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Thu Nov 10, 2016 10:33 am

Hi Guys

I'm here in Vancouver where I can pick up cheap electronics and thinking about getting a dash mount vid camera for legal protection in the case that someone might drive into me or something. [this happened to my GF last year and she lost the case because she blacked out when she was hit].

I am just wondering if anyone can suggest what to look for in such a camera... they seem to range between $25 and $40... I would rather not get something that would crap out on me in 6 months - however, I don't drive very much so it would not get used too much.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 10:48 am

:arrow:

Thu Nov 10, 2016 11:14 am

Turn on your TV.

Dash cam pro is advertised often.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 11:36 am

Two major points: first, that if you go the cheap route you'll probably buy three or more cameras because they either crap out on you (szechuan shortcuts) or don't work as advertised (pinyin partswaps). They are all made in china, but some are made better, to more exacting quality specifications, than others. But many are poor imitations with quality parts and circuits swapped out for low-budget ones. They fail on the job.

For example, an important feature such as cyclic overwrite recording, or motion detection.

Second, they can be really helpful (when they work). A friend of mine was t-boned by a taxi cab (with passengers!) and the guy and his lawyer were real cooperative after he told them he had a dash cam and recorded the whole incident. But when he told them the cyclic overwrite didn't work and he had no recording they became stubborn, accusatory, and belligerent. He had to go to court.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 11:41 am

Terry Kay wrote: Turn on your TV.

Dash cam pro is advertised often.

Not sure they show that ad in Vancouver.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 11:45 am

Aha.... thanks!

These are the three I now see advertised on Craig'slist. Are any of these decent? Worth buying?
https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/bnc/ele/5829776835.html
https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/ele/5852735956.html
https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/rch/ele/5843386900.html

Thu Nov 10, 2016 12:01 pm

<<Not sure they show that ad in Vancouver>>

Smoke Signals Only?
Yea, that would be tough.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 12:25 pm

Terry Kay wrote: Turn on your TV.

That advice is so bad it is not even funny. But I guess it explains your pea-sized world view.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 12:27 pm

These guys are local:

https://www.blackboxmycar.com/

I have this one:

https://www.blackboxmycar.com/collections/finevu/p...5679095041

...not the cheapest (by a lot) but it's been flawless and is really, really good under low light conditions. It appears to be close to being discontinued though.

Robyn

Thu Nov 10, 2016 12:32 pm

squeegee_boy wrote: These guys are local:

https://www.blackboxmycar.com/

I have this one:

https://www.blackboxmycar.com/collections/finevu/p...5679095041

...not the cheapest (by a lot) but it's been flawless and is really, really good under low light conditions. It appears to be close to being discontinued though.

Robyn

Thanks... yes there seems to be a wide price range sweep.... My intuition tells me that a unit like this needs to be ON and properly functioning for long hours at a time (on long trips), so that an el-cheapo would likely not suffice.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 1:43 pm

Long trip become a problem with data storage, I have a dash cam as terry suggested and it runs out of storage very quickly.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 3:00 pm

Terry Kay wrote: Turn on your TV. Dash cam pro is advertised often.
And everyone knows if it's on TV, it must be good ... :roll:

Thu Nov 10, 2016 3:04 pm

Bassyaks wrote: Long trip become a problem with data storage, I have a dash cam as terry suggested and it runs out of storage very quickly.

Most decent units use a rolling buffer, the one I linked to certainly does. It records the last n minutes of the trip, where n is limited by the capacity of the card. Then it overwrites older stufff on a first-in-first-out basis.

R

Thu Nov 10, 2016 9:52 pm

some of us don't own a TV

Jeffrey Lee wrote: Terry Kay wrote: Turn on your TV. Dash cam pro is advertised often.
And everyone knows if it's on TV, it must be good ... :roll:

Thu Nov 10, 2016 10:20 pm

We got one of these: Garmin GPS + camera.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YAQDJ94/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thu Nov 10, 2016 11:17 pm

Following link is very handy, good in Day & night.
The one I got is of same company but lower model from US. :)
Link,
https://www.amazon.ca/OJOCAM-Pro2-Plus-Mini-SanDisk/dp/B00KVLN9MY

Thu Nov 10, 2016 11:29 pm

I can tell you from experience that those cheap dashcams are a waste of money. Up around the $150 range you are getting into some long term quality. Cheaper dashcame feature the following:

The real gremlin is the battery, usually LiPo, which overheats on the dashboard in the sun and expands thereby damaging the camera’s internal components. To solve this problem I had to hang my cameras (I have both front and rear) from above out of the sunlight. But I live in New Mexico where the sun is very strong, YMMV.

Another problem rarely mentioned is that LiPo batteries freeze, or rather crystallize, while they are being charged in winter temperatures. You MUST unplug the camera in cold weather to prevent the LiPo battery from self destructing. In general, LiPo dashcams are finicky and high maintenance due to the battery, which only exists to shut down the camera gracefully when it is unplugged, and to preserve date/time.

Some dashcams have a spring loaded memory card slot that sends your card flying when it is released. Since the card is microscopic, it can disappear forever which is pretty maddening when critical data is on it, in addition to costing cash to replace.

Those are the three gotchas I’ve discovered about dashcams.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 11:46 pm

Gnarlodious wrote: LiPo dashcams are finicky and high maintenance due to the battery, which only exists to shut down the camera gracefully when it is unplugged, and to preserve date/time.

So the camera is wired to the van's wiring, no?

Fri Nov 11, 2016 8:24 am

epowell wrote: So the camera is wired to the van's wiring, no?
Yes, but they turn themselves off when unplugged or switched from the key, with the battery powering the shutdown and clock. BTW every dashcam I have found runs off of 5v, NOT 12v. This includes its own power supply problems. A 12v dashcam will produce more heat if its converter is inside the camera.

Shutdown is important because the video file is stored in volatile memory until the clip is finished, usually 3 or 5 minutes per clip, at which time it is written to permanent memory. If the camera loses power, it starts up in a recovery mode that requires attention before it will work. Thus the battery is kind of a necessity. I have an Ojocam recommended in the above post that does this if I unplug it without a clean shutdown.

You can leave the camera running continuously, they don’t use that much current. But the problem then becomes excess heat in summer, which is a battery cooker due to the heat produced by the device itself, or a battery freezer due to the LiPo battery being charged in cold weather. In both cases your battery stops working. Thus the need to stop the camera while it is parked, or find one with a non LiPo battery.

The Ojocam I mentioned is pretty good, and 3 years old now. I like it because it is small and rotates to the Vanagon’s windshield angle without unwieldy swivels. Its just that the battery froze the first winter so it can’t keep time and must be manually shut down. My next dashcam will be above the $150 range.

I also have a GoPro Hero in the rear window which is not optimized for dashcam usage, and difficult to use. An expensive lesson learned. The rear window camera is especially problematic. A central camera on-off switch would be ideal.

You should also keep in mind that every camera is different, and my experience may not apply.

Fri Nov 11, 2016 9:46 am

[quote="rubbachicken"]some of us don't own a TV.

Sounds like some sort of personal deficiency to me for some of you.

Sad.