New Video Cam
- Thread starter WLH
- Start date
Liverpool
Siftah said:You were watching closely to spot that!
Bizarre, I didn't even know I'd done that - but yes it does look like I do just before going into the left hander before the uphill bit. Quite strange that, if you asked me I'd have said that I don't left foot brake but I clearly doThinking about it, I do often cover the brake pedal with my left foot, I think that's something I picked up from the IAM training though I don't remember if/why I was ever taught it.
I used to drive that road every day from Manchester to Huddersfield so I know it fairly well, that corner in particular is quite tight but good fun. It's generally quite a scenic drive too, much better than the motorway!
Probably only spotted it because I watched it at 720p HD on the Mac.
:roll: I think it was the SLOW sign on the road and the black/white chevrons that made me notice you would need to scrub off some speed pretty fast! Raised the bar on the video footage guys 
Siftah, am testing (yes, :roll: another test) the new PlaySport tomorrow (once the bumper's back on)... will be trying tripod mounting options... will take pics of any successful configs.
Siftah, am testing (yes, :roll: another test) the new PlaySport tomorrow (once the bumper's back on)... will be trying tripod mounting options... will take pics of any successful configs.
Video of the month would be quite interesting/fun actually! It's a good way of finding new roads and parts of the world too. I especially like seeing vids from members in other parts of the road too
mmm-five you're right, and next weekend I'll be off to Wales with some of the other forum members to enjoy those roads - with video footage of our fun afterwards I hope!
Z4 Beemer The slow sign is redundant now, that road used to be a national speed limit but it's been dropped to a 40 recently. Pet hate of mine but how they think that they can reasonably say it's now a 40 when it was a national speed limit for 30+ years is beyond me. Are they saying they got it wrong for the last 30 years? Have cars not got *safer* in 30 years? do the brakes not work better now? sheesh.
I reckon you can make that corner at 60mph+ and I suspect I was doing far less than that when I entered it. I've definitely taken it quicker in my old Mini, though it was only a 1 litre so it took a lot more effort to maintain the speed up the hill than it does in the Z4
PawnSacrifice Will look forward to it! I keep looking at this camera for a cheapish and cheerful HD camera, but I've not gotten round to buying one yet - so many toys, so little time
It's a good way of finding new roads and parts of the world too. I especially like seeing vids from members in other parts of the road too mmm-five you're right, and next weekend I'll be off to Wales with some of the other forum members to enjoy those roads - with video footage of our fun afterwards I hope!
Z4 Beemer The slow sign is redundant now, that road used to be a national speed limit but it's been dropped to a 40 recently. Pet hate of mine but how they think that they can reasonably say it's now a 40 when it was a national speed limit for 30+ years is beyond me. Are they saying they got it wrong for the last 30 years? Have cars not got *safer* in 30 years? do the brakes not work better now? sheesh.
I reckon you can make that corner at 60mph+ and I suspect I was doing far less than that when I entered it. I've definitely taken it quicker in my old Mini, though it was only a 1 litre so it took a lot more effort to maintain the speed up the hill than it does in the Z4
PawnSacrifice Will look forward to it! I keep looking at this camera for a cheapish and cheerful HD camera, but I've not gotten round to buying one yet - so many toys, so little time
Siftah said:PawnSacrifice Will look forward to it! I keep looking at this camera for a cheapish and cheerful HD camera, but I've not gotten round to buying one yet - so many toys, so little time
Check this one out (but yeah, I know what you mean about the toys)...
Kodak PlaySport
Full HD (although 720P at 60FPS / 1080P at 30FPS) - main thing for me is it's ruggedised and waterproof
Any updates on this thread guys?
I ended up buying the Zi8 from Kodak, it's a great camera but I've had problems mounting it nicely. The mounting lug is on the bottom and it's a "phone" form factor, so the shake is more noticeable due to the distance from the mounting lug to the lens - vibrations are magnified.
The other problem is that it's difficult to use a suction mount to the windscreen with it as the position of the lug means you can't get the angle right for it to be looking out of the screen - would love to see what others have done if they've got round this?
In the end I've decided the best bet is to film everything upside down, then flip the video in post-production (iMovie)
Hopefully do some decent videos with it soon
I ended up buying the Zi8 from Kodak, it's a great camera but I've had problems mounting it nicely. The mounting lug is on the bottom and it's a "phone" form factor, so the shake is more noticeable due to the distance from the mounting lug to the lens - vibrations are magnified.
The other problem is that it's difficult to use a suction mount to the windscreen with it as the position of the lug means you can't get the angle right for it to be looking out of the screen - would love to see what others have done if they've got round this?
In the end I've decided the best bet is to film everything upside down, then flip the video in post-production (iMovie)
Hopefully do some decent videos with it soon
I recently made the video using IMovie...Siftah said:Any updates on this thread guys?
http://www.vholdr.com/node/91351
WLH said:I recently made the video using IMovie...Siftah said:Any updates on this thread guys?
http://www.vholdr.com/node/91351
Needed more straight-six noises!
Very atmospheric weather there too, I'm hoping we don't get that for the upcoming Lakes meet here in the UK!
Forgot to mention in my earlier post that the cameras mentioned at the start of this thread have now halfed in price down to around 8ukp including delivery: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mini-DV-DVR-Sports-Video-Camera-Spy-cam-SpyCam-MD80-/110544719283?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19bcfa8db3#ht_5910wt_920
To my mind, this makes them almost disposable - I'm planning on picking up a couple of them and using them for low angle shots, taped to the bumper and that kind of thing. Should make for some quite interesting footage which will be good to cut into the other footage if nothing else...
I agree and the biggest weakness of the ContourHD is the audio pickup. No provision for external mike either. In that video I had the sound turned off and then just added an MP3 from my ITunes collection. I made a number of other videos that weekend where the weather was very nice but after much consideration and discussion with others I decide not to post them due to the ahhh....possible moving violations...Siftah said:Needed more straight-six noises!
You know the little things like exceeding the suggest speeds they have on those sign posted along side the road... 
WLH said:I agree and the biggest weakness of the ContourHD is the audio pickup. No provision for external mike either. In that video I had the sound turned off and then just added an MP3 from my ITunes collection. I made a number of other videos that weekend where the weather was very nice but after much consideration and discussion with others I decide not to post them due to the ahhh....possible moving violations...Siftah said:Needed more straight-six noises!
That has crossed my mind also
But I suspect if they did you for it they'd have to prove the footage wasn't tampered with and all that sort of thing.... Well, in the UK at least
I have the Kodak Playsport and the biggest issue is the sound - no external mic jack as it's waterproof. I think I may have found a solution to stop it moving about!
This is a clip from my trip to work this morning (knowing it was going to be posted online it is a little slow)...
[youtube]<object width="660" height="405"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/muLqZNzcm8s&hl=en_US&fs=1&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/muLqZNzcm8s&hl=en_US&fs=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="660" height="405"></embed></object>[/youtube]
Still, some nice countryside
And I didn't bottle it on the really tight corners - slowed down as cars can be queued up behind cyclists.
The last section (30 seconds or so) I was on and off the throttle in second, from where I was sitting it sounded great... not so on the footage Have some ideas for a windbreaker type scenario, need testing. Will also be looking at making a proper mount for that position on the dash.
This is a clip from my trip to work this morning (knowing it was going to be posted online it is a little slow)...
[youtube]<object width="660" height="405"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/muLqZNzcm8s&hl=en_US&fs=1&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/muLqZNzcm8s&hl=en_US&fs=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="660" height="405"></embed></object>[/youtube]
Still, some nice countryside
And I didn't bottle it on the really tight corners - slowed down as cars can be queued up behind cyclists.
The last section (30 seconds or so) I was on and off the throttle in second, from where I was sitting it sounded great... not so on the footage
Have some ideas for a windbreaker type scenario, need testing. Will also be looking at making a proper mount for that position on the dash.Cheers WLH... Have tried a few things. Latest...
Cut a section of microphone foam to put over the mic...
...and created a "shield" around the camera
Still noisy. Anything in the cabin while the roof's down is going to be the same. I pinned the BlackBerry (voice recorder) between the centre console and the edge of the seat, not too noisy but didn't really get the exhaust note.
Tomorrow, I think I'm going to try putting the BlackBerry in the boot... no! In the space by the battery (no use to you ) see what that picks up :?
Am hoping a horn beep will be enough or a reference point to sync the movie to the sound.
Problem using music from iTunes, YouTube tend to remove it :thumbsdown:
Siftah, think I may bag a couple of those cameras for cut away shots.
Cut a section of microphone foam to put over the mic...
...and created a "shield" around the camera
Still noisy. Anything in the cabin while the roof's down is going to be the same. I pinned the BlackBerry (voice recorder) between the centre console and the edge of the seat, not too noisy but didn't really get the exhaust note.
Tomorrow, I think I'm going to try putting the BlackBerry in the boot... no! In the space by the battery (no use to you
) see what that picks up :?Am hoping a horn beep will be enough or a reference point to sync the movie to the sound.
Problem using music from iTunes, YouTube tend to remove it :thumbsdown:
Siftah, think I may bag a couple of those cameras for cut away shots.
I will give the foam a try and was also thinking about using another recorder in the boot to record sound. The horn idea is spot on...PawnSacrifice said:Cheers WLH... Have tried a few things. Latest...
Cut a section of microphone foam to put over the mic...
Tomorrow, I think I'm going to try putting the BlackBerry in the boot... no! In the space by the battery (no use to you
Am hoping a horn beep will be enough or a reference point to sync the movie to the sound.
Problem using music from iTunes, YouTube tend to remove it :thumbsdown:
I did not think about that.
Youtube is all nervous about copyright I guess. I did read somewhere that another upload service will allow the music where an agreement has been reached and then provide a link to Amazon and Itunes for purchase.
Hmm, the wind noise is a bit of a weird one - I have the Zi8 but it doesn't seem to pick up as much wind noise as you're experiencing. I know they're a bit different but I wouldn't expect the difference to be that great :\
Example video: http://gallery.me.com/siftah#100053
I think I've got a reasonable mounting solution now (though not in this particular video) flipping the camera upside down seems to be the key as it lets me mount it quite solid and position it well.
It's a bit frustrating you can't turn the screen off on the Kodaks as I suspect this would help the battery life last a lot longer. :\
Next thing to play with is using an external mic to see if I can get the audio a little better
Also managed to snag one of the cheaper eBay cameras for 7quid, think I'll try and get a couple more for different angle shots, should be able to make quite a good sequence then
Example video: http://gallery.me.com/siftah#100053
I think I've got a reasonable mounting solution now (though not in this particular video) flipping the camera upside down seems to be the key as it lets me mount it quite solid and position it well.
It's a bit frustrating you can't turn the screen off on the Kodaks as I suspect this would help the battery life last a lot longer. :\
Next thing to play with is using an external mic to see if I can get the audio a little better
Also managed to snag one of the cheaper eBay cameras for 7quid, think I'll try and get a couple more for different angle shots, should be able to make quite a good sequence then
So, the 7quid camera off eBay arrived!
Took it out earlier for a quick trial run, did a very basic mounting to the front bumper:
The zip tie was a backup in case the insulation tape came off - I did say this was a very basic mounting! The camera's that light and flimsy it really doesn't need much to hold it on, I think a bit more insulation tape would help waterproof the MicroSD card and buttons. For 7quid I think they're quite nifty, certainly a good little backup camera to take some lower angle shots. At this price who cares if it cops a stone in the lens.
I think I'll maybe try mounting it under the splitter so it's even lower (should make for more dramatic shots). The sounds not great, but I wouldn't intend on using the sound from it. I don't think the battery will last more than about an hour whereas I think an 8gig card is going to give slightly over an hour (30 min video ran at 2.89gig). The battery is a 3.7v Li-Ion battery so I think I'll crack the case and add a little connector on to it for clipping onto an old Nokia battery, ~200mAh -> 800+mAh's should extend the run-time plenty long enough to use up the full card.
One annoying thing is there's a time and date in the bottom right of the picture which can't be removed, so the 720x480 res will probably end up getting cropped down to remove that :|
Clips here: [youtube]McjuPePlymE[/youtube]
Took it out earlier for a quick trial run, did a very basic mounting to the front bumper:
The zip tie was a backup in case the insulation tape came off - I did say this was a very basic mounting! The camera's that light and flimsy it really doesn't need much to hold it on, I think a bit more insulation tape would help waterproof the MicroSD card and buttons. For 7quid I think they're quite nifty, certainly a good little backup camera to take some lower angle shots. At this price who cares if it cops a stone in the lens.
I think I'll maybe try mounting it under the splitter so it's even lower (should make for more dramatic shots). The sounds not great, but I wouldn't intend on using the sound from it. I don't think the battery will last more than about an hour whereas I think an 8gig card is going to give slightly over an hour (30 min video ran at 2.89gig). The battery is a 3.7v Li-Ion battery so I think I'll crack the case and add a little connector on to it for clipping onto an old Nokia battery, ~200mAh -> 800+mAh's should extend the run-time plenty long enough to use up the full card.
One annoying thing is there's a time and date in the bottom right of the picture which can't be removed, so the 720x480 res will probably end up getting cropped down to remove that :|
Clips here: [youtube]McjuPePlymE[/youtube]
Good work, Siftah
I tried putting my BlackBerry and Playsport in the boot the other day to record the sound... didn't work very well. On to the next idea.
I tried putting my BlackBerry and Playsport in the boot the other day to record the sound... didn't work very well. On to the next idea.
PawnSacrifice said:Good work, Siftah
I tried putting my BlackBerry and Playsport in the boot the other day to record the sound... didn't work very well. On to the next idea.
I still need to play about with the sound recording, I'm thinking maybe in the engine bay is a good location, considering the brief bit of noise on that video when I pull away from the junction. Suspect there's lots of intake noise and wind noise to deal with though.
Sound seems ok from the Zi8 when recorded inside the cabin - even with the roof down. I did try with an external microphone but it was a crappier microphone than the one built in, so the sound was no better
Hopefully with the two cameras I should end up with a couple of decent bits of footage to knock a short video together from
Tried my new Sony digital voice recorder on the way to work this morning...
The clip below was holding the recorder in the cabin and using the built in mic (roof was up)...
http://boo.fm/b149364
On another clip I did notice that the tyre noise can take over. Have an external mic on the way.
The clip below was holding the recorder in the cabin and using the built in mic (roof was up)...
http://boo.fm/b149364
On another clip I did notice that the tyre noise can take over. Have an external mic on the way.