Hey guys,

I am going to be doing a lot of lapping and track events this year in my EG hatch. I want to capture the fun in HD. I was leaning towards the kodak zi8 but they are out of stock everywhere. I'll give you an idea of my Needs:

-$200ish price range
- HD with 720p @ 60fps.
- Compact Camcorder
- Rechargeable batttery
- Ability to be plugged into Cig lighter for power source
- Reliable good camera

Any Ideas what I should go with?

 

go pro hd, you can find them on ebay for around ~250

 

You didnt search hard enough in the archives.. The forum in littered with it.
Only use memory card(digital) cameras anything else shuts down from vibration.
There are many out there depending on your budget.
I have the samsung sc-mx20b... excellent picture and sound.
Make sure you get a quality camera mount.. Search again you'll find the information on those too.

 

I'd go with a miniDV, you can find them cheap and the quality is better then the gopro.

I bought the cheapest miniDV I could find in 05 or so for $300 and its still rocking out great.

 

I just picked up a Kodack zi8 and a ContourHD for in/on car video.

I like the zi8 because it's light weight and has a wide lens without being a fish eye. It can also shoot at 60 fps in 720p. The bad side is that the audio sucks with the windows down in the car. It can't cope with the wind noise. But it has mic input and volume control. I have a lavaliere mic that I will run from the engine bay up to the camera.

The ContourHD is supper light weight too and is more durable than the kodak. It does a much better job with the wind noise as well. It's lens is super wide and has a slight fish eye effect. The one I bought shoots 30 fps in 720p but there's a newer on that can do 60 fps in 720p. Another nice feature is that you can rotate the lens up to 90° if the camera can't be mounted perfectly level.

 

I have an older Canon MiniDV that has worked mostly well. I do get a little bit of skipping on the tape now and then though. My brother has a Panasonic digital job that was pretty cheap (<$200 for sure) that has worked well more consistently. Transferring the vid file is also a lot easier with his.

If I were going to buy a new one, I'd go for something with a memory card.

 

I just bought a zi8 from Amazon last week... It will be replacing my MiniDV setup that has performed flawlessly minus my dumb *** scratching both the lens as well as my wide angle lens last track day :facepalm:

I paid over 500 4 years ago for that setup, I bought the zi8 + 32MB sdhc card for less than 280 shipped.

 

i gotta get a camera for this season.....

 

so much easier than effing around with tapes.

 

i just picked up a GoPro HD for $213 shipped.

http://www.superbikesupply.com/mm5/m...e=camera-gopro

 

i recommend buying an ACTUAL camcorder. not a cheap gopro or the like. ive used miniDV, go pro wide and a canon FS10.

MiniDV camcorder was great... 8 years ago! solid state is where its at now. sure, tapes are easy to deal with, but we all want to share online and digitally now and converting them to a digital video file is a total waste of time, relative to having the files already saved. you have to record 1:1 playback and that just sucks. and this is not including any editing and conversion. MiniDV is past its time.

unless you plan on using your go pro to mount on your surfboard or helmet while snowboarding, i dont recommend it for auto driving, unless you got an open top miata. the reason is mainly because of light exposure is NOT adjustable. so you cannot mount it in the typical location on the main hoop because it will capture more in cabin (dark exposure) than windshield (what you really want to see) and will completely over saturate the action out the window. possibly NOT getting the wide angle lens would help with this. but not only that, the functions just suck. you cant tell how much battery life you have, how much memory you have, cant preview and delete files... just blows. its just a cheap camera phone quality sensor in a dinky package. like i said, works great if youre kayaking down a river, or want to attach it to the roof or side of a car for crazy shots, but for using it as the MAIN in car camera... NO GO on the go pro!

so after selling my go pro, i looked online last summer and bought a canon FS10 on ebay. it was new, and around $200 (even tho they retail over $400 still). just shop smartly... theres always deals. its great to have ALL the features and settings of a REAL camcorder. and it even has its own 8gb internal memory. because its HD, youll need a decent video editing software, i really recommend Sony Vegas Pro. the cheap and free software suites just cant handle HD (maybe theyve caught up, i dunno). but the quality is great, the usability is everything i had with my old miniDV but completely digital. the other thing is that its REALLY lightweight. no moving parts except the zoom lens. oh and for other things, like recording motorsports as a spectator, that 48X zoom lens is AMAZING! i was at laguna seca for motoGP and could see so far down the straight or right into the garages (and pit babe closeups...) with my camcorder viewfinder its better than binoculars. im definitely bringing it to Montreal for F1!

 

oh yeah and here's the other alternative i tried.

before trying the Go Pro, i used my point and shoot sony cybershot. this worked fine for me actually and convinced me that solid state is the best way to go. but the thing is that you NEED to power it externally. battery life isnt long enough and/or vibration will cause it to disconnect and shut off. the cybershot has a proprietary connector, which is bought online separately and then spliced into a 12V-5V converter so i could plug it right into the cig lighter. the thing you HAVE to be aware of is that if the power is cut, it will NOT save your session. the software needs to finish the track and do its own internal editing before shutting down. i lost a great session because the cig lighter cut off with the ignition and i didnt get to tell the driver to leave it on... oh well. not all cig lighters turn off with ignition. but just be wary of it.

 

i heard good reviews about this camera mount

http://www.amazon.com/Panavise-809-C...=2DOVJJMZN7SQY

 

Sure.. those are ok for track days but I dont really think they are good for racing.
Most sanctioning bodies require it be teathered to the car attached to a hard mount or on a roll cage.
Last thing you want flopping around a car in an accident is a camera and the mount.
The I/O port mounts cant be beat for that.

http://www.ioportracing.com/Merchant...gory_Code=IOPP

http://www.ioportracing.com/Merchant...gory_Code=IOPP

 

Very very very true it does SUCK to render stuff onto your computer.

 

Part of why I still haven't uploaded Sander's rookie race yet...

 

then again the OP was asking specifically for HPDE use.

if theres no rollcage/bar to mount to, then the windshield mount makes sense. however you lose the view of the driver and for me, thats pretty important to see what I'm (the driver is) looking at and doing for my review and driver development, and not just listening to the engine. then again, my rant about over saturation on those cheaper Go Pro/Contour type cameras is not valid since the field of view is mostly out of the car in that position.

if you got a roll bar, get the real deal. if not, then maybe even a digital camera set up would be the easiest and cheapest. you can pick up an old decent digital camera for like $50. and at least youll be better off than a Go Pro and be able to playback your files without uploading everything first...

 

Exactly! You need to see what you are doing . It's very important in your own developement and to correct your mistakes when you see them right there on camera.

 

after my desktop died, i can't even do it any more. Good thing a fellow racer does it though!! lol


I'm saving my pennies for this http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pro...asp?RecID=7274

until then the miniDV will continue to rock it out.

 

I've been using my vintage Canon ZR80. It's been good but transferring from tapes to computer is a hassle. Quality is excellent and served me well for 5+ years. I would probably get a new one with internal memory (or use cards).

 

Just a couple more inputs about mechanical and flash drives.
I had a Sony TRV280 from about 2000-2002 until I started running into problems like the recording head not recording/playing right. Then we got a Canon miniDV ZR300 and that lasted about 1-2 years in my car also before running into problems.
Just last year picked up a GoPro Motorsports Wide and so far no problems, plus it comes with a water proof case. Only problem I have with it is sound. We have an event in a couple weeks and the makers said to take off the rubber seal of the protective case to get more sound.

One thing that is nice of flash type cameras is just sticking the card into my computer and automatically downloads. Whereas mechanical cameras you have to edit using a computer the parts you want. Takes much longer of course to edit.

The quality of course will suffer unless you spend $300+ for a flash type camera. My GoPro is grainier than my Sony or Canon of course because of the sensor used.

BTW I'm selling my GoPro motorsports Wide for $150 OBO. Comes with all the mounts. Will not come with card or batteries.

 

I'm with Tyson and the others. Go with a modern HD camcorder that records to an SD memory card. Then just pop the card into your computer and video is digital already. You can get a wide zoom (hopefully with wide enough angle at one end, optical image stabilization, a viewfinder, and other features common to newer camcorders. And then you can even use it for other stuff than HPDE. Just get an I/O Port mount for a bar or a decent window mount and you're set. SONY/Canon/JVC/Sanyo, etc. External mic input and power jacks are good, but battery power likely last long enough if you get a spare battery. It's nice to have the thing completely wireless, and just use the IR remote it comes with to start stop.

This one is not in your budget, but is nice: Sony HDR-CX110/L

 

check out these guys,

http://www.aiptek.com/

i've a 720p camera from them and it's proven itself in numerous locations of the cars that it's been on.
they are reasonable on price and i haven't had any problems yet. and i found mine on sale at target for 79.99 around the holidays.

 

I have an aiptek action HD cam. works real well for me. It's on a suction cup mount that I got at amazon for like 25 bucks. It is zip tied as well. here is a link.
http://cameras.pricegrabber.com/camc...oduct/sv=title

here is a video in dvd quality from an HPDE event 3 weeks ago.

http://vimeo.com/9758848

 

btw, judging from what i see, the aiptek product line seems much better for IN CAR automotive use than gopro or contour simply because theres a preview screen.

unless youre skydiving or going snorkeling, you dont need a go pro, in my opinion. the waterproof case and rugged protection and numerous helmet mounting options is the only advantage the gopro has.