Dash Cams anyone? Options

[Jeebus]

I'm thinking of delving into the dash cam territory to be used while I drive and as a motion detector while the car is parked.

Ive been eyeing the Lukas LK7900 ACE lately, but it is on the higher spectrum of the price range.

I'm not sure whether I need any GPS feature, but 1080P is a must. I've been looking at 720P footage on YouTube and the quality isn't that good. Even in daylight, some cameras can't really show license plates in 720P. I'll probably have to compromise on the night time vision of dash cams as they're all not the greatest either.

Who of you are currently dash cams? Your thoughts?

[The_enD]

I don't necessarily need a dash cam, but after I end up buying the more needed things like engine and suspension, if money allows, I'll pick up a GoPro as well. It will not limit it's use just as a dash cam, from White to Black they all have 1080p and the quality is good.

[match220]

I found a list of some good cheap ones a while back (under $100), it was a review of all of them. The one that I bought (G1W) had a known problem that was in the review, but didn't always happen. Unfortunately I was the lucky one that it happened to again, it shows some weird memory error when exposed to light shift (like coming out of a tunnel). I'm temped to get another one since it was only $50. Great quality, 1080P, supports up to 32GB cards, and has motion sensing. It did die though. That's my only experience with dashcams. I'm looking at probably getting a dual cam model with front and rear cameras.

[Jeebus]

Dashcamtalk.com is where I did a bit of research. I also have been perusing the dashcam thread on revscene.net (local car enthusiast website).

Dashcams are a hard one to choose, as there aren't many big companies that make reputable units, and they still seem to be in their infancy. Breaking within a year seems to be their normal life-cycle as well. But I figure if I spend a decent amount on a good unit, it'll pay off after an incident or two if I'm not at fault.

As for a 2 channel system, I've thought about it with the BlackVue 500 or 550 (whichever it is), but there's a known problem that the rear camera will interfere with your radio signals because the manufacturer hasn't used properly insulated wiring. Apparently buying ferrite clips will prevent this.

I may hold off until the summer so that I can properly wire it, and at the same time have all my seats removed to properly re-wire my stereo amp and install some sound deadening material, as well as perform an antenna mod. So much to do!

[199celica]

I have a contour roam and I love it the sound quality isn't to great but I don't need audio I just want to see what I am doing

[yellowchinaman]

Ive been looking into this for years but never settled on one because they're all similar and made on a budget meaning they're all really not that good unless you pay big bucks.
Also the motion sensor thing is crap. Al dash cams end up powering down. Some after X amount of time. Most as soon as the engine is killed. And when it's down it doesn't motion detect and record so its rubbish if your car gets hit whilst parked up cos it won't record.
Unless you hard wire it to the battery for a permanent feed that is but that will drain your battery.

Im still on a look out for one with an on board battery which charges when you drive and runs on it's own battery when engine is off.

[match220]

Ive been looking into this for years but never settled on one because they're all similar and made on a budget meaning they're all really not that good unless you pay big bucks.
Also the motion sensor thing is crap. Al dash cams end up powering down. Some after X amount of time. Most as soon as the engine is killed. And when it's down it doesn't motion detect and record so its rubbish if your car gets hit whilst parked up cos it won't record.
Unless you hard wire it to the battery for a permanent feed that is but that will drain your battery.

Im still on a look out for one with an on board battery which charges when you drive and runs on it's own battery when engine is off.

the ones I've seen have internal batteries and do record when they don't have power and the motion sensor is activated. I just ordered another cheap one with motion sensing and an internal battery. If the $100> ones have batteries I'm sure the $300< will too. DVR027, and G1W are both less than $50 and have an internal battery. But I'm not sure if you want a cheap one, personally I don't mind getting cheap ones.

[yellowchinaman]

Keep me updated with this. Id like to see how it works out. Fornme I mainly want to catch basters to hit and run when im parked up.

[match220]

Keep me updated with this. Id like to see how it works out. Fornme I mainly want to catch basters to hit and run when im parked up.

yes! for sure!! Someone ran into my car in a parking lot trying to park and messed up my fender. If I had a dash cam it would have caught it. I hate seeing that dent every time I go to my car.

[rentaspace]

Most cheap dashcam a give a good daytime image but nighttime is terrible. They blow out the light on signs and license plates making them unreadable.
I am still researching to find a suitable replacement for my one

[yellowchinaman]

Most cheap dashcam a give a good daytime image but nighttime is terrible. They blow out the light on signs and license plates making them unreadable.
I am still researching to find a suitable replacement for my one

http://www.techmoan.com/

I fallow this review site quite a bit and I bought a cheap action cam a few months ago for my NZ tour. SJ1000
TBH if you look at everything released in the last year or so, on one really has that problem of not being able to read number plates due to light.
At most, they have difficulty adjusting focus to light when going from dark to light but that's more to do with the software.
Truth is a lot of so called "cheap cams" are actually very good but people forget they are cheap and aren't designed to last or have a lot of functions.

Look at the Mobius. Its one of the cheapest no thrills camera but sets a high bench mark in quality in visual and audio.

This post has been edited by yellowchinaman: Mar 18, 2014 - 7:45 AM