The GoPro Wide camera is awesome!

I had BMW CCA autocross on Sunday and took the opportunity to test some new cameras I bought for our video arsenal at work. The main one was a GoPro Motorsports HERO camera. This little camera is awesome. It’s a tiny video and still camera that comes with a bunch of different mounts for attaching it all over you car. The camera takes in an amazing 170-degree field of view with a super sharp lens and it’s enclosed in a shock-proof and water-proof housing. This little thing is bomb-proof! runs on runs on just two AAA lithium batteries. It has 16MB of built-in memory and a slot for adding SD cards. Resolution is 512X384 (close to standard def broadcast). The suction cup mount is very sturdy. I used it on eight runs in two locations and it never budged.

The second camera I used was a Canon Powershot SX1 IS on a CruiseCam mount. This is a high-end point-and-shoot that also does full 1080i HD video. The image is spectacular and you can see the clarity and sharpness in the cockpit shots of the above video.

The best thing about both these cameras is no tape! With the video writing to digital cards, editing is easy and fast.