Member Contributer sailcycle Posted February 25, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted February 25, 2007 Hello All, As I get myself mentally prepared for the 2007 season, I'm contemplating the purchase of a new camcorder. I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions or experience you might have. Here are the features that are important to me. miniDV format - This seems to be a good standard, is reliable on bumpy roads and captures well to my computer. AV Inputs - As I use a Helmetcam, this is a requirement. Remote Control Input - I record way too much garbage, so I'd like to be able to safely start and stop recording with a gloved hand via remote control. Firewire or USB Output - My computer will accept either. Weight - I might occasionally use the camcorder itself as opposed to the Helmetcam, so weight is an issue in terms of making the camera stable on a RAM mount system. Image Stabilization - For the same reason above. External Power - I'd like to be able to use the Powerlet plug on my bike as opposed to a battery pack. I'm not sure if a camera can be safely run off the alternator power (13+ volts) or if I should only use the bike's charging system to recharge the camcorder battery. Thoughts? Cost - Under $400 if possible. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 the camera you are looking for is the SONY DCR-HC36. I have it's big brother the HC96, which may be out of your price range. I don't know about running the camera off the bike's electrical system, but i know you can upgrade the camera battery for longer-lasting battery life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rivcyko Posted February 25, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted February 25, 2007 the camera you are looking for is the SONY DCR-HC36. I have it's big brother the HC96, which may be out of your price range. I don't know about running the camera off the bike's electrical system, but i know you can upgrade the camera battery for longer-lasting battery life. :wheel: or Canon, or JVC. Composite inputs, is what's gonna jack the price. Most of the remotes are I.R., sounds like you need a plug-in type. Running it off the bike is gonna be tough. You might be able to rig something though. Check ebay. Some of the wherehouse distributers, have good prices. Check places that have scratch'n'ding ones. They're usually display models, and still have manufacturer and purchasable extended warrentys. (got my $300ish, {retail}, for $150). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer orgndnr Posted February 25, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted February 25, 2007 Check out the Canon Elura 100, meets all your reqs, camera of the year 2006, and well priced. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer tbzep Posted February 25, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted February 25, 2007 the camera you are looking for is the SONY DCR-HC36. I have it's big brother the HC96, which may be out of your price range. I don't know about running the camera off the bike's electrical system, but i know you can upgrade the camera battery for longer-lasting battery life. Are you sure it has A/V inputs for his helmet cam? The reviews I read only show A/V output, not input. The only input it showed was via firewire/i.LINK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Check out the Canon Elura 100, meets all your reqs, camera of the year 2006, and well priced. :D I recently purchased http://www.helmetcamera.com/ helmet cam for use with the Canon Elura 100. The 100 does have a wireless remote, but does not have a LANC port for a wired remote. Very happy with image quality of both products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer kwr8728 Posted February 26, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted February 26, 2007 :blink: sony. they have a pretty good rep for being a recording device! My cam at the time (and for a couple of years later) was the best to be used as a VCR per say. In other words, great to be used for recording on to from a helmet cam, etc. Make sure your cam can not only have an imput, but is good at recording like that too. I say dont settle for anything less then USB2.0 or iLink(firewire). The older USB is a little outdated... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtlecreek Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 I just bought the JVC GR-D93U off of ebay for $125.00 shipped for a refurbed unit. I also got the RAM mount from: http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/RAM/r...prod=RAM-CAMERA The D93 unit has the AV in/out for helmet cam and is pretty small and worked fine on the RAM mount. It does have a remote control with it, but I have not tried it yet. The test video I made worked great through my smoked givi wind screen. I was even able to hear the sweet tunes of the V4 as the wind was kept at bay by the GIVI. It comes with free software and a usb cable that lets you edit multiple takes and add music if you like (I am new to this so not sure if this is standard fair) and export as mpeg. again, i tried it and it worked fine, but dont have enough experience to know how good this is compared to others. the only issue i have is the batter is short lived. 2 hours or so. there are plenty of longer life ones, so i will need to upgrade. all in all, very happy with the product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB-Oz Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Are you sure it has A/V inputs for his helmet cam? The reviews I read only show A/V output, not input. The only input it showed was via firewire/i.LINK. Thats the prob I have with my 3yo JVC cam, and theres no such thing as a firewire/RCA plug converter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Synaptic Misfire Posted February 27, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted February 27, 2007 the camera you are looking for is the SONY DCR-HC36. I have it's big brother the HC96, which may be out of your price range. I don't know about running the camera off the bike's electrical system, but i know you can upgrade the camera battery for longer-lasting battery life. Good choice. That camera will do the trick and could be found for under $300 if you look around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 Hello All, As I get myself mentally prepared for the 2007 season, I'm contemplating the purchase of a new camcorder. I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions or experience you might have. Here are the features that are important to me. Thanks! Finally getting some riding video, overall pretty happy with Helmetcamera.com kit and Canon Elura 100 camcorder. Takes a little fussing to get a transport system squared away, where to mount camera etc. Only regret is not having a wired remote, pulling over for start/stop is a bit of a nuisance. MediaFire is a very easy and convenient way to host files (100 Meg limit). Of course lots of room for improvement on all fronts (editing, music, riding skill) etc. Anyway, here's a sample from a few days ago on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. http://www.mediafire.com/?dfuftzmqumw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 Cool video... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobie1dog Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 Nice video and didn't know about Mediafire either. Thanks for posting it up for us. I was hoping that the new High Definition camcorders would really take off, but have heard that the quality isn't quite up to snuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KanadianKen Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 anyone with some other suggestions from recent experience? I'm starting to look for a new DVD/MIni DV camcorder for use on the bike, as well as for general usage. thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer cozye Posted October 29, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted October 29, 2007 vibrations and camcorders don't go well together. heads will dance around on the tape, HDD"s will crash on HDD types, DVD's won't burn, etc... I think a lot of guys were using the mini dv tapes for a long time, but I think they still have there share of issues on a bike. Consider a flash memory based camera if you can. Samsung makes a couple real nice ones, or if you are on a budget you can get an Aiptek with 2GB SD memory for like 90 bucks. it will do 720x480 or so and makes good bike vids for the money. Plus, if you crash you aren't out that much money. I can get a couple hours worth of video on one. If you wanted more capacity you can get more SD cards. I've found that image stabilization doesn't work well with vibrations either. It really chops up and makes the video look laggy on these cameras anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer YoshiHNS Posted November 3, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted November 3, 2007 I looked at some reviews for the apitek cameras. They seem to have fairly good feedback, minus the couple of people who were shipped broken used items. I'd really prefer to have an SD card cause they are cheaper, non-volatile, small, and easier to transfer a computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beasty Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 anyone with some other suggestions from recent experience? I'm starting to look for a new DVD/MIni DV camcorder for use on the bike, as well as for general usage.thanks! I have a 480TV Lines bullet camera feeding into a Canon MV530i MiniDV camera. I recorded over 5 hours of footage from the 2007 Snowyride (yet to be edited/uploaded), and only about 2-3 times does the camera have a drop-out. The rest of the footage is perfect with no drop outs (to me, the comments about MiniDV heads jumping off the tape aren't really substantiated). My setup is: * Bullet cam taped to the RHS fairing * Battery pack for the bullet cam in the tank bag * Video camera in the tank bag, resting on an old t-shirt using the inbuilt battery What I hope to do in the next couple of months: * Edit the Snowyride footage and host it somewhere! * Have the bullet cam and video camera powered off the bike * LANC controller to remotely start/stop * Improve my riding :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB-Oz Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 C'mon Beast! Dont leave it at that, post up that picture of your Stealthy Install TM {edit} here it is then: IMG_7326s.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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