I use minDV. I have issues every now and then. When I hit heavy gators it will lose focus for the rest of the session, but I've never had it shut off. I bought some cheap refurbished panasonic (I think) off Ebay. Great quality for the price. I'd say if you've wasted a bunch of money then get a chasecam once and for all to solve your issues. I think I'm interested in the Hero next.

 

also, use a canon elura with a wide angle lens attachment. it shoots 16:9 which is cool and records to miniDV

 

Went to AMS' website...got lost, finally found the camera page, and then went to the GoPro website to check out the camera itself. I must say I am impressed, especially with the video quality, the size of the camera, and the ability to withstand a wreck (the one video of the car hitting the tire wall)....and let's not forget the price.

http://www.goprocamera.com/index5.htm

 

We used the ChaseCam system w/ bullet cams in the WCGT cars with only minor issues. The CC system is good if you want multiple recordings, otherwise a regular camera on a roll bar mount seems to be quite sufficient.

 

Not to steal your thunder, but...

At $295 per ChaseCam Bullet camera (w/microphone capability), and $1500 per recording box (the one that allows two camera inputs), you're talking over $2000.00 for a system that's immobile.
You can spend about $500 for two of GoPro's Hero cameras and mounts (one pointing out of the car and one at the driver) and still probably get better resolution--513x384 @ 30fps for 56min on a 2GB SD card, and 3 Mpixel stills (2048x1536). Not to mention that you can carry the Hero around with you and take stills/video of the other cars and participants and carry the camera in your pocket.

 

I just bought a GoPro Hero, gonna test it out this weekend on the track. First impressions just playing around:

1. No resolution/quality settings, so you are limited to 53 mins recording based on my testing in my dd (can only handle up to 2 gig cards)
2. Uses 2 AAA batteries and even with the digital camera targeted batteries I tried, it will not record more that 1.5 hours or so per set, if you are lucky, so the low price is offset a bit by the expense of batteries if you plan to use it a lot. Rumor is that non-alkalines last a lot longer
3. Video quality is better than expected, but sound is so bad you have to just turn the volume off. Works at dusk in low natural light, but indoors with incandescent lights it does not work at all

The suction cup thing is just small enough that it will mount to the fake carbon strip in the dash (Evo 9), and peek over the dash. Nice perspective, since it shows a bit of the hood and is still pretty low, like the hood perspective in video games. Also, it does not block your view and it is less obvious to people outside the car like tech inspectors

The place I bought it from was out of Motor-Heros so instead they sent me the Helmet-Hero along with the suction cup thing in a bag, so basically I got the helmet attachments for free I might try attaching it to my helmet too, since I have 8 sessions to play with it

 

I've been using my Sony digital camera on a cheap best buy suction cup mount.

Here's some videos from this weekend:
Run1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBMQi6MdqM8

Run2 (with a cameo by Evo_Someday):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R0V1sEtSU4

Run3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgDcelvFc-w

Run4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bqdQvh7Iok