Dash Cams

KimsJeep

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I figured I would start a thread about Dash Cams. So feel free to share what Cam you have and some video from it. Let us know what you like/dislike about it.

I recently picked up this one,

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V6DT8GS/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I also got this hardwire kit so I could do away with the cig lighter style plug the cam came with. I had swapped my cig lighter for usb chargers a while ago so I had no way to make it work. The hardwire kit solved that and besides, it is cleaner that way. :D

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078T5T21G/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I also bought this SD card and it seems to work ok in it. I only used it once with this card, so time will tell. LOL

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073JWXGNT/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I shared a couple daytime videos in another thread, but I will share them here too. Here is the daytime front video. This was taken on a different SD card.




















Here is the daytime rearview video.

























This is the night time front video, taken on the SD card mentioned above.



















And finally the rear.

























As you can see the night time videos are really grainy. Nothing like it shows in the Amazon add. I may have figured out why, but need to drive tonight to test it. The cam comes set to a lower quality resolution. Today after viewing the video I went out and set the resolution up to 1080. I will drive it tonight and see what it comes out like.

I guess my only complaint so far would be that when I went to try to set the resolution, I couldn't figure out how to get it into the settings mode. No matter what I pressed, it never went to that mode. I even tried to read the directions and they are very vague. They just say what each button does. It say's one can set resolution in the stand by mode, but it never say's how to get into the stand by mode. LOL I ended up taking the SD card out, that way it was basically in stand by as it couldn't record without it. I set everything then put it back in.

The other thing is the it locks the videos too much. It is supposed to lock a video when it feels a jolt. I'm not sure if there is a setting to set it to be less sensitive or maybe I have it where it locks automatically and I don't know it. I was thinking maybe the Jeep just rides rough enough that it thinks it is getting jolted. I did however see a "Key" that means for it to lock that segment, so maybe I had that on and don't know it? I will have to look at it again to make sure that "key" is not on the screen.

Other then that, I don't have any other complaints. :D

I will be driving to work at night again tonight, so I will share how the video does on the new resolution settings tomorrow.
 
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Awesome idea for a thread. I've been meaning to get a dash cam for both of our vehicles, as I feel that in this day and age it's extra insurance.

For the price, that one seems like it's very highly reviewed.
 
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Oh, and I forgot to mention that I figured out how to make it stop recording the audio, so hopefully I did it right and you will no longer hear me bitch about the dump lady drivers. LOL
 
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Awesome idea for a thread. I've been meaning to get a dash cam for both of our vehicles, as I feel that in this day and age it's extra insurance.

For the price, that one seems like it's very highly reviewed.

Yah, even though there was fewer reviewers, they all gave it 5 stars. I do like it and would give it 5 stars too.
 
Yah, even though there was fewer reviewers, they all gave it 5 stars. I do like it and would give it 5 stars too.

And am I understanding correctly that it can be left on at night so that it will automatically start recording if it detects motion or something?

If so, does it run off the vehicles battery for that?
 
Yes it has a setting for it to detect motion. I honestly don't know much about that but I would say that it would most likely not run the battery down because it would probably only record for the length you have it set for ( I think you can set it for 1 min up to 5 min. intervals), then shut back off. That being said, I am thinking it would have to be connected to a fuse that is always hot. I have mine so it shuts off with the key, so thinking that feature doesn't work for me. I did just turn it on today when I was in the setting mode, so I will see if it does or not. Just thinking out loud here now, but if I remember correctly, it has a battery of its own to be able to use that function. I will find out tomorrow when I take the SD card back out to see how the resolution settings did. I'll post it if it worked or not.
 
How long does it record for though? I mean lets say for instance you're driving for 5 hours. There's no way it can record 5 hours of video and fit all of that on an SD card.

I'm assuming it must store a set time length of footage and then overwrite anything else that came before?
 
It has a "loop" feature that is supposed to start recording over older video when it runs out of room on the SD card. This is another thing that makes the constant locking of the videos a possible problem. It won't record over a locked video, so eventually, it will run out of space on the SD card and will most likely give me a full warning. I will have to "format" the SD card to clear the locked videos.

I'm not sure how long this will take to happen, but I will post here once it does. I do believe this is more of the Jeep being rough riding then it being the cam's fault. Like I said, I did just notice a "key" icon when I pushed one of the buttons when trying to figure out how to go into stand by mode. That could have been why my videos were locking, but I'm not sure. I did notice on this trip that almost all the videos were locked, compared to my first trip where about 1/2 were locked. I will make sure the "key" icon is off, so the next trip should tell me how much it locks because of the Jeeps ride. :D
 
Is a locked video one that you actually specify as being "locked"?

I think I'm confused as to what makes the video "locked".
 
I don’t have a need for one around town, but got a suction mount for a GoPro for trail runs. However I’m still dialing that in to get anything worth sharing or showing.
 
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Is a locked video one that you actually specify as being "locked"?

I think I'm confused as to what makes the video "locked".

It is supposed to automatically "lock" a video when it feels a jolt. Like if you get in a wreck. That way it doesn't get recorded over if you need it for proof of who did what.

I'm not really sure how the lock feature works when one pushes the button. I think it is only supposed to lock that specific recording. Remember, it records in 1min. up to 5 min.s segments. So, like today, I have it set to record 5 min segments so I have about 10 5 min. videos that were on the SD card. Each being a separate file. If that makes sense? The thing that is confusing is the "key" icon doesn't go away till you hit the button again, as far as I know. LOL I didn't wait 5 mins, to see if maybe it shut off by itself, once that segment is done recording. Still following me? I will have to play with it some more when I am not driving to work, that way I can maybe try a few things, like hitting the button and actually looking later to see if it does shut itself off once the segment is done recording. It's actually hard for me to see the icons, I almost need cheaters for my cheaters. LOL So driving to work and looking at it would not be a good thing. It would probably record me being at fault. LOL :D

It just seemed like it had all the videos locked today. I have already pulled the card out of the computer and put it back in the camera so I can't verify that. I will check it tomorrow and see how many are locked.
 
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I don’t have a need for one around town, but got a suction mount for a GoPro for trail runs. However I’m still dialing that in to get anything worth sharing or showing.

I actually got mine for around town. LOL After my near miss, I really want something I can share with the authorities if need be. The CHP officer that worked that accident I witnessed actually called me today to get more info. I wish I had the cam then, I would have had the whole thing on video.
 
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I'd love to get a dash cam, but I just can't help but see it getting stolen when I park with my top down.
 
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Kimsjeep - Any more updates on this dash cam? I currently have it in my Amazon cart, but am a little concerned about the "Lock" thing. Have you figured a way to adjust the sensitivity, or any work arounds? Turning it completely off would seem to defeat the purpose and if it locked after every pothole your card would soon be full and need formatting. When you switched it to 1080, did it improve the picture?

I'm also curious if you think the hard wire is the way to go? When I do have a top on, its a soft top so it would be nice to unplug it and throw it in a lock box. I would probably wire it like you did too, whereas it would not work off the reverse lights.

Great post by the way, Thanks.
 
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Sorry, yah. I tried it with the 1080 and honestly it wasn't much better. Still grainy. I'm not sure if that is because it is picking up reflections from my windshield, and also my windshield is dirty and it is picking up the spots. Or if it just isn't that great at night shots like it claims to be.

As far as the hard wire, yah, I think that is the way to go. It is only doing away with the cig. lighter wire. It is still just a simple plug in to the camera, easy enough to unplug and take down out of the windshield. The reverse light was easy to hook up too. The cable is 20 foot long and the red wire that hooks to the reverse light wire is about 3 feet long, I think. Plenty to go where you need it to go though.

I haven't seen any locked videos since that first time. I think I must have had the lock on manually. Ever since I made sure the "key" icon isn't on the screen, it has no locked videos. I did notice that it takes about 26 or 27 3 minute videos. Remember, one can change it from 1 min, 3 min, or 5 min videos. I set mine back to 3 min. I did notice that it must not hold a lot footage because I just checked it and the beginning of my trip isn't on it. It starts from when I was at the Starbucks drive thru. So the first maybe 6 mins of my day isn't on there. I did however go a lot of places and it it recorded all of those and recorded me taking hubby to lunch and back. So not bad I guess.

I also haven't figured out why the back camera records anything that is green, in pink. Not sure if I need to mess with the white balance or what ever? I guess one day I will have to go play with it some more. :D

Also, I noticed that it was originally set to the resolution of 1249 (give or take a few numbers, LOL) I set it to 1080 and I think the night videos were actually worse. I was thinking it was from the factory at a lower setting, but maybe it was actually at the best setting. The number under the 1080 is 749 I believe. I'm not good with that sort of thing but I think I will go back to the original setting and see if it is better. Maybe the 1080 is mid range?

Here is a couple vids of the night time 1080 resolution, and also some from today.
























































 
Just got back in from changing settings again. I didn't see a setting for white balance or anything for the "recording" part of it. In the instructions I see one can set it for the camera or "picture taking" mode. All I could do for the recording mode was set the exposure up or down. I set it down to -2, but looking in the rear camera it still coming up pink. Maybe it is to low to the ground. ? I saw somewhere they talk about putting it in the back window, but don't see anything for mounting it to the license plate. Or, maybe it is just a flaw with this camera? Doesn't really bug me to much, it still picks up action behind me, so I am good with it.

Also, when I had the card out and looking at the videos I didn't see any video of it recording "motion while parked". I'm thinking that because I have the camera hooked up to go off with the ignition, it must not turn on with motion. It must have to be on all the time? Either that or, nothing ever walked in front of it while I was parked. I did wave my hand in front of it just now and although I didn't take the SD card back out to check it, the camera didn't turn on, so I am assuming it didn't record my hand. That isn't a huge deal to me either. I got it so I could record my travels so if anything happened like it did the other night, I would have it on video.

The other thing I'm not sure of is the WDR setting. It has it so you can turn it off or on. I don't know what WDR is. LOL Right now I have it on. My guess is Wide Dynamic Range? Sounds good. Maybe it is so it takes widescreen video? I'll have to research that. LOL

Here is a pic of the resolution settings. What do you all think is the best one? Is the top better then the 1080 one?

LM+VTHAsR5q9knOAyqDEIA.jpg


Here is a pic of the page in the book telling what all it has.

Gpoh5FvcS9C%6Yxc%KMCbA.jpg


Edit to ad.....

I just went and looked at the ad on Amazon and the WDR is supposed to make it record better at night. I'll go make sure that is on. Also, according to the ad the 1080 FHD is better. At least they brag about that number over the 1269P number. LOL
 
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Thanks for the great follow up. I think for the price it’s not too bad at all. I have a hard time understanding all that video lingo, so the simpler the better for me. I might look around at some other options but will probably end up getting this one. Enjoy the weekend.

Edit: have you tried to YouTube any how-to videos on it?
 
Thanks for the great follow up. I think for the price it’s not too bad at all. I have a hard time understanding all that video lingo, so the simpler the better for me. I might look around at some other options but will probably end up getting this one. Enjoy the weekend.

Edit: have you tried to YouTube any how-to videos on it?

No, haven't tried looking it up on youtube. Will have to give it a whirl. :D
 
Ok, just an update on this camera.

Today I took the SD card out for the first time since the last time I posted on here. I wanted to see if my camera picked up my husbands son's car that was stolen early this morning. They found it in a location that I had driven by twice today. Anyway, I went to look at the videos and all but 2 of the videos were locked. So it only had the last few minutes that I drove from another location. I was really dissapointed in it. :(

I went to the settings and found one for the "G sensor", so I turned it off. It was set about at the mid way part of it's levels. I can't say what it was though because I saw 'off' and just went to it and pressed ok. LOL I'm hoping that will completely stop it from locking videos.

I'll drive around for a few days and then check it again and see if any are locked. To me it is useless if I can't see more then a few minutes of my travels.

Will report back. :D
 
I got one hoping to catch Russian style road rage incidents in it.... That's one place you don't want to cut someone off in traffic