Dash Cameras

[Elroy Blue]

My Mini 806 has decided to start randomly switching itself off after the years. Not needing GPS, I was looking at the DDpai mini 2, for £70 then saw there's a mini 3 due out. Has anybody any idea when it will be released in the UK. It looks a nice piece of kit.

[vikingaero]

Aloysius said:

Does anyone have any experience with a dash cam that also has speed camera alerts?

As well as speed camera alerts the dash cam must have parking mode.

Ideally sub £150 would be good. Around the £100 mark would be even better.

Something like that with both functions will probably come out soon. At the moment a couple of cams with no parking mode but speed cam alerts are the Mio MiVue 618 and the Snooper DVR-4HD

[Elroy Blue]

While looking at reviews on YouTube of the mini 2 and mini 3, I found a camera called the Goluk T3, which seems to do the job for under £100. However reviews of all these cams that have WiFi and phone apps suggest the WiFi interferes with your phone's mobile data. Is this common or just someone setting it up wrong?

[Lgfst]

I've currently got a forward facing camera for the Tiguan but would like to get something for the rear. I'd prefer to keep this one and maybe get a standalone rear camera that will be left on 24/7 (the front is the same but I have it switchable). It's just mounting it. I'd like to avoid an ugly suction cup and preferably not fix it to the tailgate itself, just for ease of wiring. Has anyone mounted one this way?

Also, how do they perform (on average) through tinted windows (approx 95% on the rear).

Thanks

[vikingaero]

Elroy Blue said:

While looking at reviews on YouTube of the mini 2 and mini 3, I found a camera called the Goluk T3, which seems to do the job for under £100. However reviews of all these cams that have WiFi and phone apps suggest the WiFi interferes with your phone's mobile data. Is this common or just someone setting it up wrong?

You can normally switch off wifi on most dashcams through the menu system.

[vikingaero]

Lgfst said:

I've currently got a forward facing camera for the Tiguan but would like to get something for the rear. I'd prefer to keep this one and maybe get a standalone rear camera that will be left on 24/7 (the front is the same but I have it switchable). It's just mounting it. I'd like to avoid an ugly suction cup and preferably not fix it to the tailgate itself, just for ease of wiring. Has anyone mounted one this way?

Also, how do they perform (on average) through tinted windows (approx 95% on the rear).

Thanks

This is my DR32 dashcam which I mounted on the rear door of my Clubman. The menu system allows you to invert the dashcam. The window has a limo tint on it (even though it's not that obvious) and there is no problem with visibility. I think I can adjust the Exposure Value through the menu but have never bothered. The dashcam is stuck on with No More Nails Tape (would be better if the tape was black - itchy teeth!) and takes power from the rear 12v socket via a 80cm coiled USB lead bought from Amazon for a few squid. Edit to say that I don't like suction mounts either and I bought the above tripod screw mount from Fleabay.

[Lgfst]

vikingaero said:

This is my DR32 dashcam which I mounted on the rear door of my Clubman. The menu system allows you to invert the dashcam. The window has a limo tint on it (even though it's not that obvious) and there is no problem with visibility. I think I can adjust the Exposure Value through the menu but have never bothered. The dashcam is stuck on with No More Nails Tape (would be better if the tape was black - itchy teeth!) and takes power from the rear 12v socket via a 80cm coiled USB lead bought from Amazon for a few squid. Edit to say that I don't like suction mounts either and I bought the above tripod screw mount from Fleabay.

That's exactly what I'm looking for, thanks for the help

[dashcamguru]

Did you find the Dash cam you were looking for?

[Riley Blue]

I've seen it all now. I was stationary in a queue of traffic and glancing in my mirror noticed that the car behind had a dash cam - or so I thought. After moving forward a few yards and stopping I glanced again; the 'dash cam' was rotating - it was a cardboard air freshener dangling from the mirror printed to look like a dash cam...

[Dash-Cam Man]

The clubman is a bit of a faff to do for the perfect wire free finish so it's understandable why the above method seems reasonable.

[untakenname]

My rear dashcam keeps on autofocusing on my spoiler leaving everything behind that blurry, arr there any dashcams that have adjustable (not auto) focus?
Thinking about making a dashcam for the rear and putting it in a dummy aerial sharkfin antenna on the roof.

[AlonzoHarris]

Any views on the Nextbase 512GW...seems reasonably priced at Halford at the mo?

[thebigmacmoomin]

Managed to hide my dash cam's wiring from the fuse box to the camera. Wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be but such an improvement having no wires flapping around the car. Didn't even need to remove much trim, only the glove box. Car is a Mk2.5 Ford Focus.

Just need a new camera that will record even when sat stationary at traffic lights. Mine doesn't seem to do so, even with parking guard turned off.

[Shnozz]

AlonzoHarris said:

Any views on the Nextbase 512GW...seems reasonably priced at Halford at the mo?

I spent the weekend playing around with one as my Dad had just bought one and needed a hand with setting up. Video quality seems excellent and functionality on a par with the other higher end units. Only thing I will say is using the suction mount it seemed quite an invasive unit as against some others and due to its design sat quite far down from the top of the windscreen. Considering its not a small unit itself that made it quite prominent (mine for example sits discreetly at the very top of the screen and sticks to the screen rather than by way of a suction mount.

Feature and quality wise though, I thought it was top notch. I would go in store and have a look at the unit in person - only you can then decide if its a bit bulky for your vehicle.

[Blanchimont]

AlonzoHarris said:

Any views on the Nextbase 512GW...seems reasonably priced at Halford at the mo?

Mrs has one, she likes it. We used to actual mounts, rather than the suction one. Attached it on the weekend and she's getting on well. Decent length of cable as standard too. I managed to tuck it up into the headlining, around the passenger door frame, behind the glovebox and hid it underneath the centre console, only poking out to go into the plug socket.

Good features, the polarising filter is a good idea, not really played with it yet though as it seems pretty well setup out the box.

[AlonzoHarris]

Thanks for the feedback on the 512. I would use the adhesive mount too, as agree that it looks too bulky with the suction mount. It's going into an E Class, so imagine it should be hidden quite well behind the large rear view mirror.

Nice to hear that you both find the functionality to be very good. Will have a look at a unit in Halfords over the weekend, but will likely take the plunge.

I only do about 5k a year, but for the sake of £150 it seems silly not invest in a dash cam.

[ashleyman]

I’m no expert but am hoping to get a bit of advice. I have a Blackvue DR650S-2CH camera hard wired into my car with the Blackvue PMP.

I recently noticed that when playing video back on my computer it would stutter and pause and then the video would resume a few seconds later.

SOUND WARNING. I’ve uploaded an example here: https://youtu.be/l_KVBMVhBdE

I’ve never had a problem with the camera until now. Last year I was running a 128GB card which I lost in January. I then reverted back to using an older 64GB card whilst I waited for new cards to arrive. I had thought because the memory card was older that would be the issue. I purchased a SanDisk Ultra 128GB microSDXC Memory Card + SD Adapter with A1 App Performance up to 100MB/s, Class 10, U1. http://amzn.eu/e2EnZAF

When I got the card I did a speed test with Black Magic Design Disk Speed Test app on mac and it was running at 80MB/S write and 90MB/s Read.

The new card hasn't fixed my issue of stuttering video, if anything it’s now worse. I'm planning to have Amazon send me a replacement card because the speed test results are now extremely poor but I wondered if anyone knew if this was a card issue or camera issue.

I bought the camera on 16/09/2016 and fitted it shortly after so it’s out of warranty.

[LocoBlade]

untakenname said:

My rear dashcam keeps on autofocusing on my spoiler leaving everything behind that blurry, arr there any dashcams that have adjustable (not auto) focus?
Thinking about making a dashcam for the rear and putting it in a dummy aerial sharkfin antenna on the roof.

What camera is it, I thought most dash cameras were fixed focus so shouldn't have that issue.

[vikingaero]

ashleyman said:

I’m no expert but am hoping to get a bit of advice. I have a Blackvue DR650S-2CH camera hard wired into my car with the Blackvue PMP.

I recently noticed that when playing video back on my computer it would stutter and pause and then the video would resume a few seconds later.

SOUND WARNING. I’ve uploaded an example here: https://youtu.be/l_KVBMVhBdE

I’ve never had a problem with the camera until now. Last year I was running a 128GB card which I lost in January. I then reverted back to using an older 64GB card whilst I waited for new cards to arrive. I had thought because the memory card was older that would be the issue. I purchased a SanDisk Ultra 128GB microSDXC Memory Card + SD Adapter with A1 App Performance up to 100MB/s, Class 10, U1. http://amzn.eu/e2EnZAF

When I got the card I did a speed test with Black Magic Design Disk Speed Test app on mac and it was running at 80MB/S write and 90MB/s Read.

The new card hasn't fixed my issue of stuttering video, if anything it’s now worse. I'm planning to have Amazon send me a replacement card because the speed test results are now extremely poor but I wondered if anyone knew if this was a card issue or camera issue.

I bought the camera on 16/09/2016 and fitted it shortly after so it’s out of warranty.

Do you plug the memory card into the computer and play direct from that, or do you download the the file to the hard drive first and then play from the hard drive?

When I play from the memory card it can lag and when I skip segments of the movie, I get a second or two of blocky screen/poor sound as the data transfer from the card struggles.

[ashleyman]

vikingaero said:

ashleyman said:

I’m no expert but am hoping to get a bit of advice. I have a Blackvue DR650S-2CH camera hard wired into my car with the Blackvue PMP.

I recently noticed that when playing video back on my computer it would stutter and pause and then the video would resume a few seconds later.

SOUND WARNING. I’ve uploaded an example here: https://youtu.be/l_KVBMVhBdE

I’ve never had a problem with the camera until now. Last year I was running a 128GB card which I lost in January. I then reverted back to using an older 64GB card whilst I waited for new cards to arrive. I had thought because the memory card was older that would be the issue. I purchased a SanDisk Ultra 128GB microSDXC Memory Card + SD Adapter with A1 App Performance up to 100MB/s, Class 10, U1. http://amzn.eu/e2EnZAF

When I got the card I did a speed test with Black Magic Design Disk Speed Test app on mac and it was running at 80MB/S write and 90MB/s Read.

The new card hasn't fixed my issue of stuttering video, if anything it’s now worse. I'm planning to have Amazon send me a replacement card because the speed test results are now extremely poor but I wondered if anyone knew if this was a card issue or camera issue.

I bought the camera on 16/09/2016 and fitted it shortly after so it’s out of warranty.

Do you plug the memory card into the computer and play direct from that, or do you download the the file to the hard drive first and then play from the hard drive?

When I play from the memory card it can lag and when I skip segments of the movie, I get a second or two of blocky screen/poor sound as the data transfer from the card struggles.

I’ve tried both and the clips do the same thing. It’s definitely happening on the camera / record side rather than playback.

Been told a repair is £35 and takes 90 days. Or I can have 10% off a new camera but that’s £330.