Video camera for trackdays / events

[skydragon]

For anyone who is looking for a low-cost video camera for trackday / event use I'd recommend you look at a Hero 3.

 

They can be bought on ebay from around £75 for the basic wristcam and give fairly decent quality video (512x384 @ 30fps). The actual camera is tiny. There are several optional camera packs with different mounts for wrist, on-car or helmet mounting

 

The key thing is It seems to give far better video quality than some of the other sub £100 helmet cam type cameras, with pretty good video compression with low artifacts. All in all it gives pretty impressive results.

 

This is obviously not as good as an expensive bullet cam and recorder setup, but at the price it is, that wouldn't be comparing apples with apples would it...

 

You can see an example video

(not as good quality video as the original file from the camera)

 

The manufacturers (slow/poor) website is at Hero 3 camera website

 

I've got a trackday on Saturday and i'll try and post some video afterwards.

[skydragon]

OK, had the trackday today 😬 *smile*

 

I used the Hero 3 video camera but found an issue with the audio. The camera comes with a neat little waterproof box, for general mounting and underwater usage. When sealed in the waterproof box the camera picks up little/no audio...

 

So... Following the trackday I've drilled a hole in the mounting box near to where the camera mic is and hey presto, all is ok - we have sound. Since I don't intend to take my Caterham swimming, drilling the waterproof mounting ain't an issue for me 😬

 

Having reviewed today's trackday footage the camera worked well, but is no where near as good as a mini-DV recorder or decent bullet cam setup (as predicted). It claims 30fps but appears to miss frames and some of the footage, although acceptable is a little jerky as a result. However for £75 I can't complain, it is very good value and gives reasonable results.

 

Here's a video I've posted on Youtube (the quality is not as good as the original video file on the camera but gives a reasonable idea of quality).

 

.... note about 36 secs in, the butt clenching moment when the Integra, in front of the BMW M3 CSL I'm following decides to take a spin 😬

 

 

 

 

[Shad]

Looks pretty good for the money, could be useful to complement a DV camera, i.e. set up multiple angles relatively cheaply.

 

Simon

niknak.org

[Alan Bowler]

Thanks for reviewing this! Looks like a good/cheap solution. How did you fix it to the car? The "fix to car kit" appears to cost as much as the camera!

I know that track operators are rightly concerned and vigilant about how you fix cameras to the car.

AB

[Tonycaterham]

Hi,

 

Looks interesting! did you upgrade to the 2GB SD card?

 

Regards

 

Tony

 

L7 EVL

[skydragon]

I agree Simon, it would make an ideal (cheap) 2nd point of view camera to compliment a decent video camera setup.

 

I used the wrist-mount strap and wound it round the upper front bar of my rollcage, so that the camera was suspended underneath the front of the rollcage and looking through the windscreen.

 

I used a 2Gb card which gives about 55 mins of video (the camera as standard has only a very smal internal memory).

[caterhamnut]

Thanks for the review - indeed looks pretty good for the price - I'd say better than the ATC2k I tried a while ago.

 

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