I would like to get a dash cam for two reasons. One to see horn results and one to record possible traffic accidents. I’ve looked at the GoPro Hero 3 which looks like an amazing camera except that its not geared towards a true dash cam. I would like to get a camera with the quality of the Hero 3, but also have GPS overlay, speed overlay, and a g-force sensor. Does anybody have any information that could point me in the right direction. The ones I’ve seen so far just look so cheap and the price seems to go along with that thought.
Unless you rig up a constant power source, gopro battery sucks and won’t last very long. I’ve had a hero 2 and a 3. You can look into police dash cams but the digital technology isn’t cheap. That’s a lot of money just to spend on hoping to record an accident IMO
Its not so much hoping to record an accident its recording one that I could possibly be involved in due to other drivers, deer, ice/snow, etc. About ten years years ago some driver with road rage did a pit maneuver on me and spun me under a big rigs trailer. I saw the rear wheel of the trailer ride up and over the front end of my car and spit me out to the concrete divide in the median. The driver got away free and clear because all i could get was make and model and with a partial plate!
I use a Go Pro Hero 2 as a dash cam for my tahoe everyday. Its got good sound and video quality and I have been using it since summer of 2012. Its recording every time im on the road. It was worth the money.
The batteries do kinda suck, but luckily i have a usb source build in to the car that i can plug into for power. you can also use a 12v lighter for power, but the usb was more cost efficient for me.
i dont think you wont find dash cams with GPS overlay, speed, and g-force build in unless you spend some big money for a police or military grade camera.
the reason you should go with a go pro is because it has a multi use purpose. I used it as a dash cam, gun cam, dirt bike cam and so on.
If you’re happy with a slim-line single channel camera, have a look at the BlackVue recorders (https://www.blackvue.com/en/main/main.asp). I did a lot of research and even bought a few cheap China versions before taking the plunge on a DR400G-HD ii. It was definitely worth it.
I’ve got mine hooked into a dual battery system so it’s constantly recording, but they come shipped with a standard 12v lighter plug so it’s easy to install on standard vehicle. The image quality you get from them is second to none. Full HD, good wide angle (easy to read license tags), GPS overlay, good software etc.
I’m pretty sure with a gopro or almost any dash can that’s under $1k, there’s a very good chance you won’t be able to get a tag number unless you are several feet from their bumper. Also, with a gopro sitting on your dash, there’s a good chance (unless you take it down everytime you exit the vehicle) that you may find a smashed out window one day and your camera missing.
Gopro takes great quality video, I love mine. But battery life is horrible. Tag cameras that are made specifically for that purpose are usually expensive high speed cameras.
Damn I guess you’re right, that is a really cool camera. I used to have a dash cam in my cruiser but it was VHS. Quality was terrible. The newer HD cams are very advanced. How much does that one run?
Yeah it’s a pretty cool gadget given it’s small size. I guess they must’ve put a pretty good quality lens in it because I’ve had some other full HD (1920x1080) recorders (made in China type stuff) that doesn’t even come close to looking the same. About the only complaint I’ve got is that it tends to get pretty darn hot, but that’s a known thing with them and overall doesn’t seem to affect them.
I bought mine last year and paid $270 (incl. the 16GB card) but they normally retail for anything up to 400 and over. They’ve since brought out a 500 series which sends the video feed via Wifi but is otherwise pretty much the same I think. You would’ve thought that the DR400 would’ve come down a tad in price, but I just had a quick look on eBay and it hasn’t shifted all that much.
If you do buy one, make sure it’s from a reputable and recognised vendor. There’s a list of the “official” resellers on their website. They make the firmware language specific and I’ve read some horror stories from some people who though they were getting ‘a bargain’ only to find out they end up with a Korean or Russian language version and no warranty.
Like anything these days I suppose… you just need to do your research if you’re shopping around online for the cheapest price.
I run a FineVu CR-500HD. I did NOT purchase the optional GPS module because I didn’t like the idea of someone trying to use my dash cam’s speed info against me (which is also why OnStar has been torn out of my truck).
The camera draws power through a Power Magic Pro device that I also purchased and installed. This device is basically a settable battery monitoring unit that acts as an uninterruptible power supply until it either a) senses battery voltage below a threshold you set or b) detects that a number of days that you set have elapsed.
Resolution on the camera is full 1080p. Storage is a 32GB class 10 micro SDHC card that I purchased separately. (It came with a 16GB class 10 card.) Daytime image quality is oustanding and night time is good. This camera has no monitor on it (which is fine because you see what it sees, anyway), so it’s tiny – it’s slightly larger than a roll of U.S. dollar coins both in diameter and thickness.
A good dash cam specific site where you can learn about this camera and more is: http://www.dashcamtalk.com
i have a 16gb card, records a little over 2 hours. So once its full i just push a series of buttons and erase the memory and keep on recording. It can also accept a 32gb which will probably give you 4 hours.
For a dash cam on a budget, get a Flip Video F260 (“Flip Video Ultra 1 hour”) camcorder. It takes 2 AA batteries that lasts about 3.5 hours with good NiMH rechargeables and has 2GB of memory for 1 hour of recording, does 480p, mono microphone, 2x digitalZ. No temperature sensor so it’ll keep on recording for you in the hottest days of summer without air conditioning until it catches on fire. Make sure it is NOT HD quality, otherwise it’ll have a temperature sensor in it. Only costs maybe $40 or less used.
Right now I use it as my rear dash cam with a metal fence bracket and some sticky velcro as a mount, along with a rubber band to hold it together. 100% reliable for years and years of use in the car with some abusive burning hot recording and at school for lecture recordings. Good value for money imo. I use a fancy Sanyo VPC-PD2 in the front, but the batteries last 55 minutes or less and it shuts itself off before long on hot days so I think I’ll use another F260 for the front as well for the hot days.
As for theft risk, I put them in the glove box almost every time
I am looking at the fine vue CR-500-HD also. I bought another one that turned out to be a Chinese Fake of a Chinese camera. The one I have keeps locking up and will not shut down until the battery goes dead. Then it will work again for a few days.
Go to DashCamTalk forums for reveiws on various models.
undien (as in the UHF/radio makers) have just released 2 cams a single and a dual camera. I have bought a single cam version 1080p. mine loops records eg once card fills it restarts. It also has a bump sensor eg i get crashed into when its paked it will record.
it was $58aus but dare say it will be teh same in teh USA
no speed overlays as i didnt want that feature. i will go tail gate some cas soon and see how good it is
