Dash Cam

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

Any preference for a dash cam?

Type? Makes?

Go-Pro would be my choice, but it wasn't on the Santa list, so what would be next?

Trying to stay under the $150 mark, and would rather have an install and forget it type deal. So no batteries, or having to reset or erase every time the truck moves.

Suggestions?

[socaltoolguy]

We just bought a GoPro and I'm learning how to use it. Too many settings for the uneducated. But, I like the learning curve. It seems to be great so far. Or you could take an old cell phone and use it. They take very good videos. Anything you set up is going to require some input from you. And it depends on what you are going to be using it for. Traffic accidents, scenery, ????. How much content are you going to want to save? Do some thinking on it but in my book, the GoPro is the best way to go. Some good deals out there too. We paid no sales tax so that gave us the memory card for free. We bought the new Hero4 Silver. It has the touch screen on it. If you buy the Hero4 Black, you have to add the screen. And, you might find a deal on last year's models. Good luck,,

 

Ray

[Kirk W]

Part of the issue is what purpose do you have in mind for that camera's images? Do you mean to have it filming constantly but into some type of loop that only saves when you trigger it? Do you want some sort of protection in an accident or some vehicular incident? Do you want scenic pictures through your windshield?

 

I have looked longingly at the Go Pro but don't know that I would us one as a dash-cam. Should I get one, then perhaps I might consider that. I'm very interested to hear the purpose that you have in mind.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

The purpose of a dash cam is to catch the actions of the idiot who cause you to be in an accident by doing something in front of your rig. Therefore a simple camera that loops through the memory card does the job.

 

We spent $50 for the camera an $20 for a huge card It runs when the ignition is on.

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

A camera that loops on a 15-20 minute cycle I think would be ok. That would be enough time to show that the guy you just ran over was swapping lanes in front of you before he clips your bumper and gets turned sideways.

A camera that's mounted pointing down the road, is wired to the accessory on key position so you don't have to remember to turn it on, audio I don't think matters, does it?

SD card compatible as well.

[SPII]

I have the DOD LS260W. Their site is at http://dod-tech.us/product/dod-ls360w/

I have it hardwired to the ignition so it comes on when the truck is started and shuts down with the truck also. It takes videos of 2-5 minutes long and loops the oldest when the card fills. An optional GPS can be added to it to show speed and exact location. Excellent in low light situations and I have no problem recommending it.

[Bill Joyce]

https://dashcamtalk.com/ is good website to research dashcams. I know a couple people with their "Best Bang for your Buck", G1W and variants, who are happy with the choice. Under $60 plus a microSD card.

[DuffMan]

A 32GB SD Card gets you about 8 hrs of recording before loop overwrites old file. The more the better. You can capture the several hours of after incident occurrences without worrying about loosing the footage with the incident. The dual camera versions are nice - one pointing forward and one pointing to the drivers side window. Captures all conversations also. You can ensure locking of the segmnent with the incident by just slapping the camera (It sees it as a crash and locks that segment from being overwritten)

 

TECHMOAN (a British guy) does good UTube reviews of many of the available dashcams.

[PEIFamily]

Don't have a dash cam, but want to get one.

 

ON another note, We have a Sony digital handycam that has a built in harddrive and also room for a sd card. On high DVD quality, I believe it records 8 hours. We may have used it about 8 hrs max in its life, was thinking about selling it since we never use it with cellphone recording so good now.. Is there any reason why this wouldn't work mounted in a vehicle?

 

It would have high quality DVD video with sound that could get at least 8 hrs before needing to overwrite it.

 

 

EDIT: Just read the specs and it does 27hrs recording at 3 MB.

[Bill Joyce]

PEIFamily: No reason the Sony won't work. It might not have as wide a view as a dashcam or GoPro, which might be a downside, But you already own it. Figure out a mount, how to power it for 8 hours and give it a try.

 

The G1W I mentioned earlier has a 140 degree wide angle view and records in 1080p HD video. It is $50 with free shipping from Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FONBG1A. These dashcams need Class 4 or 6 microSD cards and have errors with the faster and more expensive Class 10 cards.

[SuiteSuccess]

Have several of these. Work just fine for my needs and cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/2-5-inch-Vehicle-Recorder-Dashboard-Camcorder/dp/B0053DDNW6/ref=sr_1_1?s=car&ie=UTF8&qid=1419986346&sr=1-1&keywords=dash+cam

[warroland]

Have several of these. Work just fine for my needs and cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/2-5-inch-Vehicle-Recorder-Dashboard-Camcorder/dp/B0053DDNW6/ref=sr_1_1?s=car&ie=UTF8&qid=1419986346&sr=1-1&keywords=dash+cam

Just used mine for the first time on trip from Tennessee to Florida and the video looks great. I set it for 720 lines and save every 15 minutes. The instructions are not great but it was easy to figure out the set-up I wanted. It has a date and time stamp.

[pugsly]

Have several of these. Work just fine for my needs and cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/2-5-inch-Vehicle-Recorder-Dashboard-Camcorder/dp/B0053DDNW6/ref=sr_1_1?s=car&ie=UTF8&qid=1419986346&sr=1-1&keywords=dash+cam

 

That's the one we have as well - works great. The one issue we ran into is it would lock up due to overheating sometimes... I fashioned a little aluminum heat shield to keep it out of direct sun (by cutting up a soda can) and have had no more problems.