Dash Cam or Mobile

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I want to record mountain landscape whilst driving and trying to decide if a dash cam or a mobile phone (set up as a dash cam) will give the best results. Has anyone any experience of either ? Quality of the footage will be important but not looking to spend too much.
 
I want to record mountain landscape whilst driving and trying to decide if a dash cam or a mobile phone (set up as a dash cam) will give the best results. Has anyone any experience of either ? Quality of the footage will be important but not looking to spend too much.
Get a go-pro if your budget allows.
 
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I have a dashcam I bought for £15 direct from china supplier 1080p and I have to say the quality is really good. Mobile would do it but a cheap but good dashcam would give you a further tool to record any issue you may have with some the terrible drivers on the road. £45 on Amazon seems to be the lowest price for 4k
 
I have a dashcam I bought for £15 direct from china supplier 1080p and I have to say the quality is really good. Mobile would do it but a cheap but good dashcam would give you a further tool to record any issue you may have with some the terrible drivers on the road. £45 on Amazon seems to be the lowest price for 4k


got a link? ;)
 
I used an iPhone 6 for the opening bits of this. (In fact, for all the shots too.)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC18EmAyICs&t=202s


One of the biggest things that will/can make a difference is cleaning your windscreen (obviously) but also, if you can., lock off the focus* on your phone (if using one). They have a tendency to hunt for focus and will sometimes focus on a dead bug on your screen rather than on the scenery.

*https://www.imore.com/how-to-set-flash-hdr-timer-grid-camera-iphone-and-ipad
 
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A GoPro or alternative that you can mount either inside or outside the car via suction mount. The thing is with these wide angle cameras the mountains can look small especially if you pick and ultra wide field of view on a GoPro
 
That looks fun :D

It was genuinely one of the best weekends I have had away.

We also went Coasteering, but obviously, I didn't take my iPhone in the sea. I did have a Lumix waterproof camera, but it decided that that was the weekend it was going to stop working.

After that died, I did buy one of those cheap, generic action video cameras (mine was an Akaso - but it looks exactly the same as countless others) and that would work just as well (plus it was bundled with every possible accessory), but just wanted to show that if you didn't want to spend any money, then a fairly decent phone will do the job.
 
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Dashcam had wired is the way to go. Add in a 32GB memory card and you are all set.I have a nextbase 312 GW version. i have had to use the windsceen nearest the passenger "A" pillar due to large mesh for sat nav behind centre mirror.
 
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Thanks for all replies. I think that a budget dash cam will give more consistent results rather than trying to convert an old mobile phone. Just need to find the best one I can afford.
 
@Kondwani

Consider this...

Some Dash Cam models don't film non-stop, they would more likely to loop over previous recordings, and would automatically save the video only when there is an impact (as in car crash) or when you manually press a button to save the footage (usually in the case of near-miss). Mobile phone would keep recording until you stop it.

On the other hand, if you were unlucky enough to be touching the mobile phone when a police car goes past, and one of the cops noticed you touching the mobile phone, they may (or may not) want to stop you, and question you. After all, for all they know, you could have been making calls while driving. But if they see that it is a Dash Cam, they may let you off.

Maybe a cheaper Go-Pro or an equivalent in a waterproof housing, securely fitted to the outside, would make a more clearer view compared to either a Dash Cam or a Mobile phone inside the car, that would film the mountains with the reflection of your car dashboard, objects, and even yourself, on the inside of the car's windscreen.
 
the dashcam I mentioned will do up to 5 minute segments then on for another 5 minutes and you would be hard pressed to see when it goes from one timed segment to another so it looks like a continuous video until the card runs out of memory hence getting a 32gig card
link to one bit of mine
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3vpkCsvIj0&t=4s
 
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Some GoPro clones can be set to time-lapse video with adjustable lapse times. Mine came from 7dayshop for £25 a couple of years ago - I actually bought 2 in case one carped out but have never needed the second for that reason - I use it for underwater (snorkelling) video. Not tried extracting stills from the 4k videos but I expect any 1/2 decent software could do the job. Stills from the things aren't perfect but fine for recce type shots.
 
I use my Android phone ( Nothing special)and the Daily Roads Voyager app as both a bicycle cam and a dash cam whilst driving a truck and a car, The logic being that I always have the phone with me and it saves having to carry any extra gear. The footage is great and you can alter many of the settings such as length of footage it records before looping and many more. Give it a try and see what you think ! It's a free app so no cost involved and as long as you have a charger connected and a reasonable sized SD card it will keep recording.
 
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Dashcam all the way, I have a Nextbase 512 and it records in 2K continuously until it runs out of memory, but micro SD cards are so cheap nowadays that should not be an excuse. Also having a dashcam in the car gives a bit of protection in case of accidents, you would not believe what I have seen on my travels with the camera in the car.
 
Consider an action type camera which can function as dashcam but be more versatile for other uses.
Even the photos from them are not bad these days.
Stabilisation is a major plus point in fact I wouldn't get one for general use without it. Recent GoPros are OK but my preference is the Osmo Action right now.
GoPro and Osmo both have the Hyperlapse feature now which is fun to play with.
 
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This is footage taken with my old HTC smartphone attached to the sun visor with a couple of elastic bands, shame a bird used the windscreen for target practice!

Glen Coe Trip
Thanks for posting that...took me back a couple of weeks.
 
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