So heres the story.

My camera is about 10 years old, a Sony 8mm. It doesn't have very many hours on it because its only been used for in-car stuff. Its never been dropped, whacked, etc.

It USED to take excellent video. No vibration or interference issues. But now there is so much noise in the video during open throttle that the tape is pretty much unwatchable. This seems to be getting worse with each event.

I've tried covering the mic with tape and foam. This helps a little, but honestly not much. As the rpms climb, the video gets fuzzy around the edges, then fuzzy all over, then kind of wavy and jumpy. Its awful.

Any suggestions? Something I can look at with the camera?
Or is it likely I just need a new camera because this one has had such a vibratory existence?

 

what was the last time you cleaned the heads?

maybe it's the mount?

 

I'd toss it and go with something more modern (i.e. Mini DV)

I've got a canon zr60 and I love it - you can find a used camera pretty cheap, the canon line seems to be pretty good.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/ele/63224951.html - there you go, case, long life battery for $250

 

as all thing with moving parts some things just wear out, i have found that video equipment doesn't really like ALOT of vibration bumbs and such. maybe it can be fixed, i'd try and find some one who does repairs and such on VCR's becuase i have never heard of a camcorder repair place.

i had a sony that was from around 96 or so, and it took a crap on me wouldn't record, wouldn't play back.

this time around like RJ i went with cannon but i have the optura XI very very very very very nice camera. Cannon makes great stuff

 

Hows the video when used normally? Like outside the car just looking around at stuff?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hows the video when used normally? Like outside the car just looking around at stuff?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Its fine.
Its also fine at speed but throttle off in the car (coasting).

The issue seems to be with the sound from the motor. More RPMs = Worse video.

I cleaned the head, but might try paying a pro to do it if theres a chance that this is the problem.

 

OT i was watching some in car stuff from F1 on TV and they had similar problems.

My only guess is it has to do with the frequency the exhaust has going on, directly effects the tape/transmission.


Kinda like how almost ALL new cell phones transmit by a stereo make the stereo make a funky noise.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slammed_93_hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">OT i was watching some in car stuff from F1 on TV and they had similar problems.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think the issue with F1 (and similar live pro footage) is they broadcast the signal to a helicopter that feeds it back down. If the car goes under something, the signal is lost until line of sight is back.
$.02

Scott, did you change mounts recently?

 

have you tried a new tape ?

 

I'm convinced that the vibration, wind, noise, and whatever else is early death to a camera. My camera, a Sony, "kind of" works. It will kind of record, kind of play back, and kind of eject tapes regularly. But it does none of these things well. Think of all those impossibly small little motors and mechanisms, then think of the stress you're subjecting them to. A trip to the beach this is not.

There is probably some resonant frequency with the motor that makes the audio head of the camera vibrate just so. And the more it vibrates, the looser that mechanism that pushes it onto the tape gets. And the problem sort of begets the problem.

I did not realize your camera was that old, or I would have made the suggestion earlier. I think its time for a new one.

Most interesting to me have been the digital cameras that record to flash memory cards. No, or at least far fewer, moving parts than in a camera that records to tape media. Problem is, I have yet to find one with a tripod fitting.

 

thought about running an external mic?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by krshultz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm convinced that the vibration, wind, noise, and whatever else is early death to a camera. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'd add how its secured:

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by from https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1183122 - can't believe noone said "use search " &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Mine is an IO Port. I actually notice more vibration coming through it from sound than the big hits. It *seems* like that's just as much a killer to the camera as the suspension (or the occasional/not so occasional curbs). Not saying that sound is THE killer, just seems to play a big role (I never noticed any problems when I ran the same camera + mount in the 944 which is barely audible over wind noise but has a semi rigid suspension). Just speculation however.


There's another thing too - its the safety strap. I am not certain of this either BUT I think if you make it tight to the roll cage structure, you will kill the camera extra quick. Now if you make it loose, not sure how much good you are doing yourself in the event its necessary. I think it needs to be just shy of tight but still have no significant slack to both be safe and non-destructive. But this is just big opinionated unsolicited and unconfirmed BS </TD></TR></TABLE>

I think these things (the digi-cams) are as disposable as yearly (or at least every other year) unless you have the know-how to take them apart and reassemble them (which did extend the life of my first one a race or two; it got better but it was certainly on the decline). By know-how I mean someone that really knows what they are doing, not someone like me that just is happy there aren't extra parts when all done. I am not sure why that did (or should help) but of-course if the heads are misaligned it won't do anythign for that.

 

why not use something with no moving parts. Vibration would be a non issue. Someone on H-T recently commented that they were using a small DVR with a 1GB memory card, and a Chase Cam. It worked out to be less expensive than a good MiniDV cam.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Scott, did you change mounts recently?
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Started using the SVTEK mount last year, but I don't think thats the issue since many people are using it without a problem.
I think the camera might just be shot.

The external mic might be worth a try. Maybe plug it in and stuff it somewhere like in the seat padding.

 

Solid state cameras based on flash memory and realtime MPEG4 compression are the way to go. No moving parts and much better video. Unfortunately the technology is not quite mature yet, and the current cameras on the market have subpar video resolution and frame rates. If you could patch your current camera (or buy a cheap used one) temporarily and hold out for a year or so when the technology is more mature, that would be the best bet.

...or if you have $1800 to burn...

http://www.aimsports.com/products/david/
http://www.aimsports.com/video/DaVid-best.wmv

 

I used my Dad's 8mm Sony for years. It finally crapped out, and the repair shop basically said they are disposable, and not intended to be repaired. I bought middle of the road High 8 camera about 4-5 years ago, and a remote microphone which I run up to the back/underside of the center console. This way I get very little wind noise, and lots of motor noise.

I bought a camera mount from IO Port and a tether strap, and have had no issues (other than user error) with the new set up.

Unfortunately, the High 8 camera does not play the audio on my old 8mm tapes.

 

I have the rivergate camera mount, which is an SVTek mount that they resell, and they have this note at the bottom of the information page on the mount:

"Hint: If you get a flutter in your video that appears at certain RPM ranges, put racer tape over the microphone on the camera. More than one layer may be required. Certain frequencies of loud noise can affect the picture on many cameras."

Hope that helps...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by krshultz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is probably some resonant frequency with the motor that makes the audio head of the camera vibrate just so.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's exactly what I was thinking. My old E36 used to get a ton of interference on any AM station if I went WOT and I always chalked it up to electromagnetic or some sort of sound frequency thing. This sounds like it might be a similar manifestation of the same problem.

 

I have used a pretty expensive mini-dv camera for in-car footage on an H1 car for 5 or 6 races and the io port mount vibrates the bitch "so" bad. I need to have the camera serviced, and hopefully no bad news comes of it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Catch 22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Maybe plug it in and stuff it somewhere like in the seat padding.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Just don't fart to loudly!!

I have little experiance with the video cameras, but from my stereo instalation experiance I can add this: Have you changed your spark plug wires recently? and are they "resistor" style plug wires? I've heard of people having similar problems with their stereos because of bad plug wires. sounds wierd but if all else fails...

 

if your camera is powered by the car (not a battery) the rpm issue from the last post may be an issue.

if the camera takes an external mic, plug one in and stick it somehwhere not touching metal or where it would pick up wind noise, and see if things change.

good luck.