Which camcorder for a track car?

It's time to update my old Canon 8mm camcorder. It works ok but is too heavy and bounces a lot on the mount in my track car. I have a perfectly good mount.

So, I don't necessarily want or need HD but I would like to be able to get 5-6 30 min sessions on the media and if it's a hard drive then double that. A hard drive if it's OK in a racecar seems like the best bet?

I also want alternative microphone inputs as I've found the sound track very lacking on my car from the cockpit. It's too quiet so I'm thinking of adding an exrternal mike to pickup the exhaust which is pretty loud.

I want a lightweight one with a damn good remote and maybe a plug for an external video monitor as well so I can aim the damn thing.

One or two year old technology is ok with me. Decent quality is a must.

What are people using that works well and is easy to use?

Bob S.

 

Interesting.

I'm thinking less $ than that though. At that price I'd want something I could use for other purposes as well.
The one I have did surprising well given how heavy it is. The mount in the camcorder itself also was flimsy.
I've seen other people with smallish camcorders mounted. I'm just wondering which ones work well at this application?

Bob S.

 

Thanks Virgil. They certainly have a versatile line of equipment.

 

Yes that was my worry as well. From what I've read so far the mini DV fromat though old has the highest sampling rate by a large margin and is therefore
the best for high motion. It's also the best format of choice for HD which I don't need. It's only a track car. But it guarantees that the tapes will be around for a while.
I can live with tape.

 

Yes I would like both those options (mike and camera) because my rollcage is such that the only place I could mount the IOport mount with my current camera ended up being the harness cross bar directly behind the seats. That was too low so I had to fabricate an extension which exacerbated the wobble effect.

Bob S.

 

Hey look at this device: http://www.goprocamera.com/index5.htm

Of course it's not quite the same thing but it doesn't sound too bad. I'd like to find a full sized sample video.

Has anyone used this?

Bob S.

 

This one's looking awfully good to me: http://us.sanyo.com/entertainment/cameracorder/index.cfm?productID=1512

I guess no external camera is possible but it can have an external microphone.

Here's a sample video that's pretty impressive for such a small unit and they're around $500-$600 right now.

http://www.vimeo.com/728983

Bob S.