Dashcam Recommendations

[richardfrost]

I still never got round to buying a dash cam. Feel like I really should get around to this now. What are your CURRENT models or ones you are thinking of next? Thanks.

[culzean]

I still never got round to buying a dash cam. Feel like I really should get around to this now. What are your CURRENT models or ones you are thinking of next? Thanks.

NextBase are hard to beat IMHO - I have had one for a few years now with no problems,  and the magnetic click in connection base makes it easy to remove and replace camera, we swap our 512GW between our cars and it always connects fine.

[richardfrost]

@culzean Do you use a rear view module too?

The 522 (current model) is currently top of my list and seems to have either a module that plugs in the side and looks back through the car, and a rear camera on a 6m cable that you fix in the rear window.

[nowster]

Some dealers are pushing the "Honda Drive Recorder" at the moment.

[culzean]

@culzean Do you use a rear view module too?

The 522 (current model) is currently top of my list and seems to have either a module that plugs in the side and looks back through the car, and a rear camera on a 6m cable that you fix in the rear window.

I got it because of the option was there to plug in a rear view camera ( rear camera was not actually available when I got 512 dashcam, but was a 'future' product ) - I did think of buying the rear camera about 6 months later when it cam on the market - then I found out that when rear camera was plugged in that the resolution on front camera was reduced due to max bitrate problem with processor or something, so I shelved the idea of rear camera ( which to be honest was not expensive at about £50 ).  I run the 522 at 1440p  ( 2560 x 1440 ) at 30 frames per second,  you can also use 1080p at 60 fps.    My 64GB memory card starts to overwrite after 4 hours of driving time,  but you can fit 128GB as well ( but 128GB was a bit pricey a few years ago ).  If you want to freeze a clip while driving to prevent it being overwritten just reach up to camera and squeeze the bottom LH corner of dashcam ( if has an area with raised dots you can feel ).  When I first used it I found the G force monitoring way too sensitive and ended up with lots of frozen files on the unit, but it is very adjustable and you can find a setting where every bump in the road does not set the G sensor off....

[Kremmen]

Some dealers are pushing the "Honda Drive Recorder" at the moment.

Low resolution unit, 1080 I think.

My Viofo A119 V3 runs at up to 2560x1440@60fps and produces very clear footage.

[Jocko]

produces very clear footage.

Your images are great. Much better than the ones my camera produces.

[culzean]

With the GPS on the Nextbase and using the nextbase app to show videos ( video is a bit jerky' in NB app ) you get a map showing the position of vehicle during the video clip, the vehicle tracks along whatever roads you were traveling on also get speed and 3 axis G force readout.  I prefer to look at videos in something like VLC media player for smooth viewing and good resolution, but you lose the map and other info. My screen on satnav defaults to show GPS speed, but can also show time ( accurate to 1 billionth of a second as measured by the atomic clock in GPS satellites, but readout is only 4 digits  LOL ).

[nowster]

...accurate to 1 billionth of a second as measured by the atomic clock in GPS satellites.

Not quite. The best you can do with a GPS receiver set to "stationary mode" is about 5ns. When moving, time accuracy is about an order of magnitude less¹.

(Guess who set up a Raspberry Pi with a GPS board as an NTP server last weekend...)

___
¹ A certain Mr Heisenberg would like a word.

[Kremmen]

NextBase are hard to beat IMHO - I have had one for a few years now with no problems,  and the magnetic click in connection base makes it easy to remove and replace camera, we swap our 512GW between our cars and it always connects fine.

The 1 series had very few problems but the series 2 dashcams are proving to be very problematic. Head over to DashcamTalk for the growing list of complaints.

The main gripe is they, mainly the 522, just keeps locking up. The Nextbase Support, they contribute on DashcamTalk, is that you should use only their very expensive branded SDCards and you must format the card at least fortnightly.

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/categories/nextbase.366/

[Kremmen]

produces very clear footage.

Your images are great. Much better than the ones my camera produces.

I'm currently testing 2560x1080 @30fps, high bitrate, 21:9 letterbox mode. With 2560x1440 it shows some dashboard and too much sky IMO. Too much sky can affect the auto light sensor and the EV drops.

The current official A119 firmware is 2.4 but I've got version 2.5 which is looking good. I won't be at the PC to offload the footage for a few days to check.

Here is my latest 2.5 in 2560x1440 @30fps high bitrate :

Download link as YouTube reduces the quality:

>> Krem Viofo A119 V3 v 2.5 <<

[culzean]

...accurate to 1 billionth of a second as measured by the atomic clock in GPS satellites.

Not quite. The best you can do with a GPS receiver set to "stationary mode" is about 5ns. When moving, time accuracy is about an order of magnitude less¹.

(Guess who set up a Raspberry Pi with a GPS board as an NTP server last weekend...)

___
¹ A certain Mr Heisenberg would like a word.

It was a joke    - what possible use is a billionth of a second on a four digit display

[culzean]

Looking forward to my Viofo A119 V3 arriving today,  got fed up of swapping the Nextbase 512 GW between vehicles and decided to get a second cam and Viofo come highly recommended.  I did look at the Viofo 4K A129 but decided against it due to massive file sizes and according to some reviews the low light performance is not so good as the 119 with the Sony Starvis chip ( we have CCTV cameras with the Starvis chips and can confirm they have good low-light performance).  I may even make a bracket to mount 119 on motorbike...  Will investigate using the viofo in parking mode at minimum frame rate to clip on house window when not in car, it normally works through glass ( unlike some CCTV cameras ) so the window should not affect it too much ( except it is double glazed ).

[Kremmen]

With the Viofo you have a few firmware choices depending on your main requirements :

Firmware 1.03 is best for daytime freeze frame
Firmware Mod 2.5 is best for colour rendition
Firmware Mod 2.6T is best for night reading number plates.

Dedicated forum here :

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/forums/a119-v3.303/

I've got all firmware versions in stock.

[culzean]

With the Viofo you have a few firmware choices depending on your main requirements :

Firmware 1.03 is best for daytime freeze frame
Firmware Mod 2.5 is best for colour rendition
Firmware Mod 2.6T is best for night reading number plates.

Dedicated forum here :

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/forums/a119-v3.303/

I've got all firmware versions in stock.

Thanks for that,  mine came with v2.4 and will run with it for a while to see if any glitches.  I love the 'proper tactile buttons' and 'single menu' with everything in it and the nice big 'lock video' button. I found the Nextbase menus a bit awkward sometimes and although there was a 'lock video' button on bottom LH of 512GW there was no sound to confirm it had responded to my thumb press. After about 5 mins I was happy with Viofo menu and which buttons did what.  The only thing I may miss is the GPS speed display on screensaver, but hey-ho... as long as the speed appears on the video that is fine.  The unit is smaller than I thought, so easier to mount than the larger ones.  There were a couple of clear 'electrostatic'  plastic bits in the box, you are supposed to stick one to the windscreen first and then stick the sticky pad on the camera mount to the plastic bit ( makes GPS mount easier to remove later apparently ),  that is a new concept to me,  have you used one of the 'electrostatic' gizmo's ?

Happy thing is that the Viofi uses the same mini USB connector as the Nextbase so do not need to disturb existing wiring.  Will leave nextbase mount on screen, just in case.