In-car camera mounts (sans rollbar)

Andrew · Postby **Andrew** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:04 pm

rain902 wrote: i have a nice long diagonal brace, so i will be able to get a flat plane for my camera @ an appropriate height, only thing i have to worry about is if my lens is short enough to capture in car as well as through the windscreen.

...that where a wide angle lens attachment for the video camera comes in handy

Will see if i can do a pic of my in car video setup tonight.

rain902 · Postby **rain902** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:17 pm

Andrew wrote:
rain902 wrote: i have a nice long diagonal brace, so i will be able to get a flat plane for my camera @ an appropriate height, only thing i have to worry about is if my lens is short enough to capture in car as well as through the windscreen.

...that where a wide angle lens attachment for the video camera comes in handy

Will see if i can do a pic of my in car video setup tonight.

reaching for the telephone right now to see if they make such a thing for my trusty sony mini dv camcorder...

Andrew · Postby **Andrew** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:20 pm

rain902 wrote:
Andrew wrote:
rain902 wrote: i have a nice long diagonal brace, so i will be able to get a flat plane for my camera @ an appropriate height, only thing i have to worry about is if my lens is short enough to capture in car as well as through the windscreen.

...that where a wide angle lens attachment for the video camera comes in handy

Will see if i can do a pic of my in car video setup tonight.

reaching for the telephone right now to see if they make such a thing for my trusty sony mini dv camcorder...

Make sure you're sitting down when they tell you the price :shock:

rain902 · Postby **rain902** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:26 pm

Andrew wrote:
Make sure you're sitting down when they tell you the price

of course - "its a sony!"

Andrew · Postby **Andrew** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:28 pm

rain902 wrote:
Andrew wrote:
Make sure you're sitting down when they tell you the price

of course - "its a sony!"

mine was around $380 :shock:

(but there is a hell of alot glass in it

)

rain902 · Postby **rain902** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:31 pm

Andrew wrote:
rain902 wrote:
Andrew wrote:
Make sure you're sitting down when they tell you the price

of course - "its a sony!"

mine was around $380

(but there is a hell of alot glass in it )

almost a third of the cost of the camera!

if its too long for the incar, i will just get a decent baby camera with AI VF lens, and tap it into the camera, thats a cheaper way of going...

Sean · Postby **Sean** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 6:58 pm

I got a cheap tripod and used teh occy strap method as described above.

Has made a few good vids.

mightyrollaman · Postby **mightyrollaman** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:09 pm

Thanks guys.

rain902 wrote:heres a pic of the camera bracket that recently showed up in the mail for my roll cage - its made in america, cost au$137 and is awfully well built, had hex key fittings and a hex key locknut hidden from view, the red thing is a camera strap - cant wait to try it out! i looked everywhere for one of these, even manfrotto doesnt have anything like it.

http://www.trofeoalfasud.com/component/ ... &g2_page=2

Looks beautifully simple but still relies on the single tripod grub screw to mount the camera. How will this pass when you apparently need an enclosed mount?

I got a cheap tripod and used teh occy strap method as described above.

Has made a few good vids.

Go team!!!!

rain902 · Postby **rain902** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 12:37 am

was thinking of how to get a definitive answer - i shall put a question (with pics) to the full board of the VSP at the next meeting - might even give glynn a call in the meantime...

Victorian Scrutineers Panel

rain902 · Postby **rain902** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 12:59 am

rain902 wrote:was thinking of how to get a definitive answer - i shall put a question (with pics) to the full board of the VSP at the next meeting - might even give glynn a call in the meantime...

Victorian Scrutineers Panel

i do note the phrase "alternative cradle designs may be permitted and must be submitted to the scrutineers for approval"

that kinda leaves it up to the imagination, the thing to remember is "sturdy and safe"

mightyrollaman · Postby **mightyrollaman** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 10:43 am

Jolly good point. Keep us posted.

bigdog · Postby **bigdog** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 9:33 pm

Soory for the late response - I'v e been away from the BB working in NZ for the past week. Several points need to be considered when mounting cameras in cars. As rain has already noted in any impact a camera can become a projectile - not desireable at all. What nobody has mentioned is that vibration kills video cameras - I have lost 12 Sony DV cameras so far from shooting motorsport, and these were securely mounted inside specially made steel boxes, wrapped in hi density foam and bolted to the structure of the vehicles with rubber vibration mounts. To be fair they were mounted in Super Trucks, Commodore Cup cars, Nascars and HQs, and came in for a fair pounding, but nevertheless all of them died!

We used inexpensive security cameras to feed the pics to the recorders, and regarded these as sacrificial - if we could record a crash in progress the footage was always sensational! Also, security cameras have really wide angle lenses available at minimal cost. For mics we made up little Jaycar kits and hid them in the mounted boxes to avoid wind noise and to attenuate the levels to a usable signal.

The lipstick cameras were simply gaffertaped in place inside or outside the vehicle - they only weigh a few grams and scrutineers were happy. Finally - beware the suction mount. The good ones have a vacuum mechanism to really get a grip, and they will certainly do that, but you won't like the bubble in your bonnet when you pull them off, as they can readily bend panels...

So - would I put a camera in my car? yes, but only with a really cheap recorder, not an expensive Sony

Bevan · Postby **Bevan** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 10:37 am

bigdog wrote:We used inexpensive security cameras to feed the pics to the recorders

Wireless feed or did you have the camera in the car somewhere?

bigdog · Postby **bigdog** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 9:10 pm

We ran the lipsticks via cable back to the DV camcorders sealed in the box and ran the whole shebang from gel cell batteries that allowed 8 hours running time - all we had to do was move them from car to car between races and change tapes. on a couple we rigged a timed switcher and four cameras - two inside and two outside. We got some awsome footage of Inky Tulloch destroying his Cat Super Truck in Adelaide at 160kmh in collision with three other rigs

Postby **Okibi** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:11 am

I use to shoot some footage with a mate who did motorsport/drift films.

He also used security lipstick cameras with a vid cable linked back to a camcorder with a VID in line.

He'd made up a fantastic magnetic mount for the camera, it was padded so as not to scratch the paint and the magnetic force was very strong.

The trick is to find an affordable security camera that produces a good enough quality picture.