Review updated:
I am not sure if this has been done before or if anyone has been looking for this kind of mod. But here it goes.
For almost a year I have been searching for a modding tool that can mount my camara during in cabin filming for drag, race, track purposes and just for general filming while driving. I used many "innovative" methods consisting of rope and duct tape to fix the camara and the one hand job, which is easier if you have an auto box. But none of these mounting methods were safe especially during high speed driving. I considered the Garmin and cellphone mounting kits but still was not satisfied. My internet searches mainly showed up the "cradle" type mounts, which was not directional adjustable and suitable for photo or video camaras.
Anyway, I found this great mod made in the US with an incredibly long name: "RAM suction cup twist lock mount" and can be purchased from???
...the supplier can be found in the description of the youtube video...so please visit the youtube video under the above long name...
It offers a wide range of mounting options inside or outside the vehicle and can also act as a tripod almost anywhere. See pictures for some of these locations.
I am impressed with the reasonable size; zero rattle; simplicity of use; adjustability; multidirectional and highspeed stability and strength of the RAM mount. This thing has a very strong suction cup that locks with an easy twist and you don't have to worry that it would come lose during hard cornering or sudden stop or braking. It sits extremely tight. The RAM simply screws into the location for tripods (universal) at the bottom of the camara.
However, it does not lock on uneven surfaces, the dashboard or centre console. The windows provide the best suction. It also attaches to the outside body of the car like a magnet but i have only done short and slow drives to test...not bold enough to expose my camara equipment to the outside drag forces.
Of course the mount is only as good as the camara equipment. I used a Sony 3.0MP handycam with a 30GB hard disc drive, which is ideal for recording race/tracking and just anything without running out of tape. For photos I use the amazing Sony 8.0MP Cybershot camara with its swivel head/lens ability.
Check out this short video where you can hardly see the camara move during uneven surfaces.
For this clip, the camara was attached upside down against the sunroof and the video was rotated back to its original setting using any video editing software. I prefer Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus.
The "Panavise 809 Camera Window Suction Cup Mount" finally arrived today.
It is one hot little mounting mod. The quality is much better than the RAM mount above. It feels and is studier/strong and has less connecting bits. The suction mount is larger in diameter and "sucks"... strongly on the window surface compared to the RAM unit.
I like the simplicity of the design; classy looks and one amazing locking mechanism (Press) to secure the unit.
Other comparisons:
1. Not as long as the RAM mount when you fasten it to the sunroof...so handling the camera looking up takes a bit of practice.
2. It cannot move in many directions like the RAM, so you have to choose fixed points.
Here is the new Panavise mount and it handles and looks better than the RAM....
I see the same company has other mounting products as well...outside the car mounting etc... will look at those in the future...
A suction comparison betwen the Ram and Panavise and the latter wins hands down...:thumbsup:
UPDATE: 3 August 2010
I thought I would add the following update to this thread instead of starting a new one. I purchased a couple of new aquipment to my photography arsenal and to add to the fun. High Definition is the talk of the town in photography and i thought that i would explore this but at the same time keep the gadgets small/mobile for my purposes.
Dedicated photographers would obviously look at bigger cameras and higher resolutions for their specific purposes but i wanted a bit of both worlds.
1. So I added another Sony camcorder but HD format to my list:
And as it states on the label:
Full HD 1920x1080
Handycam
HDD 60Gigs
12mega pixel for still pics
Exmore sensor
The quality of the still and video pictures are amazing especially if you watch it on a plasma screen with simillar HD specs. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
The video works great on Youtube but i think it is overkill. There is not much difference between my non HD Sony (1280 x 720) as in the above pics and the HD sony when it comes to viewing on youtube which is my actual audience.
2. I was looking for a bullet camera that i can mount easily in my car without bashing my head against it, and then stumbled on the Contour HD
"This is the brand new FULL HD ContourHD 1080p helmet camera. Currently the highest quality helmet camera system on the market today.
It supports up to 1920 x 1080 video in stunning 16:9 widescreen providing crisp and clear images or you can run it at 1280 x 720 60fps for super smooth looking high motion video.
The ContourHD 1080p is more configurable giving the user full control via the supplied software of video resolution, exposure and mic levels."
Check the inside capabilities:
This camera mounts easily on the inside of the car with little obstruction due to its small size.
Full specs of this camera can be found here:
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/contourhd-1080p.html
http://www.contour-hd.co.uk/contour_HD_specs.htm
Now the problem with HD cameras is if it does not have a large built in Hard Drive you run out of memory space rather quickly:
"At full quality this camera uses 1gb of memory for just 15 minutes of video at 1080p. The supplied 2gb card holds just 30 minutes of video."
There is a 16gb MicroSD also available for longer record times. It is best to use a lower resolution (which you can do) when filming racing with this camera. I managed to get it in a couple of laps at Killarney with this camara on a lower resolution.
3. Then i found the mother of little gadgets which i love to bits. Check this out:
This tiny camera is the same size as your BMW key:
"The RC200 looks just like any other car key-fob remote blipper.
This is the latest "plus" version which is high definition 1280 x 960 resolution.
Inside the key fob DVR is a high resolution CMOS sensor connected to a digital video recorder.
The really great thing about this device is that you can put it on your own key ring and never worry about it being detected. It's always there waiting to be used in any situation where you might not otherwise be carrying a DVR, camera or dictaphone.
At the touch of a button the remote dvr will fire up and be ready to record video or take stills photos in just 2 - 3 seconds. This keyfob DVR camera will vibrate quickly to let you know what it is doing.
Video is captured on to the supplied 2gb MicroSd card which will hold around 1 hour of video and several thousand stills photos. Any MicroSD card can be used up to 8gb in size.
Unlike a lot of other devices we have seen, this one records at full 1280 x 960 resolution and at 30fps providing very clear and smooth video as well as excellent sound quality. Time and date stamping is also possible."
The great thing is you can attach it anywhere in your car with some Velcro. I attached it above my steering wheel which makes recording of street runs very easy.:thumbsup:
Full specs can be found here:
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/lawmate-rc200-keyfob-camera-dvr.html
4. Then i also purchased a new Sony with HD still capabilities and the ability to shoot a panorama style...:thumbsup: Very flexible, light and small and perfect for our BMW meets. But it is not as good as my Sony adjustable lens. Auto is easy and fun but adjustable lenses are far more superior in picture quality, i think.
5. Recording Storage. Well nothing new on this but a great BMW novelty:
The Kingston I purchased from Wild BMW on the forum.:thumbsup:
The BMW USB key is 8 Gigs and great to load your tuning files.
I am not sure if this has been done before or if anyone has been looking for this kind of mod. But here it goes.
For almost a year I have been searching for a modding tool that can mount my camara during in cabin filming for drag, race, track purposes and just for general filming while driving. I used many "innovative" methods consisting of rope and duct tape to fix the camara and the one hand job, which is easier if you have an auto box. But none of these mounting methods were safe especially during high speed driving. I considered the Garmin and cellphone mounting kits but still was not satisfied. My internet searches mainly showed up the "cradle" type mounts, which was not directional adjustable and suitable for photo or video camaras.
Anyway, I found this great mod made in the US with an incredibly long name: "RAM suction cup twist lock mount" and can be purchased from???
...the supplier can be found in the description of the youtube video...so please visit the youtube video under the above long name...It offers a wide range of mounting options inside or outside the vehicle and can also act as a tripod almost anywhere. See pictures for some of these locations.
I am impressed with the reasonable size; zero rattle; simplicity of use; adjustability; multidirectional and highspeed stability and strength of the RAM mount. This thing has a very strong suction cup that locks with an easy twist and you don't have to worry that it would come lose during hard cornering or sudden stop or braking. It sits extremely tight. The RAM simply screws into the location for tripods (universal) at the bottom of the camara.
However, it does not lock on uneven surfaces, the dashboard or centre console. The windows provide the best suction. It also attaches to the outside body of the car like a magnet but i have only done short and slow drives to test...not bold enough to expose my camara equipment to the outside drag forces.
Of course the mount is only as good as the camara equipment. I used a Sony 3.0MP handycam with a 30GB hard disc drive, which is ideal for recording race/tracking and just anything without running out of tape. For photos I use the amazing Sony 8.0MP Cybershot camara with its swivel head/lens ability.
Check out this short video where you can hardly see the camara move during uneven surfaces.
The "Panavise 809 Camera Window Suction Cup Mount" finally arrived today.
It is one hot little mounting mod. The quality is much better than the RAM mount above. It feels and is studier/strong and has less connecting bits. The suction mount is larger in diameter and "sucks"... strongly on the window surface compared to the RAM unit.
I like the simplicity of the design; classy looks and one amazing locking mechanism (Press) to secure the unit.
Other comparisons:
1. Not as long as the RAM mount when you fasten it to the sunroof...so handling the camera looking up takes a bit of practice.
2. It cannot move in many directions like the RAM, so you have to choose fixed points.
Here is the new Panavise mount and it handles and looks better than the RAM....
I see the same company has other mounting products as well...outside the car mounting etc... will look at those in the future...
A suction comparison betwen the Ram and Panavise and the latter wins hands down...:thumbsup:
UPDATE: 3 August 2010
I thought I would add the following update to this thread instead of starting a new one. I purchased a couple of new aquipment to my photography arsenal and to add to the fun. High Definition is the talk of the town in photography and i thought that i would explore this but at the same time keep the gadgets small/mobile for my purposes.
Dedicated photographers would obviously look at bigger cameras and higher resolutions for their specific purposes but i wanted a bit of both worlds.
1. So I added another Sony camcorder but HD format to my list:
And as it states on the label:
Full HD 1920x1080
Handycam
HDD 60Gigs
12mega pixel for still pics
Exmore sensor
The quality of the still and video pictures are amazing especially if you watch it on a plasma screen with simillar HD specs. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
The video works great on Youtube but i think it is overkill. There is not much difference between my non HD Sony (1280 x 720) as in the above pics and the HD sony when it comes to viewing on youtube which is my actual audience.
2. I was looking for a bullet camera that i can mount easily in my car without bashing my head against it, and then stumbled on the Contour HD
"This is the brand new FULL HD ContourHD 1080p helmet camera. Currently the highest quality helmet camera system on the market today.
It supports up to 1920 x 1080 video in stunning 16:9 widescreen providing crisp and clear images or you can run it at 1280 x 720 60fps for super smooth looking high motion video.
The ContourHD 1080p is more configurable giving the user full control via the supplied software of video resolution, exposure and mic levels."
Check the inside capabilities:
This camera mounts easily on the inside of the car with little obstruction due to its small size.
Full specs of this camera can be found here:
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/contourhd-1080p.html
http://www.contour-hd.co.uk/contour_HD_specs.htm
Now the problem with HD cameras is if it does not have a large built in Hard Drive you run out of memory space rather quickly:
"At full quality this camera uses 1gb of memory for just 15 minutes of video at 1080p. The supplied 2gb card holds just 30 minutes of video."
There is a 16gb MicroSD also available for longer record times. It is best to use a lower resolution (which you can do) when filming racing with this camera. I managed to get it in a couple of laps at Killarney with this camara on a lower resolution.
3. Then i found the mother of little gadgets which i love to bits. Check this out:
This tiny camera is the same size as your BMW key:
"The RC200 looks just like any other car key-fob remote blipper.
This is the latest "plus" version which is high definition 1280 x 960 resolution.
Inside the key fob DVR is a high resolution CMOS sensor connected to a digital video recorder.
The really great thing about this device is that you can put it on your own key ring and never worry about it being detected. It's always there waiting to be used in any situation where you might not otherwise be carrying a DVR, camera or dictaphone.
At the touch of a button the remote dvr will fire up and be ready to record video or take stills photos in just 2 - 3 seconds. This keyfob DVR camera will vibrate quickly to let you know what it is doing.
Video is captured on to the supplied 2gb MicroSd card which will hold around 1 hour of video and several thousand stills photos. Any MicroSD card can be used up to 8gb in size.
Unlike a lot of other devices we have seen, this one records at full 1280 x 960 resolution and at 30fps providing very clear and smooth video as well as excellent sound quality. Time and date stamping is also possible."
The great thing is you can attach it anywhere in your car with some Velcro. I attached it above my steering wheel which makes recording of street runs very easy.:thumbsup:
Full specs can be found here:
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/lawmate-rc200-keyfob-camera-dvr.html
4. Then i also purchased a new Sony with HD still capabilities and the ability to shoot a panorama style...:thumbsup: Very flexible, light and small and perfect for our BMW meets. But it is not as good as my Sony adjustable lens. Auto is easy and fun but adjustable lenses are far more superior in picture quality, i think.
5. Recording Storage. Well nothing new on this but a great BMW novelty:
The Kingston I purchased from Wild BMW on the forum.:thumbsup:
The BMW USB key is 8 Gigs and great to load your tuning files.
