HD1a/2 As In-Car Camera?

[Matthew Johnston]

Looking to possibly purchase a used HD1a, or perhaps a new HD2 when they are released for use as an in-car camera.

It would be mounted in a rally car, so lots of vibration and action, the other cam I am looking at is the HV10.

There was a clip posted in this forum a while back of a HD1 mounted in an airplane, looking out of the side of the cockpit, it seemed to look very nice.

My concern is the Sayno's ability to deal with vibration and fast moving action without breaking up.

Certainly it would be better quality than the 520 line lipstick cameras I would usually use?

[Wayne Morellini]

This interests me for a normal car, and docos. There was footage on an BMX dirt bike here, pretty woeful. You would need to totally isolate from vibration, and then the low frame rate and low bit rate/long gop is going to make an lot of frames look really fuzzy (the GOP frames will look alright).

Samsung had announced an H264 17mb/s 720p60 camera that could have been a lot better (with all the vibration isolation) that got delayed and disappeared. I suspect that there will be a number of such cameras this year.

The big problem, apart from vibration, is that most of these cameras use inter-fame compression like the Canon. Unless you have a very high bitrate intra-frame compression will be prone to not enough bit rate to do the frames in between the Gops. What is best is a Intra frame compressed camera that compresses the frames separately, like the HVX200 (or the h264 replacement) but big expensive and I doubt they would like the vibration.

So, the Canon might be the best bet, until somebody starts releasing a descent H264 camera with at least 18mb/s 720p

[Chris Wells]

Hi Matt,

A number of people have experienced a malfunction where the display works and screen data shows, but no image is present. I expect this malfunction would be likely to happen to you if vibration was not effectively managed as Wayne suggests. With most cameras, you could create your mount and test to see the vibration in the video, adjusting your mount until you are satisfied. I don't know that the HD1 would survive the process. If you do choose an HD1, I would recommend you find an effective test for the mount that controls your risk factor.

[Ed Cameron]

Hey, a friend of mine recently used a high quality lipstick cam for a production shoot that he got from a company called jonescam. He said that it worked well and produced DVD quality video. Aparently the LX system from that company has a small camera head (about the size of lipstick) that connects to a CCU (about the size of a deck of cards) and records video to a portable DVR. He said that it is also capable of white balance and manual focus. If you want more quality than 520 lines of res., then these guys might be worth a look.

www.jonescam.tv

[Alexander Wrana]

Actually I've seen a sample clip by someone who strapped a HD1 to his mountain bike somewhere on the web. I just can't find it anymore. Video quality actually wasn't that bad.

Don't know how long a HD1 will last in those conditions though.

[Wayne Morellini]

Kaku was the person doing it, and he posted links in one thread here which you can search for. He was supposed to be doing an review of an new AVCHD camera by now, but have not heard back from him.

[Charles Hurley]

I just recently used my hd1 in a variety of car mount situations. It performed spectacularly. I chickened out when it came to using the HVX so I went with the little guy. The best thing about this small cam is it's low mass. A relatively lightweight car-mount will do a great job. In one shot you can see the back tire going berzerk but the cam is locked on the car with no discernible vibration. The fact that it has few moving parts is also a bonus. Good Luck.

[Timothy Takemoto]

Originally Posted by Wayne Morellini

Kaku was the person doing it, and he posted links in one thread here which you can search for. He was supposed to be doing an review of an new AVCHD camera by now, but have not heard back from him.

Here is the Kaku Ito Mountain bike footage using a Sanyo Xacti HD1
http://xtream.ne.jp/kakugyo/affordab...shcamlarge.mov

[Kaku Ito]

Here you go.
http://www.onebikeguy.com/Kakugyo/HD...s/onboard.html

This is mounted on my air suspended mountainbike, so I would say on a car, the small vibration probably won't happen as much as this clip.

[Duane Steiner]

I had a Canon HV20 and was never happy with the footage when mounted in my 350Z. I just got a Sanyo HD1000 and so far it looks like it will do a better job. Also have the Aiptk A-HD and for the money it is decent. Here is a short clip with a download for the HD version: http://sanyoxactiusers.com/forum/index.php?topic=12.0

[Carlos Rodriguez]

http://www.cruisecam.com/mounts.html

for under 100 bucks, you can't beat this product. I know a couple of news photogs who use this in their vehicles while they drive out to stories and such, to catch responding emergency vehicles and what not, and oh yeah, stupid drivers =-D

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by Chris Wells

Hi Matt,

A number of people have experienced a malfunction where the display works and screen data shows, but no image is present. I expect this malfunction would be likely to happen to you if vibration was not effectively managed as Wayne suggests. With most cameras, you could create your mount and test to see the vibration in the video, adjusting your mount until you are satisfied. I don't know that the HD1 would survive the process. If you do choose an HD1, I would recommend you find an effective test for the mount that controls your risk factor.

This is a mechanical problem with the shutter that closes over the sensor when the camera is powered off and, certainly on earlier versions, can get sticky due to internal oil residue. It's happened on mine once, when I did not use it for some months, and I fixed it with a lightish bang with my hand on the right hand side while powering it up... Rally cars get lots of vibration which will probably help to keep it unstuck!

[Jim Cancil]

This isn't HD ..but I didn't get much visible vibrations ('least I didn't think so..) by mounting a cam on my kiteboard:

http://wetstuff.com/movie/clips_on_edge.htm

Be advised: it's pretty boooring couple of minutes to people who don't kite.

[Duane Steiner]

Video from a drive I did a few weeks ago.

http://www.speedandmotion.com/pages/...ive021708.html

The in car footage is from the Sanyo HD1000. Have to say it did a good job. Much better then the Canon HV20. And the built in mic was decent.

[Jim Cancil]

Duane: What sort of mount did you use? ...gave me an idea to make one that velcro-wraps the head rest like I do the center tube on a kitesurfing kite. ..won't work on a Porsche as they use those stoopid-looking one-piece seats.

I also noticed that the focus seemed to be on the base of windshield/wipers, no? Is there a way to focus on the car in front of you?

Here's a car vid that I've been pimping ..maybe I like the music, as I've been flamed for my taste in video?!

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...d.php?t=409844

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