Dash Cam Decisions

[rtbiscuit]

Have been contemplating a Dash camera after a recent accident that left me going from not at fault to 50/50 claim because it came down to my word against the lorry driving, goat molesting, tiny tackled, proctalgia of a fuktard!

 

ignoring the debate of who can and can't use the footage and that it could be used against as well as for me.

 

so my criteria was low profile so that it can be left in place without being obvious (behind the rear mirror) no screen (don't want the distraction) reliability and video quality. GPS tracking and user friendly software

 

after lots of reading and research I have it down to 3 possible cameras and was interested to see what others think there are pro's and cons on all, was interested to see what peoples opinions were.

 

1. RoadHawk HD2 (front only) £250 (super HD)

http://domestic.road...2-dash-cam.html

 

2. Mi Witness HD V2 (Front only £250) (Front and rear £300) (720p)

http://mi-witness.co...product-details

 

3. BLackvue DR650GW (Front only £195) (Front & Rear £279) (1080p)

http://www.blackvue....-channel-detail

 

I've deliaberatly gone for bigger names and avoided Chinese camera kits and ebay specials and don't want anything that looks like a satnav. needs to be fit and forget.

 

At first glance you would think the Blackvue has it won in all areas; front and back cameras with 1080p up front, but whats put me off a little is the reviews, reliability especially on the rear cam isn't perfect. also you have to decide when you buy if you only want front or front and rear. if you buy the single channel model and then later change your mind you can't just add a camera.

 

which brings into play the mi witness hd v2 this comes with a 3 year warranty which the others don't and is often referred to as a blackvue but shrunk down and all the negatives removed. the only down side is that it only records in 720p. but you can add a camera for the rear at a later date. and it comes with a CPL filter

 

The other contender is the roadhawk hd2, its the only camera of this style that records in superHD either 60fps at 1080p or 2304x1296p at 30fps but its front only unless you want to spend £300 odd on their multicamera black box.

 

My dilemmas are:

 

Does frame rate top everything I.e. should the SuperHD out rank all as the quality is so good you'll be able to read and see all?

 

or

 

Does Reliability sit higher even at the sacrifice of video quality, as long as the turn of events is recorded even if occasionally you might not be able to make out the od number plate.

 

Finally is front all you need or is having rear going to make a big difference to evidencing.

 

I have watched a lot of the youtube videos but the biggest issue is they don't give you the true quality because of youtubes mosaic screen makeup add slight pixilation.

Edited April 30, 2016 by rtbiscuit

[Andy_Muxlow]

I did buy a cheap £20 camera from tesco at 1st, pic was suppose to be 1080p but it was shocking. The I bought a sj4000 camera from Amazon, it's a replica of a go pro hero 3 I believe and it is great and only £45 pic quality is good and sound quality is good also. I know it's not a dash cam as such but a nice cheap alternative if on a budget.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited April 30, 2016 by Andy_Muxlow

[rtbiscuit]

I did buy a cheap £20 camera from tesco at 1st, pic was suppose to be 1080p but it was shocking. The I bought a sj4000 camera from Amazon, it's a replica of a go pro hero 3 I believe and it is great and only £45 pic quality is good and sound quality is good also. I know it's not a dash cam as such but a nice cheap alternative if on a budget.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

not what i'm looking for dash cam wise, but will keep it in mind for something else, always liked the go pro but ruled it out for other jobs as too expensive, but that's a sensible alternative

[Ekona]

Without actually reading about the cameras specifically, in general terms 720/30 is more than enough to give the detail you would need. Anything more is just eating away at precious disc space. For me, I'm not convinced a rear camera is massively important but if you can do it for cheaps then you might as well.

 

Remember Sean Lacey from ROC? I know his system auto downloads the data as he pulls onto the driveway, really this is what you want so you never forget to do it manually. The last thing you need is to lose data because it was overwritten.

 

My biggest concern is making it small and unobtrusive, otherwise you're inviting thieves to smash a window and grab it.

[Stutopia]

Hi-res is good but it must have a high bit rate as well, as high res, if you want a detailed moving images.

 

Roadhawk out of that lot for me. Big res (but personally I'd go 1080 at 60 over 1296 at 30) and crucially, resolution is supported by a high bit rate (up to 20 Mbps) and it'll take a 512Gb memory card. So you get decent images and a hefty buffer for recording. In the event of the worst, you'd have plenty of footage and ages to get the card out before it loops back round, all in excellent quality.

 

As for the rear, just buy 2!

[ioneabee]

I have the blackvue (Front and rear) and had problems at the start ............. but they were of my own making (RTFM)

 

their cameras "prefer" their own SD cards at the higher capacity and this is true as I tried a few - but only the one supplied by blackvue has given no problems ............ also - format the card in the camera not on the pc (although you can, but more often than not when you put it back in the camera it doesn't like it )

 

resolution at 1020 is more than enough - you can view the footage on your phone (low quality), on the software provided for your pc (low quality) but when you export it as a proper vid ... full HD

 

as said reliability - I've had no issues, other than my own making

[modo]

 

I use a transcend in my works Hulux and it's perfect. Bought it in Jan 2015 still going,great quality,Bluetooth. I'm going to get one for my Zed next. Around £90 with mount,SD card and charger.

 

[Husky]

I have the blackvue (Front and rear) and had problems at the start ............. but they were of my own making (RTFM)

 

their cameras "prefer" their own SD cards at the higher capacity and this is true as I tried a few - but only the one supplied by blackvue has given no problems ............ also - format the card in the camera not on the pc (although you can, but more often than not when you put it back in the camera it doesn't like it )

 

resolution at 1020 is more than enough - you can view the footage on your phone (low quality), on the software provided for your pc (low quality) but when you export it as a proper vid ... full HD

 

as said reliability - I've had no issues, other than my own making

 

When SD cards are manufactured they inevitably have failed sectors. This is why when you put a 4GB card into your PC it may read 3.89GB or some such, the 0.11GB represents the dead stuff. All of these dead sectors aren't necessarily next to each other, they are spread all over. When the card is manufactured, they test it to check how many dead bits it has, they then class it by these, a higher class having less dead bits. This isn't entirely important when transferring files, as a computer will skip the dead bits and crack on with the one after it no problem. The reason cameras, or cheaper and smaller electronics suffer is that they don't deal with dead sectors properly, they just want to write from start to finish and not take the time to work out if the sector has successfully taken the write. That action costs processing, thus increases the cost or size of the device. So, by specifying that you have to use super amazing class cards, they avoid having to increase the device cost on their side Now it's worth remembering that if you buy a high class card from china for cheaps, it's likely not going to be actually any good, you need to go for a reputable brand and you can even run a test on it once you open it, and if you find it's not satisfactory you could even contact them to ask what the deal is with their crap product. Run this tool on it https://www.avforums...w.1347842/��And it'll tell you it's speeds and it's actual capacity. Simply put, don't buy cheap @*!# SD cards from fleabay.

 

Sorry for the wall of text

Edited May 1, 2016 by Husky

[Richf]

There was a very recent thread on this

 

I've had my Blackvue (400hd) for about 4 years now , its been trouble free, i remove and format the cards every now and then maybe every 6 months and havent had a card go south on my , its been fit and forget

 

I have a G1W in my daily as the blackvue or any gps based camera can interfere with DAB radio , it cost me about £45 all in and records almost as well still 1080p but it has a screen and is much larger but i have had a card go on that one and it just stops recording after 5 mins, these cards dont last forever though you should consider changing them every 12 months really

 

To be honest the thing that really swings it for me is the Blackvue software its really easy to view and save your videos and most of all find the bit you want quickly

 

Dont know what the 650 is like , havent used one . Personally I dont think a rear facing one is as important.

[Sargara]

I'm using one of these, for £80 its great value for money:

http://www.carcamera.../mini-0805.html

(edit still available on eBay for cheaper now, £65!)

http://www.ebay.co.u...m-/171397354236

 

Review here: http://dashboardcamerareviews.com/mini-0805/

 

The supplied cable is long enough to route down the A piller, along the door trim and into the AUX socket behind the drivers seat. Its fit and forget, comes on with the car ignition and switches off with it too. The hardest part about the whole thing was buying a Class6 microSD from Amazon to put in the thing

 

If you would like any pics or footage from the 350z let me know and I'll go into the garage and get some for you.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Sargara

[jan8p]

 

The supplied cable is long enough to route down the A piller, along the door trim and into the AUX socket behind the drivers seat. Its fit and forget, comes on with the car ignition and switches off with it too. The hardest part about the whole thing was buying a Class6 microSD from Amazon to put in the thing

 

If you would like any pics or footage from the 350z let me know and I'll go into the garage and get some for you.

 

Are the 12V AUX sockets ignition powered or perm live? I've just installed my dashcam, but tapped into the fuse box in the driver's footwell into an ignition powered fuse!

[ioneabee]

In the 370 it is only powered when acc is on - if you want 24/7 power - you have to go to a powered fuse point

[Sargara]

Ignition powered, not perm. Id recommend getting a proper hardwire kit if thats the route you wanted to go down:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DashCam-Car-Hard-Wire-Kit-for-Mini-0803-0805-0806-Dash-Cam-Hardwire-Micro-USB-/172134268923

 

Otherwise you run the risk of the dashcam draining your battery if you leave it parked up.

[Richf]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-BlackVue-Vehicle-Recording-System/dp/B00LN2BZL2

 

You need one of these wired in if you want to use it when parked . i dont bother on mine but dont tend to park anywhere dodgy

[rtbiscuit]

The Mi Witness is the only one that states its DAB and GPS safe and as I run both in the car that's important, can't find if the other 2 are as well

[coldel]

I have a HD one, but run it in 720 as mentioned above it will go through a 32gb card in no time at all. Still more than clear enough to pick up the necessaries should a collision occur.

[ioneabee]

The Mi Witness is the only one that states its DAB and GPS safe and as I run both in the car that's important, can't find if the other 2 are as well

The Blackvue doesn't interfere with my satnav - so thats ok - don't know about DAB as the zeds radio is FM

[Richf]

The Mi Witness is the only one that states its DAB and GPS safe and as I run both in the car that's important, can't find if the other 2 are as well

The Blackvue doesn't interfere with my satnav - so thats ok - don't know about DAB as the zeds radio is FM

 

Some people have had issues with the blackvue and dab , not a problem in the zed as you say, but is on my daily

[ioneabee]

The Mi Witness is the only one that states its DAB and GPS safe and as I run both in the car that's important, can't find if the other 2 are as well

The Blackvue doesn't interfere with my satnav - so thats ok - don't know about DAB as the zeds radio is FM

 

Some people have had issues with the blackvue and dab , not a problem in the zed as you say, but is on my daily

I think I read somewhere (when I was looking to get mine) that you can purchase some sort of in-line suppressor ??

[Richf]

The Mi Witness is the only one that states its DAB and GPS safe and as I run both in the car that's important, can't find if the other 2 are as well

The Blackvue doesn't interfere with my satnav - so thats ok - don't know about DAB as the zeds radio is FM

 

Some people have had issues with the blackvue and dab , not a problem in the zed as you say, but is on my daily

I think I read somewhere (when I was looking to get mine) that you can purchase some sort of in-line suppressor ??

 

Yep but with variable results

[rtbiscuit]

I don't have the best DAB Ariel (windscreen mounted) and reception in my area is ok but not brilliant. DAB interference may rule the Blackvue out. and possibly the road hawk

[davey_83]

Item in post #10

Just yesterday installed this in my 350z, wow love it works great and excellent video quality. Nice and simple to use and screen goes to sleep while in use which is good for night driving.

Edited May 6, 2016 by davey_83

[-G-]

BlackVue DR7502CH here. Tried Road angel Halo, Dod, Nextbase & BlackVue is the best hands down.

 

Nextbase was front only but quality & night vision was faultless.

 

Will be installing the power supply manager to prevent discharging the battery.

[rtbiscuit]

glad to hear the feedback, still deciding on front only or front and rear, trying to work out where i'd install the rear cam as I can potentially fit rear sun screens but if I stick to the rear glass I can't. also my rear glass can open separate from the boot so need to allow enough cable for opening.

[Sargara]

Item in post #10

Just yesterday installed this in my 350z, wow love it works great and excellent video quality. Nice and simple to use and screen goes to sleep while in use which is good for night driving.

 

Nice one! Yeah its great isnt it for the price I was amazed. How have you routed yours, down the A pillar to the AUX behind the drivers seat too? I've had mine since the end of December, it was an xmas present.

 

What memory card are you using out of interest? I went with a 32Gb and based on my commute distance I seem to get about 7 days of footage before it has to start deleting to make room for new.