I want to film the view of what is happpening behind my car on track. ZThis was easy through the rear window of my Speedster (LHD VX220). On the Exige, it doesn’t look very feasible.
I’ve started another thread about mods to improve rear visibility, but would still welcome info about locating (both position and means of attachment) a bullet cam to capture the rear view, including details of type of bullet cam (and lens angle), equip you recorded the signal too, suppliers who you can recommend, etc.
Ive got a pinhole camera with built in transmitter and aerial which is only the size of a euro, which can be radio linked to any in car recorder. The camera runs of a PP3 battery (which is 4 times the size of the camera beleive it or not) as does the reciever!
I work in TV and bought it for undercover operations but its just not quite broadcast quality but great for this sort of thing!
Here is what I use to great effect:
The best-known suction pad maker is bellow
I have a SM4 that will hold a big SLR camera on the move. I have had a bullet cam fitted to it and done over 100mph with no probs.
For a bullet cam you could get away with one of the single suction mounts.
Bullet cams see bellow: http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/helmet_cameras.htm
They are well made, water proof and come with 2 metres of cable. I use electrician tape to tape the lead to the cabin.
All you need then is a camcorder with the correct inputs a lot of budget camcorders do not have an input for bullet cams.
Here is what I use to great effect:
The best-known suction pad maker is bellow Car Mounts & Suction Pads — Hague Camera Supports
I have a SM4 that will hold a big SLR camera on the move. I have had a bullet cam fitted to it and done over 100mph with no probs.
Bullet cams see bellow: http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/helmet_cameras.htm
They are well made, water proof and come with 2 metres of cable. I use electrician tape to tape the lead to the cabin.
I have that suction mount that I have used with my camcorder - its excellent and perfect for the rear window.
I have just bought one of the rf bullet cams with a couple of different lenses to try out - not had a chance to fit it yet…
I’ve got front and rear bullet cams installed in my S2. They are linked via a switch box to an in dash screen and on to a camcorder for recording.
The front cam is mounted near the front driving lamp and the rear next to the number plate. Both cams are powered from regulators connected to the ignition.
Picture quality is really good (although at the moment all I can see out of the front is the latest bug to commit suicide on the camera) - rear view not much use on road as the image is not reversed. Microphone is proving to be a bit of a problem but the system works so well I’m about to upgrade it with a in-picture datalogger.
My stuff was mainly from rfconcepts + a few suppliers here and there for the bits. Plans Motorsport did a fantastic installation job.
What was the reasoning for the low vantage points on the cams? I had my cams both between the seats on my Speedster to show the driver’s view to the front and back as well as what my hands were doing/Stack in the front cam view. Seemed most worthwhile to me.
Another thought: if it is switchable and only goes to one recorder, you constantly have to decide which view to film. I have enough trouble just driving, so prefer both views recorded so that I can select as desired afterwards in editing.
I can give Plans the thumbsup too. When I wanted advice about pads, Graham at Plans was very helpful. The fact that Parcelforce were utter w*nkers and took aeons to actually deliver the pads was not really Plans fault.
I’ll be going again at Whit with a group of Lotus/VXers on a 2-day advanced driving course where we get free training sessions on the F1 circuit on the final afternoon, if any one on here is interested to join in. Warning! It’s addictive!
The cams are low mainly as I wanted them permanently mounted and as inconspicuous as possible, the view is very F1 � strange feeling to be able to see under the bus in front when driving around London.
The switch button is also dash mounted � one press and it swaps the cam so very easy.
Picture in Picture units are out there but I felt they were too expensive and anyway I�d rather spend money on the in picture logger and maybe a solid state recording device when available at reasonable cost.
Actually that�s reminded me � I�ll go chase up the developers
You could put the forward facing one in the roof scoop?
I wondered about a small dome on the roof - able to go to both front and rear view, and depending upon speed and passenger skills with the ptz control it could film cars as they passed you or you passed them!
in car would be nice - maybe to go with the datalogger - thats a third cam I would need to buy tho and hard to mount it without it getting in my or my passengers way and without trailing cables around. with the current install you can’t see any cams etc unless you know they are there., I didn’t want to use the roof scoop as I still believed that the s/c was coming our way
Steve - I’m moving house at the moment but when settled I’ll post up the installation details. Basics are…
Kenwood Satnav with a 7inch screen that folds into the dash
Bullet cam at front
Mini-Cam at rear
switch box
two power regulators (converted to run off the ignition)
output from the satnav/dvd to camcorder
I know mine is an S1, but I thought you would find this relevant.
I have two bullet cams, with a switch mounted on the dash to change over between the two. The dash switch also has a LANC controller to turn on/off recording on the camcorder.
All the cams, microphone, camcorder and LANC are all wired into a homemade switch box mounted to the right of the drivers seat, the camcorder sits in its soft case just below the box.
The rear cam is mounted in the number plate, which entailed drilling a hole in the clam. This was the only position I was happy with to permenately mount it.
The front can is currently mounted on top of the rear view mirror, I am not very happy with its view and I am considering moving it to either the back of the cabin or in the roof scoop. The cam is currently a wide angle one from RF concepts, but I think its view is too wide for the in cabin shots. The lenses can be changed for a narrower view
The switch box is also wired to a JVC AVAX1 ICE unit which is a standard size unit with a screen built in. Both cameras can be viewed on the unit and it switches automatically to the rear view when reverse is engaged. However as a reversing camera it sucks, the screen is too small and it doesn’t work in low light. The ICE unit also plays DVDs, I have 8 gigs of mp3’s on one disc that I never change.
The front can () is currently a wide angle one from RF concepts, but I think its view is too wide for the in cabin shots. The lenses can be changed for a narrower view
Thanks. RF seem to crop up fairly regularly � are they pretty much market leaders in this area, or is it just chance?
I have no idea what the respective lenses offer as a view. When you say it is too “wideangle”, is that because it is almost an 18mm fisheye effect (in 35mmSLR-speak), so that � used as a rear cam � anything not right on your rear bumper would be reduced to a dot? Which RF lens do you actually have fitted and is there anywhere to see a pic of the view it generates � perhaps you could attach one? My above pics grabbed from my Sony miniDVcams were just set to the widest angle.
Lots of questions I know, but someone who has actually got a set-up in their car is an invaluable source of info compared to a salesman.
The front can () is currently a wide angle one from RF concepts, but I think its view is too wide for the in cabin shots. The lenses can be changed for a narrower view
Thanks. RF seem to crop up fairly regularly � are they pretty much market leaders in this area, or is it just chance?
I think rf are the clear market leaders in the UK. There’s a company in the US called chase cam that have some similar products but appear to be better placed in terms of mounting brackets and digital recording media.
I bought the full range of alternative lenses - they were only �10 each and so will experiment and see what suits best
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