Dashcams, those tiny chinese cameras that you stick into your windscreen

Thujalvi

Active Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2010
Messages
440
Location
Finnland
Car(s)
Sturmpanzer E30
And then use to post videos of people being dicks in traffic on YouTube.

So I've been contemplating on getting one these for my car for some time now, and having perused the internet on the topic, it'd seem that the market is saturate with cheap Chinese units which fail to impress. The one I'm currently most intrigued by, and which seems to be of fairly decent quality is the SJcam SJ4000, pretty much a GoPro clone with dashcam capabilities. as for the sort of features and qualities I'm looking for, should be able to do at least 720p, though 1080p is preferable, and it should be rather discreet. (which is something the Chinese seem especially bad at.) Night/low light operational quality is also quite important at these latitudes, and also I really can't afford anything particularly expensive.

So if you're in the same boat, or have an opinion or information you would like to share on the topic, or better yet, have a recommendation on an affordable yet not completely rubbish camera, do feel free to reply.
 
If you can't be bothered to read all that (not that you shouldn't), this guy has some good reviews. I would say that if you're prepared to spend a decent amount then look at the Vico cameras he reviewed 5-6 months ago.
 
I bought a G1W from ebay and immediately had problems with it. They tried to resolve it by sending me a firmware file, but what good is that when the camera won't read the :censored:ing card properly?

I gave up fighting with the Chinese, cut my losses and bought myself a Transcend DrivePro 200 from verkkokauppa. 99 euros including a 16 gig card. It's been working like a charm ever since. The G1W wasn't that much cheaper after you factor in the 32 gig card bought for it. The Transcend camera also has wi-fi and an iOS app that allows you to change settings on the camera and copy videos off of it. There's probably an equivalent Android app as well, I haven't looked. Wi-fi transfer is slow, though. I always pop the card out, unless I feel lazy and prefer to sit in the car looking at a progress bar.

On the downside, it isn't very discrete. It's a big square box that requires lots of vertical space and the lens has a huge shiny chrome ring on it. I fixed the chrome problem by applying some electrical tape. It also didn't come with a suction cup mount in the box and I didn't want to use the adhesive mount on the knobbly tinted surface behind the mirror.

This was my solution: a bit of plexiglass wedged between the glass and headliner.

dashcam_pleximount2.jpg


It gets power from the rear wiper fuse via a piggyback connector. Everything is neatly tucked in inside the dashboard.

wiring.jpg


The piggyback connector is a neat idea. It has two fuses on it - one that replaces the original fuse and another for whatever you hook up. The rear wiper has a 20A fuse or something, so I'm sure the car won't even notice the additional couple hundred milliamps the camera draws.
 
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Apart from Percs misfortune, I very much recommend G1W for price/performance. Galanttis G1W reset itself once during last years roadtrip, but only once. And my two G1Ws, as well as few other on FG have performed well. It's discreet enough for me (as soon as you cover the "chrome" ring) and low light performance is excellent.

That said, I don't know if there's something more recent that's better in budget class, but I don't see a reason to buy anything more expensive with these at least..
 
Yeah, I've heard good things about the G1W too. It was probably just my bad luck.
 
The G1W-BC sounds interesting...too bad eBay would be my only option.
 
Eprance Mini 0803. The best.


I've got one, my parents have them, and a family friend has them in all his cars. Never a problem. Its small, easy to hide, easy to use, and has great video. Whats not to love.

I'll repost my hardwiring setup in a bit.

EDIT: here
 
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Eprance Mini 0803. The best.


I've got one, my parents have them, and a family friend has them in all his cars. Never a problem. Its small, easy to hide, easy to use, and has great video. Whats not to love.

I'll repost my hardwiring setup in a bit.

EDIT: here
I have one too. Love it. Small, detachable, good quality day and night, easy to use, cheap... What more do you need?
 
I've had G1W on Renault for over a year now, and no complaints. In the red Scorpio I've had mini 0803, but cannot comment too much on long term reliability, as the car hasn't been driven during winter at all. Both have excellent picture quality anyway both day and night.
 
What more do you need?

Two cameras! Introducing the Koonlung K1S.


It's made by the same people as the bullet camera that I have. have a look at the review, video quality is good and you get tons of cable to mount the tiny camera where you want. It's quite cheap too, I might get one before Ringmeet.
 
Two cameras! Introducing the Koonlung K1S.


It's made by the same people as the bullet camera that I have. have a look at the review, video quality is good and you get tons of cable to mount the tiny camera where you want. It's quite cheap too, I might get one before Ringmeet.

I was actually quite intrigued by this. The idea of not having a bulky display hogging up space, being distracting and all that is quite appealing. Then again it's perhaps a bit outside my price-range, but I'll have to see.
 
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