A friend of mine has a 7 sec drag car that he wants to put a camera in to record the runs. We have tried tape style mini cams but they wont work. Anyone have any good/ half way cheap recording cameras that you have used for dragracing with good results? Thanks for all input.

 

subie peeps from the forums i vist have a trend of using decent usb webcams and a laptop and recording the streaming video

the vid's are pretty good

And a usb webcam can mount just about anywhere

 

I use a plain 'ole 8mm videocam solidly mounted in my car and have excellent results .

 

Don't use digicam. Get the real camcorder. Like Damon says, 8mm.

 

I have a Sony Cybershot digital camera mounted on a $25 K-mart tripod tied in between the doors with mason string that I use for auto x and is strong enough I can shake the car with the tripod.

 

A lot of the rally guys get a $80 "lipstick" camera, a voltage inverter, and a cheap VCR (like $30 new anymore) soft-mounted in the back to record. Keeps the tape head from being destroyed by vibration, and the solidly mounted camera doesn't wobble all over the place. If the VCR does crap out, heck it's only $30.

Examples can be found at www.randyzimmer.com

It's what I should've done. I destroyed a $230 8mm from drag racing, it still works (sorta) but it rattles internally. I'm working on the security camera + VCR method right now, the trick is in mounting the VCR. I'm going to try a certain kind of foam and an old hardshell suitcase that I can bolt to the floor, to meet rules that there must be nothing loose in the car.

 

attaches where garment hooks used to be:


Found a wingnut that fits the threaded hole in the camera for easy attach/release:



I haven't had the chance to use it at autocross yet, but I did drive around a bit, over speed bumps and such. No shaking at all. However, that blue wire was tied from the cam mount to a bolt hole in the rear of the car to keep it from swaying front/back.

Some folks deemed it a hazard, and unsafe, but I just wanted to see if I could make a cheap camera mount.

 

I have tried 4 differant tape style camera's and they will not work. I was told that the g's pull the tape away from the head. I am not sure, but I know the tape style will not work. Also I prefer 12 VDC, due to the fact the car is striped to the max and the only power we have is 12vdc deep cycle batteries. The car is 200MPH/6.0 et certified, so a vcr setup Wouldn't be legal at the speed. the smaller the better! Thanks again for the help.

 

Here's a setup you might want to look into...

http://itforum.improvedtouring.com/f...showtopic=7512

No personal experience with it, but it looks promising, and pretty cheap.

 

hey thanks for the great links neil!

 

I recently built this to hold my camera in my car. Its pretty much just a pole that can be screwed out longer. It wedges itself between the trunk floor and the roof. I stuck some foam on oth end to keep it in place. I clamp with a quick release slides up and down the pole and a "L" bracket gives the camera a home. I have only done a little driving with it in but it seems pretty stable. Here are some pictures of it.

 

www.ChaseCam.com

Works in our BMWCCA car, our Rally car, and even mounted on a helmet amid a street battle in Iraq (no BS, I'll track down the link-- RPG hits the side of their Humvee, scary stuff!!)

edit-- http://www.chasecam.com/Iraq/

-JW