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

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I've been using a G1W in rental cars this year and I think it's a great little camera, as good as the mini 0806 I have, as well as the DDPai M6 Plus that just replaced the 0806

at a guess I'd say the G1W would have a far superior picture quality than the one shown above,

Here is a sample video recorded with the G1W earlier this year.

It might be priced lower end, but it's certainly not a low end camera.

Also, in order to get that camera for €25, you have to buy 2 thus spending €50, I'd rather spend €42 on a very good quality proven reliable camera (100's of online reviews), then spend €50 for 2 that could be ok, or could be shíte.

Also, LED lights on a dashcam are about as useful as a chocolate kettle, yet on the above box, it's shown that LED lights are one of its key features!!

I've set it all up there now. The hardest part is getting it from SD to laptop and then from laptop to interweb from my point of view, i've never done anything like that before but i'm curious as to how the quality will be.

The camera says 1080p which is the same as the one you linked. It's just dusk now and and pressing night mode didn't illuminate the LED's but the image on the back of the camera improved greatly so the must be the IR type like you see on security cams etc which may still be poor, it'l be interesting get to see.

2x for €50 from my point of view meant it was good to get two, one front, one rear facing. My biggest gripe is I only had enough cable to get to the top of the A-pillar from the 12v socket in the armrest and not to behind the rear view mirror which I would have liked.





And, looks like they only cost me €47 now :pac:

Here's a picture of the fuse box with the ddpai wiring kit fitted to a switched live fuse slot, car is 2011 vw golf.

Just seen this in bargains alerts thread,

http://www.checkargos.com/product/5987238


Nextbase 101 Dash Cam with 8GB SD Card.
Buy at Argos.ie - €51.99

Senecio wrote: »

The issue with the DDPai hardware kit (& most other hardware kits) is that the voltage cutout is set to 11.6v. It is set far too low to start most modern engines. They really should be set at 12.4v or higher.

If you really want to use the parking mode off a non switched fuse then you really need to be using something like this in place of the DDPai kit.

https://www.blackvue.com/power-magic-pro/

Or better still this. But it is twice the price of the camera itself.

http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2016/5/27/dashcam-battery-pack-lets-you-record-whilst-parked.html

If you are handy with a soldering iron, you can make any of these kits with a charge unit and a sealed 12V battery for peanuts. A back up car alarm battery will also do the same job.

5500 wrote: »

Anyone shed some light as to what the "e dog" update/function is on the ddpai?

Warnings about speed cameras. Useless in here.

ironclaw wrote: »

If you are handy with a soldering iron, you can make any of these kits with a charge unit and a sealed 12V battery for peanuts. A back up car alarm battery will also do the same job.

That's my plan. But I have no idea how to prevent discharging the main battery... Would need to disconnect the dash-battery from the main battery when the voltage goes below 13V (alternator is not charging).

-- thinks when writing the above ---

A simple relay controlled by the on-key power would do...

Hi all,

I'd appreciate feedback on this footage in terms of quality. As this is my first Dashcam I really don't know what to expect quality wise. I was initially impressed with the footage but then realised it's quite hard to see the number plate of the car in front and its not that far in front!!



Here is a still taken from the above clip which no matter how much I zoom in on I can only made out the "D" in the number plate and that's primarily due to familiarity rather than picture clarity!!



I also took the following stills whilst parked/standing still and once again whilst there is more clarity than the still from the moving video I'm not that impressed with the ability to read the number plates which for me is one of the main functions of I wanted from a dashcam.



and



My M6+ is located towards the top of my windscreen (as generally recommended) and the video settings are max 1440p resolution and the Blu Ray cinema mode 2.4:1 so I think that's as good as it gets.

Any thoughts? Am I being too critical/expecting too much?

Thanks OSI,

OSI wrote: »

I would suggest setting it to 1080P 30FPS and dropping any gimmicky "Blu ray" mode or similar that you have set.

Didn't think there was anything gimmicky about choosing the Bluray 2.4:1 aspet ratio over the widescreen 16:9 option but will make the change including to 1080P as you suggest and see if it improves things.

OSI wrote: »

Also worth remembering that YouTube does a ****ty job of compressing video.

True but I downloaded to my laptop first and the image quality/ability to read number plates isn't much better using the original/raw file Vs the compressed YouTube version.

I'll make the changes you suggest. Fingers crossed it works.

in one car im using the ddpai m6 plus which i got before christmas from here link to amazon
quality seems good. got it delivered within one week. cant complain and connection to LG android phone has no problems.

in car number 2, I had the iPass Black ITB-100HD FULL HD .
quality on this is just superb, but I borked it when updating the software on it recently. im hoping somebody may know of a fix for this cam. otherwise I may have to get a new cam.

cormie wrote: »

Where did you get this? I have the iTronics ITB-100HD. Are they the same? I think mine were about $200 but this was about 3/4 years ago at least I think. Would have thought dashcams would have advanced leaps and bounds by then, but you're saying it's still better than the one you got just recently? Mine still seem to be going strong, although I haven't had to review any footage in a while!

I got this off the same guy you recommended 3 or 4 years ago I think.
its the same. the clarity on the image is still good. Ive never had a problem with it until I messed with it.

cheers, its to do with the update, the power was disconnected midway through the update. I have all the old files and new files, might get another version of the Itronics.

Is reading number plates so important ?
You'll only want the reg in a hit and run scenario and I can only recall one dashcam vid posted here where that happened. (The guy getting sideswiped at the airport-M1 roundabout where the night time footage wasn't sufficient to identify the car)
I'd be very happy with the quality of image you've posted, way better than my 720p.

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Yes, my wife purchased from a reseller on Amazon as a Xmas prezzie. I wish she'd purchased from the DDpai shop on amazon (I'd be more confident about the source of the unit and support etc) but she didn't so I'll give it a good chance to improve via the tweaks OSI suggests above before starting down the road of looking for support/warranty etc.

Same as myself, wankaku was the seller i believe, wonder if mine is from the same store as yours and if it could be a dodgy batch, even on the different settings mine is the same, I've also tried playing the videos on different players eg vlc, cyber link ect and they are the same, definitely not the same quality as others I've seen on YouTube though