Pc Plod Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 It,s that time of year when we are all thinking about our pride and joy and where our adventures will be taking us next year. I have also been thinking about fitting a screen camera and seeing one advertised in the mmm buy and sell section i decided to purchase said item. It is a carcam one and is utter rubbish and does not work,it says on the package card from germany but on camera says made in the republic of China. As i have no receit and bought it second hand from a fellow motorhomer i have no comeback and have reluctantly scrapped it. I thought i was buying a quality used second hand unit. So,if anyone is thinking of fitting a dash camera do buy a quality unit and not one priced around £50, remember the old saying you get what you pay for is true. Merry christmas to one and all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betsy Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Hello PC Plod, I was hit head-on (thankfully we stopped in time and the other bloke was just coming to a halt) by a young French lad who came around the corner on the wrong side of the road (Pardon Monsieur, but I have just returned from Australia where they drive on the left!!) in the Alps a year or so ago. He did not contest the case but it took ages to sort out the insurance. If I had a video of the event it would have been most useful. I therefore bought a Carcam HDMI video recorder (new at 25 quid) for my 'van. I have found that it works very well. The instructions are fairly minimal but, as is the case with most modern gadgets, my daughter and granddaughter were able to quickly get it working. I have also found that there is quite a bit of info to help users available on the internet (You Tube). The only problem that I have had with it so far is that I kept getting the message "Memory Error". After some research I found that it was because the mini memory card needed "formatting". I am not that much of a computer whiz so asked my daughter to do it for me. It took her five minutes! She did say that you can learn how to "format" on the internet (presumably also via You Tube) so if it happens again I'll have a look there. Hope this is helpful to anyone who has one. Merry Christmas one and all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I bought one off ebay for £19 and it works fine, date time etc, and a screen to see what has been recorded. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pc Plod Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 Hallii, I would like to know what make your camera is. I am guessing that the camera i bought must have been faulty.It came in an original amazon box which makes me wonder why the seller did not return it to amazon. Apart from the security aspect while travelling i am wanting to record the driving in the alps next year. Regards harry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I don't know which system Halli has, but this one has been recommended by a member of the Autosleeper Forum: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Full-HD-1080P-Mini-Size-Car-Truck-Cam-Dash-Dvr-Video-Camera-Recorder-HDMI-/111043825086?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19daba4dbe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 This is the one I've got and so have a lot of other motorhomers. Works a treat and takes up to a 32GIg s/d card. Records in rolling mode, records over previous data when card is full. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IN-CAR-NIGHT-VISION-VIDEO-CAMERA-RECORDER-CCTV-HD-DVR-TFT-2-5-LCD-ROAD-ACCIDENT-/171194790870?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item27dc0133d6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pc Plod Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 Thanks for quick replies. I have ordered the one which is recommended on the autosleeper forum. This looks the business and has a view screen which is not on the camone. Guess i must have bought a duff one. Regards Harry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocro Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 There are reviews of these cameras on you tube which shows that although the cases are identical some have non-functioning ports and claimed resolutions that are just outright lies. E-Bay's policy allows you to return rubbish and mis-described items and get a refund if you have paid by PayPal, so by all means take a punt , the first one I received was returned. Make sure that you buy from UK stock as doing a return to China would be more than you paid initially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 peter - 2013-12-21 9:40 PM This is the one I've got and so have a lot of other motorhomers. Works a treat and takes up to a 32GIg s/d card. Records in rolling mode, records over previous data when card is full. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IN-CAR-NIGHT-VISION-VIDEO-CAMERA-RECORDER-CCTV-HD-DVR-TFT-2-5-LCD-ROAD-ACCIDENT-/171194790870?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item27dc0133d6 B£00dy hell Peter, that's £3 cheaper than what I paid, anyway, it's the same one and it works well. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 peter - 2013-12-21 9:40 PM This is the one I've got and so have a lot of other motorhomers. Works a treat and takes up to a 32GIg s/d card. Records in rolling mode, records over previous data when card is full. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IN-CAR-NIGHT-VISION-VIDEO-CAMERA-RECORDER-CCTV-HD-DVR-TFT-2-5-LCD-ROAD-ACCIDENT-/171194790870?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item27dc0133d6 This is just what I've been looking for! About 2 weeks ago I was approaching a bend when a sugar beet loader came around in opposite direction; I'm certain that the front bucket was overhanging my side of the road. I gave it some room; and as I got side by side with it I dropped a nearside wheel off the tarmac. Roads in this area are bad. I couldn't get it back on the road and we ended up in a dyke. No injuries, fortunately. Plenty of people stopped to help; but the tractor driver didn't. I didn't get number. As a result car was a write-off and we'll lose NCD. I think these things are the future! Thanks for the heads up Merry Xmas alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambukashot Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 I got a Blackvue Dashcam in HD, great unit and already paid for itself as an oncoming van decided to push too close and whacked my mirror :( i had his actions recorded with my speed and position on the road including his number plate caught by the camera.Funny when he stopped after hitting my mirror with his van and claimed it was all my fault, after i showed him a quick play back (which you can view on your smart phone) he changed his mind instantly and admitted fault. http://www.blackvue.com/en/main/main.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betsy Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Hi Plod, Just been catching up on your thread. It occurs to me that if there were some mention of dashboard/rear view cameras in the heading a lot more folk might have had a look. I think that many of us can see what a useful bit of kit such a camera is (especially as, like mine, they can also be used in an everyday car etc). How to add/change a thread's original title is well beyond me but perhaps you as the original "poster" (or someone else with the know how) could do it. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Might be of interest to some http://dashboardcamerareviews.com/ Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
first5 Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Have a look at www.carcamerachoices.co.uk. Bought the 'Black Bullet' after trying a similar looking camera off ebay - eventually returned for refund. Rubbish quality compared to this. Worth buying the memory card at the same time for £10. Extremely helpful chap and will answer all questions - Manchester based not other side of the world! Have no connections with this company orther than an extremely happy customer - so much so that I bought a second camera. It is also demonstrated on youtube by an independent assessor who rates it highly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 hallii - 2013-12-22 1:32 PM B£00dy hell Peter, that's £3 cheaper than what I paid, anyway, it's the same one and it works well. H It may look the same but there is no guarantee that the electronics are the same. Being in the trade and now selling loads of these cameras here are a few pointers that may help you on your choice. Just about all of these cameras are made in China. Nothing wrong with that, China now has some excellent electronic companies. The biggest expense in a factory starting to produce items like car cameras is the tooling to make the plastic cases. The Chinese government helps here by paying for the tooling and then selling the cases to any budding entrepreneur who wishes to start producing cameras. The factory then designs and produces the electronics and builds them into cameras. So very few products that look the same are actually identical. As with any camera the quality of the lens has a big impact on the quality of the images produced. We have found it almost impossible to quantify the performance of the lens apart from actually testing it. Gone are the days when you knew if a product had a Carl Zeiss lens it would be a good product. So a similar cased camera may have an inferior lens. Many of the resellers of these cameras make a big issue of the fact that the cameras have Infra Red Night Vision so you are led to believe you will get good night-time images. Fact - Infra Red does work when shown through glass. The beam merely reflects of the glass. Especially as the windscreen is raked at an angle. If the camera is mounted so the IR beam is at exactly 90 degrees to the glass transmission may occur. Oh but then there is the tint of the windscreen to consider. All car windscreens have slight tint these days. These cameras can be taken out the car and used as a standalone device. That is the only time the IR is of use. The better cameras are remarkedly good at producing images at night but will rely on the car headlights. This is perfectly good enough for the purpose of recording an accident. You will find many of the cameras produce clearer night time images than the naked eye can see. The recording resolution needed depends on the purpose of the recording. If you wish to have a record of your alpine drive I would suggest the highest possible resolution, namely 1080P. The images when played back on a big HD TV look stunning. The downside is that a 32GB storage card may only last about 8 hours before you start to overwrite the data. For taxi firms and coach companies this is restrictive. Record at 720P and the storage medium will last 4 times as long. The G- Sensor is one of the most overlooked and misunderstood features. The camera operates by recording continually until the memory is full and then starts to automatically overwrite. When the vehicle has a knock the G sensor is activated and it locks the file at that point. The cameras usually record in file sizes of 1 or 2 minutes. Some cameras have little adjustment on the sensitivity of the G sensor so even potholes can activate it. This gives many locked files that are not overwritten. Clearing them must be done by reformatting the memory or in some cases resetting the memory on a PC. It is not uncommon for customers to complain that their camera has stopped recording and showing a full memory card. Most cameras are powered by an adapter that fits into the cigar lighter socket. Inconvenient if you already use this for satnav etc. The standard cameras operate on 5 Volts dropped through the power adapter. You will need a trailing socket to permanently wire the camera to a 12V power source. There are some cameras on the market that are 12V operation so check before you buy if you want to permanently wire the camera There are lots of interesting features like GPS logging available. With GPS logging you get a player program which when loaded onto your PC will call up Google maps to show where you have been as the images are played. Some of the poorer cameras are slow to find a GPS signal, even the best can take 2-3 minutes of driving before picking up a GPS signal. Finally makes sure the clock is accurately set. If a court case relied on the video information and the time stamp was inaccurate it gives an element of doubt. The camera clock does not automatically change between British Summer Time. The better cameras with GPS will use the GPS data to set the time signal. I would disagree with the statement these cameras are the future. It is happening now. The sales of them are quite phenomenal. I hope that helps you decide on your purchase. Have I taken over from Brian on the record of long posts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambukashot Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Just to add to AliB's excellent post, dash cams which are sold with the sucker type mount are illegal in the UK, maybe i could be wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 sambukashot - 2013-12-24 3:25 PM Just to add to AliB's excellent post, dash cams which are sold with the sucker type mount are illegal in the UK, maybe i could be wrong? Not sure where that comes from. We have sold several to policemen. Not to use on official duty but for their private cars. The only proviso is that the view is not restricted through the windscreen. This is usually expressed as a percentage. If I have a bit more time over Christmas I will dig out the exact Road Traffic Act that applies. George or even Derek may know it of by heart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 AliB - 2013-12-24 11:14 AM hallii - 2013-12-22 1:32 PM B£00dy hell Peter, that's £3 cheaper than what I paid, anyway, it's the same one and it works well. H I would disagree with the statement these cameras are the future. It is happening now. The sales of them are quite phenomenal. I hope that helps you decide on your purchase. Have I taken over from Brian on the record of long posts? Not really, but at least you seem to know what you are on about, and we can all understand it. (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 AliB, So of the cameras you stock which would you recommend as a 'starter'? What are the pro's and con's of a built in screen and do they all have GPS or only specific models? Thanks in adavnce for your help. Keith. PS And do Forum members get a Xmas discount :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plaz Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Recently bought a dash camera from szswill.com. Pretty impressed with it. Only two complaints, minor ones. to get it down the center line of the car, behind the mirror, I had to mount it upside down. Whilst the software that comes with it can flip the video, all info (ie speed, gps, time) that is stamped onto the video ends up upside down. Also, the adjustments for the sensitivy of the "crash sensors" is a little off, turned all the way down, certain bumps in the road still triggers it. Overall though the video quality is pretty good, I mainly bought it for recording 4wding trips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 I have a contour roam one, here is a link to latest roam 2. bought primarily for cycling safety, use it in the van as well, and when out and about...... great quality at a price. http://contour.com/products/contourroam2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejkay Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 I have a cheap forward facing camera which clips over the (redundant) rear view mirror. Plugs into the cigarette lighter socket, comes on when I switch on the ignition and records in HD. Needless to say, since I've had it I have not needed to use the video as evidence. Has worked fine for over a year. I don't recollect how much I paid for it but it wouldn't have been more than £25. The only advice that I would give is to buy two low capacity Micro SD cards, say 4GB, this way if something happens (e.g. you need to give one to the police) you have another to keep recording. Pre-emptive strike against "Sods Law" ! The device records in a continuous loop and starts a new file every time you switch on the ignition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 mikejkay - 2014-04-08 1:49 PM I have a cheap forward facing camera which clips over the (redundant) rear view mirror. Plugs into the cigarette lighter socket, comes on when I switch on the ignition and records in HD. Needless to say, since I've had it I have not needed to use the video as evidence. Has worked fine for over a year. I don't recollect how much I paid for it but it wouldn't have been more than £25. The only advice that I would give is to buy two low capacity Micro SD cards, say 4GB, this way if something happens (e.g. you need to give one to the police) you have another to keep recording. Pre-emptive strike against "Sods Law" ! The device records in a continuous loop and starts a new file every time you switch on the ignition. You can give the police your SD card although I doubt you will get it back. The police are only interested in the actual incident and do not want to trawl through several hours of data. Just about all of these types of cameras allow you set a recording interval of 1, 2 or 5 minutes. Each of these intervals is saved as a separate file. Just copy that file onto a cheaper media like a CD. Do not use a cheap SD card, most cameras specify you need to use a card rated at Class 6 or above. The HD cameras really need Class 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelnevin Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Might be of interest to some: http://dashcamreviews.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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