I'm going to mount a Sony Handycam in my car. Has anyone gone down this road before and have any ideas?

My son uses a small lipstick camera with it input to the camcorder. Then its easy to mount it securely anywhere inside or outside the car while the camcorder is safely stashed on the floor or seat. Awesome pictures. Lots of mounts for the tiny camera sold on the internet.

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ICouldaBeenAV8

88 GT "ICouldaBeenAV8", Went to a good home - 72 V8 Z "Agent Orange", 87 FZR 1000 "Young and Hung", 1979 CBX "Sumo Wrestler", CB1100F "Queen For A Day", RIP M35 Bonanza "Money Pit", and SRT-4 "Giant Killer".

you could mount it to the top of the center console with straps velcoing it to the floor carpet

One of the guys in our club (fierofool/Charlie) made a bracket that clamps to the top of the center console/glove box.
IIRC it was made out of a thin sheet of springy steel, and clamps around the back and front (with the glove box door open) edges of the console top. It was sturdy enough to support the camera during RFTH, and allows forward and backward facing views.

Hopefully he'll see this and chime in.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 04-25-2005).]

Check a few of these places out. Not the cheapest stuff - and mostly universal. But definitely do-able (I've been looking at this kind of stuff ever since I bought my Sony Handycam ).

http://www.stickypod.com
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/cinemasupplies/succupmoun.html

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Looking for Fiero posters?

If you are luckier than I am you may find a thread about mounts.

Someone had some very nice pics of a mount made to fit where the inside brake light mounts. It seemed a good solution. If you don't mind modifying, a second rear console could be adapted to fit the camera. That would also do the job.

***edit stoopid speeling

[This message has been edited by FieroBUZZ (edited 04-25-2005).]

Currently I am using a spare center consul with a 4" security camera mount screwed onto the top of it. I found the camera mount online for less than $20. It should be pretty easy to find a spare center consul as well. Mark

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NIFE
silver 88GT - bone stock
blue 87GT - 3.4 roller cam, coilovers, 88 cradle swap, many other mods
www.comcast.net/~mark3340/default.htm

Check out www.mcminone.com or www.supercircuits.com

They have alot of mini cameras ans mounts, CHEAP ones too! I've seen a B/W lower resolution camera for $20 and mounts for about $7. You do get what you pay for, if you want a good image in a color camera figure on $90 or $60 for B/W.

Thanks Raydar for queing me in on this. My mount is made from stainless steel. It fits around the back edge of the top of the console by removing the 2 screws behind the glove box, tipping the console forward and inserting the mount. Put the console back and install the 2 screws.

It's spring loaded and clamps tight in the glove box door recess. The glove box is fully operational with the mount installed. As Steve said, it's solid enough to withstand the rigors of Run For The Hills with a camera mounted to it. Works great with a camera with a remote control.

Well, this is what I'm doing for now. It actually seems to work well. I just took my tripod that I got for $20 at WalMart and put it behind the seat. It's actually quite steady.

Very nice, McGyver. Bringing that to the Rally and the track?

For this vid I just taped the camera first to the center console, then to the rear view mirror - worked great...

Download 17 MB AVI file (recommended!)
Download 5 MB AVI file

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www.yellowfiero.com/fiero.html
17" DEZENT T wheels with 215/40 tires front and 235/45 rear, KONI shocks, EIBACH lowering springs, drilled/slotted rotors, SS brake hoses. PU dog bone, all bushings and engine mounts, K&N air and oil filters, OZELOT exhaust, Mercedes SLK yellow paintjob, Mr. Mikes leather seats, door skins, shift and e-brake boots. MP3 deck and custom subwoofer behind passenger seat, F355 style front. Fiero Store rear swaybar, strut tower brace, black carpet, air intake. Rodney Dickman's competition short shifter, SS vacuum lines and deck lid strut. Billet aluminum dash kit from Kitcarman.

quote Originally posted by yellowstone: then to the rear view mirror

Careful! Those are just glued on to the windshield! Hate to have someone drop their camera from that height......

dont these videos get real shaky? any vibration dampening?
that "clamp" of fierofool's looks like it would amplify the shakes?

Most camcorders have lens image stabilization mechanisms for people with shaky hands. so mounting the camcorder shouldn't affect it too much, unless it shakes beyond the range that the camcorder can control.

quote Originally posted by Pyrthian: dont these videos get real shaky? any vibration dampening? that "clamp" of fierofool's looks like it would amplify the shakes?

I've seen the footage from the Rally back in April its not shaky at all, considering how we were driving.

When in doubt duct tape. Just DUCT TAPE the camera to the side of your head.

Id also get a small camera and connect to your cam. X10.com always has deals, there all 12v so all you have to do is connect to your wiring or lighter plug and eliminate the supplied AC adapter. There so small you wont get any vibration. You can get 2 or 3 color cams, even wide angle ones for less than $100. Ive used window mounts that are a single arm like tripod with a swivel head that just clamps on the top of the glass so you wont get any reflections from the windshield. There at any camera shop for pretty cheap.

I made a mount that bolts to the third brake light, it's just big enough to hold my digital camera and it folds up out of the way when i'm not using it, it seems to be really solid too, it records my auto x really well

I got a mount called Chace Cam I am not sure what the url is but if you go to google you will find it.

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http://www.iamanascarfan.com/

I am the signature virus, please put me in your signature so I can spread

quote Originally posted by fierofool:

That's awesome! I want one! I've been trying to figure out how to mount a camera as well. I've previously used bungie cord, but that method is kinda shady. I'd like something more secure for racing.

Here's how mine turned out with the bungie cord securing it to the top of the console.

http://216.240.155.171/dfireweb/smeg/trackday01.wmv

Sorry for the crappy quality. And I hate how my camera makes me look like I'm going slow, when in fact I'm doing about 110 mph at the end of the main straight.

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'88 Fiero GT - 3.4L GM Crate engine
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/707857
'91 GMC Syclone - #449
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/716108

I want to make something similar for my car. Was thinking of something more solid tho.

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Bottle Fed 4.9 V8 5 Speed
I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.
"Whatever happened to stimpy?"

Get a mount to place on the roof under the headliner, so it hangs from the mount, and you can rotate it 360 degrees or remove it without a big brace or mount still showing if you have a companion in the car. ( similar to a ceiling fan to give you an idea). You could also install a screen in the dash and wire it so you could view your pictures or video while you're at the drive-thru at McDonalds, and upload them to your home computer.

With Electronic Image Stabilization, the video is very stable. Occasionally there were some bumps in the road and at the ends of bridges that was beyond the limits of the EIS. Side to side stabilization gives the effect of a slight panning action as you turn the curves.

Videos do look much slower than actuality. Zooming up a bit gives the impression of going faster, but you tend to lose the inside car view that many people seemed to have wanted, and any vibration is magnified by the power of magnification.

My mount is made from stainless steel. I had planned to build and sell them, but my supply of free stainless strips has dried up. If I had to purchase the metal, I couldn't sell them at the planned price of $25. I wouldn't use steel due to the possibility of rust stains on the console. 40 to 60 gauge aluminum might be adequate.

I'll take some dimensions and post them. You will have to work out the angles. I am not a machinist, and I constructed this from a picture in my head, without drawings. Anyone is welcome to construct one for their own use, but not for resale.

If you sold them for $25, I'd buy one!

We just had these installed in a couple of unmarked car and trucks at work.

The installer used a common mirror mount to mount the mirror stud beside or under the regular mirror

This took about 30 second to dry in place.

He then screwed an extension mount into the base of the camera mount and slid the other end over the mirror mount.

I have tested the set up for the last couple of months, and there has been no problems with the auto focus lens or the night time mode.

Being that it is an extended swivel mirror mount you can adjust for city highway or high speed driving.

With the use of a t-15 torx screwdrived you then remove the camera and extension pod from the base and all that is left behing is the 3/4 by 1 inch mirror mounting stud.

We have tried other methods including butchering the a frame pillar with 2 long screws and nothing has worked as well as the mirror mount, which is barely visible when the camera is removed.

I should caution you that the glue to mount the little mirror stud is permament, thus is not removable, however when not used it could house other items such as a radar indicator etc.

Try and remember that too far away from the windshield effects the viewing angle and auto focusing mechanismn, and placed in the wrong location could be deemed a vision obstruction.

tim

Ive considered mounting an inexpensive camcorder in my fiero to protect myself from idiots trying to distroy my fiero while I am driving to and from work, and if they do... get caught doing it.

has anyone thought of removing the pass side sun visor and using where it mounts to mount a camcorder?

[This message has been edited by Back On Holiday (edited 06-25-2005).]

I was at a local tool discount place (like Harbor Frieght) yesterday and saw an interesting item (bought one to play with actually).
It was one of those suction cup thingies that are used to carry glass and other flat panels.
Lever operated suction cups and they are super strong.
One could easily attach something the the handle of the carrier device that would use the tripod mount on the bottom of the camera. Then you would just have to use the suction cups to attach it to your rear window.

I think it cost a whole $1.50 or $2.00.

As promised, here's a diagram with measurements. Measurements are in inches.

With this mount being at the approximate center of the car, it's very stable. Takes about 5 minutes to install or remove.

I use a panasonic D-snap camera in a cell phone holder mounted to the right side of my guage pod. Works really well. It's also fed into the stereo with a FM modulator. It can play MP3's so I used it for that, and the sound playing through the car's speakers on video playback is kinda cool. I have the inline remote Clipped onto a zip tie/ziptie anchor next to the stereo. The D-snap is 320x240 video res, and with the 512meg memory stick, it's good for 1.5 hours of video.

Hey Fierofool.......nice mount........very similar to some of the mounts that I've built for various cars.....starting with 1 of my old race cars......then 1 for a skydiving helmet, and some for other cars for friends and myself.......all built out of brushed stainless steel, much like what I'm using on my new interior on my 88 GT. My dimensions were a little different, but the finished product looked very similar, and woked very well.