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Dash cams

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
Looking for a nice dash cam -
Not sure if the vehicle matters but it’s going in a 2019 Ford Fiesta -

Features I’d like -
  • CLEAR video
  • Ability to record at night (night vision?)
  • Record Audio
  • Front & Rear camera (although not entirely sold on the rear camera)
  • Maybe also an interior camera?
  • Record speed maybe?
  • Removable memory card
  • Automatically writes over old data - so I don’t have to delete old data myself, it will just continue recording writing over old footage.
Reckon something exists out there for what I want??
Thanks!
 

Billski

Here I am, 1st again.
I bought a cheap dash cam. Didn’t set it up. I have no faith in it. How much money is a good one?
 
Still searching for one. You definitely want front, rear for traffic situation by accident. Interior can be handy if it can see part of the sides (dead spots).
For break in it will more likely trigger it since they can be expensive.
For during parking you need one with its own battery that drains not your cars.
 
Ok, so right off the bat you're going to struggle getting good audio from a dash cam.

With that out of the way, there's are some interesting options out there depending upon the myriad of features you're looking for. Your best bet will be to look through the GoPro catalog. Or to lurk in some motorcycle or other extreme sports forums.
 
Ok, so right off the bat you're going to struggle getting good audio from a dash cam.

With that out of the way, there's are some interesting options out there depending upon the myriad of features you're looking for. Your best bet will be to look through the GoPro catalog. Or to lurk in some motorcycle or other extreme sports forums.

That's not true on the audio. We use dash cams in my fire trucks, and the picture and audio is so good. I will have to investigate what brand they are though.
 
Next vehicle is going to have one for sure . . . front facing only, probably. Getting rear-ended up here is automatic liability on the vehicle coming from behind.
 
Next vehicle is going to have one for sure . . . front facing only, probably. Getting rear-ended up here is automatic liability on the vehicle coming from behind.
Rear cam is handy for parking damage and to get the situation clear if someone ended up in your dead zone and collided. but if you do not have a rear camera and you can slave the image also handy for own parking usage.
Stupid enough I have not seen an option to slave an existing rear camera as recorded source. Should be possible though.
 
I believe in Dash Cams. I have had one in my cars for years. Last year we were rear ended at high speed. While the camera did not show us getting hit, it showed the violence of the crash and our reaction to it, (my wife crying out that she couldn't breath, her moans and anguish and me calling out for ambulance). The case still has not been settled, but the dash cam sure helps our case, according to the attorneys.

I am more concerned with an accident where I am not at fault, but the other party claims it was my fault. The dash cam takes the false claims out of the picture. A good dash cam can cost anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to over five hundred. Well worth t to me.
 
So they are mainly for collision or liability or what ever purposes? Never really knew for sure why people had them, other than to record the dumb stuff they do to put on youtube.
 
So they are mainly for collision or liability or what ever purposes? Never really knew for sure why people had them, other than to record the dumb stuff they do to put on youtube.
I think so. Remember the Chelyabinsk meteor that crashed in Russia a few years ago and the many different video clips posted from inside cars within a day. Apparently there are so many accident scams in Russia that many cars have dashcams. Maybe they are a good idea if you drive in a bad neighborhood. Popular enough that I saw a cheap one in Aldi some months ago.
 
I use Street Guardian dash cams in all my vehicles, including the one that is provided by my workplace. I'm very pleased with them, and the newere versions allow for piggy-backing a rear camera if you wish. No interior video, though. They do record speed and location as well as audio/video, and can play that out on a computer as video, route maps, etc. with the free software they provide. No "night vision" (at least not IR), but they do provide decent quality .
Good luck!
 
Still searching for one. You definitely want front, rear for traffic situation by accident. Interior can be handy if it can see part of the sides (dead spots).
For break in it will more likely trigger it since they can be expensive.
For during parking you need one with its own battery that drains not your cars.

Most of the cameras I've seen with parking modes utilize motion sensing or G force and only record when triggered. A hardwiring kit usually includes a voltage cut off so the camera can't drain your car battery if the voltage gets low. I would guess that rechargeable batteries don't hold up well against the temperature inside a parked car during hot weather.

I don't think dashcams are the end all be all of a situation, but there are enough bad drivers, accidents, and deliberate insurance scams I think it's a good thing to have. Viofo brand was recommended to me and I have the A119 and have it hardwired and the cables tucked under the headliner/weather stripping so it's pretty discreet. I don't use Parking mode so it's only on when driving because my job's parking lot is always busy with pedestrian or vehicle traffic so it would be on all the time otherwise. I did not feel a rear facing cam worth the trouble to install.
 
I've got some cheap Russian cameras in two of my vehicles that are awesome. About 45 bucks IIRC; we updated the memory card for an additional 'whatever' cost. They've been running now for 4-5 years with no issues at all. Cheap insurance.
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
Most of the cameras I've seen with parking modes utilize motion sensing or G force and only record when triggered. A hardwiring kit usually includes a voltage cut off so the camera can't drain your car battery if the voltage gets low. I would guess that rechargeable batteries don't hold up well against the temperature inside a parked car during hot weather.

I don't think dashcams are the end all be all of a situation, but there are enough bad drivers, accidents, and deliberate insurance scams I think it's a good thing to have. Viofo brand was recommended to me and I have the A119 and have it hardwired and the cables tucked under the headliner/weather stripping so it's pretty discreet. I don't use Parking mode so it's only on when driving because my job's parking lot is always busy with pedestrian or vehicle traffic so it would be on all the time otherwise. I did not feel a rear facing cam worth the trouble to install.

Does the SD card have to be manually erased or does it start recording over previous data once full?
 
Most of the cameras I've seen with parking modes utilize motion sensing or G force and only record when triggered. A hardwiring kit usually includes a voltage cut off so the camera can't drain your car battery if the voltage gets low. I would guess that rechargeable batteries don't hold up well against the temperature inside a parked car during hot weather.

I don't think dashcams are the end all be all of a situation, but there are enough bad drivers, accidents, and deliberate insurance scams I think it's a good thing to have. Viofo brand was recommended to me and I have the A119 and have it hardwired and the cables tucked under the headliner/weather stripping so it's pretty discreet. I don't use Parking mode so it's only on when driving because my job's parking lot is always busy with pedestrian or vehicle traffic so it would be on all the time otherwise. I did not feel a rear facing cam worth the trouble to install.
Afaik they record continuously and save a part around the trigger event so a couple of minutes before and after. Just as some doorbells do
 
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