over that hood huh?
Tough to stretch that car's legs on that track.
Too short. Too tight.
Like running a yerf dog in the back yard or vacant lot.

Why the cones?

jb

[AI#97]

Shoot, that camera looks pretty good.
Tough to see over that hood huh?
Tough to stretch that car's legs on that track.
Too short. Too tight.
Like running a yerf dog in the back yard or vacant lot.

Why the cones?

jb

Yeah, once I turned off the image stabilization, it worked a lot better. for the price, I am not complaining a bit!

Instructors were the first on course. Cones were setup for a novice slalom drill the session afterwards so we save minutes in setting them up by dodging them in our session. Apex has a great setup for novices to gradually bring them up to speed because most have never been on track so they do braking drills and turning drills first, then instructors drive the course with students riding, then the students get to go. Much safer and the students I have had there have just plain "gotten it" so much quicker than with any other school I have worked at.

Oh, and for the record, that track is twice as slick as it was 2 years ago! So much so you get a bit of glare off the surface from the sunlight and the bumps are getting worse too...not Houston bad but worse.

[jeffburch]

Yup.
Super-polished.


jb

[chicane23]

I have a question for you guys that have camera setups.

I've heard from a few people that the ChaseCam setup is to expensive so I wanted to see what you are using that was cheaper.

What camera are you using?
- What was the cost of this camera?

What are you using to get it from the camera to the PC?
- What was the cost?
- How long does it take to get the video from the camera to the PC?

How are you powering this system?

What features do you wish you had that you don't have now?

I'm just curious to find out the ins and out for new people that are looking for a setup for the car.

Thank you,

[AI#97]

old setup, was a JVC miniDV camcorder, have a video editing card on an old PC that converts analog to digital...took forever and the output quality wasn't always that great and was susceptible to vibration.

New setup is panasonic SDR-S10P1 camcorder. Amazon.com was $199.00. Writes mpeg2 vids directly to 4GB flash cards, drag and drop ready to PC with card slot. Powered by onboard battery for an advertised 1hour and 30 minutes with up to 1hour and 51 minutes of recording space on a 4GB card. It's also splash resistant and shock proof to 4ft and has a 10X OPTICAL zoom. It's also a still camera and not much bigger than the old disposable 35mm cameras. I am really liking it so far!

[GlennCMC70]

if i had the money i'd get the Chase Cam.
i hate the CF card part of it. i havea few SD cards and would like to use those. other than that, i'd love to have one.

[Wirtz]

I ended up buying an Aiptek HD digital camcorder. It was less than 200 at BestBuy when I got it. The video it took from this weekend is incredible. I'll try to post some up at full res for people to check out, but I need to learn how to edit the files down.

Jeff

[AI#97]

I ended up buying an Aiptek HD digital camcorder. It was less than 200 at BestBuy when I got it. The video it took from this weekend is incredible. I'll try to post some up at full res for people to check out, but I need to learn how to edit the files down.

Jeff

Post em'! I have heard good things about that brand even though they look and sound a little cheap. Very surprising stuff!

[GlennCMC70]

can you post a modle number?

[jeffburch]

alot of stuff on those here;
http://www.corner-carvers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26173
jb

[Wirtz]

It looks like there is a newer model of it out now. This is what I am seeing at BestBuy.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8371923&type=product&id=1177718668809

This is the model I bought back a few months ago.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UO796Y/ref=pd_cp_p_0?pf_rd_p=250314001&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000FVXZ2E&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0P7SXQ29MM70MDDCYQZS

MFW is right in that the build quality of a $200 camcorder does not exactly inspire confidence. I'm hoping one of the things that allow it to last for a while is that it is very lightweight and it is all solid state stuff. I made a small cradle out of aluminum and mounted that onto my IO port mount.

It stores movies in MOV format, so I need to go find a new video edit software.

Jeff

[jeffburch]

good luck.
jb

[michaelmosty]

MFW is right......
That's hilarious!! :lol:

[AI#97]

MFW is right......
That's hilarious!! :lol:

Actually, it helps distinguish me from Mitch "the catman" Warren... so I sort of like it! :lol:

[Wirtz]

good luck.
jb

Ok, so you must have known something I didn't? Other than after spending a good part of tonight surfing the web and reading looking for a good way to edit MOV files, I still got nadda :(

This is killing me, the video looks great on my PC, just the files are too massive to post anywhere. I need a converter for AVI or MPG or a program that can edit MOV files. Back to more searching...

Jeff

[Wirtz]

alot of stuff on those here;
http://www.corner-carvers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26173
jb

Ah ha!! Ok, I admit I normally don't wander in CC.com, so when I saw the thread you listed was 8+ pages, I passed it by. But after some semi disperation, I read through and actually found a utility that looks like it is working. Tanks dude!

[mitchntx]

MFW is right......
That's hilarious!! :lol:

Actually, it helps distinguish me from Mitch "the catman" Warren... so I sort of like it! :lol:

I went to pick up some parts at a Mustang shop. While loading them, the shop owner found out what I was gonna use the parts for and said he knew someone who raced in AI in a silver Mustang.

I said MFW? and he knew EXACTLY who I was talking about. :lol:

[jeffburch]

Does Dell sell a Mac? :D

jb

[AI#97]

I went to pick up some parts at a Mustang shop. While loading them, the shop owner found out what I was gonna use the parts for and said he knew someone who raced in AI in a silver Mustang.

I said MFW? and he knew EXACTLY who I was talking about. :lol:

Similar thing happened to me but it was about Glenn...

[MikeP99Z]

Brice at Alamo is a GoPro dealer. I'm having one sent over to Mitch and Glenn for testing purposes in the next couple weeks.

[GlennCMC70]

sweet!

[y5e06]

gopro vid
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3080vdUWiSI

also doubles as an underwater camera as the case is water tight. have images of those as well, just not downloaded yet.