Video setup for under $30.00

[t_g_farrell]

I recently put together a video setup to use in my car for documenting
meets and cruises. The camera costs ~$10.00 and the memory card was
another ~$15.00. Another $5.00 or less on a mount for the car and I'm set.

Heres what it looks like



Heres a video I just took on my first test drive with it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14772589@N03/5100476809/

Note I had all the windows up so the engine noise is pretty muted. For this
first test drive I just used electrical tape to hold it on top of my SA mirrror.
I still have to work on converting the raw AVI file to an uploadable format
thats a decent size. The AVI is much sharper than this upload to flickr. I'll
post up again with better video once I figure it out. Whats the most common
or best format and size to use for doing this anyway? I'm a noob to video
on the web stuff.

For a permanent mount I will just use some velcro tape and place a few
pieces around the car for the camera; top of the mirror, bar across the
front of the hatch area, the drivers side mirror. Oh and a small tether to
secure it in case the velcro lets loose.

Before you run out and by one, do yourself a favor and read this site as it
documents a lot about these cameras. The cameras come with very poor
or no documentation. My brother who is into RC planes told me about these
things a few months ago.

I bought mine from a seller out of Brooklyn - yallstore.com on ebay. Heres the
link for the camera I bought. Its whats referred to on the chucklohr site as a
#3 camera and you can see the quality.

The memory I got at Wallymart for 14.99 for a SanDisk miniSDHC 4GB card.
Thats enough to hold about an hours worth of raw AVI video. Since the
camera battery is only good for about an hour that should do.

Sure beats paying hundreds of dollars for a GoPRO or something like it. Thats
more money for the SA

[lt1_fd3s]

that's pretty cool... which one did you get? and $10 for the camera?!? pretty cheap! i may want one!

or is there just one and it has 8 different settings?

[t_g_farrell]

Read the chucklohr site, it explains. Theres multiple models/manufacturers
but they all look the same and come with the same documentation. I got
the #3 version which turns out to be one of the better versions.

Yep $9.99 and free shipping from NYC. Took like 3 or 4 days to arrive via
uncle sam postage.

First use will be for B3R buddy.

[Kentetsu]

Damn, that was surprisingly good video quality. I had no idea they made such a thing.

I suppose that explains that weird guy in the locker room though

[t_g_farrell]

I just put a different versionof the same video. Its size smaller and compressed
differently. Looks and sounds bit better although its on the small side. I replaced
the url in the first post with it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14772589@N03/5100476809/

[Herblenny]

Hmm.. Pretty cheap! i might have to pick one up.

[t_g_farrell]

So I'm a newb to video stuff. I've got these huge AVI files off this camera now
and I want to edit them down into a format thats best for publishing online.

I played around with Windows Movie Maker to do the ones you see in this
thread but I want to make them as large as possible frame wise but with as
small as possible file size. What are some of the parameters you all use that
work well? Things like resolution, fps, formats, compression settings etc?

[t_g_farrell]

So heres a video from the B3R run. I had the camera mounted on top of
my rear view mirror looking out the windshield. Theres some glare but not bad.

[Kentetsu]

Got mine in the mail today. Looks pretty damned slick. You'd never guess it was a video camera just by looking at it.

Haven't had a chance to play with it yet, still need to get a card for it.

Thanks for the heads up on this little gem!


P.S. Question for you. How did you end up converting it from .avi so you could post it on Youtube? Or did you not need to convert it? Thanks again...

[t_g_farrell]

I pulled the AVI files off the camera and into Windows MovieMaker and just
placed the clips in there and saved it off using the WMM defaults. Then upload
to youtube. The AVI files are huge of course. If you try to view the AVI and its
blank but you hear sound don't panic. You just need a codec that works with
that AVI. I downloaded a free one I found somewhere, it was recommended
on the site with all the advice that I linked to originally in the first post.

When you get your car going again, grab some velcro patches and place them
around the car so you can get awesome autocross vids from in the car.

I have one on top of my mirror (used for all the videos so far), bottom of
drivers side rearview and on a bar that goes across my back area.

[ray green]

OK Tim, I finally got around to figuring out how this thing works. Thanks for the links, if you read through there you will find out everything you need to know. I even got the time/date reading set right after a few trial and errors.

The camera works amazingly well!

And here's where you can get a 4 GB Sandisk video card for $7.25, shipped:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=290508454907