I'm bringing a ChaseCam PDR setup with a front-tow-hook-mounted bulletcam, as well as a Panasonic RAM-based camcorder (full 1920x1080 HD, as big as a can of Red Bull!), pro suction cup mounts for exterior mounting, and, if I can get it calibrated, a Steadicam Merlin (for smooth fly-arounds of stationary cars).
We should get some fun footage!
The full ChaseCam setup is about $1000 with a 4gig card, mounts, camera, PDR, everything... Not exactly cheap, or HD, but it is THE industry standard, and as rugged as it needs to be. Fully professional quality. 2 hours of SD video on a 4gig CF card.
The Panasonic and Sony RAM-based camcorders (also about $1000 each) are great for motorsports (no moving parts!), but they ARE plasticy consumer devices, and should be treated with care. However, they are useful on junior's birthday, not just at the track. Sony (HDR-CX7) has an amazing true slow-motion (in 3 sec. bursts) capability, but the image is only 1440x1080, so not true HD, and the colors and motion artifacts are worse than on the Panasonics.
Panasonic (HDC-SD5) is TRUE 1920x1080 HD video, with no slow motion, but much better color and motion capability. That's what I'll bring. 40 minutes of HD video on a $100 4gig SD card.
Both Sony and Panasonic HD cams store video on cards in AVCHD format, which is new, so verify that your editing program can use it. Final Cut Express and iMovie8 both work. Sony or Panasonic AVCHD files are viewable on Playstation3 right from the card slot on the front, in full HD. Panasonic also gives you a DVD burner for free that can back up a full card, or burn an HD disc viewable on Blu-Ray. Amazing.
ChaseCam stores as SD (i.e. non-HD) MPEG movies, easy to view and use.
I will have both the ChaseCam and the Panasonic there, and after a bit of editing, we can all see how they stack up!
Taking it to the next level, with a $1000 35mm lens adaptor (search Letus35 on YouTube and watch examples) you can use lenses from a 35mm SLR camera on any cheap-o camcorder, giving you a totally shallow depth-of-field and lots of lens flare (think TopGear-quality images!). I don't have mine yet, but that's next month. These start to get heavier, so the suction-cup vehicle mounts get a little bigger... but it's worth it. Home movies that look like Top Gear? Sign me up!
