dad911,

I am #161. How long is the ride from Flemington to the Watkins Glen? I might want to head up early morning if it is not too bad...

Tony

What kind of camera do you guys usually use for filming? I'm totally clueless about this stuff but might be interested in the future.

--Michael

Sony Handycam. I think most camcorders have a female screw hole on the bottom for a tripod. It screws in and tightens and then you can adjust the camera so it picks up the views you like.

If your cam corder has the small color display on the side, you can pop it out and turn it over so you can see what the camera is going to see.

Remote control start and stop is nice too if your camera has it. You can use it for DE and autocross.

If it is possible with your camera, you'll most likely want to turn off the LCD display after you have the camera mounted and aimed. LCD's really drain the camera's battery, sometimes to the point where you can't film an entire session.

Anyone using a remote camera plugged into their camcorder? I've seen them called lipstick cameras and bullet cameras. I'm thinking this would be a lot easier to mount and gives you options as far as locations (in car, frnt bumper, side of car to see how close to the apex, ...)

What I don't know is what kind of camera to use. There's numerous ones on eBay for home security that operate off of 12v, but I'm not sure if the clarity or viewing angle is compatible with filming motorsports. Any insights?

Lipstick Camera
 

You guys should email John Colasante off-list, he's a pro with the lipstick spy cameras and will probably be at the Glen.

I use a Sony Digital Walkman (GVD-1000) and a Race Cam. Not cheap but damn, damn good, no vibration, excellent brightness balance, incredibly rigid mounting. Check them out at www.stable-energies.com.

I have seen guys plug the lipstick camera into the external camera inputs of a sony camcorder, and then put the camcorder in a padded bag on the rear seat floor, so you don't have to worrry about missile hazard. You can then mount the camera anywhere, and have seen them on the outside of the car, in the front spoiler, top of the rear wing, facing the driver ("hero-cam"), anywhere you want. The video quality is not that great, probably less a function of the CCD than the lens but it's a tradeoff.