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

fergiesfolly

Ordered the same camera as Voodoomelon, but was wondering is there an alternative method of wiring this, rather than into the cigarette/power outlet.
Mine is always on and I don't want to go to the bother of plugging it in and out all the time.

RandomAccess

Micksgarage are selling the 0801 now (the one voodoo melon has mentioned from tech moan). I haven't checked if its cheaper or dearer than other retailers, but could be worth paying a little extra for easier return postage / Irish consumer protection etc.

Kaiser D

Hi lads,

I'm wondering if there any dash cams available that could double as a helmet camera or for somewhere on the bike.

Tried googling but got no real results.

thanks

Gumbo

RandomAccess wrote: »

Micksgarage are selling the 0801 now (the one voodoo melon has mentioned from tech moan). I haven't checked if its cheaper or dearer than other retailers, but could be worth paying a little extra for easier return postage / Irish consumer protection etc.

They are €99.99 with mocks garage.
They are €84 delivered from eBay with the GPS chip.

For the sake of €15, I'd buy local from mocks garage, the GPS chip wouldn't interest me tbh and at least you get official warranty with MG when buying from them.

Wickerman1

dantastic wrote: »

Did you get this one yet? How are you finding it?

I ordered one last Sunday evening from Amazon uk. Delivered Wednesday via Parcel Motel, also ordered a Sandisk 32Gb card from MemoryC to go with it.
Very happy with it so far, excellent video quality.

brokenarms

Kaiser D wrote: »

Hi lads,

I'm wondering if there any dash cams available that could double as a helmet camera or for somewhere on the bike.

Tried googling but got no real results.

thanks

GoPro Your only man for bikes.

Capri

kceire wrote: »

They are €99.99 with mocks garage.
They are €84 delivered from eBay with the GPS chip.

For the sake of €15, I'd buy local from mocks garage, the GPS chip wouldn't interest me tbh and at least you get official warranty with MG when buying from them.

0801 €129 now on MG ! http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=3419412

Amazon £65 - €78 http://www.amazon.co.uk/E-PRANCE-Original-Ambarella-Recorder-Resolution/dp/B00F4WLIKK/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1385194204&sr=8-11&keywords=0801+car+dvr

DealeXtreme http://dx.com/s/dvr%2bcamera?PriceIntvl=2-91&Sort=AddDate

What's the best one that has front + rear cameras

Gumbo

Capri wrote: »

0801 €129 now on MG ! http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=3419412

Amazon £65 - €78 http://www.amazon.co.uk/E-PRANCE-Original-Ambarella-Recorder-Resolution/dp/B00F4WLIKK/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1385194204&sr=8-11&keywords=0801+car+dvr

DealeXtreme http://dx.com/s/dvr%2bcamera?PriceIntvl=2-91&Sort=AddDate

What's the best one that has front + rear cameras

That's including a 32gb memory card.
Here it is for €99 - http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=3419409

In my opinion, don't buy one from deal extreme, I'm a big fan of DX and buy from them all the time, but for a dash cam, you want something robust.

Bebo stunnah

Anyone looking at buying from Micksgarage, iloveshopping.ie are doing a 10% discount when ya use the code: MGILS10.

Applies to everything, apparently

listermint

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Ordered the same camera as Voodoomelon, but was wondering is there an alternative method of wiring this, rather than into the cigarette/power outlet.
Mine is always on and I don't want to go to the bother of plugging it in and out all the time.

Ideally you should wire this to something activated by ignition. Using you cigarette lighter adaptor for this long term isnt just silly and i can see most who do that ditch them or not use them due to hastle of it.

vibe666

brokenarms wrote: »

GoPro Your only man for bikes.

or a mobius for less than 1/6 the price (inc. a memory card, bike mount and weatherproof case) and almost good with 60fps@720p or 30fps@1080p.

Voodoomelon

kceire wrote: »

So you mind me asking how long it took to be delivered?
I ordered on the 19th September, dispatched on the 26th but still no delivery!

I ordered mine in the end of October, 5.5 weeks later and nothing. Opened a dispute days before Paypal cover ended and got my money back, apparently the seller had some kind of customs problem at his end in China.

Ordered the most recent one from a UK seller last week, arrived today.
It has 8GB built in and also has the GPS tracker built in.

Will installed this week.

aido76

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I ordered mine in the end of October, 5.5 weeks later and nothing. Opened a dispute days before Paypal cover ended and got my money back, apparently the seller had some kind of customs problem at his end in China.

Ordered the most recent one from a UK seller last week, arrived today.
It has 8GB built in and also has the GPS tracker built in.

Will installed this week.

How much did you pay for it and have you a link?

Voodoomelon

Sure, this is the one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231095414302?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Paid that bit more for peace of mind, it's a UK seller with 1 year warranty.

shedweller

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Sure, this is the one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231095414302?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Paid that bit more for peace of mind, it's a UK seller with 1 year warranty.

They're saying that the listing has ended. Boo. That's a good camera. Micksgarage have one without gps.
Are customs likely to sting me if i get one from the uk?

vibe666

shedweller wrote: »

They're saying that the listing has ended. Boo. That's a good camera. Micksgarage have one without gps.
Are customs likely to sting me if i get one from the uk?

customs can't touch you for anything posted from the EU, so UK and almost anywhere mainland Europe grand.

Watch out for Jersey etc. though, they aren't officially included in that so customs can get you if it's from the channel islands (7dayshop springs to mind).

For anything coming from outside odd the eu such as China, sign up for parcel motel and get it delivered to their NO address. €3.50 for a stay in parcel motel is a lot cheaper than any customs payments.

cormie

Hey folks, haven't posted here in a while. I currently own a few iTronics ITB 100 HD cameras, they were the best at the time I purchased them and I did a good bit of research into which to go for at the time.

Seems there's been a lot released since and prices have come down for what is probably the same or better cameras than the iTronics?

I'm just wondering, are there any high quality ones out there that also have a battery source attached so it can stay recording even after the ignition has been switched off without affecting the vehicle battery? Would be handy as a security device over night say or even just when you might be popping into a shop if there's any dodgy folk around

listermint

cormie wrote: »

Hey folks, haven't posted here in a while. I currently own a few iTronics ITB 100 HD cameras, they were the best at the time I purchased them and I did a good bit of research into which to go for at the time.

Seems there's been a lot released since and prices have come down for what is probably the same or better cameras than the iTronics?

I'm just wondering, are there any high quality ones out there that also have a battery source attached so it can stay recording even after the ignition has been switched off without affecting the vehicle battery? Would be handy as a security device over night say or even just when you might be popping into a shop if there's any dodgy folk around

no chance getting one of these with that sort of battery life. Its just not plausible in that scale device. You would have to hook it up the a second battery in the vehicle. that would be best advice but a hell of alot of work. Some of these may work for 20 minutes on battery while in shop but outside that not a hope. It takes alot of power to take video. Consider the battery drain on your average phone when taking video images. These units are not as sophisticated as a phone.

For overnight your best option is to have a cam mounted on your residence.

cormie

Thanks for the reply. I thought I remembered seeing one with a battery on it. I guess even 30 minutes recording would be a nice addition. The reason I ask is because I've gone the route of an aux battery and it's proved to be a right pain: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056821273

listermint

cormie wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I thought I remembered seeing one with a battery on it. I guess even 30 minutes recording would be a nice addition. The reason I ask is because I've gone the route of an aux battery and it's proved to be a right pain: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056821273

I see your woes over there. replied in that thread.

vibe666

if you can find one with motion detection that only records when it sees something, you might get away with it.

listermint

vibe666 wrote: »

if you can find one with motion detection that only records when it sees something, you might get away with it.

Motion detection still requires power, wouldnt last very long tbh needs its own supply. (non internal to the unit) this would be too small

Voodoomelon

Well got mine rigged up to ignition this evening. Powered from the auto-dim mirror like my previous Roadhawk.

Problem with this one is that you can't wire it direct to 12V, it needs the voltage stepdown circuit built into the large cigarette lighter connector to bring the voltage down to 5V for the camera to work.

Don't do what I did previously and wire it straight to 12V as it goes pop, strangely enough.

I took the cigarette adapter apart and removed the small circuit board. I chopped the USB cable down to about 30cm, it comes with a super long cable, a good few metres long. I then soldered two new wires to the board where the + and - 5V connections used to be and also soldered in a new fuse holder. These power cables then tapped into the rear view mirror power.



The 12V to 5V circuit, sealed in new heatshrink:






I have the camera directly in front of the mirror. It's almost like it's made to fit there. The LCD is completely covered by the mirror which some people might find strange, but the LCD is of no use whilst driving.









It's not visible from the driver's seat at all and is barely visible from the passenger side.

shedweller

Tasty job there!

listermint

Beautiful Job Voodoo.

I would however consider some 'shaped tint' for behind your mirror which will disguise the mount even more.

Alot of vehicles (mine included) have a black dotted tint behind the mirror to protect from sunglare. But also hand for disguising such items .

The camera would just stick out below this.


Love the work man!

Woodpecker1

This is on Amazons black Friday sale tonight.

Might be worth looking at.

http://road.cc/content/review/94595-chilli-technology-mini-cam-pro-hd-720p-sports-action-camera?page=46

Aestivalis

Not sure how I feel about the size of the smartcam 2 HD. Its pretty huge tbh.

cormie

What's the latest and greatest dash cam out these days folks? I have the iTronics ITB100HD which I believe is still up there amongst the best, unless something new and wonderful at a much cheaper price has come along? I'm thinking of replacing another older cam with something a bit newer with all the best features, gps location, shock recording (while parked too), 1080 recording, small, discreet and of high quality.

Any recommendations appreciated

Aestivalis

Hmm this is weird. I was reviewing all the files from todays driving on my smartcam 2 HD.
And the out of all 20 or so files, theres 1 in particular that seems corrupted. I cant seek or fastforward it, I cant open it in a video editor (sony vegas) and it cuts off after only 4 minutes or so even though its supposed to be a 15 minute video.

Maybe I accidentaly knocked out the power to it? None of the other files have this problem.

freddyboiii

I've had a search but any threads seem to be old and (I assume) outdated.

Can anyone recommend a good dash cam for less than €50. I know at this price I won't be getting super clear hd or the top of the range models but unfortunately it is the most I can spend. I don't need a perfect one just one that will be as reliable as possible with the best available picture quality for the price range.

Thanks