dash cam question

[Lord Voltermore]

Cats.  have you seen this advert for Omoda cars?   

But the main problem is the amount of dirt and water that gets attracted onto the rear window when driving in foul weather.

I have never had a rear dash cam.  A clear video of bad driving behind  you ,or the resulting collision  might be interesting to watch  , and in some countries the Police might consider prosecuting that driver from the video evidence  if you send them the file.   

But having it recorded on video is too late to take any precautions to reduce the danger. Only a live view in your rear mirror could allow you to try and get out of the idiots way or brace for an rear end impact.   Video evidence might help in a small number of insurance claims. But in the Uk at least  insurers  usually assume  that the driver who runs into the back of another is 100% at fault.    Even if they claim you stopped unexpectedly  etc they should have allowed themselves enough room to stop anyway.

[Kremmen]

That's how I felt about it. My forward footage would show if I'd been an idiot or was forced to brake sharply for something else

It would also show if I was stationary

I looked at the pros and cons with the wiring, as highlighted here, and reported sdcard issues with 2 cameras feeding into one card and decided against it

[emp]

But in the Uk at least  insurers  usually assume  that the driver who runs into the back of another is 100% at fault. 

yes same here. I just think it is nice to have. I will not report someone bothering me as long as they do not cause an accident. If they do then I can use it as evidence if necessary. It is easy to install and on the Viofo the footage is in the same directory as the front cam footage. The files are next to each other where F is front and R is rear. Nice to have in my opinion.

Just found an address in the UK selling these mounting brackets, see:
https://www.dashcams.co.uk/product-page/rear-window-dash-cam-mount-bracket

as far as I understand he slides it over the trim only. I just wrote him an email with that question.

I like this one as wel: https://www.etsy.com/be/listing/4408928997/2025-toyota-4runner-6e-generatie

This once slides over the metal ridge of the car frame (see the video in that link). That seems more secure. However the postal costs (from the USA to Belgium) are about twice the costs of the item itself which I find a bit over the top. Also he could not guarantee it would fit on my car.

[Lord Voltermore]

At the risk of this post getting even longer, and maybe going off topic, I do think a good quality front dashcam is a good idea. (In countries that allow them )

 It can prove you were in the right, had right of way, didnt jump a red light etc. But equally it  may show you were actually the one at fault.   

Also if you have the time it is useful to occasionally watch videos of your own driving with  time to honestly analyse your own faults.   Did I see that hazard? Were my reactions too slow?  could I have done things better  ? etc etc.   Its tempting to just see the bad driving of others.     

I found it reassuring when driving in mainland europe. I felt it more likely that as a foreigner, a pensioner, and driving on a different side of the  road than my home country , the locals would try to blame me even when I am innocent. And local police may believe them and assume the same.

[Lord Voltermore]

When i used the simple bracket with magnets I made the bracket myself from a  thick sheet of aluminium cut and folded to suit.And sprayed black.  . I  glued the magnets to this with epoxy glue  , but could have made the bracket in magnetic  steel,or drilled it to take a camera mount.    You could adapt this  clever design concept  to make your own bracket, a custom fit  for the Jazz .  You could also extend, or change the shape of the mount to some extent to improve the camera mounting position.

[emp]

update from my previous post about the mount sold in the UK. He said: "Our mount only slides over the headliner trim and looking at your measurement the DC03 would be the best fitment.".

Then I would rather go for the one sold in the US. But I am in no hurry, maybe I find a better address or a better idea.

[Kremmen]

This was my Viofo A119V3 in situ :

[emp]

today I had to do the first a bit longer trip in my new car. Great little car, I love it. But no recordings on my cam. Actually it already stopped recording yesterday I discovered when looking back at the files. I put in another SD and it is still working. I used cheap SD's I bought on TEMU or Aliexpress. Need to buy a VIOFO SD card I guess. VIOFO Benelux charges €149,95 for a 512GB card. If I buy it from VIOFO.com is costs 130€ (shipped from the USA, including shipping costs  )

[Kremmen]

You can use good quality cards from known makers. Just watch for high write speeds as this is critical

I used a Samsung Evo 128Gb in mine but I've read that newer units don't always play ball with these cards now

Ask the same question on Dashcamtalk in your units thread and others will tell you what they are successfully using. Here is a link to the top level Viofo area :

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/categories/viofo.100/

[emp]

You can use good quality cards from known makers. Just watch for high write speeds as this is critical

I used a Samsung Evo 128Gb in mine but I've read that newer units don't always play ball with these cards now

Ask the same question on Dashcamtalk in your units thread and others will tell you what they are successfully using. Here is a link to the top level Viofo area :

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/categories/viofo.100/

yes I read that even the recommended VIOFO cards fail. Bummer. I ordered a VIOFO 512GB card. Will see. I did not think about that when I ordered the camera. Else I probably bought a less quality camera, not a 4K camera, because it is pretty much useless if you can not record your videos. Full HD resolution, 1080p is probably good enough for me. 4K cameras need really good SD cards and even those seem to fail. But i read that you "really" need a 4K camera to read number plates etc. but I did not think about that it would need to store these videos in real time as well.

[5thcivic]

For 4k you need a V30 and/or U3 card. The make does not matter as long as it is a reputable eg SanDisk, Kingston, Lexar etc etc type.

You can check the write speed with a free utility like Atto benchmark, it needs to be near 30MB/s at the larger transfer volumes. 

[Kremmen]

The other thing to watch is these 'Endurance' cards

From many posts on Dashcamtalk they frequently fail as they appear to have some bottleneck to help with longevity

My Samsung Evo lasted 6 years and is now in a Tapo indoor camera still going strong

[emp]

thanks, yes I ordered a disk from VIOFO. It is supposed to work with 4K (up to 100mb/s write speed). I probably might bring the resolution of my front dashcam down, to put less stress on it. Since I also have a 2K rear dash camera. Maybe I put the front on 2K as well. Will test if that is good enough.

The thing is that the camera did not warn me it was not recording properly. When I started the car the camera said "recording 2 channels". And the files were all there with the proper sizes but I could not open them. I will have to start trusting the camera. Check the recordings regularly.

My new micro SD will probably arrive tomorrow (I hope). Because apparently they are still on strike (locally). I ordered cat food which comes from their main office in Germany on april 2nd and still waiting. What I am told DHL in Germany is not on strike but the delay is due to Easter.

In my 2013 Suzuki SX4 (which I sold) I put in a cheap 1080p cam (18€) from TEMU or Aliexpress with a cheap SD card. Never ever failed. Never changed the card. It was still working when I sold the car (it worked for a couple of years). I hope the new micro SD card solves the problem.

[Kremmen]

Often, files on a camera SD can be played in the dashcam but not from the card in a PC

This can be due to the files not being 'closed' correctly. When you power off the car the internal dashcam battery should close the files correctly

Your current problem may be that the dashcam to sdcard is taking a long time to complete due to low write speeds so they are not all getting closed

If you still have problems then test your sdcard, you'd be surprised how many fakes are out there

Post back if you need a link to some reliable testers

[emp]

thanks for the information. I think I will first wait for my card from VIOFO. I assume it is real, I ordered at the VIOFO site itself. The problems I had is with the cheap micro SD cards I ordered a few years ago at Aliexpress I think. The card has the brand "Miflame" and I think it is only valid for full HD (1080p), write speed 10mb/s. So I was using the wrong card. These Miflame cards work good but not for 4K + 2K cameras.

I would be interested in to micro SD card testing sites. I will look into it later. Currently I am running an new Miflame card. Will set my camara at 1080p until my new card arrives.