Thinking of mounting one on the front bumper of car and connecting it drect to a camcorder. Does anyone have any recommendations for a decent camera and/or what I should be looking for spec-wise?

Cris recommended me RF Solutions a while ago, although I never bought anything for home, I'll definately give them a go when we do the CCTV system at work.

Thanks Andy. Before I have an in-depth look is there anything minumum I need in terms of lines/resolution/other terminology ?

Did you maybe mean http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/ ? I can't see cameras on that site you listed?

And if anyone needs a site redesigned its them! Horrible!

Oops, was thinking about something else at the time, yes RF Concepts.

Have you thought about just pointing the camera out of the window direct? I got some really good resuts doing that, you can download my Monaco F1 Lap from here (19Mb new version of Quicktime required I think).

I used a Hague Camcorder Suction Mount model SM1 in that clip. I am lucky as the Smart has a glass roof so I was able to get some nice shots from both inside and outside the car.

What are you planning to use the footage for? I did 10 laps of the F1 track at Monaco to get that one "Fast Lap" if you watch each lap back it's really really boring TV, but you can edit it into something quite amusing, so being able to change the shot angle really helps.

If you do go with the Bullet Cam idea, RF concepts are the guys to go with. I have one I used to use on the RC Heli, they sell some really good Sony CCD ones that are built to last with all the vibrations etc... There is a Helmet Cam section on their website that lists the best ones for the job.

Let us see your results

Cheers

Cris.

I'm trying to find a link, but about a year ago someone posted a url to someone using a standard webcam hooked upto a laptop sitting on the passanger seat. Turned out really cool. The cam was mounted in the front bumper.

As Cris mentioned, using a device to attach your camera directly to the car is a good option. I'd recommend the Sticky Pod.

I don't think that will do what I want - I want to mount the camera on the bumper as low as possible and then attack some backroads. It may be raining too and I don't want to lose a £500 camera!

I thought the bullet cam would work well as I could easily mount in in the space for one of the front fog lights. I thought that would look pretty good when played back.... low, fast on twisty roads.

What are the quality of these cameras like anyway? Theres some footage on the Internet but hard to know how much its been compressed.

The quality it really good on the higer res Sony CCD models, but you will notice the camera is a little slower to adjust from light to dark than a normal camcorder. I did have some footage somewhere, but that was heavily compressed.

The biggest problem with mounting it in the bumper will be vibration. I wrap mine in some gel stuff we use in the cable joints at work and then strap it down, this cuts out most of it, to give you an idea you can see a very quick clip from the Heli here, but remember I was using a 2.4Ghz link for the downfeed, so that reduces the quality also, but still very very watchable.

I see what you mean about having the camera in wet conditions, but a fixed angle is going to be pretty boring on playback. I have found the suction mount more useful than the bullet cam, and in the wet the camera won't need much before you need to stop and wipe all the muck off the front.

Cheers

Cris.

I did reply to this yesterday, but you deleted the thread so I scrapped it!

Anyway, I was going to point out that when I looked a few years back, most camcorders didn't have video in, or it was disabled to avoid the duty applied to VCR's, which was higher at the time. I expect even if one does have it disabled then it could be re-enabled without too much trouble.

Also I have found www.henrys.co.uk to have a good choice. I believe the Exwave Super HAD cameras are best, but I don't know if they are available in bullet form. You might find that for a little more money you could get a normal CCTV camera and ruggedise that a bit.

Gareth

There is this for $85 US.

Also this seems to be a good compromise between cost and resolution. ~$145 US. Runs on 12v.

Is it important what standard is used. These are not PAL.

Some of the videos on my website were made using a bulletcam from RF Concepts. They are highly recommended.

I think this is the one I've got.

The part number on the box is VB21CSHRX-R43 (PAL) 4.3MM

No, I have 3 Model 2020's. They are B/W only but last really well outside. I also have some colour hi res camera at a high level, but they are too expensive to put where people can nab them

Cheers

Cris.

Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm so glad you posted this question. About 7 or 8 months ago, I found what looked like the perfect bullet cam for whitewater kayaking/mountain biking/etc. Sadly, being the ninny I am, I didn't write down the URL, and I never found the link again, despite searching for it every now and then. Until now.

http://jonescam.tv

I want this :drool:

Anyone know of any portable dvrs that would have av in? Ideallt something that wouldn't compress the video.

I think you're unlikely to get anything that would give you the video quality you want that would be both portable and affordable, in a DVR type system. I've certainly not found any high-resolution, pocketable, low-compression systems although I have looked.

The nearest thing would be one of the archos personal DVR units, which are really pretty good. However, they compress the input signal using (I think) mpeg-4, otherwise even the 100GB units would fill up very rapidly indeed!

The lowest-cost and arguably highest-quality option for portable recording is really a miniDV camcorder with video input. The limiting factor here is normally the camera quality and composite video bandwidth, as even a very good external camera isn't usually quite up to the one built into the camcorder. There are exceptions, but they cost more than the camcorder by a significant amount

If you go this route I would advise getting one of the smaller sony units, as they seem to be one of the few on the market where you can record in vcr mode without the requirement of the remote control. The record button is buried three menus down on the touch-screen UI, but at least it's there, which is more than can be said for most consumer camcorders. The sonys have very good recording quality too.

pca

Ok Patrick what do you think of this.

And also this Sony camcorder?

The camcorder would certainly do the job, although it's not the cheapest one with video in. That said, if you want to use it as a camcorder as well it would be very good from the specs.

The camera looks interesting, although pricey. The resolution is certainly impressive.

pca

Well I figure the camcorder would have other uses so its probably worth getting a semi-decent one.

I'll need to do some more research on the bullet cam. The specs do look pretty good but don't know that its worth £180 :S We'll see

I still think you should look into putting the camcorder on a suction mount, you get 100% quality then.

The DogCam look good, but as Patricks says it's a little overpriced and maybe over spec'd for what you want. I don't like the suction mount much, those small suckers are no good in wet conditions as they can't keep the seal, you need one with a pump on like the models I linked to above, although the one I have needs quite a flat body panel to suck onto.

Cheers

Cris.

The alternative to a suction cup if you're mounting onto steel bodywork is a damn great magnet, although obviously only suitable for a camera not a camcorder

These things are incredible, even the little ones. I use them in small sizes for making brushless motors. The bigger ones can stick your dog to the fridge.

pca

Dip it in gravy.

pca

Dip it in gravy.

I tried that. After I dipped the dog in the gravy, he ran around and left greasy footprints all over the carpet -- and he still didn't stick to the refrigterator.

What kind of gravy do you use?

tanstaafl.

It's the stuff in the tin labeled "Cyanoacrylate Beef Flavour. Keep Out of Reach of Children"



pca