Anyone use a dash cam in their car?

[desura]

Lots of videos lately from Russians with dash cams.

It's not a bad idea, actually.

Ideally I'd probably want one that I could set up and forget about. Like, it would record automatically everytime I started the car, and would overwrite old video automatically.

Wonder if its possible to keep them in like the front bumper.

Anyone use one? What's the best?

 

[Doppel]

Couple of recent threads for you--and yeah, I think they are a great idea.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2294309&highlight=dash+cam
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2306767&highlight=dash+cam

 

[mmntech]

After I posted my thread on this, Jalopnik did a series on dash cams. There's lots of options out there. Problem is most of them are cheap Chinese toys. Few reputable companies, and no large ones make them.
http://jalopnik.com/why-is-it-so-hard-to-buy-a-decent-dash-cam-473093375

The most popular one seems to be the rather ambiguously named DVR-027, made by God Only Knows inc, Hong Kong. Problem is there's a lot of low quality knockoffs of it so buyer beware.
http://dashcamtalk.com/dvr-027-720p/

 

[Jimzz]

Yea I bought one for my truck after some idiot hit my truck and tried to say it was my fault. I had to sue him to make it right and in the making him pay phase right now. With a camera it would have been open/shut.

These forums are good and can help more for dash cams...
http://forum.dashcamtalk.com/

Make sure what ever you get you use a class10 flash card. Many get a ok camera or even good one but use a slower flash card and drop frames.

 

[Ricky Spanish]

I am working on making a dashcam setup from a older android phone.

 

[Jimzz]

I am working on making a dashcam setup from a older android phone.

Most cellphones don't have a wide enough angle. You want around 120degrees to catch enough.

 

[Doppel]

Most cellphones don't have a wide enough angle. You want around 120degrees to catch enough.

What is "enough"?

The angle on a cell phone is inferior to a bonafide dash cam but it is still going to get the bulk of what you see and allow an accident to be understood--or just an event since you may want more than only accidents.

Interesting jalopnik has had a tough time buying tem. It is the same issue I found and I don't want to buy one called dash cam 027.

I will continue to use the isymdvr app on my iPhone until I can get an excellent reliable unit for $99 or less.

 

[sgrinavi]

You can use a Gopro that way it can do double duty as an action cam.

 

[Doppel]

You can use a Gopro that way it can do double duty as an action cam.

The problem is it requires regular manual intervention lest the memory fill up. If gopro was smart they would have a looping feature built in on the damn things so that a person can optionally have it delete old footage and thus function as a dash cam. I would possibly get one then despite the price because like you say it then could be used for other things. The GPS built into a decent dash cam is nice but not crucial by any means. Location and also speed can be discerned from video.

 

[sgrinavi]

The problem is it requires regular manual intervention lest the memory fill up. If gopro was smart they would have a looping feature built in on the damn things so that a person can optionally have it delete old footage and thus function as a dash cam. I would possibly get one then despite the price because like you say it then could be used for other things. The GPS built into a decent dash cam is nice but not crucial by any means. Location and also speed can be discerned from video.

Gopro has a looping feature that overwrites the oldest video segment.

 

[wonadd]

I've had a dash camera for 5-6 years now (time to upgrade I guess since mine started eating SD cards), and recorded virtually nothing of note other than me lapping some tracks+several autox runs, and some random tech-people chat at the dealership

I could see it being more useful in a larger city though.

But before you put it on in North America - check your local laws. Some places might require some notice on the outside or the car or whatnot, and be extracareful around police.

 

[Midwayman]

I got a cheap one, but never did much with it as I could get it installed without it cluttering up the windshield. Its bad enough having the tollway transponder up there.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

http://www.amazon.com/Incredisonic-F...s=incredisonic

I've been really pleased with that one. Didn't have to do anything to set it up, worked perfect out of the box. Not the best image quality, but acceptable. I use one camera forward and the other rearward.

 

[madoka]

I have a Blackvue 400 and a 500. The 400 died in about a year's time and refuses to power on. Blackvue will not do any warranty work unless you prove it was from an authorized dealer.

As much of a pain in the ass they are, every time something happens, I'm glad I have it. Like the time a skateboarder with headphones darted out from behind a panel truck right in front of me. I barely avoided him and he didn't even notice I was there as he sped off. Or the time an impatient driver tried to pass me on a one lane road and nearly t-boned me since he didn't see that I was turning.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Most cellphones don't have a wide enough angle. You want around 120degrees to catch enough.

My S4, while not 120 degrees, still grabs the majority of the FOV out the windshield. Far better than nothing at all, very clear video, and frankly I think is good enough since most things that are going on that might be called into question would be in front. If I got tboned that would be obvious who hit me, especially if my S4 captured me going through a green light right as the impact happened.