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Lip-stick camera

YELLOW_S

Future BMW WSB Racer
Hey everyone,

I have a question. I got a lipstick lenses a while ago, and found out the video camera I got doesn't work for it. It only has out-puts, I need an in-put. Does anyone know where I can get one, how much it will be, and what type do you recommend?

Thanks,

Farmer Ted
 
What would you input to a lens? Isn't it an output device?
Perhaps photos of your connections would help us.
 
You are probably going to be better off figuring out who made your lipstick lens and asking them.

That said, I have a Sony DCR HC32, bought with visions of You-Tube glory in my future partially because it was mentioned by a couple of lipstick-cam manufacturers as compatible. I don't know how universal the connections are, for all I know there is a VHS/Beta schism out there waiting for resolution.

Steve
 
Most decent dv (sony /canon) cameras have one connection that can function as input or output. Sometimes it's selectable with a switch or burried inside the menu screens. And sometimes the camera just figures it out. What camera are you trying to use? If you are sure about your camera or recorder, search ebay for a used sony trv-17 or trv-11. Good bang for the buck. If not mooch a camera off a freind for a day or two.

BTW, I'm all for doing this on the cheap. You may notice I will give low dough solutions for camera problems. Otherwise hand over some coin and buy a fancy kit that will not yield any better results. :wave
 
... I got a lipstick lenses a while ago, and found out the video camera I got doesn't work for it. It only has out-puts, I need an in-put. ...

I presume that you mean that you got a lipstick camera (including lens). The lipstick camera is also known as a bullet camera. An example is shown below.
bulletcam.jpg


Typically these cameras use a nominal 12V DC power supply (sometimes voltages as low as 9V will work) and have a video output with a BNC or RCA type connector. Adaptors are available to convert back and forth between the BNC and RCA type connectors.

The power supply for the cameras for motorcycle applications usually comes from a small battery pack. (I've not tried to use the bike's battery, but this might work also.)

Some sort of method is needed to record the images coming from the bullet camera. One common method is to use a video camera as a recorder. Most video cameras come with a cable to facilitate recording to/from a TV or VCR. These cables generally connect to the TV or VCR using an RCA type connector. A plug, usually 2.5 to 3.5 mm in diameter will go into the video camera. The RCA plug used to record from a TV or VCR is what is plugged into the bullet camera. The desired plug is usually colored yellow. The audio plugs are usually red and white.

The folks at helmetcamera.com have compiled a list of video cameras that can accept A/V (audio / video) input. See:
http://www.helmetcamera.com/Camera-Compatibility.html

An alternative to use of a video camera is a A/V recording device that uses either a hard drive or some sort of solid-state media (i.e., SD card). These devices can usually record in something acceptable to TV (the NTSC standard) with a 320 x 240 resolution at up to 30 frames per second (fps). Other A/V recording devices indicate MP4, which should imply that they record at a 640 x 480 resolution and at least 20 fps. The higher the resolution, the better the image will look on a computer monitor or HDTV screen.

One such MP4 device, also referred to as a DVR (or digital video recorder) is shown on the helmetcamera.com website at:
http://www.helmetcamera.com/acart/agora.cgi?product=Mini_Recording_Devices

There are other, less expensive alternatives such as this MP4 DVR offered on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/12MP-Digital-Ca...Z004QQcategoryZ146258QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

Or this non-MP4 A/V recording device from Tigerdirect.com (records at 320x240 resolution)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1187014&CatId=1622
 
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