Dash cams ?

[2008RN]

After Questionmark (Mark and Cyndi’s terrible incident I have been seriously thinking about dash cams.   It looked like their dash cam had good resolution.  Does any one have preferences on what would be a good dash cam?  

[CnC]

We have used a VAVA dash cam with 1080P for years, but you'd need to be more specific in what you expect beyond resolution before others can answer wisely.

Charlie.

[John E Davies]

You need to read some dash cam comparison reviews, and decide how much you want to spend and what features you would like. Where and how you park your car is important too! This would be a good choice, I have had one on my TV for three years and just bought a hard wire kit for my wife's new Acura RDX, so I can swap it easily to her car. I will probably buy another cam for that car when they are on sale.

https://www.amazon.com/Nextbase-522GW-Dash-Cam-Kit/dp/B07PV2RX57?th=1

Nextbase 522GW price history

You need enough image quality to read license plates at NIGHT, and a polarizing filter to cut glare in sunlight. Everything else, like rear view cams, are optional features. I really like how this cam captures all the speed, location and G force info, and can overlay it onto a Google map. This is a screen cap of a video using their desktop application.

I have to admit that I feel naked and unprotected driving without one. 😉

John Davies
Spokane WA

[topgun2]

Garmin makes a nice small one that easily connects to the mirror in late model Fords (and other vehicle brands too).  

A couple of years ago after doing a bunch of reviews (as JD suggests) and watching a bunch more YouTube videos, I bought a front and rear dash cam that went by the trade name of Apeman.  As a friend of mine suggested - perhaps that alone is why I bought it?

 However, I'd like to think that it had a ton of features, allowed for about a 320 degree view, all at 1080p and the price (on sale) was under $140.  Since this camera will give me a warning if it has recorded something that I should see - it does this automatically in the event of an accident, movement or noise even if the vehicle is not on (parked) and/or I'm not in it.  Of course it also records constantly while I'm driving.

Whatever you decide to buy, be sure to get a large data card for it (I've got a 128 gig card and some newer cameras will take an even larger card).  Virtually all of these cameras record to the data card until they are full and then simply start to overwrite the oldest data.  My camera does this except that it will not overwrite anything that has been saved due to an "event" - either identified on its own or by me.

Happy shopping!

Bill

[Frank C]

I bought this Garmin Mini 2 and a 256GB data card.  Forward view only, but very compact and some nice features like voice recognition.  Hides nicely between the windshield and the rear view mirror. 

Garmin Dash Cam Mini 2, Tiny Size, 1080p and 140-degree FOV, Monitor Your Vehicle While Away w/ New Connected Features, Voice Control https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0931YZ82P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Z5M0YW178SD5J3MD7JTY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[VBistro]

2 hours ago, FrankC said:

I bought this Garmin Mini 2 and a 256GB data card.  Forward view only, but very compact and some nice features like voice recognition.  Hides nicely between the windshield and the rear view mirror. 

Garmin Dash Cam Mini 2, Tiny Size, 1080p and 140-degree FOV, Monitor Your Vehicle While Away w/ New Connected Features, Voice Control https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0931YZ82P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Z5M0YW178SD5J3MD7JTY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

We just bought 2 of these.  One forward viewing in the TV and one that fits nicely in the rear window of the Ollie (plugged into the USB port on the ceiling).  I can't view live video from the cab of the TV, but that's fine.  It will auto record events if something happens.

[dewdev]

On 4/13/2022 at 1:35 PM, 2008RN said:

After Questionmark (Mark and Cyndi’s terrible incident I have been seriously thinking about dash cams.   It looked like their dash cam had good resolution.  Does any one have preferences on what would be a good dash cam?  

I certainly now see the advantage of a dash cam after reading about Questionmark's accident.

But I do have some concern with all the gadgets I now have and adding a dash cam all with their monitoring display near each other in the  TV cab.

The devices will include: 

(1) Garmin 890 RV GPS, (2) Ollie's rear view camera monitoring display, (3) TPMS monitoring display, (4) cell phone and (5) now a dash cam.

I remember reading in the TTPS manual about interferance of their monitoring display if near other similiar devices.

Will they all work properly in the cab together? Do they need to be located in seperate areas of the cab?

I would appreciate others opinions and experience with multiple system running concurrently.

Thanks

[2008RN]

7 hours ago, John E Davies said:

You need to read some dash cam comparison reviews, and decide how much you want to spend and what features you would like. Where and how you park your car is important too! This would be a good choice, I have had one on my TV for three years and just bought a hard wire kit for my wife's new Acura RDX, so I can swap it easily to her car. I will probably buy another cam for that car when they are on sale.

https://www.amazon.com/Nextbase-522GW-Dash-Cam-Kit/dp/B07PV2RX57?th=1

Nextbase 522GW price history

You need enough image quality to read license plates at NIGHT, and a polarizing filter to cut glare in sunlight. Everything else, like rear view cams, are optional features. I really like how this cam captures all the speed, location and G force info, and can overlay it onto a Google map. This is a screen cap of a video using their desktop application.

I have to admit that I feel naked and unprotected driving without one. 😉

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

John,  I need to be able to connect to an iPhone or my MacBook to down load files. 
 

Can you take the SD drive out of these and play the files on a computer or do you need a special app to play them?  I have figured out that the phones need a special app to view/ down load.  I just do not know how well they work with the iPhone.

The thought about using a 256gb card for storage. So there would be less chance of over writing a file I wanted before I could get it downloaded. I’m assuming I could get 25 to 30 hours of time on a 256gb card with HD.

thanks everyone for the info, keep it coming. I’m sure I’m not the only one that is taking it seriously after the wreck.

Bob and Dawn

[John E Davies]

The NextBase cams use a suite of Mac MyNextbase software and apps. You can view and transfer files to an iPhone by wifi, email them (in low resolution) or connect your iPhone to a Mac computer with a cable and use their program to import, view and edit files. You can remove the memory card and insert it into a card reader and copy them. You can upload them to Cloud storage.

Or you can use the built in settings in the cam to do a lot of stuff rom the rear screen. I am not a big fan of the software, it could use some refinement,  but it works well enough. Go here to the MyNextbase box part way down, click Learn More.

https://nextbase.com/dash-cam-features/

It can get quite complicated, it is best to just watch a whole lot of videos for different brands, to see what appeals to you.

It is really important that you use a very fast memory suitable for HD video, or the camera will freeze and crash. This is what I have, the Class 10 V30 (or higher) symbol is what you look for. It depends some on if you have a 1080p cam or a 4k cam…..

 

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Patriot]

19 hours ago, 2008RN said:

After Questionmark (Mark and Cyndi’s terrible incident I have been seriously thinking about dash cams.   It looked like their dash cam had good resolution.  Does any one have preferences on what would be a good dash cam?  

Sent you a PM on a dash cam I recently purchased and will use. 
It’s a perfect fit for the Super Duty if you have the auto dimming rear view mirror. 

[topgun2]

Most - if not all - the current models of dashcams have multiple ways of getting to the video files.  This has never been an issue with any of the cameras I've been interested in.

Also, I too have a TPMS, Garmin 890 (and the truck's navigation system), cell phone, dashcam, rearview camera screen, radar detector, and laptop - all in that central area of the truck.  I have never experienced ANY issues with any of these devices interfering with anything.

Bill

 

[ScottyGS]

We have the Garmin 56 and have been very happy with it.  Seamless interface with the app on phone and ipad to get the files.  Easier to see on the ipad.  The previews have less resolution but once you download them they are very good.   A must have in my opinion.