Dash cam options?

[Kodiak]

If license plate identification of moving cars is the main goal you need 4k @ 30 fps is the minimum from what any youtube vid shows. 4k @ 60 fps will far better but that animal does not exist yet. 2k at 30 fps is perfectly fine if you just want a vid of the event and maybe get lucky with a moving license plate, maybe.

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[FrankThompson]

If license plate identification of moving cars is the main goal you need 4k @ 30 fps is the minimum from what any youtube vid shows. 4k @ 60 fps will far better but that animal does not exist yet. 2k at 30 fps is perfectly fine if you just want a vid of the event and maybe get lucky with a moving license plate, maybe.

The problem is that while some may say 4k@30, apparently the quality isn't there. Apparently there are only a few manufacturers of the internal cameras and only a few sony sensors used. I was dead set on getting a blackvue, but I'm not sure anymore. I'm now gonna have to do more research to see if it's really worth the extra cost.

It is true though, if you are only worried about proving fault, you don't need high quality. You only need it of you are looking to read the plates.

 

[Kodiak]

The problem is that while some may say 4k@30, apparently the quality isn't there. Apparently there are only a few manufacturers of the internal cameras and only a few sony sensors used. I was dead set on getting a blackvue, but I'm not sure anymore. I'm now gonna have to do more research to see if it's really worth the extra cost.

It is true though, if you are only worried about proving fault, you don't need high quality. You only need it of you are looking to read the plates.

Oh yes, right on the money. With any photography and digital photography specifically, resolution is almost meaningless. The quality of the sensor is one major step and another is the lens. Resolution is only important if the pixels are quality sensor pixels. Then the lens quality and then the software to tie it all together. If anyone of these steps is not up to par, the entire system will suffer no matter how high quality the other components are.

With that said there are some wonderful youtube reviewers out there and really dig into the weeds on this subject. They are not "fast" videos, and they may cover a lot of things you may not be interested in but watch them to the end you will see some quality units and quality reviewers.

 

[Fordphanatic]

The problem is that while some may say 4k@30, apparently the quality isn't there. Apparently there are only a few manufacturers of the internal cameras and only a few sony sensors used. I was dead set on getting a blackvue, but I'm not sure anymore. I'm now gonna have to do more research to see if it's really worth the extra cost.

It is true though, if you are only worried about proving fault, you don't need high quality. You only need it of you are looking to read the plates.

I have a blackvue and love it. What's your hesitation to blackvue the price?

 

[FrankThompson]

I have a blackvue and love it. What's your hesitation to blackvue the price?

The actual quality of the video over cheaper options.

Blackvue does offer some features you can add on (or even more money), but when I saw the quality wasn't much better I started to question whether it was worth even paying more for just the base camera if the quality wasn't there.

And by quality I mean ability to read things on the videos that are produced. As @Kodiak said, it's not all about resolution. I'm also not saying that Blackvue was worse than cheaper options, just that the quality increase for the cost wasn't there.

If you aren't looking to read street signs or license plates and just want proof of fault, I'm sure most would do and the premium for Blackvue and it's other features very well could be worth the cost. I'm not at all bad mouthing them in any way.

 

[Fordphanatic]

The actual quality of the video over cheaper options.

Blackvue does offer some features you can add on (or even more money), but when I saw the quality wasn't much better I started to question whether it was worth even paying more for just the base camera if the quality wasn't there.

And by quality I mean ability to read things on the videos that are produced. As @Kodiak said, it's not all about resolution. I'm also not saying that Blackvue was worse than cheaper options, just that the quality increase for the cost wasn't there.

If you aren't looking to read street signs or license plates and just want proof of fault, I'm sure most would do and the premium for Blackvue and it's other features very well could be worth the cost. I'm not at all bad mouthing them in any way.

I only have experience with blackvue I have the Dr900x 2 channel and have no issues reading license plates. I'm sure there's cheaper options just as good. Good luck in your search. Dash cams are more then worth whatever the cost of the model you choose.

 

[FrankThompson]

I only have experience with blackvue I have the Dr900x 2 channel and have no issues reading license plates. I'm sure there's cheaper options just as good. Good luck in your search. Dash cams are more then worth whatever the cost of the model you choose.

Thanks My other thought was I was hoping they would have an all in 1 front and cab option instead of having to do 2 cameras for that (don't want to fill up the windshield). Not sure I actually need the cab camera though, just though it would be nice.

I do like the cellular options they offer though, so they are definitely not out of the running

 

[AAWhyte]

I'm sure everyone knows who Linus is. He did a review of dashcams last week and really hits it on the head what @Kodiak was saying. There are only a couple of manufactures of the camera sensors and almost everyone of the dashcam "manufactures" use them. It's a pretty solid review. But really eye opening. And the title is a little misleading, what he is saying is why spend $400.00 on company A when company B has the same sensor in their camera for $99.00.

 

[FrankThompson]

I'm sure everyone knows who Linus is. He did a review of dashcams last week and really hits it on the head what @Kodiak was saying. There are only a couple of manufactures of the camera sensors and almost everyone of the dashcam "manufactures" use them. It's a pretty solid review. But really eye opening. And the title is a little misleading, what he is saying is why spend $400.00 on company A when company B has the same sensor in their camera for $99.00.

Yup, it's why I posted it a few posts up (I think it's on page 8, so I'll forgive you this time...LOL)

 

[AAWhyte]

Yup, it's why I posted it a few posts up (I think it's on page 8, so I'll forgive you this time...LOL)

haha thanks Frank, I'm always late to the party.

 

[AAWhyte]

So I'll add my setup in here. I bought the Garmin 57 and the Garmin mini. 57 for the front and mini for the rear. I have them hard wired into the passenger footwell. As a couple of people have mentioned the ability to use your phone for android auto and try to pull video or connect to the camera is a pain. So I had an old tablet laying around and just use that as a dedicated Garmin dash cam tablet. Works pretty well, but using the wifi to connect and then load videos to review is slow as dog poop. If I need to review any footage I normally just pull the memory card and view it. I was going to get the 67 but I watched several reviews showing the Garmin 47, 57 and 67 all on the same screen and it was weird that the 57 had much better video, the 47 and the 67 looked the same. They were not bad, but the 57 was much better.
In the Garmin app it will put the front and rear camera together in the same video.

 

[Jimmy Young]

BlackVue DR900X-2CH Plus Dual-Channel Cloud Dash Cam with BlackVue Power Magic Ultra Battery Pack (B-124X

Installed about 8 months ago myself and I love it. Great quality cam's. Very clean don't see any wires and ran to fuse box. Charges battery when running and takes about 40 min for a full charge. Battery will last about 18 hours when parked. Highly Recommend

 

[Fordphanatic]

BlackVue DR900X-2CH Plus Dual-Channel Cloud Dash Cam with BlackVue Power Magic Ultra Battery Pack (B-124X

Installed about 8 months ago myself and I love it. Great quality cam's. Very clean don't see any wires and ran to fuse box. Charges battery when running and takes about 40 min for a full charge. Battery will last about 18 hours when parked. Highly Recommend

You could also hardwire camera and not need a battery pack. I have same camera and dont need a battery for park mode.

 

[Jimmy Young]

You could also hardwire camera and not need a battery pack. I have same camera and dont need a battery for park mode.

Yes I do have it hardwired to my fuse box to only pull power when it's on. The battery is for parking mode only.

 

[imnuts]

I used my old Pixel 2 as a dashcam in the spring. The mount I got for it eventually fell when hot weather arrived. A high bitrate 1080p stream is just as viewable for plates/signs as a low bitrate 4K video. A higher FPS can help as well, but when I was trying to figure out what video setting to use, bitrate had the biggest effect on how useful the captured video was.

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