Page 1 of 2

Dash Cams

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:06 pm
by TonyX5
Hi

With so many numpties on the roads these days, I was thinking of installing a dash cam.  Has anybody any experience or could reccommend any camera.

I see BMW have a camera called "advanced car eye" it cost about £250 for the front and rear camera and you can double that price if you want it fitted, does anybody know if this camera is any good?

You can get cameras from about twenty to several hundred pounds on fleebay so a bit of a minefield

Tony

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:24 pm
by SMOKEY
I have used blackvue cameras. Currently have an old drg-400HD which has been faultless (despite reports of heat failures, it has survived two Australian summers) and it has literally got me cleared on two accidents. One was a rear ended which is almost always the rear cars fault (me) but the video footage proved otherwise. Can post the footage if you want. I will be buying the new blackvue model with front and rear cameras - about £300.

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:04 pm
by X5Sport
BMW one is a rebadged Korean Mando BF100, and fitting isn't difficult if you are handy with electrics and can get trims etc up.  I'm considering it so I can move my current one to the convertible.

At present I have a Roadhawk HD forward facing camera in mine.  Image quality is full HD and at a good data rate making it pretty good.

It is important to go as high as you can in terms of image resolution in order to pull out the detail needed for evidential purposes.  Recording data rate (in Mbps) should be as high as you can go for your budget. Of course high data rates mean faster card usage and a larger card being needed if you want to keep footage.

Mine is hard wired into the car so it powers up and shuts down correctly but there is no power once the car is shut down on the E70/71/F15.

Richard

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 10:36 am
by IceQueenX
I would recommend shelling out for a decent one, I bought one off ebay for £35 and its not great,tbh.
Will be getting the BMW one soon.

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 1:53 pm
by Finglonga
The wife has a Blackvue DRG-380hd and I have a Finevue CR-500HD and would 100% recommend both of them. Also worth hard-wiring them so parking mode can be used. This has saved the wife already when a transit reversed out of a parking space hitting her car and causing £4000+ worth of damage and then drove off.

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 4:32 am
by SMOKEY
yep. Make sure you get one that has power management which allows the camera to run while the ignition is off (ie. When the car is parked). Blackvue with Magic Pro box will run battery down to a preset voltage meaning no flat batteries.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 7:31 pm
by 7builder
For anyone that owns a decent Android smart phone I can highly recommend an App called Autoguard. It turns your phone into a dash cam and records video with a Google Maps overlay location and if you so wish your speed as well. I have mine set to record 6 minute chunks to an allocated 8Gb storage location. As soon as the 8Gb is full it automatically over writes the oldest video files.
It's free to download for the version that has pop up ads but if you like it it is less than £2.00 for the full version. Not sure if there is an IoS version but I am sure there are similar Apps for the iPhone.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hovans.autoguard

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 9:44 pm
by TonyX5
Thank you everybody for your replies.

I have been reading a forum called DashCamTalk.com there is lots of great information plus reviews.  I am looking for a front and rear camera system, the Panorama X2 made by Powerucc is getting good reviews on the forum but like most of these cameras systems the front camera is relatively large and not very discreet due to the fact all the electronics are housed in the front camera. I understand Powerucc are developing a camera system that has two remote small cameras conected to a box that will house all the electronics and can be hidden away giving a very discreet system. I have decided to wait for a system like this to be developed, in the mentime I have bought a cheap G1WH camera from Ebay, I have to say for a £42 camera I am amazed how good the footage is.

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2014 10:38 pm
by Chrisw4266
After a few near misses and some horror stories about crash for cash scams I bought this cam of eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Rearview-Mirror-Bracket-HD-G1WH-Car-Dash-DVR-Camera-Recorder-Novatek-NT96650-/121314962988?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item1c3eef6e2cas a cheap bit of insurance. Yep its not the best cam but does a really good job and for the price everyone should have one. If anyone's interested I can add some footage.

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 4:57 pm
by 535dboy
My old Neighbour has bought.

Looks quite good but it's a big camera in the car.

Here is me .....

Image


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2014 11:16 am
by IceQueenX
[quote="535dboy"]
My old Neighbour has bought.

Looks quite good but it's a big camera in the car.

Here is me .....

Image


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
[/quote]

Off to Muckdonald's again I see!  :P

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2014 12:25 pm
by Barney
[quote="IceQueenX"]


Off to Muckdonald's again I see!  :P
[/quote]

.....hanging around with all the chavs in the car park ?

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2014 12:52 pm
by IceQueenX
Yes, trying to score some blue M&M's  :cap:

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:19 am
by X5Sport
It's actually from a Police Cam and he's just been pulled!

Richard

Re: Dash Cams

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2014 1:10 pm
by pvr
Anything to say that he can pull something ....  :))