Wakesurfing Video Camera - Boom-cam, Bullet Cam

I had an old bullet lens lying around from a helmet cam used for surfing, snowboarding, etc. Decided to rig up a little camera to film wakesurfing...

Necessary parts:
Bullet lens (can find them all over web)
Wakeboard tower
Tower mirror mount
PVC pipes and t-connector
Video Cam with AV input (input is key - very few have it these days - Aiptek Action HD does - $100 on ebay)
Stainless steel hose clamps

I basically attached the PVC pipes to the mirror mount, the mount to the tower, angled it properly, and off you go. Gets a good perspective on the wave, and stays pretty darn steady. The lens is waterproof, which is necessary since it gets dunked from time-to-time.

I suspect you could rig something with just a water-resistent Flip camera, and screw it onto the end of the arm, but it would be a little tough to align. Beauty of the bullet cam is that you can see the image on the monitor of the Aiptek camera so you can tweak it from the boat.

Pics attached.

I have that same camera. Over the winter I went through several cameras, to find the best for what I was looking for. I am actually working on a blog write up for the whole thing, but not done yet.

The one problem with that camera, is that it will translate any vibration to the camera, VERY jittery.

Here is an example of video done with this camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3z_kharReo

Then AIPTEK came out with a new one, that has Gyroscopic Stabilization, and yet still HD, and still cheap. You DO NOT want DIGITAL stabilization, you need gyro stabilization for these things to work right for what we do. To be honest, it still is a bit shaky, but MUCH better, and if you leave it zoomed ALL THE WAY OUT all of the time, it works well.

ALL of the Wake9 videos you see online, in HD, are all using this new camera.

Aiptek Action HD GVS 1080P High Definition Camcorder with 5x Optical Zoom (Silver)

These are only $179.99, and I have 2. Probably will get a third. They are not the highest quality on the outside, its not a sony. They have no moving parts, and I think you know how much I use them, we film EVERY session and more. I have totally drenched one, and then just took out battery and ran under blow dryer, and it works great. You can also order extra batteries for them. If you do get one of these, I recommend using HD30f as the setting, not 1080P, and not 60f. I will have to expand on that in the blog.

I wanted the nicer one, but I don't believe it has an AV input on it. The stabilization is not an issue at all. I'm really just using the camera like a little mini VCR.

The lens is actually the bullet lens - and it plugs into the analog video-in (yellow) plug on the camera. I then set it to video-in, and hit record.

The lens itself is on the end of the boom which is really quite stable - no shake at all, just a little sway that is hardly noticeable. Having the camera mounted to this has worked pretty well.

Love the videos on your site btw - was checking them out earlier - awesome work!

Gotit, in the pic, I thought I coiuld see the camera on the end of it. What kind of video do you get setup like that? How does it look?

The bullet cam only has 640-480 resolution. It is generally pretty good when attached to a DV camera - although my DV cam blew up, hence the new aiptek.

I need to get it dialed-in, but here are the first two clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs30KItY1rw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSoOIsU4KIU

I need to put a hood on it - it is getting way too much sun, so the shots are washed out. Also need to raise it up - we are regularly dunking it. This is putting water on the lens, making the pic a little unclear. It is riding about 1.5ft above the water - any chop puts it under, plus it is pointed up at the wave now, getting even more sun fade.

I'm going to raise it to about 3.5ft off the water, put a hood around it, and point it straight back. I suspect this will improve it quite a bit.

I also need to look at some new video editing software. I have Premiere Pro 2.0, and Elements 3.0. They don't like the .mov format of this Aiptek AT ALL. Demoing Power Director - actually works pretty well so far. What software are you using?

I am a mac guy. I am a programmer, and very proficient with windows and linux, and have played with just about every tool. On my mac, I have iMovie 09, Final Cut Express and Final Cut Studio. I use them for various projects. All 3 of these can use the .MOV files from the AIPTEK, but only iMovie can use any of them. FCE and FCP will not use the MOV files that are produced with 60fps.

FCP is the best solution for being able to do ANYTHING, but the key to this, IMHO, is WORKFLOW. Getting stuff done fast. Nothing is better for that than iMovie 09. As long as you can use the more limited set of iMovie 09 tools, it is an amazingly fast workflow. Since iMovie 09 has been recently updated to include tools like screen control, and precision editing, it is very useful.

It is possible to squeeze a BIT more quality out of FCP, because you can eliminate going from the MOV file to apple intermediate codec, and then to final, and then to web video. With FCP you can go from your edit, and then to final output without using apple intermediate codec, which will give you a slightly better, noticeable quality improvement. On most projects you are better staying with iMovie, the time it takes for minor quality improvement is most of the time not worth it.

You definitely know this stuff better than I do!

I like Power Director so far, but I'm on PC, so definitely different choices.

In terms of the camera, I'd love to have the full HD vids, not through the bullet cam. I could easily mount the camera itself on the end of the boom - just set it to record an hour of video straight...

I've thought about getting one of these - seems like it would be enough to keep it protected - what do you think?

http://www.housingcamera.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=SNAP-DV-ST-WH-AIP&click=2

Y, I think so, unless you went to deep, but why would you. I haven't seen those, I have a housing for my sony HD cam. I think I will pick one of those up myself.

Here is another.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Underwater-Housing-Case-for-Aiptek-IS-DV2-ISDV2+-GO-HD_W0QQitemZ130260933556QQcmdZViewItem

What about the Sanyo video cameras that are waterproof right out of the box? Any experience with the quality of those?

I read a bunch of reviews, that didn't sound so good. I also did a bunch of research on the web, and actually found videos that you could download from various cameras. The aiptek fit the bill, then they came out with the one with stabilization, and I have 2. The waterproof sanyo, is NOT HD, and at this point, if it doesn't do at least 720p, I don't want it.

Here is a sanyo that came out more recently, that I may give a try.

Sanyo Xacti HD1010 4MP MPEG4 High Definition 1080i/1080p Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom

But it doesn't have the stabilization, and over 2x the price. However its specs say it has better quality, but would have to test to be sure.

I don't love the "bags" as I find I am always having a hard time manipulating them for controls. Going to try the skin, and see how that works. I'll post some videos of it when complete.

Anything you recommend for getting a wider angle on the Aiptek? I've seen the magnetic .5's, wonder if they work?

No, just move farther away at this point. My sony HD cam has a wider angle which is nice, but is interlaced.

Do you have a link for those?

Robert, this waterproof Sanyo shoots in 720p for $335 although I'm not too stoked on the 30x lens.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/600627-REG/Sanyo_VPC_WH1YL_Dual_Camera_Xacti_720p.html


and IMO this Sanyo is presently the best bang for the buck. It shoots in 1080/60p for $440, has a much better lens and has been compared to Canon's $1000 HF-S100 for image quality.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/600626-REG/Sanyo_VPC_FH1_VPC_FH1_Dual_Camera_Xacti.html

*For the record I presently shoot Panasonic (HVX200A) and have always had a preference towards Canon's consumer/ prosumer gear but am really impressed that Sanyo's latest offerings.They really stepped it up bigtime.

Thanks for the tip. I have never found Digital Image Stabilization to work well at all, have you?