Comments on: Improving white balance and contrast for racecar bullet cameras http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras Thu, 01 Jun 2017 18:51:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Zack Steinkamp http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/comment-page-1#comment-362 Zack Steinkamp Tue, 19 Sep 2006 05:58:33 +0000 http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/#comment-362 Just wanted to follow up with a link to an in-car video from Thunderhill using the lens cover with a single layer of tint. Seems just right to me... http://www.thenobot.org/video/watch.php?20060913-thill.mov Just wanted to follow up with a link to an in-car video from Thunderhill using the lens cover with a single layer of tint. Seems just right to me…
http://www.thenobot.org/video/watch.php?20060913-thill.mov

]]> By: Zack Steinkamp http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/comment-page-1#comment-261 Zack Steinkamp Tue, 05 Sep 2006 19:30:31 +0000 http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/#comment-261 Whoa! 4 cameras + AC inverter + VCR = dedication ;-) Unless the rear view mirror or rear window is tinted already, the tint filter on the camera lens should help with the image in the rear view mirror as well. Though the fact that you've arrived at the "strip" solution makes me think that you've already bee down that road! Whoa! 4 cameras + AC inverter + VCR = dedication ;-)

Unless the rear view mirror or rear window is tinted already, the tint filter on the camera lens should help with the image in the rear view mirror as well. Though the fact that you’ve arrived at the “strip” solution makes me think that you’ve already bee down that road!

]]> By: brian http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/comment-page-1#comment-260 brian Tue, 05 Sep 2006 18:53:57 +0000 http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/#comment-260 @Zack - awesome pictures, really shows the difference. Although you have a lot of steering input in the first pic for what looks like a straight road. ;) The one case where the headliner area is of interest is when we want to capture the rear view mirror. It can be useful for studying racecraft or figuring out why you're driving a crazy line when in fact you're defending. Some of my best video has been captured in the rear view mirror! Ultimately, a PnP setup would work best. Lance Leong (instructor and club racer) has a VCR and AC inverter strapped in his car with a 4-to-1 video converter IIRC so he gets four pictures at once: feet, head, windshield and rear view. @Zack – awesome pictures, really shows the difference. Although you have a lot of steering input in the first pic for what looks like a straight road. ;)

The one case where the headliner area is of interest is when we want to capture the rear view mirror. It can be useful for studying racecraft or figuring out why you’re driving a crazy line when in fact you’re defending. Some of my best video has been captured in the rear view mirror!

Ultimately, a PnP setup would work best. Lance Leong (instructor and club racer) has a VCR and AC inverter strapped in his car with a 4-to-1 video converter IIRC so he gets four pictures at once: feet, head, windshield and rear view.

]]> By: Zack Steinkamp http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/comment-page-1#comment-259 Zack Steinkamp Tue, 05 Sep 2006 18:06:31 +0000 http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/#comment-259 Heya Brian -- Here are two images to compare no tint vs. a single layer of 20% tint: <a href="http://www.thenobot.org/pictures/20060903-car_cam/?nofilter.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.thenobot.org/pictures/20060903-car_cam/thumbs/nofilter.jpg"></a> <a href="http://www.thenobot.org/pictures/20060903-car_cam/?filter1.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.thenobot.org/pictures/20060903-car_cam/thumbs/filter1.jpg"></a> Unless there is detail in the roof/headliner you want to capture, I think the half-circle would work fine. The window tint does have an adhesive layer. On the tint I got from Kragen, there is a clear protective layer over the adhesive. Basically you clean the glass, cut the tint roughly to shape, spray it with water, remove the clear layer, wet it all again, position the tint, work out the air bubbles, let it dry (I used a hair dryer because I'm impatient ;-), then trim the tint along the edge of the glass with an x-acto knife or razor blade. Email me if you'd like me to make you one or send you some tint. I only needed about 1/2 square inch, and I bought 25 square feet ;-). Heya Brian — Here are two images to compare no tint vs. a single layer of 20% tint:

Unless there is detail in the roof/headliner you want to capture, I think the half-circle would work fine.

The window tint does have an adhesive layer. On the tint I got from Kragen, there is a clear protective layer over the adhesive. Basically you clean the glass, cut the tint roughly to shape, spray it with water, remove the clear layer, wet it all again, position the tint, work out the air bubbles, let it dry (I used a hair dryer because I’m impatient ;-) , then trim the tint along the edge of the glass with an x-acto knife or razor blade.

Email me if you’d like me to make you one or send you some tint. I only needed about 1/2 square inch, and I bought 25 square feet ;-) .

]]> By: brian http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/comment-page-1#comment-256 brian Tue, 05 Sep 2006 14:55:47 +0000 http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/#comment-256 @Zack: window tint is what professionals would use - nicely done. I'm curious to see how the entire top half will help/hinder the video. In the miata, we have a fairly small window port relative to the interior so my thin strip corresponds to the front windshield (with a bit of a fish eye lens to capture it all). This approach is great because you can customize it to the needs of each particular car. Does the tint have adhesive already on it or how did you attach it? @Zack: window tint is what professionals would use – nicely done. I’m curious to see how the entire top half will help/hinder the video. In the miata, we have a fairly small window port relative to the interior so my thin strip corresponds to the front windshield (with a bit of a fish eye lens to capture it all). This approach is great because you can customize it to the needs of each particular car.

Does the tint have adhesive already on it or how did you attach it?

]]> By: Zack Steinkamp http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/comment-page-1#comment-248 Zack Steinkamp Mon, 04 Sep 2006 01:28:03 +0000 http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/#comment-248 <a href="http://www.thenobot.org/pictures/20060903-car_cam/?CRW_2268.jpg" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">Here is a photo</a> of the lens cover with tint applied. <a href="http://www.thenobot.org/pictures/20060903-car_cam/?CRW_2268.jpg" title="tint comparison" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.thenobot.org/pictures/20060903-car_cam/images/CRW_2268.jpg" width="300"></a> Here is a photo of the lens cover with tint applied.

]]> By: Zack Steinkamp http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/comment-page-1#comment-247 Zack Steinkamp Sun, 03 Sep 2006 19:35:32 +0000 http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/#comment-247 Brian -- Thanks for the tip / inspiration. I just finished up a variation of this idea. What I did was to remove the protective glass lens and apply a semicircle of 20% window tint to the top half. Seems to work really nice... the only downside is aligning the semicircle when tightening the bezel back onto the camera to hold the lens tight can be tricky. Brian — Thanks for the tip / inspiration.

I just finished up a variation of this idea. What I did was to remove the protective glass lens and apply a semicircle of 20% window tint to the top half. Seems to work really nice… the only downside is aligning the semicircle when tightening the bezel back onto the camera to hold the lens tight can be tricky.

]]> By: brian http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/comment-page-1#comment-230 brian Tue, 29 Aug 2006 16:39:36 +0000 http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/#comment-230 You can see some video with the fix in place on my <a href="http://www.justracing.com/galleries/displayimage.php?album=random&cat=10012&pos=-1875" rel="nofollow">JustRacing.com</a> gallery. I will see if I can dig up some video pre-fix for comparison but trust me when I say it used to be like driving through a snowstorm at times. You can see some video with the fix in place on my JustRacing.com gallery. I will see if I can dig up some video pre-fix for comparison but trust me when I say it used to be like driving through a snowstorm at times.

]]> By: Mark Dadgar http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/comment-page-1#comment-169 Mark Dadgar Mon, 31 Jul 2006 05:28:55 +0000 http://www.ghidinelli.com/2006/05/15/improving-white-balance-and-contrast-for-racecar-bullet-cameras/#comment-169 Brian Ghidinelli, Super Genius. This worked PERFECTLY, so I no longer have to endure the horror that is washed-out in-car footage. Strong work. Brian Ghidinelli, Super Genius. This worked PERFECTLY, so I no longer have to endure the horror that is washed-out in-car footage.

Strong work.

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