Dash Cams

mike brez wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
my first one was a $18 special. worked but wasn't wonderful. then based on a recommendation here I sprung for a $52 one. much better. a $300 go pro, a waste of money.
bumpy

Ya gets what you pay for. There is no comparison between a go-pro and a $50 camera. My son is a snow board instructor and has been using it for years on the mountain and on the lake there is nothing that compares to it on the market.

That is exactly right. In the case of an incident, do you want some fuzzy image that shows basically what went on or do you want an image that is in sharp focus and can read a license plate, or identify someone, at 50+ feet? You may only need your dash camera once in your life and do you really want to trust some cheap Chinese camera or a camera system that has been proven to survive rough handling and still provide a crystal clear video? In addition, the GoPro camera does not have to be only used on your dash. It can be hand carried to provide 1080 HD video of the various sights that you encounter with your journeys. GoPro also has many versions and you do not have to pay $300 to get one for your rig. For something so important that it may prove your guilt or innocence I feel that spending peanuts on a camera is the real waste of money.

I'm happy with my Windshield Witness. Easy to use. Good picture.

My son uses a Mobius Action Cam. It's an HD camera that makes an excellent dash-cam. It's $100 on Amazon.

He had a cheap dash-cam, then found out that it saves the video and writes it to the memory card only every 15 seconds or so. In a severe accident where power is lost to the dash-cam, the last few seconds of video (the most important part) is lost.

+2 on the Mobius. Available here Mobius on eBay for $69.00.

I have a Windshield Witness in my motor home, but have a Mobius in each of my other vehicles. Here's an example of why:
Close call

There's no question the Go Pro is a quality camera, but IMHO it is overkill for this function. My cameras stay in each vehicle and are activated any time the ignition is on.

Put a Garmin Dash Cam 20 with optional 32GB card on my windshield in July Works great.


C.B.

I don't have one yet, but I will install one when I get a insurance break for having one!

Garmin Dash Cam 20 - $250.

I haven't had much luck with dedicated dashcams, specifically the video quality. In fact, the last one I bought from a U.S. seller was so bad as to be completely unusable. So need to be careful that you are actually getting the genuine package, and not a counterfeit.

I'd stick with major brands like Garmin, but expensive nonetheless.

Instead, I've been experimenting with using Android smartphone based dashcams, many of which are available for free. Along with some unique advantages, but just as many downsides.

Some things I like is that the video quality is as good as your smartphone. Which tends to be heads over heals better than most mid to low end dashcams. Plus, the software can utilize the phone's built-in gps to add location data to the video, along with mph and the usual date/time. Not to mention that many Android based dashcams apps are available for free. And you can still use Bluetooth and charge the smartphone while in use. So can receive/make calls from a stereo receiver w/Bluetooth for instance.

But there are also some downsides including finding a suitable mount for your smartphone. The ones I've tried so far result in too much shake in the recorded video when in motion. So still looking in my case.

Another downside is that Android does not overlay data to recorded video, so you can only view these from the smartphone. Unless the dashcam app generates a separate sub-title(.srt) text file that can be read by a media player/converter to view this data when using a computer. But not all apps offer this capability.

The Free Android based dashcam/dvr apps I've had the best luck with so far using a Samsung Galaxy S include:





AutoBoy DashCam - Black Box



AutoGuard Blackbox - Dash Cam




Both apps can use the smartphones HQ video - 1080P HD. And both can generate .srt files to overlay data when using a media player such as VLC, or when burning the data over the video using a converter.

A few other dashcam apps I've tried were just too buggy, or didn't provide good enough video quality. In any case, you need to test a dashcam app to make sure its stable with your specific mobile device.

I have been using dash cams for a couple years now. the current one I use in my car is a GT680W. I have been very happy with it so far. It has GPS so it logs the location and it also has a 'screen saver' which is a compass and shows your speed as calculated by the GPS. I bring my Mobius Action Cam for the coach.

I did take some really nice scenery video of crossing the Mackinac Bridge and driving over the top of lake Michigan with the Mobius but haven't done anything with that video yet.

The following are a couple videos I put up on YouTube taken from my dash cam in my car.

This first one is an idiot who decided to pull out in front of me - caught with my first dashcam. If you look closely, you will see I am going 55mph and did lay on the brakes and horn: idiot driver!

These next three are a series of videos from last year while I was driving home when a bad storm was hitting my area. My family was in the basement as a tornado was spotted very near to my house. Before someone mentions it, yes I rolled some stop signs as I was in a hurry to get home: Storm Clip 1, Storm Clip 2 & Storm Clip 3.

this one is a test clip I made using the Mobius: Mobius Action Cam Clip

Finally, while driving home last week, I was really enjoying this flat farm land where I live so I used some dashcam video and made this clip: Tribute to My Neck of the Woods

But the real reason for my ever getting one is because both my father and son were involved in seperate scam type accidents. Both of them were never held responsible but it really got me thinking so I now have one in the car at all times. For the RV, its great to capture some of the beautiful scenery as you move along the highway from one destination to another! of course, you will catch people doing stupid things which is kind of part of the fun of having one.

@1492, I found out the hard way that my Samsung Galaxy S4 phone which is enveloped in an Otter Box is not too fond of being up in the window area. Mine overheated once and shutdown. It took about an hour for it to cool down enough to come back on. It doesn't seem damaged but something to think about if using a smartphone as your dashcam.