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

ewj1978

Just uploaded my first vid.The picture quality on a 25 quid camera is amazing.

rizzee

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-318d-nct-03-20-tax-08-19-fsh-m-pack/20532451

BMW 318d 2008, NCT 03-2020 ,Tax 08-2019

Mr.David

Ad says it all really! Anyone interested PM me

https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/bmw/3-series/used-2007-bmw-3-series-325i-m-spo-dublin-fpa-201812093124499

Movie Maestro

Sorry all, just a slightly off topic questions here. Do most of you switch off the LCD display on your camera in the front of the car when in use or leave it on? I prefer to leave mine switched off as I find it very distracting to drivers especially when I'm in a car behind someone with a front mounted dashcam fitted.

h3000

Movie Maestro wrote: »

Sorry all, just a slightly off topic questions here. Do most of you switch off the LCD display on your camera in the front of the car when in use or leave it on? I prefer to leave mine switched off as I find it very distracting to drivers especially when I'm in a car behind someone with a front mounted dashcam fitted.

Mine turns off after 30 seconds or something. It actually annoys me when I'm following cars and they have the screen turned on.

joujoujou

All cameras, two in my car, two in OH's car are set to turn their screens off after 1 minute.

inforfun

Mine displays the clock after 30 seconds, i think.
Cant really see it, hiding behind my rear view mirror

First dash cam I had was an Ebay cheapie, the screen never turned off, the setting was missing from the code, so I stuck a card over it with blu-tack.

toyotafan

I hide my camera just behide the rear view camera so I wont see it during driving.

Amouar

Still didn't use my YI dashcam as I'm waiting for the suction mount to arrive from China. Does anyone knows where to get a suction mount in Dublin?

OldMrBrennan83

Amouar wrote: »

Still didn't use my YI dashcam as I'm waiting for the suction mount to arrive from China. Does anyone knows where to get a suction mount in Dublin?

Never seen them about in a shop but there's a universal one on Amazon that has the fitting for the Yi. Might come sooner.

Edit - this one. You can see the mount for the Yi bottom right in the main image.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XQFP2RH/

Armadillo

Amouar wrote: »

Still didn't use my YI dashcam as I'm waiting for the suction mount to arrive from China. Does anyone knows where to get a suction mount in Dublin?

Memoryc.ie in Celbridge might suit

https://www.memoryc.ie/17995-transcend-suction-mount-for-drivepro-200-dash-cam.html

https://www.adverts.ie/video-cameras/transcend-suction-mount-for-drivepro-200-dash-cam/5869463

I have something similar to the amazon one there but the plastic is poor quality and the locking wheel nut slips the threads - so the camera moves about.

Alkers

Anyone experience of this kit: https://www.halfords.ie/technology/dash-cams/dash-cams/halfords-hdc300-dash-cam-hdc-r-rear-dash-cam-bundle

Autecher

Simona1986 wrote: »

Anyone experience of this kit: https://www.halfords.ie/technology/dash-cams/dash-cams/halfords-hdc300-dash-cam-hdc-r-rear-dash-cam-bundle

Yeah I got them a few weeks ago, I like them so far. They are not perfect of course, my main criticism so far is the mic doesn't pick up sound well, I had to turn the volume of my laptop to maximum to hear my indicator noise or any conversation. Also the app for it is pretty bad but I don't care about that personally. I will get more expensive ones in the future but I'm happy to stick with these for a few years.

I find the image very clear when watching day & nighttime videos.

You can see the video quality in my posts here,

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=108917903&postcount=4886
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=108917945&postcount=4887

Reg_hurley

cliggg wrote: »

Yeah I got them a few weeks ago, I like them so far. They are not perfect of course, my main criticism so far is the mic doesn't pick up sound well, I had to turn the volume of my laptop to maximum to hear my indicator noise or any conversation. Also the app for it is pretty bad but I don't care about that personally. I will get more expensive ones in the future but I'm happy with them for now.

You can see the video quality in my posts here

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=108917903&postcount=4886
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=108917945&postcount=4887

Hi cliggg, how did you power them?
Do the power cables that come with them plug into the cigarette lighter sockets or did you plug into the fuse box.
I'd be great to some recommendations on how to hardwire dual cams.

thanks.

Alkers

cliggg wrote: »

Yeah I got them a few weeks ago, I like them so far. They are not perfect of course, my main criticism so far is the mic doesn't pick up sound well, I had to turn the volume of my laptop to maximum to hear my indicator noise or any conversation. Also the app for it is pretty bad but I don't care about that personally. I will get more expensive ones in the future but I'm happy to stick with these for a few years.

I find the image very clear when watching day & nighttime videos.

You can see the video quality in my posts here,

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=108917903&postcount=4886
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=108917945&postcount=4887

Thanks for that - the quality of the front looks fine, we'd probably have the mic muted anyway but the rear camera isn't great.
We have a reversing camera, any way to use this with a dashcam I wonder?

Autecher

Reg_hurley wrote: »

Hi cliggg, how did you power them?
Do the power cables that come with them plug into the cigarette lighter sockets or did you plug into the fuse box.
I'd be great to some recommendations on how to hardwire dual cams.

thanks.

They come with a cigarette lighter socket but I got them hardwired into the ignition by Halfords. You have to buy a kit for that if you're going to do it yourself. There are videos on Youtube explaining how to do it depending on the make/model of your car, I watched one for my car (2012 Micra) and decided not to try I think I would have made a complete balls of it. Edit: Sorry forgot to say they charge themselves if hardwired, you can charge it in the cigarette lighter or you can buy the usb cable mentioned in my post below.

Autecher

Simona1986 wrote: »

Thanks for that - the quality of the front looks fine, we'd probably have the mic muted anyway but the rear camera isn't great.
We have a reversing camera, any way to use this with a dashcam I wonder?

The rear camera is good in the daylight, not great but good but yes in the dark it's not so much. It's still grand for making out the reg of a car behind you but if you want better you'll have to spend a bit more. I don't know about the reverse camera. One more thing I just remembered is the usb cable, if it's hardwired to your ignition then the camera charges when the engine is on but if you want to plug the camera into your computer then you'll need to buy a converter for the mini usb-c cable to do that.

Autecher

Simona1986 wrote: »

Thanks for that - the quality of the front looks fine, we'd probably have the mic muted anyway but the rear camera isn't great.
We have a reversing camera, any way to use this with a dashcam I wonder?

cliggg wrote: »

The rear camera is good in the daylight, not great but good but yes in the dark it's not so much. It's still grand for making out the reg of a car behind you but if you want better you'll have to spend a bit more. I don't know about the reverse camera. One more thing I just remembered is the usb cable, if it's hardwired to your ignition then the camera charges when the engine is on but if you want to plug the camera into your computer then you'll need to buy a converter for the mini usb-c cable to do that.

I went out for lunch today so here is the quality of the front and back cameras in the daytime, as you can see the back one is good enough but as you saw earlier it gets quite grainy in the dark and then add rain, car lights, etc... I hope this helps.

Reg_hurley

cliggg wrote: »

They come with a cigarette lighter socket but I got them hardwired into the ignition by Halfords. You have to buy a kit for that if you're going to do it yourself. There are videos on Youtube explaining how to do it depending on the make/model of your car, I watched one for my car (2012 Micra) and decided not to try I think I would have made a complete balls of it. Edit: Sorry forgot to say they charge themselves if hardwired, you can charge it in the cigarette lighter or you can buy the usb cable mentioned in my post below.

thanks for the info.
How much did they charge to hardwire the two camera's? I see from €35 on the website. And do they include the kit when they do it?

thanks.

Autecher

Reg_hurley wrote: »

thanks for the info.
How much did they charge to hardwire the two camera's? I see from €35 on the website. And do they include the kit when they do it?

thanks.

It was €30 per camera for me so €60 total. You don't buy the kit they use their own tools, the kit is only needed if your hardwiring the camera(s) into the ignition yourself.

advertsfox

Got myself a DDPai Mini2 off Amazon with a 128GB Samsung Class 10 SD Card + a Shishuo Hardware Fuse Kit and it's all around excellent. I personally didn't want to be distracted by a screen and have something that is discreet + links to my phone. The app works well but Android has a feature that will automatically not use a WiFi connection if it is "offline" so since this is a camera, it is. Just need to pop on airplane mode. It has a very handy remote button that when pressed, saves 10/15/30 seconds before and after you press it as a separate clip. Overall, I'm very happy.

cormie

Folks, does anyone know anyone around South Dublin who would install one of these and fix some audio wiring issues I have as well as repair some lights in the back of a van? A general auto electrician really... any suggestions appreciated

Reg_hurley

cliggg wrote: »

It was €30 per camera for me so €60 total. You don't buy the kit they use their own tools, the kit is only needed if your hardwiring the camera(s) into the ignition yourself.

thanks cliggg, seeing as the kit they sell is €24 I might just go with their install service.
I used a kit before to do a self install but for an extra €6, I think I'll ask them to do it.

punisher5112

cormie wrote: »

Folks, does anyone know anyone around South Dublin who would install one of these and fix some audio wiring issues I have as well as repair some lights in the back of a van? A general auto electrician really... any suggestions appreciated

Buddy auto electrics.

Noel is his name, number is on Google.

He is based near nutgrove/rathfarnham.

cormie

Great, thanks for the recommendation

Dr_Colossus

I realise the Yi cams are all the rage here for quality vs value and this version looks good with a good promotion at present where it appears to sell for £45
https://www.amazon.co.uk/YI-3-Axis-G-Sensor-Control-screen/dp/B075XGVKMP/ref=mp_s_a_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1545857287&sr=8-19&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=dash+cam+4k
However it's only front facing and while Yi have a dual version it's one of those that clip on over your rear view mirror which I'm not keen on.

As such what would be involved with adding a separate rear facing camera to above. Would the front facing camera with SD card contain footage from both cameras etc

OldMrBrennan83

How do people get the camera to focus through the windscreen rather than on the windscreen? Is there just a bad distance range to avoid?

joujoujou

I just keep the windscreen clean and lens looking at the part of windscreen which is within wipers range. Never had problems with focus.

punisher5112

Patww79 wrote: »

How do people get the camera to focus through the windscreen rather than on the windscreen? Is there just a bad distance range to avoid?

Don't use shiny products on dash plastics, keep windscreen clean as mentioned previously and aim the camera lenses down so its not shining up into the sky.