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

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.

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.

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.

have you a budget in mind?

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.

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)?

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 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.

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

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 +

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.

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.

;-)

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 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

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

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."

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

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.