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Old May 23, 2006 | 04:32 PM
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In Car Camera Mounting

Hi gang,

I figure this is the place I should ask since lappers do in-car cams.

So...I have a Kirk Racing 4-pt and using the IO Port (borrowed) to mount the vid cam (Sony HDR-HC1) on the diagonal bar. The problem I'm having is that the even zoomed way out, it seems to be too close to the dash. I just got a 0.7x conversion adapter so mebbe it'll help.

Any suggestions as to where else/how to mount camera to get more of the dash? Damian's vids seem to get most of the steering wheel. Here's a sample autox run vid (4MB): http://www.encompass-tech.com/photog...%20Run%204.mov

I wanna see the racing line a bit better so I can use this for analysis.

Thx.

-Hedwig
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Old May 25, 2006 | 04:08 PM
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Try a fisheye lense for the camera unless you want to fab a mount that hangs back farther, it's your best bet
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Old May 25, 2006 | 05:18 PM
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The biggest issue I see with your mount is that the camera is too low; that's why the view is so poor. Raising the camera a few inches and pointing it a tad left would be a 100% improvement. I find that if the camera is skewed only slightly and doesn't point down the center of the car it's no big deal.

My 8mm camera is mounted right in the middle of the stock rear strut bar on a simple mount I made. Basically a 1" square steel tube with downward pointing tabs welded on the ends that runs the width of the stock strut bar. The tabs have holes in them for the stock strut bar bolts to pass through. It requires slight notching (or removal) of the rear strut tower covers to mount it but looks fine in the car IMO.
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Old May 25, 2006 | 05:32 PM
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hey were can i buy a mount??? i wanta mount on my rollcage......hey i saw this camera attachment that plugs into the camera and has another smaller camera on a four foot cord....yu could run that infront of ur gagaues
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Old May 26, 2006 | 12:12 AM
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Originally Posted by DamonB
The biggest issue I see with your mount is that the camera is too low; that's why the view is so poor. Raising the camera a few inches and pointing it a tad left would be a 100% improvement. I find that if the camera is skewed only slightly and doesn't point down the center of the car it's no big deal.

My 8mm camera is mounted right in the middle of the stock rear strut bar on a simple mount I made. Basically a 1" square steel tube with downward pointing tabs welded on the ends that runs the width of the stock strut bar. The tabs have holes in them for the stock strut bar bolts to pass through. It requires slight notching (or removal) of the rear strut tower covers to mount it but looks fine in the car IMO.

i mounted it on the diag bar higher than it would be if it was mounted on the rear strut bar. I guess I gotta move it up somemore and point it downwards.
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Old Jun 3, 2006 | 02:07 PM
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Set the camera up in *widescreen* mode (16x9) if available.
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Old Jun 10, 2006 | 02:59 AM
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If you get a MoTeC data logger or MoTeC ECU with data logging you can now link your video footage to the data. This works great.
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Old Jun 10, 2006 | 03:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Directfreak
Set the camera up in *widescreen* mode (16x9) if available.
It IS already in 16:9 mode...not a fancy cam...just an entry level High Def HDR-HC1. I tried the wide conversion lens...it helps a bit but I think ultimately I need to move the mount back more.

Thx for the reply.
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Old Jun 10, 2006 | 03:25 PM
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Originally Posted by carbon man
If you get a MoTeC data logger or MoTeC ECU with data logging you can now link your video footage to the data. This works great.

Lol...i wish it's in my budget to do that. Chasecam.com has a split screen mode for 2 inputs: http://www.chasecam.com/ss/



and Traqmate http://www.traqmate.com/ offers a vid cam option to superimpose the datalog on-screen...way cool!

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Old Jun 10, 2006 | 05:33 PM
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Originally Posted by HedgeHog
Lol...i wish it's in my budget to do that. Chasecam.com has a split screen mode for 2 inputs: http://www.chasecam.com/ss/



and Traqmate http://www.traqmate.com/ offers a vid cam option to superimpose the datalog on-screen...way cool!

That is cool, you get what you pay for and data collection and interpretation is of a hugh benifit to the development of a driver and the vehicle. True readable data is important. If you don't look at your data it is not worth collecting it, so it is not worth the expence. I believe the more data you collect the easier it is to be comprtative.
I would recomend trying any type of data collection method you can afford, it is better to have some information than none. If you get serious try a MoTeC Data Logger.
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Old Jul 28, 2007 | 09:02 AM
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Originally Posted by DamonB
My 8mm camera is mounted right in the middle of the stock rear strut bar on a simple mount I made. Basically a 1" square steel tube with downward pointing tabs welded on the ends that runs the width of the stock strut bar. The tabs have holes in them for the stock strut bar bolts to pass through. It requires slight notching (or removal) of the rear strut tower covers to mount it but looks fine in the car IMO.

Bumping an old thread...

Where should the camera be positioned? Head-height, between the seats? Or back above the rear strut bar? I'd like to mount to the strut bar but it seems pretty far back.

Dave
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Old Jul 28, 2007 | 11:50 PM
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with our car being so low, I'm mount the camera as high as possible. Here are some videos of my car and a pic of my mount below, I liked the results and I mounted the camera as high as possible.



here are the videos with this mount and a regular panasonic cam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0tp-2JY1c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctFPVGDoJ4Y

more here

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=whattheal
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Old Jul 28, 2007 | 11:55 PM
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One problem with the strut bar is that it is too low, you might have a hard time seeing the road.
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