SCCAForums.com

I did some tests and the 1280x720 resolution at near 30 frame per second looks really good on the laptop/pc and HDTV.

Thing is a DVR too. Everything goes on the SD card. Has a Li-ion battery. 2GB gets you 1 hour in HD resolution.

I wish they would come out with a 1080P at 60 frames per second. That would really improve it for racing clips and allow you to better do "slo-mo".

This cheapo one is still a little bit "choppy" at 30 frames per second.

Youtube and Googlevids downconverts the clips way too much too. They look WAY better on the PC or TV.

Editing is tough since they are .mov/H.264/mpeg4 files(whatever all that means???) and all the editing stuff that I found seems to want to downconvert out of HD quality.

If this is considered "spam", then just delete this thread but I think other racers might like this product.

Anyhow, I bought the Aiptek A-HD one at CircuitCity but it is all over the place for $119 right now.

www.aiptek.com

Thanks!

FM

 

Fastmike:

This cheapo one is still a little bit "choppy" at 30 frames per second. FM 

Broadcast video (actually consumer, too) is 30 fps. I wonder if the camera is halving the number to 15 fps. Even 35 mm film is 24 fps.

---

Matt Murray

I am perfectly capable of learning from my mistakes. I will surely learn a great deal today.

When I post process or look at the details in the player, it says 29,XXX frames per second at 1289x720 so I think I am getting nearly 30 frames per second.

I am sensitive about FPS since I play PC games. 30 is the bare minimum that I like to use.  

 I am excited to try it out on the autox course.

FM 

 

That's not spam, it's just a cheap camera! I've used an Aiptek camera myself before, not their HD one though

---

I am Chris Hammond.
Going2Colorado.com

From reviews I've read online, it seems to have problems encoding fast moving objects. Have you actually tried this in a car?

And where did you find it for $119. Cheapest I've seen is 130 at circuit city

---

Mike Shields
1993 BMW 325is | 92/192 DSP

I held it in my van and went driving around. It looks pretty good. When I was going 50mph and cars were going the other way they didn't look blurry or anything.

The "real" test will be gettting a mount and doing some autox runs.  Next event is about a month away.

I bought mine at Circuit City here in Redmond Washington on Saturday after giving up on Friday morning. I was going to get a 50" plasma for my girlfriend but that wasn't possible on Black Friday. Line's went around the building. Store did over $750K in one day according to the salesguy. YIKES!

Camera wasn't a one day sale or anything. Might still be on sale if you go there???

Best buy had it for $119 last week too. But when I was there on Saturday morning, it was back up to $149 or something.

 
FM
 

Fastmike:

I held it in my van and went driving around. The "real" test will be gettting a mount and doing some autox runs.  Next event is about a month away.FM

Autocross the van and record it. Talk about shakey video. It will look like  RV-Motorhome racing.

---

Matt Murray

I am perfectly capable of learning from my mistakes. I will surely learn a great deal today.

HAHA!
It is a all white ex-cabulance high top Dodge with a hot 360! I would probably win if it didn't flip over.
Limo Tint by Kevin Dietz. You can't even see in it from the outside. Kinda fun.
This Party Van that has seen some action!
This is the "friendly region" after all.
Lucky that I have short term memory loss or I might shock myself.
Chicks that party dig the van!
There has been some, ok...A LOT of comments about serial killer/rapist/molester etc from some others though.
Some are scared forsure. Some aren't though!!!!
Most confusing to me are the ladies that talk about the serial killer thing then ask for a ride?!?!? YIKES!

Hey! It actually out accelerates the ZOK Solstice up to about 80mph even filled with autox gear. My codriver was shocked when he couldn't keep up getting onto the freeway when he was driving the Sol.

Here is a test drive vid but like I said before, youtube quaility is way way way down on how it looks on my laptop or pc or my 30" CRT HDTV. Not even comparable. Detail is super rich when viewing without internet. Listen to that 360 smacking shifts with the shift kit and "racing" exhaust. WOOHOO!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KEnwPZnwvA

Google looks a little better. Here is a short clip:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7902541498943123231

Still NOT EVEN CLOSE to how good it looks in 1280x720. 

FM 

Mike,

 Thanks for this...I just asked for one of these for Christmas from my wife.  It was recommended to me from someone that did not have a HD.  I was curious how the HD looked.  I went with it, since I figured it was cheap and would not be as pissed if it got damaged or stolen at an event.  Besides, I am just using it for my purposes, not really for posting online.  Based on this I think I made the right decision.

 Eric 

No problem Eric.

Upon more research, I found my almost dream unit(60 frames per second!!!) but this purchase would require WAY more $$$ than the $119 thing, especially since my laptop does not support that resolution. There are ones that do though. I have always wanted a Alienware gaming laptop..$ouch$.

http://us.sanyo.com/entertainment/cameracorder/index.cfm?productID=1512

No kidding...Guy I work with bought a custom Widowpc laptop for gaming/video/having his children/etc.  This thing is crazy, 20" screen, Killer sound, incredible resolution, just under $8k.   

I bought the Aiptek A-HD a few months ago when it was released, fantastic little product!  The video quality is solid, I have run them on a suction mount and attached to a roll cage both with great results, even though there is no Image Stabilization.  I like that there is no focus motor = one less thing to break.  The mic sucks, but for less than $150 I can learn to live with it.  At 720p and H.264, an autocross run is still under the 100MB limit for YouTube and is easy to upload.  You can even attach a bullet camera to it or use it as a DVR for the TV, something I started doing for races since I do not own a TiVo and am tired of getting up at 4am to watch an F1 race live.

I got mine at BestBuy for like $130 + tax.  Works with any SD card, doesn't need to be special, so it keeps the costs down too.

A sample video from a few weeks ago with this Aiptek unit--

http://blip.tv/file/493280/

Or here too -- http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1315757298 

 

I have been coveting the Sanyo HD1000 for a few weeks now, still about $715 is the best I can find online but DANG what a camera.  1080i at 60fps, the lens is HUGE, should be able to take a decent still photo as well.

I also have the Sanyo HDV1A (Xacti), "last year's model", but also shoots in 720p @ 30fps.  With a bigger lens, external mic input (but great stereo mic with electronic wind noise reduction), Image Stabilization, and 10x digital / 10x optical zoom, it's another great HD solid-state camera.  I think I have found online for about $299, I paid $499 just two months ago .  No bullet cam input, but a little bit better image quality than the Aiptek unit (but not much better, certainly not twice the price better!), but the Aiptek is much better for indoor/low-light shooting, great for the family as well as the racecar.

Amazon.com has the best prices right now for SD and CF memory cards, the brick-and-mortar stores are just too expensive. 

---

*Banned Again* Permanently

STS3gCivicSi:

I also have the Sanyo HDV1A (Xacti) ....  I think I have found online for about $299,

Where? Where? Where?

That way I dont need that expensive and eternally back ordered black box and dinky bullet cam.

 

---

Vinax
1994 BMW 325i FP AutoX car.
http://www.myfastbmw.com

I use my Canon S1 IS for recording autocross runs. It is actual a long zoom digicam, but it takes 640x480 @ 30 fps MJPEG video with sound. Since it is a few year old you can pick them up for <$100 on eBay.

The best thing is this Canon has a Image Stabilized 10X optical zoom lens. The Aiptek HD thing sounds interesting, but I imagine its 720p highly compressed video might be worse than basically uncompressed 640x480.

---

Matthew Huizing
1995 Saturn SC2 - H Stock
1993 Geo Storm GSi - STS

Wow! I really like that brightcovetv.com website. Quality looks pretty good. Much better than Google or Utube stuff.

Thanks!
FM

Fastmike:

The "real" test will be gettting a mount and doing some autox runs.  Next event is about a month away.

sorry to go OT FM, but i've been checking the nwr/wwscc/bscc sites, and there has been no mention of slush events for '08 yet.  will this event be posted somewhere soon for those of us out of the loop?
 

---

Dennis Healy - OR-SCCA
2003 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V - STX/GS [SOLD]

If my memory serves me correctly, we have one in January.

My memory isn't very good though.....
 

FM

If either of you are interested in a change of pace, we run a very competitive and very well attended "Slush Series" in Vancouver.  Road trip time!  Last weekend was the last 2007 date but there are 4 dates in January-February.

http://www.ubcscc.com/slush.shtml
 

---

Hmmm...Very interesting.

Maybe I can get a group to come up there. Just a couple of hours away. No passport needed yet.

I will post to our local list and say all sorts of "lets go kick some Canadian butt blah, blah, blah". All in good fun to get people fired up and want to go of course!

FM
 

lowside67:

If either of you are interested in a change of pace, we run a very competitive and very well attended "Slush Series" in Vancouver.  Road trip time!  Last weekend was the last 2007 date but there are 4 dates in January-February.

http://www.ubcscc.com/slush.shtml

thanks for the offer, i have family in maple ridge, so it's a distinct possibility for me to make it a trip with a dual purpose!  i'll definitely plan on making it to at least one.

---

Dennis Healy - OR-SCCA
2003 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V - STX/GS [SOLD]