For those of you with dashcams...recommendations?

[Froze]

I've searched, but cannot find anyone with a front/rear/interior/maybe outside left/right solution that works well when car is on and off.

I know Blackvue gets alot of props for front/rear. I'm leaning towards 3cams - front/rear blackvue can be run from one power source but how to add one or two more, seamlessly, befuddles me.

Want stealth as possible and nothing intgrated into the mirror.

Anyone with experience with this type of setup - your comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

[VMcV3y]

I've been experimenting with one type lately, but it doesn't meet your requirements.

However....this site is pretty good and I've found its recommendations/reviews very accurate. It might help you with your search:

http://dashcamtalk.com/


- V

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[Froze]

Originally Posted by VMcV3y

I've been experimenting with one type lately, but it doesn't meet your requirements.

However....this site is pretty good and I've found its recommendations/reviews very accurate. It might help you with your search:

http://dashcamtalk.com/


- V

.

Thanks. I have spent some time there too. It's funny that there seems to be no real "full solution" camera setup that anyone can agree upon even on that site. At least with supercharges, tunes, exhaust, etc. you can narrow down your choices some to a small group of quality items/services. But, with dashcams it appears that even amongst the users there are major gripes about just about every camera setup. Thanks again.

Anyone else please feel to chime in. I will take as much info as you feel like spitting at me.

[jwaggen]

My two cents / experience -- not exactly answering your question unfort:

I have a simple DVR207GS hardwired to the front.

I initially wanted a front/rear setup as well but could not find a seamless, integrated solution as you noted. From what I could glean, the dual camera solutions have poor rearward visibility, so if you want to do it right, you'd need a camera at both ends (+ sides), and then somehow deal with 4 channels of video.

Ultimately, I decided that having a front-facing camera protects me in 70% of situations (tough to be blamed for a rear-end collision). And if I'm parked head-in, I'll just turn the camera around.

With regards to my choice of the DVR: Dashcam technology is way behind GoPros, cell phones, etc. It didn't seem that buying a $300 camera would give me significantly more performance than my DVR ($60). IMHO, having a reasonably high fidelity camera with good firmware that supports Wi-Fi backup and automated recording* should not be that difficult... but I guess the market demand is simply not there yet.


* The DVR works great, but its firmware has a bug in it. Leaving it in parking mode causes blanks / overwrites in the video.

[Law]

I currently use Patriot T7W, Taiwanese brand.
The most current model is the F5.

http://www.patriot.com.tw/

These turn on the moment your car does and shuts off when the car shuts off. You can manually override that feature with the power button. Power is supplied through the power outlet inside my armrest, although there is a small battery but it doesn't last too long on its own. I have since done a wiretuck so the wires aren't exposed.

Memory card slot is on the side for easy access/removal. Anything from 8GB upwards should be more than enough to last a full week cycle and the memory card auto-rewrites over the old videos when max. capacity has been reached.


I will post pics of my setup when i get the chance

[Froze]

Thanks guys. This is great info.

[Law]

As promised, here are photos of my setup. As you can see, there is a wire plugged in for power, but it is nicely tucked away and doesn't cause distractions. The lens on the camera is super wide-angle so even mounted dead center under the rear view mirror, it can capture the entire hood & both ends of the car from left to right. There's actually a small screen that activates upon turning on but auto turn off after a few seconds. It is there for reference so you can see what you are recording but turns off if you're not configuring settings so it doesn't distract the driver. The best way to position it is such that the camera angle can capture both ends of traffic at a 4-way intersection. Best of luck on your search for an in dash cam!

[VMcV3y]

Seems that Chevrolet knows there is interest in this. Maybe BMW will follow?


http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/05/auto...gray-dash-cam/

New Corvette to come with built-in dashcam

- General Motors unveiled on Sunday a system that pulls together driving performance data with dashcam video -- giving drivers of its flashy Corvette sports car a way to record and share their experience behind the wheel.

The Performance Data Recorder will be available on the 2015 Corvette Stingray, the automaker said, calling it an "industry first."
"The fully integrated system enables users to record high-definition video, with telemetry overlays, of their driving experiences on and off the track," GM said.

After parking, drivers can relive their route -- whether it was around a racing speedway or downtown for groceries.

The video can be queued up on a dashboard-mounted monitor or downloaded to a driver's computer. The display shows the video plus a speedometer, throttle display and gear indicator. Drivers who use it when racing on an established race course can also see a map of the track and their lap time.

GM said it envisioned racers using the footage to "analyze their laps in incredible detail." The average driver could share the footage on social media.

The system pulls together a video camera mounted on the dashboard, a GPS receiver and the car's computer. A 32 gigabyte card inserted near the glove box can hold about 13 hours of driving data, GM said. It was designed by the company that works with the Corvette Racing team.

GM has not said how much the system will cost.

Chevrolet said the 2015 Corvette Stingray would be available in the third quarter of 2014.

- V

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[PandaM3]

Garmin also came out with their dash cam as well... a little pricey compared to the cheaper chinese ones... but probably better quality/ reliable too.

I'm also wanting to install a dashcam in all my cars as well, however I want it to:
-automatically turn on and off with the car
-option to stay on when parked somewhere shady
-download video via bluetooth to my iphone
-automatically rewrite/ erase previous video that isn't tagged/ saved
- low profile/ stealthy
-function as a gopro when out on the race track

In otherwords I want a Gopro with all the above functionality... or a DashCam with GoPro functionality

I guess that is all too much to ask right now

[VMcV3y]

I pretty much expect that in ten years, people will wonder why there were never factory-installed dashcams in cars.

The dashcam will be commonplace, and will wireless-sync to your cloud storage, etc.

(then the NSA will have been found to tap into them.)

- V

.

[kscarrol]

Originally Posted by VMcV3y

I pretty much expect that in ten years, people will wonder why there were never factory-installed dashcams in cars.

The dashcam will be commonplace, and will wireless-sync to your cloud storage, etc.

(then the NSA will have been found to tap into them.)

- V

.

Exactly! Just like black boxes are now required in all cars and back up cameras will be required in the near future, we will see dash cams mandated/required.

And the data will be used against you in a court of law!

[RedCardinal]

Originally Posted by VMcV3y

I pretty much expect that in ten years, people will wonder why there were never factory-installed dashcams in cars.

The dashcam will be commonplace, and will wireless-sync to your cloud storage, etc.

(then the NSA will have been found to tap into them.)

- V

.

The first part is accurate, the second part not so much. But it's only been 8 years!