In car camera setups...

[Rdlangy1]

Hi all,

Thinking of getting an in car camera to film me driving etc and wondered what people use?

Have seen the go pro cameras but there are so many attachments I wouldn't no what to use!

Guys that have filmed ring laps (steveppp, ginola) what setups did u use?

Thanks

Ryan

[Ginola]

Harrys Laptimer on Iphone 5s 64gb, with Iphone 4s secondary camera for camera in camera (can also use a go pro hooked into that setup) + GoPoint BT1 blu-tooth dongle for ECU data. + RAM mount

[Scruff]

Is this on the road or track? If on track you'll probably have a lid on so a helmet cam like a gopro is perfect and gives a nice first person view. Worked well for me anyway. I also used a gorillapod http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joby-Gorilla.../dp/B000KFRSG4 because it'll wrap around anything i.e. in the hole on your passenger seat or around a headrest. That just had a sony video cam attached and was pretty good. No vibration. We had that in between the front seats at about head level. I twatted it when i looked left a bit quick. I know that Ginola used his ipod at Goodwood with an app called torque (i think) that connects to a bluetooth dongley thing that plugs into your OBD2 port then you can get telemetry, speed, boost etc on the screen too.

[Ginola]

Originally Posted by Scruff

Is this on the road or track? If on track you'll probably have a lid on so a helmet cam like a gopro is perfect and gives a nice first person view. Worked well for me anyway. I also used a gorillapod http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joby-Gorilla.../dp/B000KFRSG4 because it'll wrap around anything i.e. in the hole on your passenger seat or around a headrest. That just had a sony video cam attached and was pretty good. No vibration. We had that in between the front seats at about head level. I twatted it when i looked left a bit quick. I know that Ginola used his ipod at Goodwood with an app called torque (i think) that connects to a bluetooth dongley thing that plugs into your OBD2 port then you can get telemetry, speed, boost etc on the screen too.

I dont use Torque, but Dashcommand for that, Harrys Laptimer is the app that overlays/records the ecu data live to video.

I really like the look of that Gorillapod, might have to invest in one for a better perspective on the second camera, now to find an iphone 4 or 5 mount that attaches to it

[Scruff]

They're really good. I use it to wrap the camera round tre trunks n all sorts when making mountain bike vids.

[Scott.T]

I have a GoPro (wish I didn't spend out on it TBH) but phones these days are just as good in the car if mounted well.
Harry's lap timer is great on iphone but it has issues on android.

GoPro's are great for Action sports when you want to dub audio/music over the top, but the microphones are crap at picking up engine noise, and also seem to have a little electrical interference when fitted in a car on the audio track.

My son has a bullet camera we bought from Aldi for £90 in January.
It came with 2 batteries, storage case for camera and accessories.
It has loads of mounts which are GoPro compatible.
If they were GoPro genuine mounts they would of cost in the region of £100 - £150 just for the mounts.
It's great value and works about aswell as an early GoPro would
http://www.supra-electronics.com/pop...ce=accessories
Microphone is still poor but it doesn't seem to have the electrical interference or rattles that GoPro's seem to have.

[riiidaa]

thread overlap if you skip post 1
http://www.surreyscoobies.co.uk/foru...ad.php?t=49640

the 0803 camera could suit you if you want a windscreen mounted effort, if you wanna be in the shot, a harness bar mounted go-pro would be at the correct sort of angle for the wide angle camera i would think

[Luke1000]

Hi,

I've just been through this myself, did tons of research (well I was at work). I eventually decided to get a GoPro. You're right, there's loads of attachments needed, but that seems to be true regardless of make. As above you can pick up cheaper compatible stuff if you look around.

If you're doing track days, be aware most operators won't let you use a suction mount inside the car - they usually want the camera fixed mechanically to something or other. For external fixing I believe most TDOs are happy with a suction mount and a secondary tether.

SilverSurfer's right, the internal mic on a GoPro is poor, so I've ordered a cheap external mic. This means I can trail the mic out to the boot and pick up the exhaust noise with no wind interference, and if I do want to get the sound from the cabin the quality should be better.

Also, as Ginola says the GoPro is compatible with Harry's Lap Timer which is quite impressive. Coupled with the BT device and an external GPS, you can get very accurate lap info (after the event of course ) overlaid on your video.

[Scott.T]

Originally Posted by Luke1000

Hi,

I've ordered a cheap external mic. This means I can trail the mic out to the boot and pick up the exhaust noise with no wind interference, and if I do want to get the sound from the cabin the quality should be better.

I tried this is Germany last year and it was worse....a lot worse....for interference.
Using the same external mic in the house and it was much much better with much clearer audio. But in the car the lead of the mic just seemed to work like an aerial for picking up electrical interference.

[Luke1000]

Originally Posted by SilverSurfer

...the lead of the mic just seemed to work like an aerial for picking up electrical interference.

Aw crap. I was on the verge of getting the official GoPro mic, but thought 'surely it can't be worth £35 more' so didn't bother - I wasn't too bothered about audio quality, just wanted to get exhaust noise. Even so, electrical interference will make the audio worse than useless. I'll give this one a go and let you know how I get on: if it's rubbish I'll go for the official issue mic at some point. Thanks for the info!

[Scott.T]

Originally Posted by Luke1000

Aw crap. I was on the verge of getting the official GoPro mic, but thought 'surely it can't be worth £35 more' so didn't bother - I wasn't too bothered about audio quality, just wanted to get exhaust noise. Even so, electrical interference will make the audio worse than useless. I'll give this one a go and let you know how I get on: if it's rubbish I'll go for the official issue mic at some point. Thanks for the info!

Let me know how you get on.
I used a usb to 3.5mm adaptor and then small clip on mic which came with about 3 meters of lead.

[Luke1000]

Sounds like the thing I've ordered

[Scott.T]

Front View is GoPro Hero 3 Silver
Rear View is £90 Aldi Bullet Camera

GoPro Audio Track


Bullet Camera Audio Track

[Steve_PPP]

Some useful info in here

I've just been using my phone (Galaxy S3) to record my videos with a suction screen mount off ebay (call me cheap )
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2009935217...84.m1439.l2649

It's not great if just mounted on the screen directly as there's a lot of vibration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNgNC9rDJQA

But if its positioned lower down and braced against the dashboard there's no vibration. Just a shame i recorded a few laps before realising...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRTano1NKcQ

The audio seems alright for a phone tbh, and the rate at which phone handsets are developing is only going to make this a good option in the future. Got Harrys Laptimer for Germany as well but couldn't get it to work properly, seemed bugging on Android. Need to try it out again but gave up as I lost two laps that didn't record and went back to standard video rather than risk losing more.

[Ginola]

Bracing any suction mount against the dash is the only way to do it! as per above. In my opinion the audio on phones is much much better than the standard GoPro Audio, again you can plug a Mic into both devices.

Scott your video is private

[Scott.T]

Originally Posted by Ginola

Scott your video is private

Should be OK now....

[Scott.T]

Updated my footage/post (above) to compare GoPro and Bullet Camera

[ads78]

I use my phone now, before then, my camera or camcorder.

A few years ago I butchered a tripod and the centre dash pocket on my classic to create this



And then a few weeks ago I got an adapter to hold my phone (bargain at £2.49), to get this

[riiidaa]

looks like a WW1 Gunning mount


top drills

[ads78]

Originally Posted by riiidaa

looks like a WW1 Gunning mount


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I'm also ready for the armagedon (*spelling*)!