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1/3" SONY CCD Bullet Camera at the track

I recently place a bullet sony 1/3 ccd color camera inside my car with hopes to record both my actions inside the car and the track through the windshield. After installing the system and using it inside the shop I was able to get great images of both. Once the car was moved into the sunlight outside the view through the windshield was obscured (it became one large white spot while the inside was perfectly clear. What suggestions would you have to accomplish my intended goals?

ET
Tue, 18 Apr 2006 11:16:24 -0700

It sounds like you want to record both interior and exterior with your camera set-up. Unfortunately, unless you have an open top vehicle, it's not possible to record both interior and exterior views with one camera.

The reason is that the ambient light outside is much greater than the ambient light inside your vehicle. In photography, the difference in light level can be expressed in stops. There are probably 3 to 5 stops difference between the interior and the exterior.

A camera sensor is in general only sensitive up to 2 stops at the most. In the interior shop, the light difference is probably 2 to 3 stops between the car interior and the shop interior, just barely enough for the camera to gather detail.

So you'll have to make a decision, whether you want interior shots or exterior shots. Or mount two separate cameras.

I don't know what device you are using to record from the bullet sony 1/3 ccd color camera. If you give me a better description about the rest of your equipment, I could give you some ideas on how to control exposure.

I like your bullet cam approach. Sounds like a neat way to record track events. I am going to have to consider trying that myself.

Chieh Cheng
Tue, 18 Apr 2006 14:18:54 -0700

Chieh,

Thanks for getting back with me. I'm using a mpeg mp4 digital recorder. It records on to a sd 512 mb card. It does not have any adjustments for the camera inputs.

I was just given an option to use a polarizing filter to help. And to even stack them if one is not enough. Do you have any thoughts on this or the use of any other filters.

Again thanks for your help? I look forward to your thoughts on these ideas.

ET
Wed, 19 Apr 2006 10:39:33 -0700

Do you know if the bullet sony 1/3 ccd color camera is an auto-exposure camera? A manual exposure camera? Or a fixed exposure camera?

A polarizing filter will reduce the exposure by 1 to 2 stops. But if you have an auto-exposure camera, then it will self-adjust and you will still have the same problem.

The polarizer will work on a manual exposure camera, but if it's manually adjustable, then you can do without the polarizer all together.

Polarizers could be useful on a fixed exposure camera in this case, because there is simply no other way to adjust it.

Although the polarizing filter is the easiest filter to get for consumers. You really should look for Neutral Density (ND) filters. Sole purpose of ND filters are to reduce the amount of light that can pass through the lens (controlling exposure). Unlike polarizers, ND filters does not change the color of your video. You can also get Gradual ND filters to split your exposure half-and-half between the interior and the exterior of your car. You can find ND filters at photography shops.

Chieh Cheng
Mon, 24 Apr 2006 11:14:50 -0700

Chieh,

Again , thanks for the great advice. I will look for the nd filter at the camera shop this week and give it a shot. I'm not sure about the exposure of the camera, but I will look and find out. I'm thinking it is auto. I'll let you know what the nd filter works.

ET
Tue, 25 Apr 2006 03:09:34 -0700

Ok. Look forward to hearing about your success.

I've thought more about the bullet cam in the past few days. And I thought that it is a really good idea and I wanted to try it on my own car. My front bumper has quite a few unused vents (see the front of my car below), which I could stuff a bullet cam in. Then I could route the wire through the fender.

It would make me feel like I'm driving a spy hunter car. ;-) And capturing the track event down low, directly in front will increase the sensation of speed.

I'm not sure if you have and vent spaces on the front bumper of your vehicle . . . food for thought.

Chieh Cheng
Fri, 28 Apr 2006 18:21:53 -0700

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