On Board Camera

[Flounder]

Any suggestions for an on board camera? I’m looking for a brand or model and perhaps a place to buy one. I’d like a track-level video of the raceway. If possible, I’d like to mount inside of the car to get a drivers view.


Thanks in advance, Flounder

[War Eagle River]

Twisted vision has done a POV aspect.
Here is his contact info.
Steven Durette
805-340-6388
https://www.facebook.com/TwistedVisionRacing/
https://twistedvisionracingllc.com/

[SuperSlab]

Some years ago the so-called keychain "spy" cams were quite popular for hobby use, taping them to RC helicopters being a big thing then. You don't see as many of them as you used to back then and the ones you do see are a lot more expensive: used to be around $10 - $20 but these days it seems they are around $40 to much more. They are very small and can be taped to a car: I bought one to try. It is not as simple as it sounds because even at dead slow slot car speeds things are still rather frantic. I will put an old video on Youtube soon and post the link so you can take a look at it. The only videos I have are at 720 x 480 resolution: the newer ones are available at 1920 x 1080 and the video quality is a lot better.

This is what they used to look like:

[SuperSlab]

I have uploaded an OLD video to Youtube as example. I didn't bother doing anything better at that stage but I am sure with newer 1920 x 1080 HD one should be able to do a lot better. I ran the car absolutely as slowly as possible: it almost stopped on inclines! Normal racing speeds just become a blur!

Alwyn

[Fourshipp]

This was my first attempt. GoPro hero 5 stuck on top of a Carrera 124 Ford GT with double sided tape. I had to use a full mag car. The magless cars would roll over (top heavy) on the slightest turn.


https://vimeo.com/415125137

Bruce

[chappyman66]

At one point one of our members made a 3D printable chassis with an extended guide to carry a micro camera...I can't find it anymore

[Bluevista]

No way to monitor what you're filming on a keychain camera, if it matters. Get a cheap 5.8 ghz drone camera and a mount/rubber band, a couple of rechargeable 1S lipo batteries and charger, a 5.8 ghz receiver to connect to a TV/ monitor, about 50-60 bucks total. You can also go with a drone type RC headset and it gets really wild, you end up leaning into the turns like in video games. Those unit small video monitors can be stand alone and also have a chip to record the video. The cameras can get a little hot so they need some airflow around them, maybe a convertible would be better for an in-car camera? I have one on a Lambo Huracan now but was thinking about using a Falcon Ranchero and mounting it in the bed and shoot through the interior. The windshields can be hard to see through and have a lot of distortion, I'd just remove it, with a rear view mirror in place it would look like it is there...maybe.

[DRW-FJ40]

I used one of the 1080 keyfob camera's & quality was a little better but as already mentioned, you have drive super slow to make it watchable and even then I ended up splicing short clips in with other video. I made a little camera mount for an old Carrera car out of styrene to put the camera low and out in front and then another deck off the back for rear view.

[DRW-FJ40]

I think a gopro makes a much better video than the little key fobs but I have bridges on my layout and the gopro doesn't fit under them no matter how I mount it.

[RichD]

A GoPro camera will probably get you a better picture than a keyfob camera, but they are mostly too big to mount on a regular car. You would probably have to remove the body from a car and run the bare chassis to carry a GoPro. Have used keyfob cameras to shoot driver's view videos in both 1/32nd and HO scale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGa6lWlU73I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEy-_csW_eY

It helps a lot to have good lighting. Having a camera with a wide angle lens would make for a more realistic view, but that feature is rare with keyfob cameras. A person sitting in a 1:1 car would tend to look to the inside of the corners while the camera looks straight ahead. Someone built a camera car with the camera on a swivel platform with its own guide flag well in front of the car's guide flag. With that setup the view is more realistic.. You do have to run the car as slow as possible or everything will be a blur, having other cars on the track makes things more interesting.

[Flounder]

Thanks for the tips - I'll give it a try

Flounder

[chappyman66]

From our own pfuetze here is a copy of his post:
3D files for the camera chassis ....

October 12th, 2019, 02:03 AM
CamChassis43 files are online on thingiverse, if anyone is interested in building one of those ...

https://www.thingive...m/thing:3900530

https://www.thingive...m/thing:3900592