Comments on: Product Review: RallyCam 3000

By: mjposner

mjposner — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:05:01 +0000

# cretinx :
November 3rd, 2008 at 5:15 pm

what kind of car is that?

Not a Z3 per se, an M Roadster

By: Quentin

Quentin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:48:41 +0000

Stephan Wilkinson – I think that camera placement has a lot to do with it. If it is mounted between the front headrests, the camera is basically at the axis of rotation so the motion doesn’t feel that abrupt. If your brother were to mount it on his front bumper or fender, I’m sure it would seem more exciting.

By: AuricTech

AuricTech — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:22:38 +0000

Hmmm. Not too bad, though a bit pricey. It’s not a product in which I’d be interested, but I do know of some folks (rallycrossers and the like) who would like it.

I do think that the next version of this needs a microphone jack that can be used with either a driver/co-driver throat mike, a sound pickup for the engine, or a sound pickup for the exhaust (with the latter two having some sort of algorithm for reducing wind noise). Two microphone jacks would be even better, if they could be selectively edited for comparative volume.

By: BlueBrat

BlueBrat — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:07:32 +0000

BMW Z3.

By: cretinx

cretinx — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:15:45 +0000

what kind of car is that?

By: I_Like_Pie

I_Like_Pie — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:03:25 +0000

I think that this would be a great thing to have not as a rally recording tool, but as a security device.

They would be crazy not to market another similar device to have motion triggers to combat vandalism or give a defense against a car wreck. ACLU would love it for police wrongdoings as well.

By: BlueBrat

BlueBrat — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:56:22 +0000

I don’t know, the video quality is horrible as it’s too dark & color-distorted; the cockpit shot isn’t too bad but its obviously discolored. Is this a software setting perhaps, as in is there an auto-white balance or brightness setting that needs to be enabled?

I’ve gotten better results with the video-camera option on my cel phone than this dedicated setup, tbh.

By: Robstar

Robstar — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:21:17 +0000

I’d LOVE to have something like this that does HD video. With the price of HD camcorders coming down, I’ve seriously thought of doing a route-80 trip on a rented harley with the wife & some cameras attached. I don’t know if her parents will be able to make it to the USA in the near future, and I’m sure they’d love to see some beauty of the country. Doing say 30-40 hours of recording and cutting it down to a 2 hour dvd and adding subtitles in English (I’d probably have my wife narrate in her native language) would be a very nice gift for them.

By: chanman

chanman — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:28:57 +0000

I don’t know Stephan, I can think of at least one more instance…. crusising around beaches when the colleges are out for spring break, maybe?

By: Stephan Wilkinson

Stephan Wilkinson — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:01:28 +0000

I remember when one of my brothers started doing track days in his BMW, usually at Road America, and would delightedly bring his most recent in-car video whenever he came to visit.

It was like seeing a boring in-law’s tape of his most recent visit to Myrtle Beach to watch grass grow.

Please, people, unless you really are thrillingly and truly competitive, keep these to yourself. Nobody else is interested. Unless you crash, that is. Then we’re there.

By: mjposner

mjposner — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:29:41 +0000

* You say the connector is USB; is that just on the computer end of things, or also the camera. In other words if I lose or damage a cable, will I have to buy a proprietary replacement. If so, what is the cost?

No the system uses a standard min-usb to usb connector, though I recommend using an sd card reader to transfer the data.

* Do the cameras support a standard tripod attachment?

No, they are just cylinders that mount via clamps

* Do they support still photography other than frame grabs?

No, these are video cameras.

* Is the software Windows-only? (I realize that Windows users think we live in a Windows-only world, so given how this review is presented I suspect so, but we still should be presented with system requirements in a computer-related product review)

Yes the included software is windows only. But if you have a video editing program that can handle .asf files you can use them on the Mac (I assume you meant a Mac, not a Commodore 64)

* Does it support direct-to-computer storage?

No, the heart of the system is an inexpensive video recorder, though I suppose it could be used with a laptop with the right recording software.

* Does it do time-lapse video? I did not see this feature offered by the recorder.

* Did you try mounting the microphone in various locations? My bad, I let it flop around messing up the sound. I also think a non-convertible would have been better

By the way: A photo of the mounting equipment and cameras themselves would have made this review much more useful.

By: dolo54

dolo54 — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:39:03 +0000

The mic seems like a serious issue. I imagine you can use a different mic, but that was pretty bad. Although dangling over the rearview is probably not the best placement, you should’ve heard more than that. I wonder if some sort of noise-cancelling was happening.

Note to self: incorporate more hawaiian shirts into wardrobe.

By: chuckgoolsbee

chuckgoolsbee — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:01:42 +0000

Thanks for the review. I’ve always cobbled together my own camera systems for my in & around car videos so I’ve been very curious about the value of these dedicated systems. They all seem very pricey so the question for me has always been if they are worth the extra cost.

What I’d like to know:
* You say the connector is USB; is that just on the computer end of things, or also the camera. In other words if I lose or damage a cable, will I have to buy a proprietary replacement. If so, what is the cost?

* Do the cameras support a standard tripod attachment?

* Do they support still photography other than frame grabs?

* Does it support direct-to-computer storage?

* Does it do time-lapse video?

* Did you try mounting the microphone in various locations?

By the way: A photo of the mounting equipment and cameras themselves would have made this review much more useful.

–chuck

By: Robert Farago

Robert Farago — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:19:17 +0000

And why is the video so dark?

By: jjdaddyo

jjdaddyo — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:00:20 +0000

Not enough drifting, Posner.