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Dashboard Cameras

Southern Dad

Southern Dad

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 23, 2010
1,545
625
Shady Dale, Georgia
Is anyone currently using or thinking about getting a dashboard camera for your vehicle? I've got a GoPro Hero 3+ that I've used for this and I've used my iPad or iPhone for it.

I witnessed an accident last week where I clearly saw the driver of one car leave her lane and hit the side of another driver. The two drivers, both women were arguing and almost getting ready to fight. The taxi cab that was behind me had the incident on his dash cam. Even with my car in the way, you could see the vehicle leave her lane causing the accident.

Another day, I saw a person riding on the can on a Red Bull little truck. Would have been a very funny video.

If you are using one, what are you using? Does it start with the vehicle or do you have to turn it on each time?
 
I have a 1969 Camaro Pro Street, and I'm thinking of getting a few of them to attach to the roll cage, and a few of them on the body. I'd then put together a video of me driving, doing burnouts, wheelies, etc. Purely for personal nastalgia reasons.

On a side note, I think the GoPro is one of the finest products to come out in last 5 years. I absolutely love the idea of using one.
 
The 1080p Mobius ActionCam, with a street price around $80, offers great bang for the buck, especially if you're DIY inclined. Dimensions: 1 3/8″ x 2 1/2″ x 3/4″ inches. It can be configured to start recording when it powers up -- no need to press record. Using Loop Recording mode older files are deleted automatically, so you won't have to worry about running out of storage space on your SD card, etc.

 
localoid said:
The 1080p Mobius ActionCam, with a street price around $80, offers great bang for the buck, especially if you're DIY inclined. Dimensions: 1 3/8″ x 2 1/2″ x 3/4″ inches. It can be configured to start recording when it powers up -- no need to press record. Using Loop Recording mode older files are deleted automatically, so you won't have to worry about running out of storage space on your SD card, etc.

YouTube: video
Click to expand...

Excellent. This really looks like the ticket. Inexpensive at the same time. While the GoPro works and has a lot of great features, I really don't want one tied up in each car plus I have to physically turn it on. This solution looks like a better choice.

This was on a GoPro in time lapse mode.

 
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Southern Dad said:
Excellent. This really looks like the ticket. Inexpensive at the same time. While the GoPro works and has a lot of great features, I really don't want one tied up in each car plus I have to physically turn it on. This solution looks like a better choice.

This was on a GoPro in time lapse mode.

YouTube: video
Click to expand...

The same guy that did the video I posted also has a full review of the Mobius action cam -- a little over 23 minutes long, but he covers it in pretty good detail. :)

 
I don't really see the need for a dash cam.

That said, I wish I would have had one last night. I was driving on I-25 and a deer tried to cross the interstate. It got hit by a car. The poor thing was launched across 4 lanes about 20 feet in the air spinning like a top.
 
Southern Dad said:
Is anyone currently using or thinking about getting a dashboard camera for your vehicle? I've got a GoPro Hero 3+ that I've used for this and I've used my iPad or iPhone for it.

I witnessed an accident last week where I clearly saw the driver of one car leave her lane and hit the side of another driver. The two drivers, both women were arguing and almost getting ready to fight. The taxi cab that was behind me had the incident on his dash cam. Even with my car in the way, you could see the vehicle leave her lane causing the accident.

Another day, I saw a person riding on the can on a Red Bull little truck. Would have been a very funny video.

If you are using one, what are you using? Does it start with the vehicle or do you have to turn it on each time?
Click to expand...

I am thinking about this one THE LINK, reviews vary though, but the price is tempting.
 
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ucfgrad93 said:
I don't really see the need for a dash cam.

That said, I wish I would have had one last night. I was driving on I-25 and a deer tried to cross the interstate. It got hit by a car. The poor thing was launched across 4 lanes about 20 feet in the air spinning like a top.
Click to expand...

We call that the venison slide, down here.
 
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artfun said:
I am thinking about this one THE LINK, reviews vary though, but the price is tempting.
Click to expand...

The sample video are very fuzzy compared to the Mobius. It might work OK if you don't think you'd need crystal clarity, e.g, being able to read license plate numbers.
 
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This dash camera seems to be one I'm leaning toward at the moment. Going on the mirror makes it where you don't have it on the dashboard or window. The individual doing the review had a few issues with it, none of them would effect me:

My car is left hand drive, my Prius doesn't have auto-dimming on the mirror, visors have plenty of room and I don't care about audio.

 
Today would have been a great day to already have a dash cam in my Prius. This money truck blew through a light, making a big mess. The big guy in black got visibly upset and demanded that I stop photographing. Not going to happen.
 

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I've thought of getting a dash cam, just never got around to it. (I would have if I lived in Russia, though, where they're almost a necessity, I hear.)

Years ago, I took a camcorder (one of those clunky VHS jobs from the 1980s), aimed it out the rear window of my car, and shot video on my drive home. It was pretty funny to see what people did in their cars not knowing they were being recorded.
 
Southern Dad said:
Today would have been a great day to already have a dash cam in my Prius. This money truck blew through a light, making a big mess. The big guy in black got visibly upset and demanded that I stop photographing. Not going to happen.
Click to expand...

Dash cam, photographing other people's wrecks... I'd hate to see you get hold of Google Glass.
 
FrankieTDouglas said:
Dash cam, photographing other people's wrecks... I'd hate to see you get hold of Google Glass.
Click to expand...

It isn't every day that you see a money truck go through a red light, driving through a turning vehicle. Without witnesses, the driver could easily argue the light color. A camera is the best witness you can have. And yes, I'd love to have a Google Glass.

* Side Note * I'm in the newspaper business. I'm always on the lookout for something to send to the editor.
 
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I have the Blackvue DR550GW with 2 two cameras. It Powers on and off automatically and comes with motion sensor, audio recording, gps, wifi, MPEG-4 video format and has an iOS app for wireless video downloads. So far is it working pretty well. I just wish the iOS app could export to the camera roll.

Here is a website that has a lot of dash cam reviews.

http://dashcamtalk.com

Edit: I looked at a GoPro but it didn't look like it had the ability to automatically start recoding when power was applied and I didn't want to have to press record every time I started the vehicle.
 
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I'm going to look into a dash cam. Saw a lot of videos but never thought to get one.
 
Just ordered one of these. Should arrive by Wednesday.
 
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I use a GoPro on my motor bikes and bicycle.

A friend hit a kid when he was cycling. No one was hurt but the father got upset and made all sorts of wild accusations. A camera would have shown her clearly in the wrong. As it stands now my friend may have to pay some money. Probably the cost of a camera.

I've found it to be good for general photography. Easy to use and provides an interesting perspective. Recently took it to Europe on holiday. All i now need to do is edit the footage into something that people might want to watch - no easy feat.
 
lostngone said:
I have the Blackvue DR550GW with 2 two cameras. It Powers on and off automatically and comes with motion sensor, audio recording, gps, wifi, MPEG-4 video format and has an iOS app for wireless video downloads. So far is it working pretty well. I just wish the iOS app could export to the camera roll.

Here is a website that has a lot of dash cam reviews.

http://dashcamtalk.com

Edit: I looked at a GoPro but it didn't look like it had the ability to automatically start recoding when power was applied and I didn't want to have to press record every time I started the vehicle.
Click to expand...

I have the same one (although I did put the big front camera in the back and vice versa).

It's actually pretty powerful, including full GPS mapping, speed tracking (which I may have turned off!), g sensors/logging among a few other things.
 
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