Available for purchase for only $59.00!

NOT!

You can make this yourself for under 20 bucks and it works great! Mount it anywhere that is relatively flat on your MINI. I mount it to the inside of the rear sunroof (upside down) and then simply flip it with my video editing program.

You'll need: Suction Cup Lifter $3.50 from Harbor Freight Tools ITEM 46134-0VGA
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46134

A Ball and Socket type camera mount, I chose the Slix SBH-100. $9.95 online. Google it. Pick a mount that fits the weight of your camera. Drill the handle, and secure it with a 1/4" bolt 1 1/4" in length. I recommend using a "just in case" strap. :smile:

Pics and short video of the finished mount:

http://mcs.maximus-consulting.com/mount/mount.html
http://mcs.maximus-consulting.com/mount/bonnet1.wmv

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

-Jim

 

I made a camera mount like his after seeing it in action at a local AutoX.

It worked great Mjolnir, Thanks :smile:

Kudos for the great info! :smile:

Here is a short video shot using this mount, placed on the inside rear sunroof. The image was then flipped with an editing program.

<A HREF="https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/albums/album04/Mini_X_2b1.jpg" TARGET="_blank">
His, Chile RED over, Madness intake, Magnaflow exhaust, Helix 15% Pulley &amp; RDR Swaybar
Hers, Electric Blue / Union Jack on top and BONE Stock

 

&gt;&gt;I made a camera mount like his after seeing it in action at a local AutoX.
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;It worked great Mjolnir, Thanks :smile:
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;Kudos for the great info! :smile:
&gt;&gt;

Hey, are you racing this Sunday?

 

Do roadcourses allow you to have temporary add-ons like that on the exterior?

Nice job. :smile:

 

Awesome job. A very nice way to mount a camera.

 

&gt;&gt;Do roadcourses allow you to have temporary add-ons like that on the exterior?
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;Nice job. :smile:
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;

Well, here in Madison they thought it was pretty cool and let me use it. A friend and I have used it at other events with no troubles. I think it depends on the club/event.

It says it will hold 125lbs (the suction cup mount) but I stuck it to the side of a trailer, and put my full weight on it. I weight about 225 and it didn't budge. They were convinced.

I think if you use a safety strap to prevent camera guts on the track it's no problem. I REALLY doubt it would EVER come off. You have 2 cups and I left it stuck to the inside of the rear sunroof with the camera on it for 2 days and it never fell off.

-Jim

 

Sorry for the stupid question, but what kind of camera would you use in this situation?

How do you transfer it to your computer? (I use Windows XP Pro.)

What editing software do you use?

I'm a complete video newbie. I can take stills with my digitcal camera and transfer them to my PC, no problem, but this autocross video has now just become a *MUST* *HAVE* for me. :smile:

 

&gt;&gt;Awesome job. A very nice way to mount a camera.

Thanks! I'm also working on one that uses this one:



I'll probably cut it in half, mount the ball joint on the end and make 2 of them out of it.

-Jim

 

my brotehr goign to love this! hes film student and they weer goign to do a chase car scene for there final project... now they can do soem exterior to interior shots just liek you'd see in the films... I can't wait to tell him thanks for the tip!.,

 

Now what you need to do is head over here: VioSport and pick up the Adventure Cam II kit. The camera is @2 inches long and @1 inch around. This is a much lighter/low profile camera with a fairly wide angle of view. It connects directly to your camera and runs off of a battery pack. There is much less risk to your camera involved and the remote camera is quite durable. It is also a lot easier to mount with respect to being upside down and what not. You also get a handy remote push button that works with most newer cameras to control play and stop functions. Oh and the H2O version is water proof. I guess that would be handy if you like to drive in the rain a lot.

Reading back over my post I sound almost like I work for them That's not the case, a friend of mine races Skeleton and is sponsered by them.

I was going to post a picture but their website seems to be messed up a the moment. Sorry :???:

 

&gt;&gt;Sorry for the stupid question, but what kind of camera would you use in this situation?
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;How do you transfer it to your computer? (I use Windows XP Pro.)
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;What editing software do you use?
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;I'm a complete video newbie. I can take stills with my digitcal camera and transfer them to my PC, no problem, but this autocross video has now just become a *MUST* *HAVE* for me. :smile:

No question is stupid...

I use a Sony Digital 8 camcorder with firewire output so when I plug into Windows XP computer, my video editing software (Pinnacle Studio can control camera directly to upload video.


I also use external microphone for camera and mount the mic under the rear window wiper to get exhaust sounds during video with no wind buffeting (sp?).

_________________
Chris Suich
Apex, NC
'03 MCS LY/Black
Born 09/30/02

 

&gt;&gt;Sorry for the stupid question, but what kind of camera would you use in this situation?
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;How do you transfer it to your computer? (I use Windows XP Pro.)
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;What editing software do you use?
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;I'm a complete video newbie. I can take stills with my digitcal camera and transfer them to my PC, no problem, but this autocross video has now just become a *MUST* *HAVE* for me. :smile:

I have a video capture card in conjunction with a Program called Vegas Video. It's a bit spendy, but I do a lot with it. You can do just fine for much less. There are a number of Firewire capture solutions. Google it or visit the smurfs at Best Buy.

 

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;Awesome job. A very nice way to mount a camera.
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;Thanks! I'm also working on one that uses this one:
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;:smile: I didn't get a chance to responde before I saw this four cup mount

Sid

 

&gt;&gt;Available for purchase for only $59.00!
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;NOT!
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;You can make this yourself for under 20 bucks and it works great! Mount it anywhere that is relatively flat on your MINI. I mount it to the inside of the rear sunroof (upside down) and then simply flip it with my video editing program.
&gt;&gt;

Hey Jim, nice going! I posted a thread on this back awhile ago using something similar. I hadn't seen the 2 suction cup version though. I'm using the single suction purchased from Autozone.

Only difference is that I'm utilizing low cost wireless and wired spy cams while keeping my pricey MINIDV camera safely inside. Another benefit of this route is that due to the lower mass of the camera mount, less inertia, means more stability, and absolutely 0 vibration even on the worst bumps.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...mp;topic=21175

These pics are from my first attempts with a black and white ccd camera.



Here are 2 units mounted on the sunroof


Movies:
http://www.littlemini.us/files/dvd/m...malibu2004.wmv
http://www.littlemini.us/files/willowsprings_c3cam1.wmv

I'll be putting kits together or individual parts if you prefer on my littleMINI.us site in the near future for anyone that's interested.





_________________
Octane Guy

c3:Lets Motor for a Worthy Cause :::
Or Find a MINI Motorer near you!

 

Pretty trick cameras and good picture quality!

May I ask your source? I'm considering getting the one from viosport http://www.viosport.com/ that Alex suggested.

It's a quality unit at 350 lines but pricey.

-Jim

 

Thanks Jim! I've been pretty happy.

I bought those particular wireless units off ebay. If you search color wireless spy cams, you'll find many vendors. These were like $12 + $35 shipping and handling from China. LMAO. So figure about $50 for 2 cameras. They are cheap, and can work well, but they are extremely sensitive to set up--the frequency dial is hair sensitive! So switching between cameras by rotating the dial while driving isn't recommended. The camera quality of those from Viosport should be better, but it really depends on HOW MUCH Better. I'm currently working on a deal with a manufacturer over seas to buy some wired cams at wholesale and these include mics (the wireless ones don't have audio). I have to buy tons--talking several hundred to get any kind of decent costs. If you aren't in a hurry to buy the cam, I hope to have them in stock in about a month, and I expect the prices of these wired cams with 400+ lines to be under $50.

Btw, I'm not yet a NAM vendor, though I plan to be soon. I'm just working out of my garage, you know?

What I will be selling back to the MINI Community is some pretty exciting stuff. I'll be offering DIY kits to fully ready to go versions. For less than half the price of a single adventure cam, you can get 2 cams and mounts.

PM me for more details and to let me know you'd be interested, so I can start a list.

Thanks.

 

I picked up this unit. It also had night vision with Infra red LED's as a light source.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

I will hook it into my Mini DV Camera. See how it goes.

Thanks,
Dan
Pilo Racing

 

Hey Dan-

Yeah what drives me nuts when buying through those vendors is:
Their english sucks, so trying to get support is useless. I'm not knocking the Chinese. I'm Chinese too, and was born in Taiwan but raised here in the US. The instruction manuals are indecipherable. They make their money on shipping. That guy charges $25 shipping no matter what--it doesn't cost $25 to ship from China. There can be PAL/NTSC issues.

I bought a cool wireless receiver--4 channel with built in LCD. Turns out the video output is PAL, although they said it was NTSC/PAL. The seller couldn't understand why I was upset--I spent $120 + $35 shipping for the darn thing, and about $500 previously on other cameras.

I asked about quantity discounts and his best price was $1 less. Hope you had better experience than I did. LOL

 

What type of video camera are you using? The spy camera you are using how did you hook it up to your video camera?:smile:

Stephen

 

Just a Sony TRV-950 MINIDV. I put it in VCR mode and record the video output from the wireless cams. Need a line level mixer and an external mic as well. :smile:

 

nevermind

 

I hope that I do also.. I got a wired Version so I hope that it should be good.

IT's pretty cheap, so I don't mind throwing this away if it sucks. I love my new Mini DV though. It's a great addition to my aresenal of High Tech Gadgets :-)

 

Just FYI, today I received my sample wired cameras, but they screwed up. They sent me PAL/NTSC units, which seems to be the norm for these cameras. What that means, instead of NTSC/PAL is that it works with both, but defaults to PAL, I guess. Anyhow, they told me they tested it on a dual PAL/NTSC monitor before sending it out and it worked, but realized that it won't work on an NTSC monitor/camcorder.

Oh yeah MINI DV is a staple! The possibilities are endless. I also have a Pioneer DVR-7000 which when I bought it 3 years ago was $1,800! My set up allows me to shoot in MINI DV, edit in Vegas 5, export via Firewire to MPEG-2 (DVD Compliant) in realtime, demux the VOB's into MV2's, Author, and burn fully menu driven DVD's with a minimum of hassles.

Hahaha, ok there are like a million steps in there, but every step has a technical compromise, with speed being the greatest factor.

So Dan, I'll be intereted in knowing if you have any problems viewing the output. FWIW, so far, every camera I've bought, bought wired and wireless, have those infrared LED's, but they don't do anything. Not sure if they need to be activated somehow, but with my other cameras that have infrared lights, you can actually see the infrared beams in the dark--like little flashlight points. Of course with the cam you got, it's got a ton of LED's so I'd be surprised if it didn't work as advertised. LOL.

 

Hey OctaneGuy,


Thanks for the info.

Stephen

 

You're welcome!

Well today I got the correct cameras. My supplier overnighted them after realizing his mistake. These seem to be the same quality as my wireless, which is pretty good. Claims around 370 lines. Will have to do some tests to confirm it. But quality seems decent. I'll post some video with them in the next few days.