Gun Camera / Helmet Cam for mounting on rifle advice anyone?

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clickboom8

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Hoping someone out here has experience with using action / tactical cameras on rifles can give some good feedback:

I recently purchased two Action / Helmet cameras for mounting on my gun and rifle for tactial and hunting use. One of them is
the Adrenaline Systems Gun Cam Pro / Sport which comes with a mounting rail for the barrel and a head based mount which you can use to mount the camera on your head.
The set up is very easy. I connected it to my camcorder and it seems to take great images. The camera is a Sony 580 tvl action camera. Also included
is a microphone which produces some pretty clear sound.

I also got a Oregon Scientific action cam with SD card. It is also easy to set up but the mounting on the rifle is a bit tricky and there is no mount for
it. I wore it around my head with an improvised strap. The images are lower quality than the adrenaline systems.
I have yet to give both these a total try out. I will use them for my next tac excercise. I will write a full report as soon as I can.

Any suggestions on what I should look out for? any experiences anyone would like to share?

All advice will be much appreciated!
 
I occasionally use a lipstick camera that connects to a basic camcorder. I used this setup for mountain biking primarily but it does work pretty well for tactical course work.

I still use the camera mounted to a bike helmet, that seems to give the best options for pointing the camera. I always have to skew the camera so that it points in the same direction as the rifle barrel when I'm actually shooting. If you mount the camera so it points straight and level when your head is straight and level, the camera ends up pointing the wrong direction when you're shooting. So it takes a lot of fooling around to get it right.

Also, if a head mounted camera is working for a rifle, it probably will be pointing the wrong direction for a handgun.

I've been using mine mounted on the top of the helmet, but I think it may be better if it's mounted on the right side of the helmet. If aimed well it should pick up the rifle's action and then looking down the barrel, more or less.

I've seen gun camera footage (rail attached) as well and somehow the head mounted camera has more "immediacy" to it. Gun cameras look a bit more like a video game and the head mount feels more like you are in the situation. It's probably a personal preference.

Also, those cameras are typically very wide angle and are most well suited for very short range work, no more than 25 yards. 50 yards and beyond is like looking at microscopic images.

Good luck and have fun with it.
 
I was interested in a remote mountable camera for my RC airplanes and found boostervision.com; I then converted a set of earmuffs to also hold the camera. It’s 2.4 GHz and works a lot better than I figured a $70 A/V wireless camera transmitter/receiver combo would. If only ammo prices would follow the same trend as electronics. One photo is of the earmuffs, two small holes get sound without too much wind noise. The other is of the plane mount, the servo allows for multiple viewing angles while in the air and the little windshield keeps the lens clean.

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Camera

I have about two years experience in this subject, I will try and help.
The Oregon Sci camera is good for a helmet mount, the plastic ring and mounting system is very prone to failure though. At 640 x 480 with 30 fps it gives good footage for the fact it is so lightweight. It will fail on a rifle that has any sort of recoil though. I have a box of them, around 35, that have all broke on anything from a pepperball gun to a 12 gauge.
The lipstick cams have a little higher res, but they are wired to a camera in your vest or on your belt, and belt real estate is hard to come by nowadays.
When you mount any of them to the side of a helmet, and you are using a long gun, most times your target goes out of view. The best way is to have one of each, one on the gun and one on the helmet.
I have worked a long time on the project, ended up going to the factory in China that owns OS and having a hardened version made.
I am getting tons of footage from overseas and in the US and the barrel mounted works well for training, just got back from doing AAR’s at the Mock Riot in WV and you would not believe the amount of SRT teams that swept their own teammates in training.
I am editing footage now and it just amazes me.
Trying to make it up to Centermass at the end of the month, I want to see how it works in a active shooter role.
I would be glad to answer any questions; I have used every camera system out there while working on mine and would be glad to share the info with you.
Thanks
 
swtim255, that's good info. When I'm running the lipstick cam I stick the camcorder in my camelbak (bladder removed), it balances well and is out of the way.

For a helmet mount, I've always thought that a gimble or gyro mount would be great if it didn't cost a ton of money. Have you ever seen a mount like that?
 
Mount

I have been working on different helmet mounts and they all seem to have the same issues. No matter were you mount it, it seems to always point the wrong way when you go into a firing position, with a long gun or a handgun.
I looked at hours of video today and the only usable footage was when it was mounted on the gun. All the helmet footage was of the ground or the barricades. To have it set so it films right, you almost have to shoot from a straight up isosceles position, with your head straight forward.
Gyro or gimble mounts might work, but the cost would be to high, Larure was going to do a QD mount for my camera, but I thought that $125.00 for a mount was a little high for a 189.00 camera!
Also, it looks like the person that started this thread is some kind of gorilla marketing person; I have seen the same post on twenty websites.
 
Over at RCGroups, lots of guys in the slope forum are doing videos of their planes flying. One addition to the helmet cam they've found works is an aperture made of anything (even a paperclip bent to shape) to give you a frame of reference as to where the helmet/cam is looking. If you search for "DawsonH" he's posted lots of videos he shot while solo on the slope in Northern Arizona near Sheeba Crater and Mormon Lake overlook. The guy flies some amazing acro. Careful...another hobby may hook you.

HobbyLobby sells the Flycam-1 if youre looking for a great plane-mounted video camera. REALLY clear video, with a head you can position. It's about the size of a large cigarette lighter. Where I fly slope we lose planes in the heavy coyote brush and poison oak out near the ocean, and we've pretty much decided that flying over the area with a plane equipped with the camera is the lowest-effort route to recovering a lost plane.

I'll see if I can find the video of the lost "Rodent" and attach it. Ah, too large...
 
Cam

Thanks for the info, I looked at the first model and could not figure a way to mount it on a gun that would hold up. The new model looks like it would be easier to build a mount for it.
I guess the big thing is, would it hold up to recoil? I just ordered one off Ebay and will test it. It would not be any good for tactical use because of the fact that any moisture renders it inop from what I read.
I was into RC long ago, man they have come a long way. My hobbies now consume all of my disposable income, half the house payment and my kids college fund , so I cant get into another one!
I think the video is about the same from mine to the Flycam, check out my video on the home page, towards the end is a clip shot from a Blackhawk shooting into a lake at about 1200 yards or so, pretty clear
www.advancedtaccam.com
 
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The video I tried to post was of my friend Bruce flying around with it double-sided-taped to the bottom of the wing of an electric. Maybe I can post it on Youtube and post a link. Servo tape or the good 3M double sided tape would probably do it.

Yeah, the last 10 years in RC has been amazing. If you really want to see some cool planes go over to F3X.com and look at the F3F racers. All hollow-molded carbon fiber slope racers with 120"+ spans, with all-digital servos that whine like a beehive when the plane is turned on.
 
Gun Camera results

After a few weeks of trying out both the Adrenaline Systems Gun Cam Sport I and the Oregon Scientific ATC2K SD camera it is overwhelming which camera works best (please see my original post ABOVE)

The Adrenaline Systems Gun Cam Sport I comes with a 580 tvl Sony exView HAD camera which produces some excelent super clear images. The kit comes with mounts and connections.
I hooked up mine to my camcorder (Sony). The set up was pretty easy and quick. The rifle mount is a gun powder black barrel mount which comes with a shock absorber. It also comes with
a Head Strap which goes around your head and fits the camera on it. This system is powered by a Reverse Osmosis LI-ION battery with about 8 hours of power. It is very light and generates no heat.
I tried this systems both wearing it on my head as well as on the rifle. the footage was a bit dizzying when on the barrel, but for stable aiming it give an awesome effect when you fire. The snake microphone produces great sound you can hook either close to your mouth or on the rifle depending how much noise you want.
You can actually see your kills verified. When mounted on your head you get a very nice overall view of everything you look at -- very neat.
The footage I got was super clear. When edited it looks perfect on my LCD. Loads of laughs!

The Oregon scientific ATC2K looked great out of the box as it is modular and easy to use. It comes with an SD card slot which allows you to record all your footage there. The mounts are not provided
for guns but I was able to jerry rig my own mounts. To cut thru the chase, the footage is really low quality. After using the Gun Cam, this unit fall far behind. While it is easy to use,
the quality is just not good and really meant more for internet video where lower quality is key. Too bad as this camera promised a lot but just wasn't up to the job.

My buddies have the VIO helmet camera. It is a cool camera but: the video is not as good and the cost is 3 times what I paid, even when having to provide my own camcorder.

If you want something to take first class video with great action angles go for the adrenaline kit, otherwise, for just play, get the Oregon Scientific ATC2k.

I got the Gun Cam at the AdrenalineCamera website. The Oregon Scientific I got at their OregonScientific website.

Some info on the Adrenaline Gun Cam:

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The Oregon Scientific Camera:


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If anyone is interested, I will be at the Police and Security Expo in Atlantic City next week and have the camera on sale there for $159.00 (and free shipping). Due to contractual obligations with my distributors I can not offer a discount on my website, but if you cant make it to NJ for the show, Email or call me and reference the P&S expo and I can give you the show price until June 30th.
 
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