Dash Cam Knowledge
 

I need to get a dash cam... but I don't know which one to get. Which 1 is the cheapest but decent quality. As a matter of fact I don't even know how it works. do I have to turn it on everyday, then have to go shut it off/reset it everything ? etc. Don't wanna just buy 1 and find out that it doesn't work properly and be ineffective. Google doesn't help me either :C

By any chance, did you check out this site?

https://dashcamtalk.com

Well in case you didn't read the link,
It's a plain simple camcorder.
Most if not all run in SD cards. So the bigger the SD memory the longer you have to record stuff.

Power comes on the same as any camera. With an on/off button.

The power supply is different. Most come with cig lighter plugin. There are optional hard wire to your battery. It's the same as powering an audio amp. With the hard wireing you can have it on all the time or when ever your car turns on.

Price range depends on what you want. It could a simple $50-200.

I really, really, really rec this one

Has GPS, Speed and 9/10 recording clarity.

Only downside... is that sound is that in US it has no mic to record sound. $200. Well fkn worth it. Ive had in 118 interior car temp and -8. Works amazing!

Night is decent. 7/10 recording.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXO-JGn-nZc"]Garmin Dash Cam: A Better Companion for the Road Ahead - YouTube[/ame]

This is probably way out of your price range, but FYI here's a little write-up I did a few weeks ago when I installed my Thinkware F770 Dual Channel Camera.

http://www.seriesblueadventures.com/dash-cam-installed/

^^^ this. That site answered all my dash cam questions when I was looking for one.

Same here. That and www.blackboxmycar.com, which is where I ordered from. They have fantastic customer service.

So what do you want features wise in a dash cam? In general, the more pricey = more features. Also, you do get what you paid for with regards to recording quality (not always the case but again, in general).

If I had to do it all over again, I would've bought a dash cam that has parking mode. Just an example.

I'd say visit that link in the second post and research as that can probably net you results faster than what we can answer here.

woah. no . checking it out now.

just want to have proof if I get into an accident and they are blaming it on me. Also to catch people keying. cuse they do that a lot here.

Is there a decent panoramic system available? 2*pi radian view?

Yah, find one that has parking mode. You'll also want to wire it to a separate smaller battery so it doesn't drain your main car battery.

Paging @FRSBRZGT86FAN for this part.

IIRC, there are a few out there that pans but I forgot the names.

Search, you noob. :cheers:

I use the mini 0805 super small and discrete. Really great video quality for day and night time. The only problem is they do overheat sometimes but for about $70 you get alot of features. Here's a sample of the quality when a truck almost T-boned me. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKcmkGR_uUI"]Truck nearly hits me - YouTube[/ame]

I just bought the Mobius - looks pretty solid.

+1 for Mini 0805 or 0806 (updated model).

ahhh quality. ammi right. hahaha

If you want something basic and functional without a lot of fuss I'd recommend the Black Box G1W ($50ish) or the B40 A118 ($65ish). I have the B40 A118 tucked very discretely behind the rearview mirror, very easy to run the wire down the headliner and the A pillar and through the side into the glove box adapter so you don't see any wires. You pretty much just pop it on, add an SD card and plug it in. Not many thrills or extra features but it does all of the basics. It says "night vision" but it does not. It has been very reliable for me for about a year now. I would be wary of the reliability of anything cheaper than these. If you spend more you can get better but these should meet most peoples needs.

i use a KDLINKS camera...great quality and excellent customer service...you need to make sure you charge it overnight everyday though otherwise the battery will die and it reset it's date and time settings...not problem for me because i wouldn't leave the camera in my car so no one tries to break a window and steal it..you get what you pay for with dashcams based on my experience

https://www.amazon.com/KDLINKS-X1-Da...kdlinks+camera

I highly recommend the Blackvue DR650S-2CH. It's a little pricey @ $399 for the cameras (with wiring, etc.) itself, plus another 70 to 80 for the "magic pro" system which enables you to wire the cams directly to your battery for parking mode support.


They are also a variety of options with different SD card sizes to allow flexibility about how frequently you have to dump your recordings. I went with the 64 GB option, and I've noticed it fills after about a week to a week and a half of daily driving of about 2 to 4 hours. However, they did build in a re-write feature, like most dash cams, that will simply overwrite your oldest files once the card is at max capacity.


If you're looking for both vandalism and all-around visual protection while driving, a 2 channel system with a true parking mode is a must. I'll try to find a good clip with picture-in-picture to post for quality reasons.

Use the following Youtube channels to make an inform choice in addition to dash Cam talk.

Pay close attention to the video "Lehto's Law" concerning having a mic and recording sound and video in your car.


1)Car Cam Central

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYI...UyDPwMgUSspRYw

2) US Dash Camera

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkv...z2TfBayo9zlcTQ

3)Lehto's Law Ep. 50

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM4JuH9EV8k"]The Legalities of Dash Cams - Lehto's Law Ep. 50 - YouTube[/ame]