In-Car Camera - Recommendations?

H

Hizza

Member
Any recommendations for an in-car camera? I've looked at Go-Pro and Roam but they seem hugely over-specced for what I need - which is a small discrete camera to record journeys. I was nearly taken out by an idiot in a Rover 200 this weekend when he decided that a red traffic light meant "go". Time and time again I'm seeing people in front of me that don't deserve to be on the road and seem oblivious to all around them.

I want something that records on a loop and preferably runs on its own battery pack without wires into the dashboard or lighter socket. I don't really want to spend more than about £100.

Any ideas?

Thanks :driving:
 
I am going to get one too....after my crash and run driver who damaged my car......

Only issue is can they be left running when the car is off? My car was hit when it was parked.....
 
Stark said:
I am going to get one too....after my crash and run driver who damaged my car......

Only issue is can they be left running when the car is off? My car was hit when it was parked.....
Click to expand...

IIRC there's one which starts recording on impacts, saw it when I was doing my investigations - I'll have a check

EDIT: it's the BlackVue (here)
 
Can't recommend, but this site might be useful if you get a bump.
http://www.askmid.com/

Of course you would never check someone elses vehicle, would you?
 
Might be worth holding on to your money for a little while longer.

Honestly Garmin's newly released solution at CES looks promising.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/06/garmin-dash-cam/

Stark, some can be left running but most of the time your issue will be memory.

Cheaper cameras have inferior sensors meaning they chew through memory at a slower rate but quality suffers.
 
Heres the thread from last weeks which is currently covering the same topic http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=60245
 
I went for a "no name" VF300W (obviously the same camera as DOD/Tiotech LS300W/GT300W, just without label). I have imported it directly from China to Germany, paid 107€, including German import tax, 3 day express delivery and 32GB class 10 Sandisk µSD-card at foxoffer (http://bit.ly/1b6mQZh).

Here you can see the cam's place in my E89, I have made its own small bracket: I http://bit.ly/K0Ozns
Here some pictures and videos with license plates visible (speed difference 100kph + 100kph): http://bit.ly/K0PJiP
(you should go for the attached files on uploaded.to for full size pics and videos)
Here the thread at dashcamtalk with a cam comparison that made me buy the cam: http://bit.ly/1iHvfGD

I can only say that I am really happy with picture quality also at night, with its reliability and its usability - even compared with much more expensive dashcams like Lukas oder Blackvue that I could try out.

Drawback: The cam appears to (sometimes!) interfere with GPS reception of our E89's CIC - the GPS antenna is located only 10cm left to the cam. Shortly after mounting the cam I had issues with GPS lock, the issues disappeared as soon as I switched off the cam. However, the issues have not reappeared for 1 month now, so I think that I could live with it.

Nonetheless, I tend to replace the cam with a LS430W (practically the same cam, but with GPS and better internal shielding). Advantage: This cam is also available in the EU (e.g. http://amzn.to/K0RY5C); caveat: its higher price (154GBP + delivery + µSD card).

Best regards

Mick
 
Thanks for the replies - I like the look of the new Garmin - as you say, may be worth waiting a few months for.
 
Interesting alternative on the gadget show last night.... Review was positive, has both forward and rear facing cameras and comes in around £150..... linky
 
markeg said:
Interesting alternative on the gadget show last night.... Review was positive, has both forward and rear facing cameras and comes in around £150..... linky
Click to expand...

That's fugly though :thumbsdown:
 
markeg said:
Interesting alternative on the gadget show last night.... Review was positive, has both forward and rear facing cameras and comes in around £150..... linky
Click to expand...

The mirror and the two channels are in principle good ideas but I think the item is way too clunky for our Zs (and I would lose the OEM autochrome feature...).

Additionally, the 1080x1920 video resolution of the CC3 Crash Catcher appears to be divided into two times 1080x960 for the two cams - so there is no wide screen at all and you will lose all details to the right and left, this a big disadvantage in particular if you need proofs for typical accidents in cities.

Unfortunately there is no dashcam with two channels up to now that is really capable of recording front and rear footage with at least a decent front camera resolution and data rate (1080x1920 @ > 12MBit/s). The only cam that comes near is the Blackvue DR550W (http://bit.ly/1a7imlD), but even this camera has only a very low data rate of 6 MBit/s (front) and 2 MBit/s (rear) - see http://bit.ly/1a7j95Z and http://bit.ly/1a7iX6E - so we can forget about details like license plates at higher speeds.

The only acceptable solution I have found so far are completely separate cameras for front and rear footage with a viewing angle between 120 and 140°each :( .

Best regards

Mick
 
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