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

BMJD · 20-01-2014 12:18pm

meh youtube ruined the quality of this clip, it is way clearer from the memory card :rolleyes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id2BicUm8AI

here are screengrabs of youtube and normal

cormie · 20-01-2014 12:44pm

rocky wrote: »

I have one, and it does.

Ah they must have changed it so, I think in Techmoans review it says it doesn't auto stop/start

First Up wrote: »

Or can I connected the dashcam to the computer direct by cable?

Depends on the cam, but a usb card reader will only be a few quid.

rocky · 20-01-2014 2:37pm

BMJD wrote: »

meh youtube ruined the quality of this clip, it is way clearer from the memory card :rolleyes:

Don't do the auto stabilizing in youtube, it hurts my eyes...

Sligo1 · 20-01-2014 11:17pm

Hi guys, just want some advice. My earlier thread was closed and I was linked to this thread. I wasn't really sure where to start with 30 pages of thread to read so just said I'd post a quick question here. Hope that's ok.

My car was parked in a carpark today for 15 min and I came out to find the whole front of the drivers side corner a mess! Probably gonna cost me around 2k to fix. A couple years ago a different car of mine was keyed from the back light all the way to the front.

So now I want to invest in a dash cam. Would there any particular one people could advise me to get. Is it possible to get a decent one that won't cost the earth. I don't really have the first clue about them.

Thanks for reading.

rocky · 20-01-2014 11:42pm

Dash cams typically record for 1-5 minutes after engine is off, mightn't have helped you in this case. Think you're talking serious money to record non-stop

Sligo1 · 20-01-2014 11:50pm

rocky wrote: »

Dash cams typically record for 1-5 minutes after engine is off, mightn't have helped you in this case. Think you're talking serious money to record non-stop

O crap

. That's that idea out the window. I'm just so sick of people wrecking my cars! This is the 4th time in a couple years that things have happened while I've been parked in car parks or outside houses. And each time it's been about 2 grand of damage. And the people have driven off. Scumbags....

Thanks for your reply tho.

rocky · 20-01-2014 11:52pm

There might be some options, other posters more familiar with them might come along with advice

.

cormie · 21-01-2014 2:25am

It's not really serious money, you just need it set up correctly.

The ideal set up is to have a dash cam with a parking feature (The iTronics ITB100HD is one, I think the Lukas Ace 7900 is another). This will have a motion and G-sensor and is basically in standby and will save the clips of any movement or shock.

If you're using your car every day, you just need it plugged in to a constant power source (i.e., not ignition live - not only on when the engine is on).

If you're not using your car every day, it may drain the battery if it's left plugged in for a few days in which case you'd need to get a secondary battery set up... it does get a little complicated then depending on how automatic you want your set-up to be.

quietsailor · 21-01-2014 4:16am

Folks,

I had to lie this out pictorially as all having the one device (mini 0801) with so many options, each very similar to another, was confusing me. Hopefully it'll help some of you out as well BUT but could ye have a look and check the pricing off your own research - its late at night & I'm tired writing this

I haven't compared the other types of DashCam at all - thats a bit too much for one night!

The other thing to watch for/check is that I'm getting the impression a special mount is needed for the GPS function and it has to be bought separately - and in some cases the external memory card isn't included

I've attached the excel file where I did this.

cormie · 21-01-2014 6:48am

Nice list

Looks pretty sound to me anyway! I'm pretty sure that you don't need to buy the seperate mount once you get the GPS logger/G-Sensor units, you just need to get the software to view it.

One thing I would say however is that once you go for the higher price units with all the bells and whistles, you may be upping yourself into the next price bracket where you could be as well off going for another unit, like the DOD? annnnd, then you might be thinking if you're spending that much, why not spend a little extra and get the Lukas Ace 7900.

My thinking is if you want a cheap and cheerful system, get it cheap, if you want a great dash cam, get a great unit. Not sure if there's much point going in between as the extra you're paying for a few extra features, you may as well pay a little more and get one of the higher end cams?

huggs2 · 21-01-2014 3:51pm

cormie wrote: »

Nice list Looks pretty sound to me anyway! I'm pretty sure that you don't need to buy the seperate mount once you get the GPS logger/G-Sensor units, you just need to get the software to view it.

One thing I would say however is that once you go for the higher price units with all the bells and whistles, you may be upping yourself into the next price bracket where you could be as well off going for another unit, like the DOD? annnnd, then you might be thinking if you're spending that much, why not spend a little extra and get the Lukas Ace 7900.

My thinking is if you want a cheap and cheerful system, get it cheap, if you want a great dash cam, get a great unit. Not sure if there's much point going in between as the extra you're paying for a few extra features, you may as well pay a little more and get one of the higher end cams?

If your thinking of buying a great dash cam and don't mind waiting a month or so,the ambarella A7 chip will be coming out next month in various dash cams.
This is the same chip used in the GO PRO HERO 3 BLACK.Also Garmin have announced the release of a dash cam at CES.
http://garmin.blogs.com/pr/2014/01/garmin-launches-high-definition-dash-cam-with-automatic-incident-detection.html

Nino Brown · 21-01-2014 3:55pm

rocky wrote: »

Dash cams typically record for 1-5 minutes after engine is off, mightn't have helped you in this case. Think you're talking serious money to record non-stop

It depends on the camera, the Lukas 7900 constantly stays on in motion and impact detect mode. You can set the sensitivity, to both. So the lukas would have turned on and caught the impact to the car, and also caught whoever keyed your car.

Also any camera can be wired into an always on fuse, so they never turn off, I had an old camera on 24/7 before and never had any battery problems, just the memory card needed to be formatted quite a bit.

Sligo1 · 21-01-2014 4:17pm

Nino Brown wrote: »

It depends on the camera, the Lukas 7900 constantly stays on in motion and impact detect mode. You can set the sensitivity, to both. So the lukas would have turned on and caught the impact to the car, and also caught whoever keyed your car.

Also any camera can be wired into an always on fuse, so they never turn off, I had an old camera on 24/7 before and never had any battery problems, just the memory card needed to be formatted quite a bit.

Thanks very much. Will look into the one you have posted. I really don't have a clue about these things at all or wiring them and all that... But I think at this stage after the amount of crap I've had done to my cars the past couple years (4 expensive incidents) I really should invest in one of they can stay on while car is not in motion.

Nino Brown · 21-01-2014 4:26pm

Sligo1 wrote: »

Thanks very much. Will look into the one you have posted. I really don't have a clue about these things at all or wiring them and all that... But I think at this stage after the amount of crap I've had done to my cars the past couple years (4 expensive incidents) I really should invest in one of they can stay on while car is not in motion.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/New-LUKAS-LK-7900-ACE-Full-HD-Dash-Cam-DVR-Car-Black-Box-8GB-GPS-CPL-Filter-/111202527447?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19e42fe8d7
Here's where I got my one, be aware you will get stung for VAT by customs, so don't forget to add that when considering cost

Then get one of these,
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Add-A-Circuit-Fuse-Tap-Piggy-Back-MINI-Blade-Fuse-Holder-ATM-APM-12v-24v-12-volt-/180735820543?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Terminals_Cabling_ET&hash=item2a14b1c2ff
It makes the wiring much easier, you don't need an special tools or knowledge, anybody with even the most basic knowledge of a car could do it in 20mins.

Or you could go for a cheaper camera and leave it on all the time but the wiring for that can get tricky because the 12V plug changes the voltage sometimes, so its not as simple as just cutting it off and wiring to a fuse. Do you drive a focus by any chance? The cigarette lighter stays on in the focus, and probably other cars too, so if thats the case with your car, it's as simple as leaving the camera plugged in.

Sligo1 · 21-01-2014 5:57pm

Nino Brown wrote: »

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/New-LUKAS-LK-7900-ACE-Full-HD-Dash-Cam-DVR-Car-Black-Box-8GB-GPS-CPL-Filter-/111202527447?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19e42fe8d7
Here's where I got my one, be aware you will get stung for VAT by customs, so don't forget to add that when considering cost

Then get one of these,
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Add-A-Circuit-Fuse-Tap-Piggy-Back-MINI-Blade-Fuse-Holder-ATM-APM-12v-24v-12-volt-/180735820543?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Terminals_Cabling_ET&hash=item2a14b1c2ff
It makes the wiring much easier, you don't need an special tools or knowledge, anybody with even the most basic knowledge of a car could do it in 20mins.

Or you could go for a cheaper camera and leave it on all the time but the wiring for that can get tricky because the 12V plug changes the voltage sometimes, so its not as simple as just cutting it off and wiring to a fuse. Do you drive a focus by any chance? The cigarette lighter stays on in the focus, and probably other cars too, so if thats the case with your car, it's as simple as leaving the camera plugged in.

Thanks that looks about the price I want to pay. Is it a good one? If I get it i'll try install it myself (it comes with instructions right?).. But would I get a mechanic to do it if i can't? My husband wouldn't have a clue... Lol.

Sligo1 · 21-01-2014 5:59pm

No don't drive a ford. It's a BMW 5 series. Not sure if I want to go messing with the electronics... I really know nothing about cars electronics.

Nino Brown · 21-01-2014 6:06pm

Sligo1 wrote: »

Thanks that looks about the price I want to pay. Is it a good one? If I get it i'll try install it myself (it comes with instructions right?).. But would I get a mechanic to do it if i can't? My husband wouldn't have a clue... Lol.

Yeah, I really like it, its very easy to use, and very good quality, I've had a few cameras and its definitely the best. Yes there are installation instructions with the camera, they're pretty good, but if you run into trouble just PM me, I can give you a run down of how to install it. I have an Audi A5, so I was bit nervous about messing with the electronics myself, they're already tempermental enough :mad:, but you won't be doing anything that isn't reversable in less than 2 mins, so its nothing to worry about.

Sligo1 · 21-01-2014 6:10pm

That's great! Thanks so much for your help. Will prob be a few days/couple weeks before I get my act together and order it ect. But will let you know how I get on. Thanks again! Really nice helpful people on this forum.

Nino Brown · 21-01-2014 6:18pm

No problem, if you do decide to buy the piggybacks for the fuses, make sure you get the right size for your car, some cars use mini fuses, some use regular sized fuses. After a quick search I think BMW use standard sized fuses, so this what you'd need, get the 2 pack, you need 2.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/170709632237?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

But you can get by without the piggy back if you want.

Sligo1 · 21-01-2014 6:20pm

Nino Brown wrote: »

No problem, if you do decide to buy the piggybacks for the fuses, make sure you get the right size for your car, some cars use mini fuses, some use regular sized fuses. After a quick search I think BMW use standard sized fuses, so this what you'd need, get the 2 pack, you need 2.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/170709632237?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

But you can get by without the piggy back if you want.

Thanks! Will get exactly what uve told me

cormie · 21-01-2014 6:39pm

Great help from Nino there, he knows his stuff, by the way Nino, are you "nico" on dashcamtalk?

what's so good abut this ambarella a7 chip mentioned above I wonder?

Nino Brown · 21-01-2014 6:48pm

cormie wrote: »

Great help from Nino there, he knows his stuff, by the way Nino, are you "nico" on dashcamtalk?

Nope not me,

cormie wrote: »

what's so good abut this ambarella a7 chip mentioned above I wonder?

I don't know to be honest, like every new chip I assume its a bit faster, and a bit better, but ambarella chips are already in a huge amount of dashcams, I'm not sure I'd bothered waiting for the latest version to make a purchase, I haven't noticed a huge difference between the previous versions. Unless there's something particularly good about the ambarella 7 that I haven't heard about yet.

themacdaddy · 21-01-2014 10:50pm

Nino Brown wrote: »

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/New-LUKAS-LK-7900-ACE-Full-HD-Dash-Cam-DVR-Car-Black-Box-8GB-GPS-CPL-Filter-/111202527447?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19e42fe8d7
Here's where I got my one, be aware you will get stung for VAT by customs, so don't forget to add that when considering cost
.

Do you mind me asking how much customs were you stung for?

Nino Brown · 22-01-2014 9:50am

themacdaddy wrote: »

Do you mind me asking how much customs were you stung for?

I don't remember tbh, but I think E40-50 including whatever DHL charge

cormie · 22-01-2014 12:35pm

Import duties are usually divided between 23% vat amount on value (product PLUS shipping charge taken into account) and then the couriers usually have a processing fee also, around €15, and I think there's another fee of around €6 too.

Just put in ambarella a7 chip to youtube and got this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwNr6Wbw_9I

looks like it's SUPER HD, although 1080p is coming up on youtube, it says it can do 1440? That appears to be from Amazon and available to buy already via the amazon link on the video description, only 1 review so far and it's not so good.

Seamus1964 · 22-01-2014 5:12pm

Purchased this dashcam:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini-0801-Ambarella-A2S60-1080P-Car-DVR-Camera-Cam-Recorder-Camcorder-100299/1610202641.html

57.- euro without GPS logger

Custom charges 13.- + 6.- processing fee.

Nino Brown · 22-01-2014 7:15pm

cormie wrote: »

Import duties are usually divided between 23% vat amount on value (product PLUS shipping charge taken into account) and then the couriers usually have a processing fee also, around €15, and I think there's another fee of around €6 too.

Just put in ambarella a7 chip to youtube and got this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwNr6Wbw_9I

looks like it's SUPER HD, although 1080p is coming up on youtube, it says it can do 1440? That appears to be from Amazon and available to buy already via the amazon link on the video description, only 1 review so far and it's not so good.

The video quality does look sweet, but this review of the camera isn't great.
http://dashcamtalk.com/3h2f-d-gs6000/
I guess a great chip is no good if you don't have the software, lens etc to go with it. No doubt better cameras will come along with that chip, but if you were going to wait for technology advances before you purchase you'd never buy anything.

When do you think the first car manufacturer will start offering cams as an optional extra?, can't be far off now.

cormie · 22-01-2014 7:24pm

Is it just me, or the different reg plates, or the amarella chip, or are the reg plates themselves much easier to read compared to other videos I've seen? I'm not sure if we're even seeing the full quality, which is meant to be 1440, given that youtube is only displaying 1080?

Nino Brown · 22-01-2014 7:43pm

cormie wrote: »

Is it just me, or the different reg plates, or the amarella chip, or are the reg plates themselves much easier to read compared to other videos I've seen? I'm not sure if we're even seeing the full quality, which is meant to be 1440, given that youtube is only displaying 1080?

The license plates have bigger letters in that video, although the video quality is better on the A7, the comparsion above has the A2 on the left and the A7 is on the right.

cormie · 22-01-2014 7:50pm

Is that the lukas? I think I saw that video, it seemed to create a strange white outline on the shadows of the cars?

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

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