Video whilst driving

[Rayjsj]

Joe90 - 2015-02-15 12:24 PM

 

I personally cannot see why the mainstream camera manufacturers haven't entered the market, although not ideal I sometimes mount my camera on the dashboard with a mini tripod, it will then "film" for 30 minutes in full HD glory with a very wide angle of view, the only thing I've caught of any note though was a Deer suddenly leaping out of a dense forest, ;-)

 

Have you put it on Youtube ?, much more interesting than car smashes (IMO). ;-) Ray

[Brambles]

http://dashboardcamerareviews.com/category/favorites/

found this quite helpful.

 

Also been looking at reviews on youtube. A lot of choice and all very confusing what is best and a lot depends on what features are wanted.

I am trying to persuade myself the Eprance mini 0801 which is cheap and a GPS mount ( also cheap) will fit the bill for me. Basic recording in case of accident, but possibly useful for recording those scary hairy mountain passes i insist on doing each summer so will return at least bit of value to me if I never have an accident.

[AliB]

Rayjsj - 2015-02-14 3:14 PM

 

AJ46 - 2015-02-14 2:14 PM

 

Thanks for your input so far, but all I wanted to find out was ideas of what I should look out for when buying an on board camera that would be easy to install/use etc in order to protect myself against other bad drivers and provide reliable evidence.

 

You should have said that in the first place, high definition (HD) , preferably 1080 , as wide an angle lens as possible, mine is 120 degrees but 140 is better, 170 best, at least 32gb mini sd card capacity. and night time cabability, IR 'lights' around the lens. There are MANY on the market and at a wide degree of cost.

More expensive does not always mean 'better'. But don't buy from E-bay (IMO) as it is harder to get a refund if it arrives 'Dud' or breaks soon after. better to get from Amazon or another UK trader, most of these come from China (doesn't everything ?) But no way do you want to be sending it back there for warranty claims/repair. make it someone you can Phone up or take it to.

Ray

 

Think that they (Dash Cams) are rapidly becoming a 'must have' with all the Albanian/Romanian 'Crash for cash' jockeys about.

 

If the angle of view is large, 170 degrees there will be distortion of the images at the edges. This will look like curving and is called fishbowl distortion. A wide angle lens also makes objects appear smaller and hard to discern the distances between objects. The best angle of view is 120 degrees and certainly no more than 140.

There are double lens cameras on the market where one lens points a little to the left and the other a little to the right. Hence overcoming the distortion factor.

 

IR Lights around the lens? Useless when the camera is mounted on a windscreen. The IR beam will simply be reflected back from the windscreen. Have you ever tried to shine a torch through a window at night to see what is outside?

 

Other features like GPS are nice to have but not essential. It is mainly companies who want to monitor where their drivers have been who require GPS.

Again WiFi, not sure why you need it but fine if you want it.

 

I keep making the same points over and over again about these cameras but still the basic principles like IR night vision are not understood.

[Brambles]

Hi guys,

Bought a cheap DVR from Amazon. G1WH from Coshine group (trading as Blueskysea) on Amazon Maket place but fulfilled by Amazon. £32.95 plus Kingston 32Gb class10 microSD for £11.11.

 

I did my homework and Coshine Group seem to be one of the main chinese manufacturers/suppliers for this g1wh camera so is as it says.

 

So, for £44 what have I got. Yes, its a toy, yes it feels lightweight, feels like a toy camera you would buy in a 99p shop ( actually not quite that bad). Yes the handbook/manual is absolute rubbish and full of mistakes. On the surface it looks like I have really wasted my money.

Has the picture got distortion at the edges, yes it has.

But I tell you what, it works and it works really well. The picture on the small screen is not impressive, oh dear oh dear but is quite large, but load it onto a computer and the quality of colour and focus is astounding, not to mention the sound is pretty good as well.

 

On you tube many say the quality of original videos are better than the youtube copy. They are right. Its amazingly good. So will it work as a crash recording camera, you bet it will. Will it work for recording those special scenic roads...it most certainly will. As long as you can igbore a little distortion but looking at the high end cameras they are not perfect either.

 

Have I wasted my money? No I have not, even if it only lasts a few months and I decide to go for a higher end one, maybe one with a larger battery and can be used as a sports cam as well on my bike. Mind you I have crossed that bridge so I can use this cheapy as I have USB battery packs already.

 

If this does the job, great. If it does not it will serve as a tool for me to learn what is needed, what is important and then when spending hundreds it will be a good investment I will be educated to make. At the moment I do not know enough about what is good or bad to make that investment so £44 is peanuts and yet I have something which will record accidents. That was the initial goal afterall and I am chuffed to bits with it.

 

p.s. It does not feel like a 99p toy really...its quite well made but is very light.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I057T6K/ref=pe_385721_51767431_TE_dp_2

(windscreen mount is different and is a ball jointed one)

 

.

 

 

 

 

[Southender]

AJ46 - 2015-02-13 10:15 AM

 

I am about to consider the purchase of a video Any advice Please.

 

 

VHS or Betamax ?

[Rayjsj]

Southender - 2015-02-24 4:09 PM

 

AJ46 - 2015-02-13 10:15 AM

 

I am about to consider the purchase of a video Any advice Please.

 

 

VHS or Betamax ?

Tapes !

 

If VHS, I have quite a few I can let you have for a 'knockdown price' (even the charity shops don't accept them now !!)

Mind you,I have heard that Betamax ones or even V2000 (philips double sided) are now collectors items and are worth 'Big' (relatively) money again ?? how do you work that out ? The fine line between 'Trash and Treasure' and knowing the differance. ;-) Ray

[Steve928]

Brambles - 2015-02-24 3:28 PM

Hi guys,

Bought a cheap DVR from Amazon.

 

A mini review from me too as my £28.95 Ebay cheapie turned up today.

It's this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111598240169

There's only on seller of it on Ebay so it seems quite a rarity and it is strikingly similar to this from Snooper, albeit without the GPS module in the mount:

http://www.snooper.co.uk/snooper-dvr-1hd-mini.html

If it does roll off the same Chinese production line then it's something of a bargain.Probably just a copy though.

 

No screen but a AV cinch output which will connect to a spare camera input on my reversing monitor and you can put the TF card into your PC/phone/tablet to view the videos.

 

The only thing I hadn't thought of is that it appears to need a permanent live 12v connection in order to preserve its internal clock setting to correctly timestamp the videos so you can't just plug it into a spare cig. lighter socket and go. I haven't given its internal battery a good charge yet though so that may change.

 

 

 

 

[AliB]

Steve928 - 2015-02-24 6:29 PM

 

Brambles - 2015-02-24 3:28 PM

Hi guys,

Bought a cheap DVR from Amazon.

 

A mini review from me too as my £28.95 Ebay cheapie turned up today.

It's this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111598240169

There's only on seller of it on Ebay so it seems quite a rarity and it is strikingly similar to this from Snooper, albeit without the GPS module in the mount:

http://www.snooper.co.uk/snooper-dvr-1hd-mini.html

If it does roll off the same Chinese production line then it's something of a bargain.Probably just a copy though.

 

No screen but a AV cinch output which will connect to a spare camera input on my reversing monitor and you can put the TF card into your PC/phone/tablet to view the videos.

 

The only thing I hadn't thought of is that it appears to need a permanent live 12v connection in order to preserve its internal clock setting to correctly timestamp the videos so you can't just plug it into a spare cig. lighter socket and go. I haven't given its internal battery a good charge yet though so that may change.

 

 

 

 

For a while we sold a similar camera but with the GPS module. The camera did not have an internal battery but had two 12 V power feeds. One should be connected to a permanent 12 v source the other switched through the ignition.

If your camera has 2 power cables I would guess it does not have an internal battery. If the battery has been left in an uncharged state for some time there is a good chance it will be beyond redemption

Incidently the GPS based models did not need the time and date to be manually set. Once a GPS signal is picked up it is automatically synchronised so it is not necessary to connect the standby power feed

[Steve928]

AliB - 2015-02-25 9:02 AM

For a while we sold a similar camera but with the GPS module. The camera did not have an internal battery but had two 12 V power feeds. One should be connected to a permanent 12 v source the other switched through the ignition.

If your camera has 2 power cables I would guess it does not have an internal battery. If the battery has been left in an uncharged state for some time there is a good chance it will be beyond redemption

Incidently the GPS based models did not need the time and date to be manually set. Once a GPS signal is picked up it is automatically synchronised so it is not necessary to connect the standby power feed

 

Thanks for that and yes that's exactly how this one is. 2 power feeds and no hint of an internal battery even after overnight 'charging'.

With the ignition line disconnected it draws only 1.2mA from the permanent 12v source so, other than the not insignificant worry of leaving dubious Chinese electronics permanently live in my van, it would be workable.

'Not as described' though, so I may return it yet..

 

[Keithl]

Steve,

 

Seen as you mentioned the Snooper DVR-1HD I have recently purchased one and it is brilliant!

 

The spec is all on the link you posted earlier but you can get one for £99.99 off Amazon, there are at least a couple of sellers on there and I got mine form Snooper on Amazon.

 

The software to view the files is loaded to the Micro SD card and you can easily reformat new cards to the Snooper format. It came with an 8Gb card but as this only holds just under one hour of driving at high res I have bought two 32Gb cards to get near 4 hours on each.

 

The only other downside which hasn't affected me is the software only works with Windows, ie NOT Apple.

 

Any other questions just ask.

 

Keith.

[Steve928]

Thanks Keith, I may go for a Snooper if I decide to return this 'Snooper-alike'. Perfect size and will fit between the screen and Remis blinds using the suction mount.

 

Does the Snooper software for viewing videos on the card look anything like this? Just wondered if this had been copied too..

 

[Keithl]

Yep, that's an exact rip-off of Snooper Player.

 

It even has the Google map to show GPS data which I don't believe your copy cam has.

 

The Sooper GPS is that accurate you can actually see how it tracks a path as I reverse onto my drive, very impressive.

 

Another downside is it only has one adhesive mounted GPS unit which has to be affixed to the windscreen. The camera is easily removed to retrieve the card but is no use in another car as you don't get a second mount or even a sucker mount.

 

I tried to price up a spare GPS mount and 12 volt power lead for the DVR-1HD but Snooper couldn't offer them as spares. The price of similar parts for a DVR2 where over £30 and £20 respectively so in the end I bought a second one for my every day car. This time I am going to mount the GPS unit onto a spare sat nav sucker so I can use it in any car.

 

Keith.

[Guest Joe90]

Keithl - 2015-02-25 12:26 PM

 

Steve,

 

Seen as you mentioned the Snooper DVR-1HD I have recently purchased one and it is brilliant!

 

The spec is all on the link you posted earlier but you can get one for £99.99 off Amazon, there are at least a couple of sellers on there and I got mine form Snooper on Amazon.

 

The software to view the files is loaded to the Micro SD card and you can easily reformat new cards to the Snooper format. It came with an 8Gb card but as this only holds just under one hour of driving at high res I have bought two 32Gb cards to get near 4 hours on each.

 

The only other downside which hasn't affected me is the software only works with Windows, ie NOT Apple.

 

Any other questions just ask.

 

Keith.

 

Why would you want videos of 8 hours driving,

 

I thought these things just overwrite earlier files where nothing has happened as the card becomes full ? in which case an 8 gig card would do the job with ease.

 

 

[Keithl]

Joe90 - 2015-02-25 5:18 PM

 

Why would you want videos of 8 hours driving,

 

 

Joe,

 

It's not that I actually want to record 8 hours of driving but I would like to have the option to be able to review our drive at the end of a day and the 8Gb card only gave around 55 minutes of replay. We are planning a road trip to Iceland this summer so I really want to be able to preserve some video footage of the trip.

 

I bought 2 cards as if there is an event I definitely want to keep then I can swap cards to preserve it for later. I'd rather be over prepared then regret it later.

 

And the cards where only just over a tenner each with free P&P so didn't exactly break the bank.

 

Keith.

[Guest Joe90]

Ah with you now...........I've done similar with my conventional camera mounted on a mini tripod................many times offered to show the footage to other folk, along with a slide show of my pictures.............................................. I'll get a taker one of these days. :D

[malc d]

Joe90 - 2015-02-25 5:37 PM

 

Ah with you now...........I've done similar with my conventional camera mounted on a mini tripod................many times offered to show the footage to other folk, along with a slide show of my pictures.............................................. I'll get a taker one of these days. :D

 

 

The difference between using a dashcam and a conventional camera is that the dash cam

records in ' bites ' of about one minute at a time.

 

This means that you can ditch most of the recording and just keep the interesting bits.

 

In my case I tend to keep a couple of minutes from each two to three hour recording

 

Nothing more boring than reviewing an hour or two of motorway driving, after a trip - if nothing interesting has happened.

 

;-)

[Muswell]

malc d - 2015-02-25 5:44 PM

 

 

Nothing more boring than reviewing an hour or two of motorway driving, after a trip - if nothing interesting has happened.

 

;-)

 

You could put in for the Turner prize. I remember some of the underground films in the 60s were not exactly thrill-packed.

[woody.]

Ive been using this X3000

for a couple of years now its absolutely excellent , and because im using it all the time im aware of its presence and therefore im driving quite safely [ i hope ] , so lets hope that the mere fact that more people are using them means we have safer drivers on the road .

[Cervantes]

Following a recommendation on here last year (sorry, can't remember who) to look at techmoan on YouTube, we eventually bought this one.

http://tinyurl.com/p9wnk72

Along with a 32gb micro SD card it does everything it says it will to a high standard to allow me to plot even a 6 hour journey onto a map to record our route.

The software that comes with it was a bit poor so I downloaded http://www.registratorviewer.com/index_en.html

which makes the viewing quality superb and the editing easy. I leave mine attached to the top of the windscreen - you can't see it's there from the outside.

I've never had to use it in anger yet, but I've caught some footage that would have helped me if things had escalated - an example here

All in all I would thoroughly recommend a dash cam - if you need it its there, if you never need it, all you've lost is £50 - small peanuts in the world of motorhoming. :-D

[Brambles]

Cervantes - 2015-02-26 7:35 AM

Following a recommendation on here last year (sorry, can't remember who) to look at techmoan on YouTube, we eventually bought this one.

http://tinyurl.com/p9wnk72 .................

...................

 

There are now also a later 0803 and 0805 mini. When reviewing I thought abouyt the 0801 you have as seems vey good for the money.

Love your video footage, no not the one you posted but this one with tunnels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzXRJiHy6mY.

 

Getting good music on the footage really makes then transform into something enyoyable to watch...must remember that when I come to edit any.

 

[Brambles]

Really enjoying your videos cervantes -- got them playing up in the corner of screen on auto play and listening to the music as I work glancing at scenery occassionally. Am leaving the Ebro Delta at moment!

[Steve H]

AJ46

 

I purchased a DOD LS430W from Amazon

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/DOD-LS300W-Dashboard-Advanced-Detection/dp/B00COZNEHU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424959573&sr=8-2&keywords=dod+ls430w+gps+car+dash+cam

 

I guess it costs more than some but my thinking is this: I may only ever need to call upon the images within the camera once in my life therefore it had better contain an image of sufficient quality to be of use to me, otherwise I've simply wasted my money. It's rather like putting up a cheap CCTV camera in a small shop, get robbed and then can't identify the culprits from the poor images - pointless.

 

I am very pleased indeed with the unit, the resolution is superb and comes complete with software allowing you to download from the camera and watch it on the computer together with GPS mapping which also includes speed and direction, so it has the added advantage of making me a better driver because I know it's watching me as well.

 

In the event of an incident press a button on the camera and it will save that piece of video, if not it just re-records over old images.

 

Incidently I don't mount mine hanging down from the top of the windscreen with hidden cabling. I've turned the camera upside down, reversed the image within the camera and have then mounted it on a Satnav mat on the dashboard. That way I can remove it easily should I wish.

[AliB]

Steve H - 2015-02-26 2:17 PM

 

AJ46

 

I purchased a DOD LS430W from Amazon

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/DOD-LS300W-Dashboard-Advanced-Detection/dp/B00COZNEHU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424959573&sr=8-2&keywords=dod+ls430w+gps+car+dash+cam

 

I guess it costs more than some but my thinking is this: I may only ever need to call upon the images within the camera once in my life therefore it had better contain an image of sufficient quality to be of use to me, otherwise I've simply wasted my money. It's rather like putting up a cheap CCTV camera in a small shop, get robbed and then can't identify the culprits from the poor images - pointless.

 

I am very pleased indeed with the unit, the resolution is superb and comes complete with software allowing you to download from the camera and watch it on the computer together with GPS mapping which also includes speed and direction, so it has the added advantage of making me a better driver because I know it's watching me as well.

 

In the event of an incident press a button on the camera and it will save that piece of video, if not it just re-records over old images.

 

Incidently I don't mount mine hanging down from the top of the windscreen with hidden cabling. I've turned the camera upside down, reversed the image within the camera and have then mounted it on a Satnav mat on the dashboard. That way I can remove it easily should I wish.

 

I wiould be very interested to know who good the night vision is on this model.

[colin]

Joe90 - 2015-02-25 5:37 PM

 

Ah with you now...........I've done similar with my conventional camera mounted on a mini tripod................many times offered to show the footage to other folk, along with a slide show of my pictures.............................................. I'll get a taker one of these days. :D

 

you can record all sorts of things with a mini cam, here's my friend pouring a glass of water at 150mph :D

[Cervantes]

Brambles - 2015-02-26 2:33 PM

 

Really enjoying your videos cervantes -- got them playing up in the corner of screen on auto play and listening to the music as I work glancing at scenery occassionally. Am leaving the Ebro Delta at moment!

Glad you like them, and thanks for your comments -it's always a challenge deciding which videos to put on, how long they should be, what music if any to put with them, or if I should put any at all on. If just one person likes them (thank you) then I will carry on.