Race car onboard camera

[WZ JUNK]

Does anybody have any thoughts on mounting a video camera in a race car?  Last year at Bonneville we had a camera in the Studebaker but I would like to try for a little better quality this go around.  I wonder how they mount them in the NASCAR cars and what kind of camera they use.  I also would like to know more about filters for the lenses so that we can not only see inside the car but outside as well.  I have no knowledge in this area at all.  Last year we used the surveillance camera out of Sumners business.

[Brootal]

Just as a quick aside... Did you know that it was Aussies that developed 'Race Cam' technology.

Can't really help with the mounting, but in regards to seeing the inside and outside of the car, the only thing you could really do is somehow light the interior better.

It's similar to when you take a photo from inside the house with a window in the background. What the camera will tend to do (I know... it only does what you tell it to do, but I'm talking about auto settings...) is read the relatively bright light coming in the window and adjust accordingly. This usually makes the subject quite dark. It's called 'backlighting'.

It's the same in the race car and at the salt it would be worse than usual due to the large contrast between the bright white salt and the dim interior.

Not sure what kind of camera you have, but maybe if you can somehow manually set it so that the exposure is correct for the inside of the car, then the view outside should also still be OK because of the brightness.

Confused now???

[slocrow]

Brootal is pretty much spot on with regards to picking your poison. It's either the outside or the inside and set the white balance accordingly.
Now as far as mounting; why not a driveshaft loop attached to a/the horz roll bar. Drill a bottom center hole and bolt through to the camera bottom which already accepts a bolt in the standard threads. Adjust the loop with camera attached for view and weld it in place. Borrow a camera with vibration suppression or what ever it's called.
Maybe two cameras or set it once for interior only on one run and exterior on another and then edit the two together. Just my quick thoughts....Frank

[Mr Cool]

Ive done this before.
I purchased a clamp that bolted onto the rollbar which the camera attached to, via the bolt as mentioned above, the same mount when using a tripod or similar. I think it cost about $15.
I used a standard video camera and manually set it to film inside or outside, in my case it was during a burnout comp so adjusted it to inside, and the smoke decreased the outside brightness to a level which was able to be seen anyway.
As for filters, get a polarising filter and set it to see right through the glass without any reflections, that should be sufficient.
Make sure the camera is VERY solidly mounted, and if you have the anti-shock technology built-in, use it also to prevent vibrations shaking the bejesus outta the picture. Solidly mounting will stop most of it alone.

There are u-beaut remote controller pan/tilt mechanisms avail with return audio/video signal too, so someone on the sidelines can see whats happening inside the car, as well as scan around to track, tacho etc. but these cost a bit more.

[jdaley]

We mounted one onto our road racing sidecar a few times. We used the standard fittings and found vibration was not a problem. Since we have no roof inside / outside was not an issue. The biggest problem we found was the effect on the viewers when we replay the image they get a bit sick with the vision of close passing, 2 inches, passengers leaning in front of competitors, sidecar wheel in the air and the general sliding sideways at 180kph with no seat belts. So be prepared for it.

[Cword]

I haven't seen the results of our effort last year.
The guy that ran our camera hasn't bothered sharing the footage.

The guys who have seen the film were pleased though.

We used a remote camera about the size of a regular felt pen velcroed to the drivers helmet.  It'll tear away on an emergency exit.
The camcorder has an external video input and was taped down in the box of the truck.

I also have a dampened roll bar mount for a camera but we haven't used it yet.

Mike

[kb426]

Motorcyclists are getting good at this. They're using a digital camcorder and using RAM mounts. This is a quick attach mount. GPSCITY.com has a good selection and service. You can download microsoft moviemaker for free but it only works with XP. The more frames per second, the better the quality on the camera, also the more memory required.

[1FATGMC]

We used a remote camera about the size of a regular felt pen velcroed to the drivers helmet.  It'll tear away on an emergency exit.
The camcorder has an external video input and was taped down in the box of the truck.

I also have a dampened roll bar mount for a camera but we haven't used it yet.

Mike

Hi mike, do you know where you got the remote and how much it was?

The same question about the dampened roll bar mount?

Thanks,

Sum

[Spoolin_20B]

use a glass suction cup, and by that I mean the proper ones, that the glaziers use, there is a small one that you can get about 150mm in diameter, with the screw fitting all reedy in to for your camera I got a price for one today and it was $85AUD

[purplepickup]

Hey John, maybe you could use those gooey polyurethane engine mounts you've got.  They aren't any good for mounting engines.  

Naw,  you better not...they'd probably melt from the sun. :?

[PeterR]

use a glass suction cup, and by that I mean the proper ones, that the glaziers use, there is a small one that you can get about 150mm in diameter, with the screw fitting all reedy in to for your camera I got a price for one today and it was $85AUD

Be really careful using the glaziers cups which have a suction pump on the hood or roof of European vehicles.  The metal is very thin and these cups generate enough suction to leave permanent bumps where they have been fitted.   Also, a single cup will allow the camera to shake uncontrollably.    Fit three or four with alum scaff tube tying them together and it will be very stable.