Any Dash Cam recommendations please

FiestaRed

FiestaRed

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Thinking about getting a dash cam for my Astra Sports Tourer. Preferably one that plugs in and doesn't need to be hard wired, any recommendations please?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
FiestaRed said:
Thinking about getting a dash cam for my Astra Sports Tourer. Preferably one that plugs in and doesn't need to be hard wired, any recommendations please?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Anything run off USB will work.

Mine is just plugged into my 12V cig lighter, it's not even a "proper" dashcam but an Action cam with a Dashcam mode so it does all the dashcam stuff like write in 5mins files, rewrite oldest file when full, switch on when power is on and off when power is off. It has a Sony Sensor and night time footage is great. I haven't touched it since I installed it after checking it works. One of these (I have gen 1), but this is gen 2 and 2k video. You don't need 4k as that will just will up the card really fast.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spy-Tec-Ac...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=56RP4ZNBDPK1X6NRC16A


I have a 3M mount for it, You can see the 3M pad there in the rear, just under the spoiler.

Mount to fit it into the car, you can swap the suction pad for a 3M one easy enough.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222758395064

TK7JcyG.jpg


Found a sample video

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktQt1CDCM84
 
Thanks for the reply Raymond. Really appreciated.
 
Have a look at whats on offer in Halfords, I have a nextbase 512 no reason other tha Halfords had it on offer when I bought it.
It seems to work OK, the only thing to remember whatever you get is turn the sound recording off. Its not advisable to be recorded swearing at the guy who has just overtaken you on a blind bend or done some other stupid manoeuver, you would not want that to be heard.
 
Just for comparison, before I bought that, I got this to put in the front of the car.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01B1OLXPY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It’s basically, at the time, a top spec Nextbase rebranded, sold in Europe. It was £200 and the video quality between this and the Gitup is exactly the same, I think they have the same sensor in them. It makes the Gitup MUCH better value, wish I got 2 of them instead. It's why I am not recommending Nextbast if you are wondering.

f06lZRL.jpg
 
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Raymond Lin said:
Found a sample video
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2 things from that video. #1, he must have it mounted without the waterproof housing - I have a Git 2 and a similar volume level bike and my bike is inaudible when the Git is encased. #2, number plates are unreadable at much over 10' (3m).
 
Nod said:
2 things from that video. #1, he must have it mounted without the waterproof housing - I have a Git 2 and a similar volume level bike and my bike is inaudible when the Git is encased. #2, number plates are unreadable at much over 10' (3m).
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1 - You would have it inside the car so not sure the audio level is relevant
2 - I thought that, but if I am in an accident, I would think they would be closer than 3m, plus afterwards I would get out and get proper photos if i am still alive. If it's further than 3m away...I don't really care tbh. I don't think the identity is going to be in dispute, it's more of who caused it.
 
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Thanks for all the help everyone. Never even thought about recording sounds in the car. Photographers never swear, do hey?
 
Raymond Lin said:
Btw, careful where you mount it. It should never be in front of you and where the wipers sweeps.

29gYNTl.jpg
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If mounted outside the wiper sweeping area, the image would be pretty useless during rain....... Your camera looks to be inside the sweeping area.

Or did you mean "it should never be in front of you. it should be where the wiper sweeps"?


I've had a 0801 mini for over 5 years now. Its battery has died, so often I get "recover last recording?" message. I would recommend people search for capacitor based dashcams for longevity, avoid battery based ones.

I've used a DDPai mini 2 for 2 years so far, working great. Looking on their product line-up, I plan to replace the 0801 with a DDPai mini 2S next time I visit China.
 
wuyanxu said:
If mounted outside the wiper sweeping area, the image would be pretty useless during rain....... Your camera looks to be inside the sweeping area.

Or did you mean "it should never be in front of you. it should be where the wiper sweeps"?


I've had a 0801 mini for over 5 years now. Its battery has died, so often I get "recover last recording?" message. I would recommend people search for capacitor based dashcams for longevity, avoid battery based ones.

I've used a DDPai mini 2 for 2 years so far, working great. Looking on their product line-up, I plan to replace the 0801 with a DDPai mini 2S next time I visit China.
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https://www.roadhawk.co.uk/articles/product-placement-is-your-dash-cam-breaking-the-law

Failing to correctly position a dash cam is a serious traffic offence; most of the windscreen is, in fact, out of bounds, according to the UK Road Traffic Act 1988. The law divides the windscreen into two zones:

Zone A is a 290mm area centred on the steering wheel – this is extended to 350mm in goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes GVW
Zone B is the area of the windscreen that is covered by your windscreen wipers when they are active, and is commonly referred to as the “swept area”

No part of the device – camera, cradle, suction cup or cables – should intrude more than 40mm into Zone B. And only 10mm intrusion into Zone A is permitted.
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I mounted mine parallel to the mirror so it is outside it and it hangs just inside the sweep area, same level as the mirror so is cleared by the wipers and remain legal.

40mm...not much room but it's enough really. If you work on the proviso that it is no lower than the mirror then you can't be any more intrude into the area.
 
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wuyanxu said:
I've used a DDPai mini 2 for 2 years so far, working great. Looking on their product line-up, I plan to replace the 0801 with a DDPai mini 2S next time I visit China.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hijack this thread but thinking of a dash cam myself and the DDPai Mini 2 looks interesting

Do you think this is a good choice?
 
Off topic, but I read that zone A/B thing, and remembered the number of cars I've seen on the motorway with their sat-nav stuck right in the middle of the zone A dotted line. :facepalm:
 
Sat nav, phone, note pad, air freshener...
 
This is what I see, it's slightly higher than the mirror actually. I should really tuck that cable in...

iVyIfRT.jpg
 
If it's not a daft question, is the screen on the back of cameras always on? Is it not a bit of a distraction?
 
FiestaRed said:
If it's not a daft question, is the screen on the back of cameras always on? Is it not a bit of a distraction?
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You can set this front one to on/off, show video or show speed (LED) with like a compass. It's on and then automatically goes to one of the settings after 30s/1min/2min etc.

The Gitup goes off after a minute, I've not tried any other modes with that one.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
You can set this front one to on/off, show video or show speed (LED) with like a compass. It's on and then automatically goes to one of the settings after 30s/1min/2min etc.

The Gitup goes off after a minute, I've not tried any other modes with that one.
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Thanks Raymond
 
FiestaRed said:
Thanks Raymond
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I like it see the video when it boots up, as you can see it working plus it shows any messages like the info on the back of a camera so “NO CARD” things like that.

personally I find the speedometer more distracting than the video of the road ahead. Since the road ahead is the same as the road ahead so that’s not really something I look at but the compass and speedo weirdly attracts more attention subconsciously.
 
IF the device's speedo is accurate, it's worth checking your car's speedo against it so you know how fast your car shows at the actual limit. Mine reads slightly fast (32, 43, 64, 75) but Mrs Nod's MX-5 is pretty much spot on. The Leaf is close enough at town speeds and rarely goes out of town and tends to be on a road where the limit is faster than would be safe anyway.
 
Nod said:
IF the device's speedo is accurate, it's worth checking your car's speedo against it so you know how fast your car shows at the actual limit. Mine reads slightly fast (32, 43, 64, 75) but Mrs Nod's MX-5 is pretty much spot on. The Leaf is close enough at town speeds and rarely goes out of town and tends to be on a road where the limit is faster than would be safe anyway.
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I had that on at first, after a couple of days knowing its the same i turned it off. Once you know, you know. After that then it became a distraction.
 
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One more if I may. Do you leave the cameras in place all the time?

I remember before most cars had built in sat-navs, we were always advised to hide our Garmins and Tom-Toms out of the way when not in use.
 
FiestaRed said:
One more if I may. Do you leave the cameras in place all the time?

I remember before most cars had built in sat-navs, we were always advised to hide our Garmins and Tom-Toms out of the way when not in use.
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I do, I've never taken it off or down. I guess I live in a relatively safe area but I have parked it in London, multistoreys, airports for 2 weeks without any problems yet. I guess potential thieves think it can be recording and that may be the footage is stored outside the camera (possible)? Also, it is not easy to see with the reflection of the windows.

Random photos of my car, instead of trying to capture the dashcam, to show what you see normally. I find the rear one easier to be spotted mostly due to my car being a hatchback so the angle of reflection is less and it is a massive piece of glass. The front one is harder to spot as you walk pass.

pwVE1YV.jpg


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The most prominent one is probably this one, that is if look at the top.

7WQOTsu.jpg
 
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jakeblu said:
Sorry to hijack this thread but thinking of a dash cam myself and the DDPai Mini 2 looks interesting

Do you think this is a good choice?
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It's okay, good 1440p quality. The remote button is very good, press it and a photo plus a video few seconds before/after are saved. Connect your phone to its wifi (needed to set it up anyway) and open the app, the saved stuff will automatically download. Apart from check up on it from time to time, I had never needed to fiddle with it to make it work day after day. It's truly fit and forget.
With capacitors, hopefully this should last a long time, through many hot summer cabins under the sun.

It is small enough to able to fit behind the rearview mirror, from my driving position the camera is almost completely hidden, I can see the status LED light if I lean to the right a bit.
IMG_0281.jpg.92a9e902a34668b0fd6ac292ac31fbbc.jpg

(old photo, the suction mount phone holder is long gone, now zero intrusion into the zones)
 
Unless the rules on windscreen visibility have changed since the 'MOT Special Notice 2-2014' guidance notes to MOT Testers, I believe the swept zone rules only apply if the object is obstructing the driver's view of the road (not the bonnet or the sky)?

I found the following wording on https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-ins...er-and-light-commercial-vehicles/3-visibility which applies to MOT Tests for cars and light commercial vehicles and includes the following text in the 'field of vision' category: "You should only fail the windscreen if the view is significantly affected. If only the driver’s view of the sky or the bonnet is affected, it should not be rejected." (NB Separate guidance applies to 'condition' of the screen in respect of damage to the glass, etc.).

As far as I can make out this is how it seems to stand at time of writing for MOT tests (don't take my word for it though, do your own research and decide for yourself - and please let us all know if you find any of the above is not current and correct!). However, I imagine it would be for the police to investigate and report, and for a court of law to decide, if there were reason to suspect an obstruction within the swept area and driver's field of view was unlawful and/or dangerous.

I've used what I believe to be common sense when fitting my dash cam and it's tucked out of my field of view as far as possible behind the rear view mirror, so I can only see a small corner of it if I deliberately look for it, and it's definitely not obstructing my view of the road in any way. Put it this way, if it is obstructing my view of the road in that position then I'll have more to worry about than my dashcam! So I'm happy there shouldn't be a problem with it. :)
 
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Flip down sun visors obstruct one's view of the road.
 
My wife’s car has the Nextbase 312G and it’s fallen off the screen a few times,especially in hot weather. Not an uncommon experience according to a Google search to find a solution. We contacted Nextbase and were sent a suction pad with the ‘lock; lever but it still fell off but another go at Googling gave us a solution. If anyone has this problem we’ve solved it,so far,by sticking double-sided Gorrilla tape to the round rubber seal of the suction pad, lengthwise. Why that way and not across it I have no idea. My only gripe is I paid £7 for it in Halfords and weeks later saw it in Aldi at £2.98. Next time we go to Aldi I’ll check the size of roll you get but,of course for what we wanted it was a few centimetres. I’m sure it will come in useful for something else sometime in the future.
 
JohnC6 said:
My wife’s car has the Nextbase 312G and it’s fallen off the screen a few times,especially in hot weather. Not an uncommon experience according to a Google search to find a solution. We contacted Nextbase and were sent a suction pad with the ‘lock; lever but it still fell off but another go at Googling gave us a solution. If anyone has this problem we’ve solved it,so far,by sticking double-sided Gorrilla tape to the round rubber seal of the suction pad, lengthwise. Why that way and not across it I have no idea. My only gripe is I paid £7 for it in Halfords and weeks later saw it in Aldi at £2.98. Next time we go to Aldi I’ll check the size of roll you get but,of course for what we wanted it was a few centimetres. I’m sure it will come in useful for something else sometime in the future.
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3M pads
 
Raymond Lin said:
clean it with some alcohol first but 3M pads are the best.
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Ok..Thanks for that (y) So far it’s still attached but to be fair it fell off when we had those high temperatures..28-30C and I read that the minuscule expansion of the rubber suction pad allows the vacuum that’s created in the first place when attaching it is either reduced or filled.
 
JohnC6 said:
Ok..Thanks for that (y) So far it’s still attached but to be fair it fell off when we had those high temperatures..28-30C and I read that the minuscule expansion of the rubber suction pad allows the vacuum that’s created in the first place when attaching it is either reduced or filled.
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I don't use suction pads, 3M pads are the adhesive ones, it's been on for 3 years + now and never fallen off once. Parked in the open at Heathrow in the middle of summer and it's still there when i got back.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I don't use suction pads, 3M pads are the adhesive ones, it's been on for 3 years + now and never fallen off once. Parked in the open at Heathrow in the middle of summer and it's still there when i got back.
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Ah..I see..3M adhesive I hope you have a sense of humour..lol. The reason I said I’d given the screen a really good clean was I’d Googled 3M pads which,as you see here are sanding pads and some like brillo pads. I thought you meant the brillo-type pads https://www.toolstation.com/contour...MI8oSA7NKl5QIVh63tCh2bZwuFEAQYBSABEgJffPD_BwE

It even comes up with BMW 3 brake pads and I tried M3 too. lol....incontinence pads.


Of course, you meant these....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=3m+adh...724832&tag=googhydr-21&ref=pd_sl_3mzi4v5y1a_e
 
JohnC6 said:
Ah..I see..3M adhesive I hope you have a sense of humour..lol. The reason I said I’d given the screen a really good clean was I’d Googled 3M pads which,as you see here are sanding pads and some like brillo pads. I thought you meant the brillo-type pads https://www.toolstation.com/contour...MI8oSA7NKl5QIVh63tCh2bZwuFEAQYBSABEgJffPD_BwE

It even comes up with BMW 3 brake pads and I tried M3 too. lol....incontinence pads.


Of course, you meant these....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=3m+adh...724832&tag=googhydr-21&ref=pd_sl_3mzi4v5y1a_e
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Lol....yeah, specfically, these ones.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PROtastic-...ywords=3m+adhesive+pads&qid=1571401288&sr=8-6
 
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