Dash Cams

[I.C.D]

Hi All ,
I am looking for a dash cam which I can use both for my car and motor-home, can anyone what is the best type to get.

Ian

[xelasnave]

I got a cheap one six month ago..its still in the box because I don't want an accident.
Alex

[pmrid]

I'd look for a GPS with dash cam included. Like the Garmin Dezl range. Mine also has hands-free capability. Pretty darned good unit. Only downside is the suction cap thingy that keeps letting go of the windscreen.
Peter

[csb]

I'm onto my 4th dashcam. I've been side swiped twice by trucks and both times the drivers said not their fault. Dashcam saved me both times.

I find the cylinder shaped cameras are less obtrusive on the windscreen and can sit in front of my rear-view mirror. I have the Mini 0805 - they get great reviews.

The suction cup mounts are bulky and the camera hangs too far from the glass. Mine has a stick on Mount and sits near the glass. The camera clips into the Mount. However you will then need a 2nd mount to swap to your motorhome. Usually can buy 2nd mount on ebay.

You should look for a camera with 1040p resolution. A downside of dashcam is rego numbers are only legible from about 5 -10 metres, so higher resolution helps.

Also nearly impossible to capture legible regos of oncoming vehicles. Cameras with higher bitrate capture regos more legibly than low bitrate cameras.

Get a memory card of at least 32gb - this holds about 4 - 6 days worth of my driving. On dashcam review sites, they recommend to format the card regularly to help for reliability - I try to do it monthly. They also recommend a new card each year - memory cards actually wear over time!

Look for a camera that has good heat rating - the Mini 0805 has never failed to start on a hot day. Price is about $150 with a card on ebay, Aus sellers.

[csb]

Many dashcams have a screen built in which helps to align the camera in your car. Screen is ok for quick viewing of incident and will show what happened including traffic lights. With all cameras you can put the card into your phone or pc to view.

Some have WiFi connection to your phone but I've not had any yet. These don't need a screen.

Also mount the camera so you can see that it is recording. Mine has a flashing led when in record mode and I have it stuck in front of rear-view mirror but so I can see the light from driver's seat. Sometimes it is not recording because the charger is out slightly. I also have the screen set to auto turn off after 1min.

You may need to consider getting a cigarette lighter extension with extra ports including usb ports.

[blindman]

http://www.thedashcamstore.com/replay-xd-1080-mini-camera-system-miniature-waterproof-hd-dash-cam/
Do not buy el cheapo dash cam.
Good luck

[csb]

That Replay XD dashcam, that blindman has linked, is not suitable for cars. The lens is on the end of the cylinder - it needs to be on the side for mounting on the windscreen.

The Mini 0805 & Blackvue dashcams are cylinder types with the lens on the side. There are others also.

[blindman]

No, they are for tractors, hehe

[csb]

Tractors :lol: You don't hear of them being involved of high speed crashes:shrug:

Some more tips:

Make sure the car bonnet or dash (near windscreen) is partly showing at bottom of image - this can be used to calculate distance, mainly for major crash when police use more resources into investigation.

The car radio playing can be used to ID the correct time & day - again mainly for major crash but also if other driver gives wrong time to benefit themself.

Get a new dashcam every 2 or 3 years for reliable functioning and also technology/features improvement. I'm on my 4th camera in about 7 years.

Having a single dashcam may not show action towards the rear but it shows you were driving correctly at the time.

The dashcam is like having a airplane blackboard in your car. And when other driver tells pork pies, the video is great evidence. Do you realise all the at fault driver has to say is he was not even there, then you or police must prove it. How much resource are police likely to use investigating a minor crash?

[GOTO]

Choice magazine did a review a while back and these came out very nicely but are expensive.
https://dashcamsaustralia.com.au/shop/dashcams/dod/dod-ls500w-2ch/
Cheers
Geoff

[csb]

Hi Ian (IDC)

So did you end up getting a dashcam. Which camera?

It would be interesting to know if this thread wass helpful in your decision.

The recording light on my camera started fast flickering (usually a steady flash) so I decided time for a new memory card and all good.

I have the camera mounted so I can see the recording light just for that purpose. It would be frustrating if I had an accident and then found the camera wasn't recording.

[The_bluester]

Quick one on the Replay cams. regardless of the lens location issue, they are more or less impossible to get now, which is a pity I have one in my race car and it provides very clear footage even at speed. I am pretty sure Replay has gone bust. If they had not I would have bought a couple more by now.

I only took notice if this thread as I keep thinking I should get a dash cam. I do a lot of KM and see a lot of idiotic things, when one of them finally connects with me (Again, see below) it would be very handy to have some proof of fault.

The one incident where one would have helped was about a year ago, concreters truck going the other way with a full sheet of reo hanging off the side into the oncoming traffic, whacked my car and one in front and one behind. The first reaction of the driver of the truck was to get bargy and accuse me of trying to stitch him up for pre existing damage. He was lucky, the damage was amazingly light, I expected to find half the the front of my car mashed up where it just had a smashed small trim and a bit of paint off.

[Boozlefoot]

I wouldn't leave home without one! Formerly a tow truck operator, I frequently was called to the Pacific Hwy to collect damsels in distress on their own late at night. One in particular (off her chops at the time) called 000 to report that I had abducted her.............. I calmly informed the operator in a loud voice where she was being transported to, my rego number, and that I was contacting the local police station. Calling them, they were in tears of laughter (we had a good working relationship) as they were talking to 000 at the same time. They said I was NOT to stop in case she bolted into the scrub and they would have to do a search, and we arranged a rendevous point, where she was safely delivered and detained following a search of her vehicle. As luck would have it I had a dashcam which also recorded " back into the cab". My word against hers was then a null and void situation thanks to video and audio coverage. An essential in this day and age of litigation, and some insurance companies are offering cheaper rates if good ones are installed.

[RAJAH235]

I've tried about 6 dash cameras lately.
Some reasonable....others not so.
I now have one of these & the video quality & features are very good.
> https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Blueskysea-Capacitor-G1W-C-More-Safe-Car-Dash-CAM-Camera-DVR-NT96650-Chip-AR0330/281366757656?epid=2118728493&hash=item4182c40118:g:Q~kAAOSwstxVc YcM

The one small downside because it uses a capacitor & not a battery, is that you have to connect it to your
PC to view & edit etc., the videos. Not a big deal though.

You can select a variety of Loop Mode settings.
I think.... from 1 Min., 2 Mins., 3 Mins., 5 Mins. & 10 Min. increments. (I have mine set to 3 Min., so the file size isn't too large.)
Just use a Class 10 SD card & you're fine.

None that I have tried are good when trying to record at night.
(Out in the country, or where there are no street lights.)
Not sure about the "higher end ones" but from what I've seen on YT, even they fail to produce a reasonable video in "the dark.".

The "Blueskysea" range is extensive, so take a look.
Lots of features with dual cameras, GPS etc., etc.

(NB: I have no affiliation with BSS. I just use their camera.)

[csb]

It's not surprising these cameras don't have great night imaging - they are fairly cheap. However, the image is quality is ok - good. It also seems to be an area that manufacturers are trying to improve this.

[Star Catcher]

Dash cams with the Amabarella A12 chip and a dash cam lens at F1.8 will do a great job at night. Just do a search in Ebay for "Dash Cam Ambarella A12"

You can check out the night performance of this chipset on this video on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh1oTEJ-reo

Ted

[erick]

I recently spent two weeks having a holiday driving over much of Crete. A bit of reading suggested driving there would be "interesting" (unusual driving etiquette and possible accident scams) so I thought it was time to learn about dashcams. So I bought about the cheapest Hong Kong offering and I've been pleasantly surprised. Yes, the microUSB socket did fail after some weeks and I had to hardwire the power supply. But it did a pretty good job of day-light video.

Murphy's law operated in reverse - because I was fully prepared, I didn't have any accidents or accident scams. But I did end up with lots of dashcam footage of great drives - some on hair-raising mountain roads and through the exceedingly narrow roads of mountain villages. And occasionally, just the rough stones in places triggered the G force detector which I had set most sensitive and protected that five minute clip from deletion/overwrite.

It's still going strong as I drive daily in Israel, recording the most fascinating behaviour by drivers and pedestrians - I've stopped saving the clips since I already have a lot!

Yes, in due course, I will invest in a quality product. Very worthwhile. One forward facing and one rear facing would be best.

[RAJAH235]

Sorry. I just have to add a comment here.
Just a FWIW...
That video just shows exactly what I said about driving in the city with heaps of street lights.
They all work fine in those situations, but fail miserably when on a totally
dark road with no street lighting.

All the dash cams (up to $100.00), that I've tried all exhibit the same flaw/s.

Cannot see anything ahead or to either side clearly until illuminated in/by your head lights.

Anyway, 'nuff said.

[csb]

Well, that is all I would expect from any camera. Or have I misunderstood you?

Cams that can show what's in the dark may possibly be too expensive. These cameras would need to have very good light adjustment features.

[multiweb]

After talking to Craig I got 3x Mini 0805 with 64GB SD cards. Here's a quick vid in different lighting conditions, different cars.

https://vimeo.com/244431247

They're great. Well built. Good quality and easy to use. Documentation lacks but once you've worked it out it makes sense. Main issue for me was the SD card. Because they're greater than 32GB you need to format them on a PC as FAT32. So you need a software like EaseUS that can do that. Then you also need to format again in the camera so it writes its own bits on the partition. Then you're good to go. SD cards I got were Kingston Micro SDXC 64GB (class 10) ~$34.00.

I logs GPS coordinates, speed and timestamp. I got 3 from eBay for $230.00. Local oz retailers mark up was ~100% at $477.00.

[luka]

Note that capacitor-powered dash cams are preferable to battery-powered dash cams in Australia. Li-Ion batteries don't last long in the summer heat.

[csb]

Yep, that's what I've also read on the net, Luka.

Marc, are the 3 cameras for 3 cars?

Did you mount cameras so that recording light is in view for the driver? This is my big complaint with plugin dashcams. So easy to dislodge the cigarette lighter/usb connection and so camera does not turn on. Other reasons recording may not happen are due to card or camera glitches.

Having the recording light in view allows the driver to monitor camera operation.

Recording fail glitches can usually be fixed with camera restart or reformat card. If record fail happens again (and not due to heat) then consider replacing memory card. As said before, cards lose stability after many over-write cycles.

Possibly the glitches are due to most cameras are not high-end devices. But many cameras priced from $100 should be decent enough. The Mini 0805, which Marc bought, performs well enough - my mini has glitches twice since installed over 12 months ago. It has never suffered from heat in Adelaide.

Lastly, there are many sites that have dash cam reviews, including aussie sites.

[multiweb]

Yes 3 cars.

Yes I can see the recording led flashing and the back screen.

Tucked in all cables away nicely. Better than my astro cable management anyway. :lol:

[csb]

Nice n clear videos, Marc. Good promo for that camera.

The bonnet is in view in first section of the video but not the rest. Having the bonnet in view helps for measuring distances if needed (mainly for major crash investigation). But also a matter of personal preference.

[multiweb]

Yes I've rectified this after a few runs to see the tip of the bonnet. All good now. :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Well... it didn't take long. :lol:

https://vimeo.com/244921736

[csb]

It seemed like the dark car was about to stop but then proceeded into the roundabout. Is that what it seemed like to you at the time Marc?

Maybe had a slight brain twist? Happens to the best of us.

Sensible driving on your part. Be alert for other drivers making a mistake or misjudging.

I had my dashcam for about 2 years and got hit by a tow truck who denied responsibility even after he and his company were given the video. Of course, you can't argue very long against clear evidence.

[multiweb]

Elderly chinese lady on her red Ps (there might be a reason for it :lol:). She didn't stop or slow down. She actually didn't see me at all until I pressed the horn. Got done years ago in the exact same situation on the left in a small round about so as you say you learn and the "what if" is always in the back of your mind.