In car cameras

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fracster

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Any of you guys use the cameras that record constantly whilst the car is moving, the sort that record accidents if one has an accident?

If so, any recommendations please?
 
Yep, well I did, but I sold it, but following my accident last week, Ive just bought one again.
I use the Blackvue Dr400G GPS v2.
I paid £189 through a car club Im in, retail price is about £279.

The only issue with them, is they face fowards, so if you have an accident at the rear or side, it doesnt help you. A lot of people I know have one in the rear window too for that very reason.

If you hardwire it in, it aslo has a park mode, so you can record accidents when you arent in the car when its parked up.
Pretty nifty.
They have built in GPS and accelerometers, so the automaticly mark an "event" when the G force hits a certain level. This makes it quicker to find the correct clip later on in the software, as it catogorises them into events, parking and normal.

Some insurers also offer a discount if you have one fitted.

The new v2 of the Dr400G is much better than the V1. The V1 got crazy hot when in use, and the image wasnt always that clear. The new one has a much better lens, and much better cooling.
 
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Would an option be to use a mobile phone? Many record in HD, and cradles are very cheap.
 
You'd need some pretty hefty storage for a phone.
Ive seen people use a camcorder mounted on a tripod looking through the front seats. Ive done this when offroading, but not as a permenant feature for the purpose the blackvue serves.
The main thing with the blackvue is its contunually records and overwrites old data when it runs out. It doesnt however overwrite the "events" is creayes when it detects your set amount of G force.
Of course you also get GPS, so in the event of an accident you can proove what speed you were doing and where you were to a certain degree of accuracy.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Of course you also get GPS, so in the event of an accident you can proove what speed you were doing and where you were to a certain degree of accuracy.
Click to expand...

Haha, not sure if that is a good thing or not :|
 
Well if you have an accident your speed may have been "debatable" then you don't own a blackvue ;-)



* I don't condone speeding or lying about speeding in the event of an accident. This post is made in jest.
 
great idea having a dashcam, helps avoid getting ripped off.....

[YOUTUBE]wDfy6lxuSgo[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]YWvG4KAYJfY[/YOUTUBE]
 
Food for thought thanks guys.
 
Tom, do you use the blackvue one in parking mode?

If so, is it a battery killer?
 
At the moment no, but I will be doing as I'm going to order this little gadget.

http://www.blackvue.co.uk/index.php/online-shop/power-magic-electric-power-controller-detail

I know of some people who do run it all the time without that box, but I don't trust my battery to hold out. At least with that box, it will stop the camera completely draining the battery.

I do wonder if its somehow possible to power it using a solar charger, but its all beyond me, I'm no auto spark.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Would an option be to use a mobile phone? Many record in HD, and cradles are very cheap.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I do with my Samsung Galaxy. 16GB of storage is more than enough and can record 13 hours in one go at 720x480. I get in car, pop the camera in the cradle and hit record. I just delete the video once I'm at my destination and take the phone with me. Storage space isn't an issue this way. The only negative is the field of view is quite narrow but it will at least protect me from someone reversing into my front etc.

There's a few blackbox recording software you can get for it which recycle storage space but they aren't very reliable. I'm not leaving my phone in the car and if I've not had an accident then there's no need to keep the footage so the recycling of footage isn't important to me.

I've also got an HD Blackbox camera from Maplin which cost £50 and will start recording upon motion detect, recycle footage, has a screen etc. It's ok but not HD lol. Struggles at night, the Galaxy is far better. I may hook up the Maplin one further back in the car so my sides are covered as a backup and just leave it in there all the time. Will need to cover it with something though as I can imagine the window getting smashed by some worthless junkie wanting to steal it.
 
EDIT: Found a better one. Here's one taken at 720x480 at the lowest quality settings and shows this lovely woman jumping a give way. I tend to slow down a little at these type of junctions just in case and fortunately in this instance it meant I wasn't side swiped. You can see her apologising quite clearly.

Car_Cam.jpg
 
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I have a HD720 Vehicle DVR from the bay. I paid around £35 for it. Its OK but sound is awful, however the video quality is sufficient for my needs but would ideally prefer the Blackvue DR400 HD MkII as the MkI had an overheating issue.
 
Advantage of the dedicated 'in-car' versions is the ability to save an extended number of trips on the SD Card (or several) so you have a record of say a week, month or more in case it might be needed a bit later on.

Manufacturers example of output from the Roadhawk - shows video, positioning and speed (and poor reactions of driver!).


[YOUTUBE]slFQrZNkoE4[/YOUTUBE]
 
Thanks all, i`ll ponder a while, some good suggestions though, thanks.
 
I've had a roadhawk RH-1 for 6 weeks short of 2 years, picture quality is excellent , it has GPS tracking, up until recently it's worked perfectly, last week it refused to start.

I emailed dogcamsport.co.uk where i bought it to ask about resetting it

I got a reply in less than 30 minutes with some advice

It still wouldn't work so they asked me to send it back

They received it today, my options were they could send it back to the manufacturer for repair under warranty or I could pay £50 and have the new upgraded DC-1 model with a new 2 year warranty

I chose to pay the £50 and get a new unit which was dispatched today, from initial phone call to problem sorted to my satisfaction in under 24 hours

Top company
 
do you not find these are something else to tempt people to break in for? especially if you have one in the front and back too?
Or do you need to take them out each time?
Someone broke into my car last year for a £15 stereo. cost me more than that to buy a replacement window from a scrap yard :bonk:
 
Rowee said:
do you not find these are something else to tempt people to break in for? especially if you have one in the front and back too?
Or do you need to take them out each time?
Someone broke into my car last year for a £15 stereo. cost me more than that to buy a replacement window from a scrap yard :bonk:
Click to expand...

My only worry about getting something like this. Especially considering a camera front and back is the same £ as leaving an iphone on display. Any more discreet units?
 
You really want something behind the windscreen otherwise the lens will just get covered in crap, even in the grill I suspect. Using my phone is great as I just pop it in and out of the cradle. I think they are quite discreet when fixed up near your review view mirror, mind you these opportunists seem to have 20/20 vision.
 
wack61 said:
I've had a roadhawk RH-1 for 6 weeks short of 2 years, picture quality is excellent , it has GPS tracking, up until recently it's worked perfectly, last week it refused to start.

I emailed dogcamsport.co.uk where i bought it to ask about resetting it

I got a reply in less than 30 minutes with some advice

It still wouldn't work so they asked me to send it back

They received it today, my options were they could send it back to the manufacturer for repair under warranty or I could pay £50 and have the new upgraded DC-1 model with a new 2 year warranty

I chose to pay the £50 and get a new unit which was dispatched today, from initial phone call to problem sorted to my satisfaction in under 24 hours

Top company
Click to expand...


The Roadhawk seems pretty handy....:eek:

[YOUTUBE]LK9-Ikcu0sY[/YOUTUBE]
 
gman said:
You really want something behind the windscreen otherwise the lens will just get covered in crap, even in the grill I suspect. Using my phone is great as I just pop it in and out of the cradle. I think they are quite discreet when fixed up near your review view mirror, mind you these opportunists seem to have 20/20 vision.
Click to expand...

The blackvue is behind the windscreen. It's not that noticeable when placed behind the rear view mirror, although I do still tend to take mine out.
If you set it so all the lights are off, you can't see it at night.
 
I might have a think about one seeing how badly some drivers and cyclists (in particular) behave on the roads

What do you do about near misses when the other party clearly violated traffic laws such as STOP sign?
 
daugirdas said:
What do you do about near misses when the other party clearly violated traffic laws such as STOP sign?
Click to expand...

I don't bother, these things happen so often I'd spend all my time dealing with the footage and sending it on. Unless it witnesses another car crash or something serious then I stick to using it only for when in an accident.
 
I almost got rammed off the road again today by some old doddy not even looking and completely ignoring a give way road marking.

Didn't have my camera with me!! Grrr
 
Rang up my insurers yesterday to renew.

Beat them down on price a bit as it was silly high, got it to a respectable level, and then "remembered" I had the car cam, which they state on the manufacturers site offers a 15% discount off the premium.

Still stupid expensive, but the slightly smug feeling is great.
 
Nice, I didn't know they did an HD version. The low resolution of the other one always put me off. The biggest worry is people mistaking it for a SatNav (or knowing what it really is) and smashing your window to steal it. My car has some metallic type covering over the top few inches of the front window which is annoying :(
 
Roadhawk are very good and the HD looks a great improvement over the original that I have (which itself is very good) - mine is left in the vehicle permanently and where it's placed is not very noticeable.
 
gman said:
Nice, I didn't know they did an HD version. The low resolution of the other one always put me off. The biggest worry is people mistaking it for a SatNav (or knowing what it really is) and smashing your window to steal it. My car has some metallic type covering over the top few inches of the front window which is annoying :(
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As I am ultra careful about where I park (but I won't go into that :D) I will not be leaving it in the car.

I am surprised car manufacturers have not hit on the idea of installing them in their top end cars.... unless some already have, I can't imagine it costing much more using the existing electronics of the on board sat nav wired into a lens at the front of the rear view mirror.
 
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I think Range Rovers have them installed, in fact I think they've got cameras all round the car for multiple views and it can be split screen etc?

I've been looking into other places to install a camera but nothing really beats the view from the mirror area.
 
Talking of cameras I have a reversing camera in mine but I rarely use it and prefer looking in the mirror or turning my head, with it being a fish eye type lens I always find that what looks like 4-5 ft away is much closer!..I admit they do have their uses though, when there are small children around is one good example.
 
gman said:
I think Range Rovers have them installed, in fact I think they've got cameras all round the car for multiple views and it can be split screen etc?

I've been looking into other places to install a camera but nothing really beats the view from the mirror area.
Click to expand...

Range rover drivers are the reason i want one of these! All the Chelsea tractors around here driving around like manics in the snow. 4x4 or not these idiots in there 2ton vehicles will slide like any other vehicles if they have to brake.
 
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