Dash cams, what to get and where to get it (Q&A only)

Max Power

Can anyone recommend me one?

Are they easy to install?


Mod note - this technical thread is for three things only:
acquirement, installation and operation of dash cams.
Do not post your dash videos or argue over small stuff.

Only post if you are committed to buying and have questions, general chat will be removed.

dgt

FionnMcCool87 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend me one?

Are they easy to install?

See here

Jack breen

dgt wrote: »

See here

I have asked on that thread allready but every poster was busy bickering at each other. I need something with a 6mp camera and GPS.

CiniO

Jack breen wrote: »

I have asked on that thread allready but every poster was busy bickering at each other. I need something with a 6mp camera and GPS.

I already proposed to split those thread for technical one which dashcam to buy, and other one for showing video recordings from dashcam with insteresing road situations.
Hope this is a good start of a new thread if mods allow us for that.

Jack breen

CiniO wrote: »

I already proposed to split those thread for technical one which dashcam to buy, and other one for showing video recordings from dashcam with insteresing road situations.
Hope this is a good start of a new thread if mods allow us for that.

Thanks. I have looked at a good few on Dealextreme.com, I am not sure of the quality though.

If they come with a cigarette lighter plug is it possible to wire them to the roof lights as opposed to having wires all over the shop.

CiniO

FionnMcCool87 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend me one?

Are they easy to install?

I've got this.

I also have it's predecessor (smartcam 1).
It's not perfect but it's allright.

Advantages :
- great night recordings,
- fair quality of picture

Disadvantages:
- horrendous amount of media capasity needed for recordings (8Gb card allows for 1h recording at 720p)

Smartcam 1 was nearly twice cheaper, and offered the same except from full-hd quality, which I'm not using anyway (720p is enough). It also used a bit less space for files. I needed another one so I bought smartcam2, but I managed to buy it for half the current price.
I don't think I would pay current price for it, know what it is and how it works.

However though I'm not sure if there's much choice on the market with that price range.

Max Power

Thanks CiniO. That first one has great picture quality, think I might get it. I have a 24gb SD card so I should get a couple of hours from that.

That other thread is a bit of a pain alright, you have to wade through a lot of crap.

randy hickey

OP, after a fair bit of research,( with a lot of the legwork already done by Cormie!) I bought one of these a few months ago;

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/251016576631

along with a 32GB SD card from Amazon.

I've got to say I'm very happy with it!

PS. It's ridiculously easy to install and the software that you run it on is very user friendly.

Sully

Anybody any recommendations for a dashcam? Was looking around on eBay and some are cheap, and other more expensive for what appears to be very similar spec.

I'm just looking for something tidy that does the job. Handy for insurance purposes.

TGi666

have you a budget in mind?

Sully

I'd prefer not to break the bank.. I was offered a Smartcam 2 yesterday on eBay and it was over 100euro including delivery from the UK. Just thought it was a bit on the pricey side!

randy hickey

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ITRONICS-ITB-100HD-8GB-1080P-Full-HD-Car-Black-Box-with-GPS-Record-/251016576631

Bought it.
Use it.
Can recommend it.

TGi666

here is a post from another thread yesterday

Lawless2k12 wrote: »

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/smartcamdirect?_fcid=99&_localstpos=&_sid=505812804&_stpos=&gbr=1



I got one of the dash cams off this company. Some yoke. Easy to use and install and great quality. A tad pricey though as there are a few cheaper options but BEWARE! Many dash cams (Especially ebay ones) tend to be knock offs of other ones on the market so make sure if you buy one that it is genuine. And that it really does have the quality it says it does. Many on Ebay boast 1080 but are actually 720 at best. They also boast night vision... pfffft! It's actually just a few LED's that shine like a torch on your windscreen and blind the camera



Just a thought

the link might be helpful to see what the original cost of the smartcam you were offered was

Sully

TGi666 wrote: »

here is a post from another thread yesterday

the link might be helpful to see what the original cost of the smartcam you were offered was

Same one, he wouldn't do much on the price.

randy hickey; Looks nice but very pricey!

finnharpsboy

so does anyone with one have any footage of the quality of the ones they use?
or how much it covers if its placed tight to the windscreen say

joujoujou

randy hickey wrote: »

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ITRONICS-ITB-100HD-8GB-1080P-Full-HD-Car-Black-Box-with-GPS-Record-/251016576631

Bought it.
Use it.
Can recommend it.

Actually thinking about the same cam.

Found one slightly cheaper - http://www.ebay.ie/itm/170933879876

Just 1 more question - have you been charged extra (customs, VAT, etc)?

yllw.ldbttr

Sully wrote: »

I'd prefer not to break the bank.. I was offered a Smartcam 2 yesterday on eBay and it was over 100euro including delivery from the UK. Just thought it was a bit on the pricey side!

I bought a cheap one on ebay for 30 euro, utter pile of ****e, terrible video quality and beyond useless in anything other than perfect light.

Picked up a used SmartCam2 on adverts.ie for €80 delivered including SD card. I would highly recommend it.

Sully

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

I bought a cheap one on ebay for 30 euro, utter pile of ****e, terrible video quality and beyond useless in anything other than perfect light.

Picked up a used SmartCam2 on adverts.ie for €80 delivered including SD card. I would highly recommend it.

Thanks, I contacted the seller again to see if I can negotiate anything with him.

Sully

Got the Smartcam2 from another UK Seller. Just under €100 incl. delivery. Saved about £10GBP by this new "Make an Offer" idea on eBay.

yllw.ldbttr

Sully wrote: »

Got the Smartcam2 from another UK Seller. Just under €100 incl. delivery. Saved about £10GBP by this new "Make an Offer" idea on eBay.

It's the best at that price range IMO, a word of caution, the file sizes are huge, grab a 32GB SD card, 16GB is not enough as far as I'm concerned.

Deliverance XXV

I just ordered a car camera mount/charging cradle for my Samsung Galaxy S3 and plan to use that as a dashcam/charging station/GPS. Got it from eBay for less than €5.
There are plenty of free/paid dashcam apps where you can select a multitude of options before recording. Plenty of videos on Youtube showing some good quality footage.

Anyone tried this yet?

yllw.ldbttr

Deliverance XXV wrote: »

I just ordered a car camera mount/charging cradle for my Samsung Galaxy S3 and plan to use that as a dashcam/charging station/GPS. Got it from eBay for less than €5.
There are plenty of free/paid dashcam apps where you can select a multitude of options before recording. Plenty of videos on Youtube showing some good quality footage.

Anyone tried this yet?

Had a similar setup with previous phones but I genuinely noticed a significant impact on battery life over the year or so that I had the phone, YMMV.

I used a Tetrax holder and an iPhone 4S, camera quality would obviously be better with the Samsung, although I'd say they'd suffer equally in terms of battery charge/ discharge cycles.

Deliverance XXV

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

Had a similar setup with previous phones but I genuinely noticed a significant impact on battery life over the year or so that I had the phone, YMMV.

I used a Tetrax holder and an iPhone 4S, camera quality would obviously be better with the Samsung, although I'd say they'd suffer equally in terms of battery charge/ discharge cycles.

It would be on charge while operating for 40-80 mins driving a day so it wouldn't be ideal but I suppose one of the best things about these phones are the removable batteries.

Lawless2k12

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

It's the best at that price range IMO, a word of caution, the file sizes are huge, grab a 32GB SD card, 16GB is not enough as far as I'm concerned.

I agree here! Mine can do around 2 to 2 and a half hours recording on the 32GB card. I can get 4 hours out of the WVGA mode (Think that's what it's called... can't remember)

It's a great camera as the night mode actually works, video is v.good quality, sound is v.good as well and it's easy to fit especially since the mounting cup is impossible to pull off the window it's up. Think I paid around €130 inc. 32GB card... give or take a few quid

yllw.ldbttr

Deliverance XXV wrote: »

It would be on charge while operating for 40-80 mins driving a day so it wouldn't be ideal but I suppose one of the best things about these phones are the removable batteries.

+1

Not really an option with Apple devices without going through Apple themselves so maybe not an issue for you.

yllw.ldbttr

Sample video from my SmartCam 2 HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hzMQc42UZU
Youtube impacts on the quality when uploading, but still not bad.
Original 5 minute file is 700MB +

randy hickey

joujoujou wrote: »

Actually thinking about the same cam.

Found one slightly cheaper - http://www.ebay.ie/itm/170933879876

Just 1 more question - have you been charged extra (customs, VAT, etc)?

PM sent!

niloc1951

Just to remember, there are two types of dash-cam.

For about €20 or a bit more you get a cam that just records video
Example here http://www.pearl.de/a-PX1295-5443.shtml

From about €70 or more you get a version that has GPS and will place you on Google Maps with time, date and speed, this type often also have G sensors which record and sudden changes in movement, like braking very hard, hitting a pothole or being hit by another vehicle.
Example herehttp://www.amazon.com/2-7-inch-degrees-camera-recorder-logger/dp/B007PNZBRM/ref=pd_sim_sbs_p_1

Some also have LED's for a bit of night vision as the light from headlights is not effective.

yllw.ldbttr

niloc1951 wrote: »

Some also have LED's for a bit of night vision as the light from headlights is not effective.

I presume you are referring to infra red light? Won't that just reflect off the windscreen?

yllw.ldbttr

Lawless2k12 wrote: »

http://youtu.be/zKLuyuEijJQ
Wee bit of footage from my own cam. Not too shabby :P

Your one appears to be infected with the poor taste in music bug as well.

;-)

Lawless2k12

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

Your one appears to be infected with the poor taste in music bug as well.

;-)

Must get back to the seller about this! Selling dash cams that have auto tuned terrible music.... B*stards......

twowheelsonly

Deliverance XXV wrote: »

I just ordered a car camera mount/charging cradle for my Samsung Galaxy S3 and plan to use that as a dashcam/charging station/GPS. Got it from eBay for less than €5.
There are plenty of free/paid dashcam apps where you can select a multitude of options before recording. Plenty of videos on Youtube showing some good quality footage.

Anyone tried this yet?

I use the Galaxy S2 and the 'DailyRoadsVoyager' app.
Really good.

The video quality is fine and it records in 1 minute segments into temp files. I think that mine records about 2 hrs before it starts overwriting itself. Saving files in a separate folder is simple - just a tap on the screen. In the event of an impact/sudden stop or bump it will automatically save the clip.

App and samples here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dailyroads.v&hl=en

Tomebagel

interested in getting one myself,

how easy is it to upload what you have recorded onto your computer,

how do you edit what you have recorded i.e so you dont have to watch 25mins of recordings to see 20seconds of a driving incident?

what im lookin for is one that can save footage easily so its not gonna get rewritten over and lost,and god forbid ever i have a crash it will be easy to save the footage there and then in the car and i dont have to worry about it loopin over itself after the memory is fully and losing the footage etc...

Lawless2k12

Tomebagel wrote: »

interested in getting one myself,

how easy is it to upload what you have recorded onto your computer,

how do you edit what you have recorded i.e so you dont have to watch 25mins of recordings to see 20seconds of a driving incident?

what im lookin for is one that can save footage easily so its not gonna get rewritten over and lost,and god forbid ever i have a crash it will be easy to save the footage there and then in the car and i dont have to worry about it loopin over itself after the memory is fully and losing the footage etc...

It's easy to upload... just takes ages! Took me 45 mins to import onto computer and 250 mins to upload to youtube But only 45 mins to import! It can do 2 mins loops as well but I just set it to 5 for the craic...

I tried to cut it to 30 seconds but for some reason my Realplayer wouldn't allow me So the only way for me is by trimming it on youtube

Mine can take about 4 hours on its current setting. If I need to save something I would have to import onto my computer... not ideal but I haven't figured out how to save on the cam itself... to lazy to find out tbh

joujoujou

randy hickey wrote: »

PM sent!

Replied.


Thanks!

Sully

Looking forward to mine. I assume there are more expensive cams that record your speed and the speed of the car in front?

Sully

Camera arrived but the mount is pretty tall and chunky so the camera is a bit in your face for the driver! How have people installed them?

Lawless2k12

Sully wrote: »

Camera arrived but the mount is pretty tall and chunky so the camera is a bit in your face for the driver! How have people installed them?

I stuck mine in the top left corner. Taped the wire down the frame of the windscreen and over the glove compartment :P

yllw.ldbttr

Sully wrote: »

Camera arrived but the mount is pretty tall and chunky so the camera is a bit in your face for the driver! How have people installed them?

Mine fitted in behind the mirror, just about.

Sully

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

Mine fitted in behind the mirror, just about.

Iv an etag there so no use. The camera just seems to hang down a fair bit, if the holder was smaller it would be ideal!

joujoujou

Once again, very big thanks for randy hickey for hints and recommendations, dashcam purchased and tested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdpOKMA-xrk
Fixed temporarily - don't like self adhesive bracket supplied, so it will be suction cup mount fixed instead. Soon.

Sully

Not that keen on my dashcam. Seems to turn off randomly and turn on randomly when the car starts. I turned off the motion detect but it wasn't very good - driving on back roads and it would stop recording. Battery lasts around a half an hour. Suction cup is chunky.

joujoujou

Can you return it?

Sully

joujoujou wrote: »

Can you return it?

They said the battery is supposed to last that long. I'm sure ill figure out the rest in due time - not sure why it auto-starts and the manual is crap but I just turn it on manually when driving and find its okay.

randy hickey

joujoujou wrote: »

Once again, very big thanks for randy hickey for hints and recommendations, dashcam purchased and tested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdpOKMA-xrk
Fixed temporarily - don't like self adhesive bracket supplied, so it will be suction cup mount fixed instead. Soon.

Nie ma za co, Jan!

Packet

I ordered a SmartCam2 from micksgarage.com on Saturday but they seem to have delivered a SmartCam which I believe only does 720p.

The order acknowledgement email described it as "SmartCam2 HD In-Car DVR Camera System. 1080p Full High Definition recording with Night Vision & high quality sound."

Lurching

Any updates on this?
The link from Randy Hickey above is no longer available. Any idea what model that was?

Thanks.

cormie

Randy and I both have the iTronics ITB100HD. I think the seller on Ebay had to stop selling them as they were below MSRP or something like that. Unfortunately the price of them seems to have shot up considerably since I bought mine but you may find a good price if you look hard. At the time of purchase, they were the best of the best. I don't know if anything better has come out since but I did see this one which seems to be pretty good quality for the price: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=P-dfvPX0dOs

pa990

do any have mac friendly sw?

randy hickey

Lurching wrote: »

Any updates on this?
The link from Randy Hickey above is no longer available. Any idea what model that was?

Thanks.

Here you go;

http://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=itronics+itb-100+hd&_sacat=0&_from=R40

The reason the prices for these units has crept up is because Itronics have apparently clamped down on unauthorised sellers on ebay.

Amprodude

What purpose does GPS serve on this gadget?