I finally got a dash cam

A self triggering cam that would catch Bump and Run peeps in parking lots. Have Front and Rearview now and great since adding Rear Cap on Frontier. See everything, even if blocked in on both sides (170 view)

apparently this one is 180 degrees, it's impressive that I could make out the plate of a car to the side. It does activate too if bumped.

It would seem to me that dropping almost $500, you'd just get a very neat install and then could view front/back split screen in one video. But it is impressive to me what you can get today for only $56. In other words, not junk, but a real cam...

The other thing I don't get, how do car repair places (even Mercedes Benz dealerships) get busted due to a dash cam? If I am the establishment, I either unplug it, or if you have a capacitor or it's hardwired, I put duct tape over the lense and mics? That's private property so I as the establishment say you don't film inside my shop. I don't care that you saw my tech doing a job in 20 min. and we charged you 3 hours of labor, that's by the book! (playing devil's advocate)

I have a Powerucc Panorama II, it's HD and I bought it for between $100 & $200 about 4 years ago. It still works as good as the day I bought it, is was voted the best of 2013/14 in the price range according to Dashcamtalk.com. It does have the "bump" feature but I turned it off, it was too sensitive. The video the bump takes goes into special folder and doesn't get written over in the normal loop.

I got lost in some russian dashcam videos on youtube back then and got one more for what I might catch on the road that was funny/interesting as opposed to needing it for an accident or proof I didn't run a light.

I have been able to capture some idiotic moves on the road (best viewed in HD on a full screen).

For example this guy on the right side of the screen in the white van on a parallel road flat out runs a stop sign at high speed to get on the main road trying to beat the traffic on the main road, johnnatash4 you might recognize this spot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFynlF0s8zU

Here we have a group of mini motorcycles filter through the traffic at a red light then one guy pops a wheelie when the light changes (I was surprised they actually stopped for the light):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw0jjwoFHEs

Here we have a person who decided the parking lot should be their personal trash can:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG7tMxSgkws

Here's a few examples of the cams night video capability.

A guy coming in the opposite direction decides he needs my left turn lane more than I do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PyEdBXZ1N8

This guy was a double idiot. First he approaches the red along my right side, sort of makes a right but cuts through an "Emergency & Authorized Vehicles Only" spot (in front of a firehouse) then goes left, all to get by the red I am sitting at and ends up running that red light because he took to long to make his illegal maneuver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3v3vUV25pw

Sometimes even johnny law runs a light when not on a call:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ySyYD1Iv6M

Another night, another red light runner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vPqqiTuyJ8

Back to daytime. I never understood why people double park, blocking a lane of travel, next to of very close to a parking spot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qphHjua6LLk

I did use a go-pro type (knock-off) camera for a short time prior to my current cam and caught a few interesting shots:

Here we have the typical get out of my way I'm more important than you type, nearly gets t-boned as he runs the red light:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P4xyqmGGms

This guy in the 2nd SUV must be the last guys cousin, note this is a two way street:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izgsdIKnqO4

And, if you're still with me, I caught a local turkey called Roscoe on video crossing the street, he appears after the ambulance. Roscoe was well known in these parts, a very unusual site for this area. Sadly after a few years of roaming the streets here he was hit by a car and killed not long after this video was taken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXGZBHPNaDM

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Just thought I'd mention, I really like my dashcam and paid $56. Today, it's on sale at amazon for $42 deal of the day lol I'm not advertising for them but seems like a great deal, I'm picking one up for my mom at that price!

Not only that, I'm giving the one I got to my wife, and getting me one that has gps so speed and location, it's $50 off today!

FYI the models are the Anker A1, and C2 Pro.

Sounds nice - can you provide a link?

For the longest time I've been tempted to buy a DashCam but have resisted because of my concern for someone breaking the windows to get to the camera.

I had a bad experience back in the late 60s when at a public parking lot someone cut my convertible top to steal my recently acquired 8 Track Tape Player, ever since when we leave the vehicle at home or in public parking we make sure not to leave anything in view that will tempt a thieve into breaking the windows.

How do you guys handle that, do you mount and dismount the camera every time you leave the vehicle or just hope nothing will happen.

Can you share your good and bad experiences since owning a DashCam.

https://www.amazon.com/Roav-Dashboard-NightHawk-Wide-Angle-R...

I leave mine on the window all the time, dashcams don't seem to be a high value target, I live and work in the Philadelphia, PA area and it isn't one of the safest areas, haven't heard of any break ins for dashcams, or GPS's for that matter. These items are relatively inexpensive these days and just not that appealing I guess.

As an aside, I'm surprised no one has commented on any of the dashcam videos I posted. Guess they're not as interesting as I thought they were.

I haven't watched from work (due to them being videos) lol I'll have to remember to watch from home...

I agree, why steal a dash cam if the value is $50 or even $400 (although $400 is getting up there). I can even say this--I left my laptop in the airport in Toronto, and I got it back--it took them all of 18 hours to send me an email they located it. People don't even want laptops (could also be afraid it can't be used or it can be tracked, dunno)! They do want tablets, iPhones, etc.

Although, I wish somehow that a dash cam could be as secured as a phone. Say you did steal it, you can't turn it on without a code, etc. A thief can assume that when he goes to take it, it is recording from the motion....I could be wrong but I am assuming nobody will break in to get it...

soberbyker, I watched all your videos. They were good! It's just that we have all become jaded after seeing that through our own windshields day in and day out. If I had a dashcam, I would have a hundred videos.

At a busy street near my house there is usually a traffic jam in rush hour of two lanes straight ahead and two lanes turning left. That is not enough for people stuck in traffic. They are also going across the double yellow line to the wrong side of the road and driving 400 yards to the intersection! It looks just like the scooters in Italy riding in packs on the wrong side of the road!

dobs108

.. I too could have hundreds, thousands even, because I drive in Philly for a living all day long, in a truck, which no one wants to be behind so I get cut off on a regular basis, not to mention the people that think the space I leave between me and the vehicle in front me is just for them, if we had to come to a quick stop then they would realize that space WAS my safe stopping distance.

.

This is the one I bought a year ago at Gearbest and it was under 40.00 shipped. What I like about it is that it is more concealed than most other dashcams. I also have a GPS plugged into it, bought for under $ 10.00 on eBay, and use a program (Registrator Viewer v.6.0.0.22c) to view the files which shows exactly where I am on the road on a map, speed, altitude and more.

The A118C
https://www.gearbest.com/car-dvr/pp_142025.html

Scroll down on the page and you can see how it is mounted.

This incident near Tampa finally convinced me I need a dash cam in both my vehicles since I too have a CCW permit, had not been for the dash cam this Uber driver would be in deep trouble trying to prove why he shot and killed an unarmed person in self defense in the classic stand your ground law defense.

Without the video it would be hard to prove why he shot an unarmed man, there would be no record of what was said before the shooting, his word against the dead guy, the only witness too drunk to know what happen.

Listen to what the dead man said before been shot and look at his right hand.

Watch the video here and share your opinion:

https://youtu.be/xXAv9BO2VQQ

About a year ago I got Proveeo F5. Hardwired it in. Checked a couple times in the beginning and it was working great. It's mounted to the windshield behind the mirror so no one really knows it's there. Then a couple months ago. Someone did something I thought would fun to share, that should be caught on the camera. Pulled the card. Plugged it into my computer. The camera was set to record in 3 minute videos but some of them where only 1 second long on playback. But took the full 3 minutes of recording time. So maybe the sd card has gone bad. Reformatted it. No errors found. Got a brand new card. Same problem. Updated the firmware of the camera. Same problem. Sent a message to the camera maker support contact email. I received a response the next day. The first possible solution caught me by surprise. To try a different player on my PC. Until then I had not considered it to be a playback issue. Tried a different player. Those 1 second videos are now 3 minutes long. So somewhere along the line the default Windows 10 default player changed and was no longer compatible with the videos.

To Billybovine

I use Registrator viewer instead of Windows. it's specifically made for dashcams:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pcd9s6q7xs61wah/RegistratorViewer_...

I love this player, works on most OS and plays most file types with no add on needed:

https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

Thanks for the information posted here. I've been thinking about getting a camera as well, especially after the Uber driver incident.

I came within seconds of having to shoot a road rage driver in a very similar encounter a couple of years ago. The enraged driver cut me off and got out of his car with a baseball bat and began approaching my vehicle. Thankfully he stopped and backed off when I immediately exited my vehicle with my weapon drawn and he quickly realized as such. He was smart and backed away very slowly, then got in his vehicle and took off.

It was broad daylight and there were other witnesses, but a camera makes it clear cut.

By the way, I live in Polk County and Sheriff Grady Judd is a good, personal friend of mine. We share a mutual love of hiking and nature photography.

Folks either love him or hate him. Most people in our county and surrounding central Florida, love him.

I was also thinking about getting a dash cam.

I had NuviCam with builtin dashcam but now the battery died. Now I ordered newer model lmt-61 drive smart or something which does not have a dashcam. I may end up buying one for my car and then replace battery in Nuvicam and use it in other car. Dashcam has become almost necessity these days..

Difference in prices between those cameras - excluding premium for "brand" - are defining how good camera will be at low light conditions. Or if it's recording against light background. Like driving against sun. But almost all of them should be good enough during daytime. As long as it is truly recording in at least 720p resolution it should be able to read plate numbers from recording. Everything below that will be hit or miss.

Battery vs Capacitor the least expensive run on internal battery power

Look at the videos I posted, both dashcams I had were/are capacitor run. I have mine hooked up in an always on socket and have forgotten to turn it off more than once and it's never drained the car battery.

The one I currently use is really good at night and not bad into the sun, it was at the mid to lower price range at the time.

There is a website called dashcamtalk.com that gives good reviews of the current set of cams and lists their pros and cons as well.

Gotta love Sheriff Grady. He's a no nonsense kind of guy.

now that I've tried the C2 Pro which has gps (paid $89.99), I like it....shows g force and mph, then also a map of your trip (I assume it goes by when the device powered on, and off).

The part I have not figured out is where the google map came from.

For that price, it's "neat."

But the amazon deal of the day, I would say the A1 for $42 is serious bang for buck. It is an easy no risk way to get into a dash cam.

Apparently, shortcomings would be that 1080p and 2 mp sensors are no longer top of the line. But the key imho is that you can read license plates. Throw in a $15 hard wire kit is probably the way to go, but I do the lighter socket thing right now.

Imagine we'd reach a point in time where 1080p is not good enough lol only a few yrs. ago, even though my tv was 1080p, cable tv fed it at 720...and only blu ray (I don't play video games) utilized the 1080p

obviously a $42 one is battery--but they said it's good for how hot it gets in a car. If you want to transfer files etc., the battery will drain fairly quickly...if I take it out of the car, I have one of those external pacs with a micro usb to power it....

my suggestion is to try a lesser expensive but quality one first, and unlike what I initially wanted, a $500 permanent solution may be a waste of money (this already is in its 3rd gen for as long as I've been watching, some have to have the latest so they just buy the new one and switch out the front and rear cams)

obviously a $42 one is battery--but they said it's good for how hot it gets in a car. If you want to transfer files etc., the battery will drain fairly quickly...if I take it out of the car, I have one of those external pacs with a micro usb to power it....

my suggestion is to try a lesser expensive but quality one first, and unlike what I initially wanted, a $500 permanent solution may be a waste of money (this already is in its 3rd gen for as long as I've been watching, some have to have the latest so they just buy the new one and switch out the front and rear cams)

Which I bought a year ago is a capacitor type and I am very pleased with the clarity of the pictures. It does pretty good at night as well since I have HID headlights that light up the way nicely.

Depending on what you bought you should check to see if there are FIRMWARE updates available.

The A118C DashCam is superseded now by a A119C model.

In my opinion you do not have to spend a fortune to get a good DC.

I too still use the 12V plug but will soon get around to tap into the overhead console to pick 12V from there and adapt the 12V plug to 5.5V wiring to a hard wired one.

Unless you have a rear camera as well I see no need to have a constant power on connection.

has anyone figured out how to keep the suction mount from falling off????????

The hard wired connectors are available on AliExpress very cheap - just wait 2 weeks otherwise pay 2-3x more on AMZ. Make sure you order the right connector.

Thanks Melaqueman

Next time I check the card I will try it out.

Thanks Soberbyker

That is the software Proveeo suggested I use and it worked.

very interesting info.

My A118C or the newer A119C do NOT use a suction cup, so therefore not a problem.

Link how it is mounted, just scroll down a little to see:

https://dashcameras.net/a119-viofo/

gadget

There are various types of sticky cup mounts these days, I have one for my GPS, check to see if they have a type that would work for your unit. Maybe a universal phone type would work.

A lot are made for radar detectors but you could rig something up that could work.

These things are very hard to get off and in the unlikely event they did come off a lite wash with water let it dry and it's super sticky again.

Not sure if stickycup is a brand but if you do a search you should see what I'm talking about.

haha I went through this....the obvious is making sure the glass and suction cup are clean.

But what I have noticed? Let's face it, generally speaking these are cheap devices and since I ordered one for my mom, even though the suction cups look identical, they are not. One had a springy action, the other did not. One turned from 7 o'clock to 12 o'clock to lock, the other, as designed, from 9 o'clock.

My guess is that if both surfaces are in fact clean? The suction cup is defective.

I've got a couple dashcams and would like to replace in time. I'm primarily interested in a dual set up though so I can monitor both front and back. Any recs?

I can see this being the standard in vehicles in the future?

I would think so, unless the technology gets more expensive. We always assume tech goes down in price, but there is a lot going on with the world economy these days.

It would seem that anyone who has a dash cam today, is early to the game? I don't see too many in other vehicles. And people do not drive as if others are filming them...

To my point, wouldn't we all agree, that in public, people today, assume they will end up on someone's iPhone or Android, if they do anything unusual? People do not drive as such, today. Maybe tomorrow...

I copy my VLC directory to video drive. So, i can play anywhere in case VLC is not available.

I did watch and comment on the YouTube site on a couple of them. The trash dump was horrible should have gone viral.

Isn't this known to be one of the best? I am not opposed to the high $479 pricetag it itself, just that once I've seen what a $42 one and a $90 one can do, the question becomes are there other places to spend the money. But for example this girl was riding me yesterday all the way from Penrose over the Platt Bridge and she finally got in front of me so yeah I got her plate, it would have been nice to have a vid of her following so closely, holding her cell and talking, etc.

https://www.blackvue.com/dr900s-2ch/

I will admit, the ones I have now, being ~ 2MP, they could be sharper...

johnnatash4, you could buy two lesser costly DC's and mount one on the windshield and one on the rear window.

Or see this link for DC;s offering both front and rear cameras.
The least expensive is $ 99.99.

https://www.google.ca/search?source=hp&ei=MaOSW9jjAo7a5gKPjI...

Just looked at the cost of this Blackvue DC, not exactly cheap at $ 499.00 to $ 610.00.

You are correct, I honestly think the Roav A1 is serious bang for buck, I got 3 total (2 as gifts lol), and the 2nd and 3rd were $42. They have wifi blah blah blah and seem to be excellent. One could be suction cupped to the back--I was actually going to try it just to see the results....I think all 3 of our vehicles have a rear lighter socket, but if not, I'd even try a portable battery pack...

imho many cos are trying to get customers on their cloud, BlackVue is no exception. But how in the world can videos be uploaded via say 4G, that will cost a fortune...

This is just my opinion, but why would anyone need WiFi on a DC??? I run a 32 GB micro SD card in my DC and if I really want to see what's on the card I just remove it and stick it into my computer. To be honest I'd only done that a couple of times when I first got the DC and out of curiosity. The only time I see now to remove the card is if something untoward has happened to keep a permanent record or pass it on the the police!.

I still have to get around to doing it, but I'm going to hardwire into the overhead console where I can pick a switched 12 volt line (needs reducing to 5.5 V). It might be a bit harder to power on the rear window.

It's pretty nice. No suction cup but it sticks on the windshield with some really sticky stuff. The camera can be removed easily so the SD card can be loaded into your computer. It can be mounted very high on the windshield so as to be very unobtrusive. So far it seems OK.

At Amazon a front and rear dashcam for $ 169.00 with free shipping.

https://www.amazon.com/Viofo-Channel-Camera-miniUSB-Adapter/...

For $ 2.99 you can buy a hardwired kit on eBay for this

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-DC-12V-36V-to-5V-Hard-Wired-Dua...

For $ 6.25 you can buy a plug-in GPS module on eBay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/GPS-Module-for-Car-DVR-Recording-An...

You guys gave helpful information.

one thing that never even crossed my mind....with a dash cam, it's always writing over something....they make "endurance" micro SD cards for that.

Because normal cards are used so infrequently, I had never thought of them as having a finite life.

After my initial fascination, I have actually gone all week to work without looking at any videos, they are just "there" in case....

When I first got mine I would take the SD card (full size 64GB for my cam) and watch a few of the videos, it was cool, nice and clear for the most part. Now I only take it out when I know there's something I want to see/keep on it. I've been using the same card for a few years now.