rail mount cam

[runner]

im looking for a good rail cam. any ideas

[VICTORIOUS]

I am in the motor sports (spec miata in Az region SCCA, NASA, Cal Club, and others) field and both own and sell GOPro cameras. they are the most badass sports cameras and can be mounted anywhere. they are quite small, though i imagine you would want something a bit more low profile to mount to a rail. they go for about $200 with a mounting kit and a badass shatterproof/ waterproof case that lets you use it underwater. there are stick type cameras for mountain biking and whatnot, but the images they capture are not as nice and i wouldn't trust them to take a bb to the lens area and still function. I have entertained the idea of mounting my GoPro to the right shoulder of my plate carrier as is should hen look out over the gun like a left handed shooter would see with sights and all. if executed properly, the video would look like a first person shooter demo. sick huh? well hit me up if you want to buy one of those cams; we have plenty instock and even carry the more expensive HD variant.

[AgentP]

I've actually been toying with that idea myself. My dad made one for his helmet back when he raced motocross and I've always wanted to make one for my gun or helmet for an after action review. I think it would be easy just to get a weaver ring or two and mount it to a rail on the side of the gun.

[COINops]

im looking for a good rail cam. any ideas

Big 5 and most big electronics stores sell these things called action cams for helmets, not sure what the video quality is but they look pretty easy to mod for a rail.  

From personal experience we just used sony handy cams and the modified the tripod connection to connect to our rifles or helmets when we did building raids in Iraq.  We actually searched at the time for mounts or cams on the net but no luck.  But of course that was back in 04-05 so tech was diff then.  But we were still still doing the same thing when i went back 06-08, the cams just got a bit smaller, electrical tape and a bit of ingenuity can go along way.

[busta_cap]

I am in the motor sports (spec miata in Az region SCCA, NASA, Cal Club, and others) field and both own and sell GOPro cameras. they are the most badass sports cameras and can be mounted anywhere. they are quite small, though i imagine you would want something a bit more low profile to mount to a rail. they go for about $200 with a mounting kit and a badass shatterproof/ waterproof case that lets you use it underwater. there are stick type cameras for mountain biking and whatnot, but the images they capture are not as nice and i wouldn't trust them to take a bb to the lens area and still function. I have entertained the idea of mounting my GoPro to the right shoulder of my plate carrier as is should hen look out over the gun like a left handed shooter would see with sights and all. if executed properly, the video would look like a first person shooter demo. sick huh? well hit me up if you want to buy one of those cams; we have plenty instock and even carry the more expensive HD variant.

This looks a lot like an advertisement.. However the HERO go PRO cameras are very good. The mounts are 'ok'.

[VICTORIOUS]

I flag races and have seen a formula V car crash and a GoPro fly off and then get ran over and roll off to the side of the lane. After the race, I picked it up off the track and it was still recording! The case was cracked and needed to be replaced, but the cam was fine. As for the mounts, I like that there are so many types. The mounts are simple in design, so a custom setup shouldn't be too hard to fab up.

[busta_cap]

I flag races and have seen a formula V car crash and a GoPro fly off and then get ran over and roll off to the side of the lane. After the race, I picked it up off the track and it was still recording! The case was cracked and needed to be replaced, but the cam was fine. As for the mounts, I like that there are so many types. The mounts are simple in design, so a custom setup shouldn't be too hard to fab up.

The problem with the mounts are typically not the suction cup or 3m mounts but the connecting arms that have the interlocking webs. These are made of brittle plastic and have broken on me several times, thus making me return several cameras. You should be fine for airsoft though..this was for bikes doing 100+ in twisties and cars drifting into corners at 100+mph.

[AgentP]

Something like this: http://www.actionvideocams.com/products/VholdR-Contour-HD-1080p-Full-HD.html preferrably wireless and attached to the helmet or gun. Which do you think would be a better place to put it??

[busta_cap]

http://www.goprocamera.com/index.php?area=2&productid=2


Just get that.

[VICTORIOUS]

you want it to face somewhere interesting. consider where your gun points most of the time...for me this would be the ground or landscape near my waste. i would rather see a video of a cam mounted on a head or torso area facing forward. the pic in the link makes it look like that cam is on the right side of the helmet, which would look out over my rifle when aiming and follow where my head turns. this would be more interesting footage than what my barrel sees, but if you are always pointing your weapon where you are looking, then perhaps the guncam will look better. i also think a HERO cam is better and more durable than the one in the link.

[VICTORIOUS]

to clarify, GO GOPRO!

[busta_cap]

you want it to face somewhere interesting. consider where your gun points most of the time...for me this would be the ground or landscape near my waste. i would rather see a video of a cam mounted on a head or torso area facing forward. the pic in the link makes it look like that cam is on the right side of the helmet, which would look out over my rifle when aiming and follow where my head turns. this would be more interesting footage than what my barrel sees, but if you are always pointing your weapon where you are looking, then perhaps the guncam will look better. i also think a HERO cam is better and more durable than the one in the link.

It is a hero camera... The one I linked to was, anyway.. The footage from on your person will be pretty shaky depending on how its mounted, however on a gun cam, it seems to be a lot more stable.

[AgentP]

Battle report:

 - Head mounted cam footage was too blurry from rapidly looking left and right.
 - Gun mounted cam footage was good if you made a counscious effort to keep your gun pointed up while running
 - Shoulder mounted cam footage provided the clearest image and captured most of the action.

These werent recorded using that hero cam but I would assume that the results would be basically the same.

[VICTORIOUS]

wow! well i expected as much from experience recording other sports. its nice to hear someone confirm it with testing though. i wonder if you could see down the sights from the shoulder cam?

[COINops]

I've seen a digicam used, it was simply slipped into a mag holder that was set high on someones vest with a hole cut in the cover flap for the lens, you couldn't really see down the sights but it gave a good view from side.  Looked pretty cool too.  Really there's alot you can do if you're just creative.  I've personally done simple things like taping cameras to my NOD Rhino.