Five Reasons The SmartyCam Is The Best Video Camera For Racing

Our favorite video camera for racing is the AiM SmartyCam GP HD 2.2. From Winding Road Racing crew, to pro and amateur drivers, pretty everyone agrees that the SmartyCam is a great action camera for track days, HPDE, autocross, circle track or road racing. It is also ideal for rally as you’ll see. Here’s why:

1. The SmartyCam can be 12V powered (from the car’s electrical system) so the batteries are never dead. We’ve seen way too many races where some driver’s critical footage was never recorded because the owner didn’t have time to recharge or the battery died mid-race.

1. The SmartyCam can be wired for an ECU trigger. That means that the recording automatically turns on when the car rolls off grid and onto the track. This eliminates operator error (“I forgot to turn on the camera”) or it means one less thing for the crew to do (and possibly forget) on grid.

1. The SmartyCam uses a global shutter. This means all the lines that make up each frame are taken at the same time. This eliminates the “Jello effect” where the image is wavy when the car vibrates and moves the camera slightly

1. The SmartyCam offers data overlays on screen so that you can see your shift points and throttle/brake timing. You can also get speed, RPM and track position among other data points. The data which appears on screen and its location can be controlled by the user.

1. The SmartyCam is built like a brick. The quality of AiM products in general is impressive, but in particular the bullet cam mount just doesn’t flex. This, combined with the global shutter, gives rock solid images (we’ve often had people watching WRR YouTube videos assume they were simulator recordings because the images are so vibration-free). Plus, replacement parts, such as bullet cams and bullet cam glass, can be purchased separately if they’re damaged on track (talk to our sales staff for more info).

Nothing is perfect, of course. The SmartyCam is on the expensive side at $1099. Some of the magic above requires connection to an AiM Data system. And the resolution of the SmartyCam is only 720P. Clarity is fine, but the images aren’t quite as perky as they are on consumer video cams.

Purchase the SmartyCam GP HD 2.2 here

Here is some footage from the older GP HD 2.1 to give you an idea of the stability and data overlay: