OT: Camera above Pool Table (Need help/advice)

[DanASM]

Before I go and look at more examples in other forums, I figured I would ask here as I know who I can trust to give good advice.

We shoot pool (9-Ball, 3,6,9 are $ balls and we play for quarters) a few times a week at a relatives house. Last year he bought a new table that is very nice and it is 7X4, standard bar room size. The lights above it are big enough for a 9x5 table and take up a lot of space on this one (but it lights it up nice).

I want to put a camera facing down onto the table so we can watch it on a T.V. nearby. I dont know which cameras are going to work the best, but I am told some just dont work as well as one would think.

I saw some examples of a delay mechanism to playback video at a set delay. If someone sinks a sweet shot and no one is paying attention, we can look at the T.V. and see it come up 15 seconds or so later.

Some of the older GoPro's are cheap but they might not do what I want them to do. I am trying not to spend a lot of $ but if I have to I will.

I think the camera wont be able to be in the center of the table. It might need to be at one end of the light and then cover the whole length of the table.

Let the ideas fly fellas.

 

[rons]

Have you tried a cell phone in a holding fixture?

 

[MrWhoopee]

I recently bought a pair of Wyze cameras. They are cheap and very good performers, with motion detection, internal memory capability and wi-fi internet connectivity. I don't know how they would perform at close range, which is what you will need. Otherwise, I highly recommend them. edit: They will only display thru their app unless you buy a monthly subscription.

Wyze Cam v4 | 2.5K HDR, Indoor/Outdoor, Wired Security Camera | Wyze

The best just got better with Wyze Cam v4. Clearer video with 2.5K QHD resolution. Color Night Vision. Enhanced clarity with wide dynamic range. Place it indoor or outdoor. 24/7 recording with MicroSD. All that and more means Wyze Cam v4 is the best "never wonder again" smart security camera...

www.wyze.com

 

[Bill D]

Went into an Appliance store the other day. They offer cooking classes. Instead of the old school giant angled mirror over the teacher's stove they had a camera and screen set up. A place to start looking for advice may be a cooking forum?
BilL D

Google search for cooking class tv camera yields over 78 million web sites. Here is one

Here's How Vaddio DocCAM 20 HDBT Overhead Camera Engages Culinary Students

Culinary arts program in a high school features a culinary classroom with a Vaddio DocCAM 20 HDBT camera overhead camera over the food preparation area.

www.commercialintegrator.com

 

[GregSY]

What you're describing is basically no different than what you would want if you were filming porn from a sky view. I'd suggest contacting some of the greats in that industry - guys like Dick Sakin, Mike Hunt, and Hugh Fagina - and see what they would recommend.

 

[DanASM]

I was browsing some stuff last night and the guys using GoPros have to use some type of fisheye with software that gets rid of the fisheye and makes it more wide angle than fisheye.

I ended up reading some articles from the last time I looked into it and the distance from the table to the camera is the critical part. Some guys built lights to hold the camera right up in the hood to get it as high as possible.

Overhead camera for pool table?

Does anyone have a good solution for an overhead camera for the pool table? I would think a small permanently mounted camera that covers the table with minimal fish eye, which has ability to start/stop recording for youtube uploads. Does such...

forums.azbilliards.com

here is a few good examples

 

[Ox]

Before I go and look at more examples in other forums, I figured I would ask here as I know who I can trust to give good advice.

We shoot pool (9-Ball, 3,6,9 are $ balls and we play for quarters) a few times a week at a relatives house. Last year he bought a new table that is very nice and it is 7X4, standard bar room size. The lights above it are big enough for a 9x5 table and take up a lot of space on this one (but it lights it up nice).

I want to put a camera facing down onto the table so we can watch it on a T.V. nearby. I dont know which cameras are going to work the best, but I am told some just dont work as well as one would think.

I saw some examples of a delay mechanism to playback video at a set delay. If someone sinks a sweet shot and no one is paying attention, we can look at the T.V. and see it come up 15 seconds or so later.

Some of the older GoPro's are cheap but they might not do what I want them to do. I am trying not to spend a lot of $ but if I have to I will.

I think the camera wont be able to be in the center of the table. It might need to be at one end of the light and then cover the whole length of the table.

Let the ideas fly fellas.

Shooting skin flicks?


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Well, c-mon ... someone had to ask it!
Ox

 

[DanASM]

Shooting skin flicks?


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Well, c-mon ... someone had to ask it!
Ox

Not following you Ox.
My uncle learned how to play this type of game like 50+ years ago at a barber shop with 3 pool tables in the back. 10 cents a game back then, no coin op. Pay the barber and get the balls.

We play with the 3,6,9 balls get a quarter from every other player at the end of the game. We have had 14 people playing at once, but usually get 6-10 or so people.

If the object ball gets combo'd into a $ ball, that player get a quarter from everyone in the game and the $ ball comes back out on the table. Those ones pay the best.

I bring a role of quarters and can lose it all in 1 night or I can be +/- $5 or so pretty regularly. Some guys can get up $15 + some nights.

 

[EmGo]

Some guys can get up $15 + some nights.

Pays better than machining, then

 

[SteveF]

You might take a look at some simple home security systems, just one camera and a DVR. In my case I have some older Samsung analog cameras (high tech and quality for the time) that can just be plugged into the back of my DVR and viewed on my TV.