Good barrel cam for wing shooting?

Anyone know of a good barrel cam for wing shooting? I have a Go Pro, but the wide angle lens makes the birds look like mosquitoes that are a hundred yards away. I would like a cam that would give more of a zoomed view of the bird. Anything like this out there?

you should hire a camera guy, its the only way to go...barrel cams are so 2009

I am not sure if you are joking, or are you just that rich? LOL! It reminds me of what Queen Marie Antoinette said demonstrating her extreme disconnect from common people. When she was told her people were starving for lack of bread, she said, "Well, let them eat cake".

He has a large albeit, poor, sense of humor

shotkam

I use my GoPro 3+ Black on UHD Narrow. I use the clamp mount and clamp it on the Plug Screw. Has worked pretty good so far for dove this season. Helps me to remember to follow through on the shot also.

I was looking at the shotkam yesterday. Seems like a good idea, but all the videos I watched of it in use were really poor. The quality was horrible and they were all in slow motion with the horrible sound. I watched a video from the inventor and it appears the shotkam's primary purpose is as a shooting learning device, to show a wing or trap shooter what they are doing wrong. It's an ingenuous device to say the least. If I could see an example of high quality video that is not in slow motion and has good sound, I might consider it.

Personally, I don't think videos shot with a camera on the barrel are worth a darn. The video is all shaky, the gun jumps when you shoot, and the ducks looks super far away. I hate to say it, but I agree with Garrett. Get someone to record with a real camera, or don't record.

I have a "Lid Cam" that I've used several times dove hunting and the video was pretty good.

I hire a courtroom sketch artist for all of my hunts.

Thanks. I have looked at some videos made with the lid cam of wing shots. It's pretty nice, but not a whole lot different then what I am getting with my gopro with my head strap. The youtube videos I watched were not the best, but I blame the hunters and video editors for that. I find that most of the cameras can do a decent job if the hunter has the presence of mind to remember they are filming while hunting. I bought a cheap GoPro knock off (SJ4000) for $60 because it had a 4X digital zoom and wifi. Gave it a try this weekend. Tried mounting it to my barrel with a bicycle mount (came with the camera) but the mount was unstable and could not handle the recoil and the camera would end up point up after each shot. Here is a video I made.

SJ4000 Texas Dove Hunting Demo

I also won an ebay auction for Campark HD Waterproof Sports Rifle Camera. Got it for $37, but it's coming from overseas, so it won't be here for two to 4 weeks. The camera is shaped like a tactical flashlight and it came with a mount to attache it directly to the barrel in a much more secure way then any of the gopro mounts I have looked at. I make a video review of it when it gets here, hopefully before the end of dove season. Here is a picture of it.

Or put a camera on tripod and roll w it. Best videos are w assistance

yeah I wasnt joking, get someone to man a camera...its hard looking like a hero wing shooter when you only have crap videos on youtube

if your gonna be a bear, be a grizzly

Okay. Let's get this out of the way because there seems to be a little confusion about what my question was in the OP. The problem here is that I did not ask " How do I produce a high quality professional hunting video?". My was question was, "Anyone know of a good barrel cam for wing shooting?"

There is no question that hiring a professional videographer with thousands of dollars of equipment to film your hunt will produce a high quality video. No one here is trying to argue against this. I am not sure why some people on here seem to want to fight in favor of a point that no one is arguing against. I don't think anyone here would be stupid enough to disagree with this point and the fact that you keep pushing this, abundantly obvious to anyone who has a brain, point; can only mean that you think the rest of us are stupid. I find that a little insulting, not only to me, but also for the rest of the people that have commented here and kept on topic. So, for those of you that seem to want to push this point (even though it is not the subject of this thread); YOU WIN! You are right!

Now, please quit insulting the rest of us and either stay on topic or don't comment at all. Thank you.

I've been thinking about one of these...anyone have any experience?


https://usa.ioncamera.com/camocam/

I guess your not interested in being a grizzly

I agree with you on the Go-Pro. Not good for wingshooting.

This one looks interesting. Watch the dove video. Seems to work pretty well.

https://tactacam.com/

You don't have to hire a pro to record you. Get a buddy to come along and take turns recording/hunting. Not that complicated.

Or you could just enjoy a hunt while it's happening and not worry about video.

you clearly dont understand the younger generation, its all about selfies and look at me

The Ion Camocam looks nice. It takes some nice video with good sound. The problem I see with it, from my perceptive, is that it has an even wider angle fish eye lens then the GoPro. The standard gopro has a 170 degree fish eye lens, where has the camocam has a 180 degree fish eye lens. I am just not sure why they design these cameras that are intended to be used on guns with a fish eye lens.

Here are a couple of videos of the camocam in action. In the trap shooting video, yuo cannot even see the clays. In the archery video you can barley make out the target. It does not say in the specs anywhere that it is any king of zoom capabilities, so you are pretty much stuck with a 180 degree field of view.

Ion Camocam Trap shooting
Ion Camocam Archery

Or you could enjoy doing both. If you read my profile, you will see that I list photography as one of my interest. I am just having fun here. I enjoy hunting and now I enjoy making my own videos (New hobby for my). I have hunted for almost 50 years from the Artic Circle to the Amazon jungle. I figure I should start videoing some of it for that day when my old body wins the war with my young mind and I am confined to a chair. At least then I will have something decent to watch instead of this garbage that is on TV these days.

ATN Shot Trak, 5X magnification

I have an extra BNIB you can have for $120

No. I shoot and eat grizzlys. LOL! Except for that one that charged me when I was camped out by a river up in the Northwest Territories of Canada back in the 90s. That one got away because I did not have my gun in my hand. Stupid thing almost trampled me. Turns out it was not charging me. It was running scared because I had knocked over my coffee pot over and it scared him. That would have been a great time to be wearing a GoPro though. LOL. After I changed my undies, I back tracked him and took this pic of his paw print.







Here are some pics I took of the Aurora Borealis the night before in this same spot.

Very nice! It seems like you can afford a photographer, or better yet you might commission an artist to do an oil on canvas of you in the field.

I am a photographer. My Photography Website

So I did a little more searching on the ion cam and found a duck hunt. It's still at the top of my list for the quality in video and audio, it comes camo, it comes waterproof and it comes with gun mounts. Duck hunting video:



I also almost bought this guy, but reviews say it doesn't work with the Galaxy S5, which is what I have.

http://www.amazon.com/S4Gear-JackKnife-Smartphone-shotgun-Samsung/dp/B008HA25CG

thats a much better picture than a gopro

Nice video. I like way the guy had it mounted. The view point showed exactly why he hit or missed. I might to give this one a try. If you get on first. Let me know how you like it.

Berretta is having a promotion from Aug 1 - Oct 31 where if you buy a qualifying shotgun, you get a free Tactacam. I purchased an a400 Xtreme and my free Tatacam is on its way.

http://www.beretta.com/en-us/free-tactacam/

https://tactacam.com/

Evidently, the center focal point of the Tactacam is 3x magnification while the edges are normal so it still gives you a wide field of view. I will take some shots with my Tatacam and post so you can get an idea of what the quality is.

These are their claims:

Brings target 3x closer: There’s nothing more frustrating than getting some great hunting footage only to find the animal looks much further away than it really was. Tactacam’s revolutionary True Vision lens brings the target 3x closer and true to distance with no fish-eye

Keeps subject in frame: Tactacam’s hybrid lens design features a zoom focus in the center and a wide angle, natural to view on the sides. This ensures your subject is always in frame without the view finder.

Built to take recoil: Ordinary action cameras can skip or blur when you shoot. They are not made to take the recoil of a gun or bow

Always in focus, even through branches: Tactacams’s Infinite Focus uses multiple focal points. This means the subject will always be in focus, just point and shoot!

Designed for low light: So much action occurs the first and last half hour. Tactacam’s 12mp sensor is designed to handle low light for superior hunting

Eons ago there was an old fashioned way back before go pros, phones, other digital nonsense, before polaroids and even pinhole cameras, before every inch of earth, every person, every event or rarity in the world had been shared millions of time on "the internet" destroying the novelty of everything. There was an ancient practice a way of actually taking in what you saw, appreciating it in its entirety and recalling it as a cherished moment in your head the old timers they called it....remembering. And dangit that not an app.

I already said that mobetta, then jungle book went off on a tangent about his 50 years of polar bear hunting in the Klondike and all of his high dollar kodaks.

Shotkam the best- cant even find used one- they are coming out w the next generation- can go to their website and put yourself on the list- go to website and check them out

I agree that the barrel cams aren't as good because of the jolt from each shot. I had some ikams and they were great, just crappy 1997 picture quality. I heard they came out with an HD version

I found used Ion Cam for a little over $80 Included the cam, wifi module, charger and misc brackets. I haven't figured out all the various settings but I'm very impressed with the device and the limited amount of video I've gotten with it so far. Not being a videographer, you can take that for what it is; an opinion.

The only downside iI've found so far is it's size and the need to program it through a console, I.e. cell phone, tablet or PC. It's very light but once mounted on the top of a shotgun, I found it to be much bulkier expected. I don't run optics on shotguns so there may be some bias on my part having used a shotgun that way since I was little, but even with a .mil background in combat arms and extensive training with firearm mounted optics I couldnt get used to it sitting on the top of my shotgun, either receiver mounted in scope rings or barrel mounted.

I initially mounted it on top of my receiver with a set of scope rings that allowed cowitnessing the target through the rings. Seeing how I don't really "aim" a shotgun it affected my shooting. My field auto shotguns shoot 6'oclock POA and the cam interfered with the sight picture causing me to miss shots. I miss enough as it is. In my case, it was difficult to hit what I saw only briefly.

I'm sure with time I could adapt to accommodate the cam sitting on top of my receiver, but I don't see myself using the camera often enough to warrant spending the time to become proficient using it that way at the short term expense of hitting what I'm actually shooting at. More so since my waterfowling vids will never see the light of day on social media.

I've also tried the cam mounted under the barrel at the distal end and I t works well, though you don't have the barrel sight plane to judge distance, POA, or swing through. With it mounted that far out on the barrel, weight is still negligible as the camera weighs very little and is suprisingly light. I use a Polychoke II (which weighs roughly a pound) on the shotgun and with the camera installed I cannot tell any difference in weight.

I like the tubular design as it lends itself to being mounted somewhat unobtrusively on firearms, ATV's, boats, helmets, handlebars, etc. the wide FOV also works well if the cam is mounted statically behind or beside where your sitting. It focuses to infinity and takes great video when the birds drop in the spread right in your face. There are lots of accessories for it and a lfew big box retailers carry it as well. You can find used cams easily.

Just beware that there are different versions of the same cam with minor external differences but with significant differences in resolution and features/function The versions are best differentiated by model number, not the name on the packaging, as the physical appearance is similar between models. My experience has been that if someone is reluctant to give you the specific model number or has omitted it from their ad, they are trying to pass off an older low-resolution model as the newer version. In the used market the low res versions sell for $20+ versus the HD versions which hover around $50-+120 depending on condition, model, and included accessories.

Regarding accessories, the wifi module will burn thru the non-removable battery pretty fast. I pre-configured the Ion via my MacBook and used the manual switch to turn the cam on/off once it was mounted.

I got my tactacam and mounted on my Beretta.

You can see a couple short clips here:









To mount it, I bought a cheap set of 30 mm rifle scope peep mounts from Ebay:

Barska 30mm Extra High Weaver Style See through Scope Ring Mounts Rail

The mount was too wide for the center rib of the shotgun so I hacked off one side. It is still plenty stiff and installs and removes easily without tools.

Shooting with it didn't take much time to get used to as long as I trusted my mount.

Funny thing about the rifle scope mount is that I think it causes the 'ding' sound when firing and makes the video seem like an arcade game

I was about to say that thing sounds horrible.

I think cutting one leg on each scope mount makes it act like a tuning fork .

Going to turn one mount 180 degrees to see if they cancel each other out.

Well, it's been a year since I started this thread. I still have not found the perfect camera. I did buy one camera that would have worked okay if it would have produced decent video. Here is a short video I did with it shooting some dove.

Dove Hunting with the Mini F9 Sporst DV Cam

I have been using a Gopro on a self made hat mount. I had a GoPro shotgun mount and I am not sure which is more annoying. The shotgun mount picked up a tuning fork sound off the A400.

The shotgun mount also has a ton of rollover when loading. The hat mount has a ton of looking around as you can see. I was running on 720 on medium FOV with a 3 silver. The hat mount in the case also weighs a freakin ton.

Here is another video I took the other day with my head mounted SJ4000 action cam. I had the digital zoom set to 2.5 magnification. The footage from the SJ4000 is still a lot clearer at 2.5X digital zoom then footage from the Mini F9 DV cam in the first video. I can actually crop it and you can still tell what the video is about. The Mini F9 video was so poor that it could not be cropped at all.