Motorsports Video Cameras

This past year at PRI, it seem that the most popular new product was the in-car camera. Every row of the show had 3 or 4 booths set-up with flashy big-screen TV's tuned into more track-day footage and eager company owners shoving little black boxes in my path. Since that show, I still receive at least a few e-mails a week showing off even more cameras and recorders! What really set me off was one of the more recent devices - the unit seriously looked like a 80's-era Sony Walkman, with buttons that didn't even line up correctly. For ONLY $1600!!!

7 years ago, I decided to buy my first digital camera. It was a Nikon Coolpix 4300. Top of the line 5 megapixel camera for something like $500 camera. The other day, I went shopping for a good pocket-sized camera. Nowadays, a basic digital camera offers well over 5 megapixels, with the newest pocket sized units starting at less then $200! With the average price of motorsports camera systems well over $1000, this got me thinking about what you were really getting with a motorsports branded system.

Here's the lowdown on prices in this industry - most things that we carry are designed for a niche of a niche market. This means that production and sales for any given piece of safety equipment will NEVER reach levels that you may see in the mass market. If the HANS device became a fashion sensation overnight and started showing up at Macy's windows around the world, its price would most likely fall drastically. When you make more of any given item, its production costs will decrease incrementally. So, when you build a camera system that is only marketed to the race market (and can only realistically be used in a vehicle environment) it will never, ever sell as well as, say, a Sony video camera at Sears. We may all think that everyone needs a video camera in their car, but realistically, only a small percentage of the population actually subscribes to the motorsports hobby.

I did some comparing of your typical consumer electronics video camera, and your basic motorsports camera. Most of the pricier motorsports cameras use a bullet camera of some sort. Bullet cameras were not designed for cars - they were initially manufactured for security systems. It just so happens that the same easily mountable and hidden camera that catches shoplifters works great for getting those neat action shots on a moving vehicle. The problem with Bullet cameras is that they limit the recordable resolution of any camera system. Many Bullet Cameras that you see included with motorsports camera systems are manufactured to similar specs and then rebranded with "X" name. They are held to a 640x480 resolution. For comparison, I went to CNET.com and searched for high-rated, flash-card style video cameras. I found a little pocket camera manufactured by Flip that carried a 1280x720 resolution (720p). Price: about $200 depending on who you ask.

With higher resolution available from the consumer electronics pool (ie, better quality picture), then what do you really get when you buy a dedicated motorsports camera? First, most motorsports cameras record to a unit that can be mounted anywhere in the car independent of the camera lens. This allows you to put the weight where you want to in the car, and put the lens in any cool location (like in the grill!) Second, is durability. However, aside from the bomb proof camera (read: VIO), a solid-state recorder is a solid state recorder. (Let me stray from comparison for a moment. If you purchase a video camera for motorsports use, solid state - also known as flash/SD/Compact cards - recorders are the most ideal. Any recorder that uses a hard-drive with moving parts will be damaged by the vehicle vibrations. MiniDV/tape recorders are more durable but tend to be more cumbersome. Solid State is arguably the most durable, with the least amount of moving parts.)

So, short of weather (or bullet) proof cases, you'll get the same amount of durability out of most any solid state recorder. The final advantage you may get is the ability to have multiple lens angles recording to a single unit. Be careful with this since not all multi-lens systems do this the same way. Most will record only to a picture-in-picture file, with the small/large image selection made prior to the recording. I've seen others that split a single image file into 4 sections. Upon reviewing the footage, you cannot select which view you want to be the primary! A good multi-lens system will record to separate files that you can edit later.

So the final question is, Do you have to spend $1000+ to get good video footage into my car? The short answer is, No. Feature-per-feature consumer electronics cameras will always be cheaper then motorsports cameras. The build quality is almost always nicer, and the warranties are probably a lot better. Most, if not all, come with excellent video editing software that is much easier to use then what the smaller motorsports companies are able to develop. You don't even have to worry about syncing to your data acquisition system - Trackvision (Trackvision.net) is an excellent piece of software that will sync to almost any format of vehicle data-acquisition file. And if you want to use a bullet camera for those awesome bug-in-your-face shots, many basic video cameras come with video inputs - add to this a stand-alone bullet camera available from many online sources (about $100).

To summarize, if you absolutely have to have multiple lenses that show-off your fancy footwork alongside with your amazing cornering prowess, then look into the motorsports specific cameras. If you can get past the complex installation, some of the pricier units will record each camera image to a separate file. I would avoid the split-screen multi-cameras systems - these record into a single file, meaning that your great event footage is forever trapped as a split-screen recording.

On the other hand, if you just want a basic camera that points forward, go to your local electronics store and shop for flash video recorders. In short-time, I guarantee you'll be impressed by the options, video quality, and above all else, ability to purchase an extra set of race rubber or that Hans device you've been putting off!