Dash Cam Questions

[Joanne]

I've bought a dash cam. It's a cheap and nasty chinese piece of plastic, but seems to do the job it was intended.

 

I've slammed a 16GB SD card in it this morning and recorded my 10 minute journey to work (the most exciting bit was me going through the McD's drive thru) and I've come to check everything has recorded properly.

 

It has, but the files are all 445MB (which is about 3 minutes).

 

Do you have a camera? How does it save the files? Does this serve me right for buying cheap?

 

The funniest bit about it is that it has a red circle button... this MUST be the record button... LOLNOPE.

[Steve21]

That's normally quite standard, as when you tell it to record it loops around in 2-3 minutes loops, when it's full it'll delete the first file and loop etc

 

Often the Button is to stop recording if there's accident yep

 

Steve

[Joanne]

Well when I came to stop it the red button didn't stop it... it's a bit weird. The power button doesn't switch it on either... another button does!

[hardtailstar]

I have a giant orange button and this makes sure that recorded footage cant be recorded over etc. so your red button may do the same?

 

My records in batches of three minutes and wipes once card full.

 

My one was cheap china plastic too but seems to do the job.

 

I have wired it in to the electrics so as soon as I turn on the car it turns on, but it doesnt turn off :/ so need that figured out

[3s-gtech]

You'll need to change the clip duration in the settings. Most cameras can do up to 4GB max file size (I guess they're FAT32 formatted?) until they start a new file, which should give you 30 minutes or so depending on bit rate.

[dry]

It's perfectly normal for it to record in loops. It means if the memory card starts corrupting files or whatever the most video time you've lost is 2:59. Normally you can adjust length up to around 15 minutes.

 

Most dash cams start recording when they receive power and stop after x time of loss of power (i.e. once the engine is switched off). It means once you've installed it, you never need to touch it.

@hardtailstar check your lighter socket as it may be providing power for a few minutes after the car has been turned off

 

My dashcam came from China. Nothing wrong with Chinese dash cams if you put your research in before buying! I bought based mainly on Techmoan's reviews on Youtube. It has a G-sensor as well as GPS so logs the exact time, date, location and speed. When it feels a shock (when the camera shakes) it will automatically lock the recording for +/- 5 minutes. Handy feature and again you can adjust the sensitivity if you find you're getting a load of false positives.

 

The only issue with mine was that it kicked out a load of RF interference, which meant the radio in my car became un-usable. Not a problem as I'd just listen to MP3s from a USB stick or CDs.

[frazzlesgrant]

I have one for the bike, it has a 32GB memory card, all i need to do is take my footage off of a night (when i actually use the cam) and charge it, for the price i paid its really good.

[Joanne]

Right OK... I have to say the picture quality is pretty good to say it cost me <£15. I've noticed in the settings there is a G-sensor thingy. Currently I don't have it wired in, I just ran it off the battery this morning, though TBH, I don't think I will wire it in because the car is a lease and I aint drilling no holes in the dash!! I think I'll have to play with it a bit this eve and get used to the settings and the buttons!!

[dry]

TBH, I don't think I will wire it in because the car is a lease and I aint drilling no holes in the dash!!

 

I didn't make any permanent mods to my car either (although not that it'd make much difference to the value- the car was a 19-year old Citroen Saxo!). I tucked the USB cable around the edges of the windscreen and it fitted very nicely in the little gap that most cars have between the pillar and the windscreen. Ran the cable all the way down to the cigarette lighter. The only significant thing I did was used a bit of double-sided tape to secure it for the bit between the centre console and the other side of the steering wheel.

 

If I hadn't installed it, I doubt I'd have used it that much- as it's a hassle to set up when you're only nipping down the road or running late for something.

[NokiX]

Personally I use the following:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00MIOT1QK?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

 

Does the job very well and records in 1080p wide angle. I have it setup to record in 1 minute intervals which makes it pretty easy to find events that happen during any journey but here is some example footage:

 

 

I was thinking about starting a youtube channel but frankly there isn't much happening on the roads around me which is amazing really.

 

Edit: It's worth pointing out it's mounted with a bracket on the window and the cable is long enough to go all the way around the window and under the passenger foot well to the cigarette lighter socket.

Edited November 5, 2015 by NokiX

[Joanne]

Well the reason I got it was because every time I drove to or from work, something annoying / rubbish or weird would happen. I drive 4 miles. The friday I broke up from half term there were 4 incidents that would have been amusing to watch, so I've got it in the hope of sticking some shaming videos up on the youtubes.

[hardtailstar]

@dry mine isnt in the cigarette lighter, mine is wired in behind the dash.

 

Its not too much of a problem as I just turn it off or it runs the battery flat.

 

I know no power is going to the camera after the engine turned off as I tested it.