I have purchased two different car mounted cameras. One of them is the adrenaline systems Car Cam Sport which I have heard a lot of good things about.
The other is the oregon scientific SD helmet camera. This unit comes with an SD slot.
The adrenaline systems camera is sony 580 tv line ccd which is weatherproof. The oregon scientific does not seem to specify what quality it provides. It also
seems to be waterproof. This camera is not specific for a car but it is pretty cheap in price.
I will be testing them out as soon as I get them. For now, can anyone provide any input on what I should be looking out for?
Are there any pointers I should keep in mind?
I intend to use the camera for some of our weekend street and racetrack racing video. Thanks in advance for your help.
If you are looking for a camera mount check this out.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220215332324&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=012
It mounts with a really high grip suction cup to any window or smooth surface like it. It can mount in almost any pposition. I hang mine like upside down from my sunroof and it puts the camera right above my head and in front of me so I have quick access to the start stop buttton.
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Following up to my original post I am ready to give my conclusions on the two car / helmet camera models which I bought for testing recently:
The Adrenaline Systems Car Cam sport / pro for car or truck mounting and the oregon scientific atc2k helmet cam model.
1. The Adrenaline systems Car Cam comes as a complete kit with mounts and all needed items. The camera itself is a Sony HAD ExView CCD 580 TVL which delivers super
sharp images. The car camera kit also comes with a super sturdy microphone with plenty of cord length to safely place inside our outside the car. The kit comes with two mounts; one is a pivot mount which is good to attach on the inside of the car (dashboard) and their Car Cam sport mount which is a suction mount with an articulated arm. This is the mount you will most use as it attaches to just about any surface.
I mounted the camera both on the inside and outside of the car. Even at high speeds the camera held on tight and never became loose. The suction cup is easy to
apply and loosen so it's perfect for quick relocation. I also really liked the fact the car cam mount allows for fine camera angle adjustment.
Connections where fast and easy. I was able to connect everything to my camcorder in no time. The resulting footage was stunning. As these cameras have an image
stabilization chip, the results are great.
In addition the car cam kit I got their power pack pro which is a Li-ion battery. It is super light and even has a switch and indicator light. This was handy for
odd camera placements where the lighter adapter did not reach.
I also got their Adrenalines Systems Head Strap for mounting the camera on your head. I have never tried this before but I took their advice. I was able to take
great footage while driving and gave it a super dramatic feel to the video.
The Car Cam Sport you can see at:
The Battery pack is at:
http://adrenalinecamera.com/product_info.php?products_id=280
The Head Strap is here:
http://adrenalinecamera.com/product_info.php?products_id=254
2. The Oregon Scientific helmet cam model is a self contained unit. It comes with mounts but none of them you can use to mount to the car surface, only to your
head which allowed me to wear it inside the car. I hat to jerry rig it to the outside and inside using some creative use of velcro mounting.
THe unit records onto an SD card. I took this unit through the paces and downloaded the footage to my computer. The quality of the video was acceptable but nowhere
near the quality of the adrenaline camera. Another issue I hat with this camera is that it is bulkier and less easy to place in odd places.
This is a neat little camera for entry level recreational drivers but, for the money, for a few more dollars you can get something akin to what I see the pro's
are using. If you want to post on youtube or the like, this a fast way of doing it; but if you want to get good quality sound and footage go with the above.
This unit you can check out at:
http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=7&scid=77&pid=709
I would definetly go for the adrenaline systems camera selection. It is better adapted that the chase cam or vio sport which has a ridiculous price tag. My next purchase will be their varifocal camera which allows field of view manipulation. My buddy
got one and it works like a charm.
Hope this helps and thanks for all the advice and help!
