In-Car Video Camera

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Hi Forumites. Does anyone have any recommendations for an in-car video camera to record the view out of the windscreen? I know there are quite a few models available, from pretty basic ones to super-duper GPS-enabled ones.

I guess the prices should be coming down so I think now may be the time to invest in one. I could certainly have found one useful in the past.

ariba10

I have "Road Hawk" And I think it is well worth the money. (
Around the .£200 mark.

Unable to post a link at the moment - Sorry

Obukit

I got one from eBay, it was less than £30 but has already proved it's worth in an insurance dispute.

Personally I don't see the point of the GPS enabled ones as surely the whole point is you are trying to prove what happened, not where you are?

Hintza

Have a look at these from £17 upwards. Might be worth searching out a few reviews.

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?PHPSESSID=&filterwords=video+camera&x=0&y=0&filterwordsalldb=1&filterwordsdescs=1

ciano125

If you have an Android smart phone there is an app you can get called Torque Pro for about £3. There is a free add on called Track Recorder, does what it says on the tin except you don't have to use it on a track, you can just use it on the road obviously! For £3, plus the cost of an in car charger if you are planning on doing more than a couple of hours at a time, it's well worth it.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Obukit wrote: »

Personally I don't see the point of the GPS enabled ones as surely the whole point is you are trying to prove what happened, not where you are?

That's what I thought too, for personal use anyway. Maybe it's useful for fleet managers to check where their drivers have been?

forgotmyname

The cheap ones seem to have a few issues. Some stop and record every 30 seconds.

So you get pauses in the video. Guy on youtube reviewed a few. He commented on one that it missed a close call because it was saving at that time.

Crabman

If buying from eBay make sure it's a UK based seller. Beware volume sellers with a UK address but who are actually based in China and have made up a fake address or used a warehouse address/virtual address/PO Box.

I got stung by a China-based seller who claimed to be UK based, but I got a refund through the VISA chargeback scheme so it ended well.

I'd ask to see a video sample before you buy, also the guy on YouTube that post 7 refers to is "Techmoan" and he mentioned that the 1280 x 960 resolution should be avoided as it's actually upscaled from a lower quality. Also many of the cheap ones are not widescreen. Some have a fish-eye lens which I know some people prefer but I went for a normal lens to avoid distortion.

Joe_Horner

Got an MD80 clone off EBay last year and it does just fine. Google MD80 camera and you'll see them everywhere!

Saving issues tend to be caused by cheap SD cards rather than the cameras themselves. They use about 2 GB an hour to record, which is just over 500k per second so if the card can't sustain that you'll get pauses. That means a class 4 or 6 card to be safe, although you might be lucky with others.

This is a test run I did when mine turned up, using an unbranded 2 gig card I had lying around. Was very impressed with the quality for something that cost less than a tenner delivered!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4hFrntOtbk

There were a few issues like the USB lead it came with was a shoelace and it wouldn't charge reliably (curedinstantly with a spare lead I had) and the "fully charged" indication it's supposed to give doesn't work (apparently a common problem). The answer to that's easy enough though - charge it for a couple of hours initially and unplug it when it starts to warm up noticably. A charge will last about 2 hours of recording, you'll need a 4 gig card for that.

You can use bigger cards but they won't officially record when plugged into a charger because they switch to USB / webcam mode when they sense power. There is a way to get round that by pressing buttons as you apply the power, but I can't remember it offhand cos I never use it. Google is very much your friend - lots of info and hacks out there for them.

They also seem to lock up (very) occasionally to do a good impression of a brick, but pressing the reset with a pin sorts that. Finally, setting the date is a bit of a pita - you have to put a text file on the SD card and it'll lose it again if you run the battery right down.

Still, for barely the price of a packet of fags it's a cheap enough way to get started!

MorrenCraige

I am also looking for a in car camera for my A6, I'd like it support a motion detective function even in parking mode, any guys give any suggestions? What does G-sensor mean and how it works?

Crabman

MorrenCraige wrote: »

I am also looking for a in car camera for my A6, I'd like it support a motion detective function even in parking mode, any guys give any suggestions? What does G-sensor mean and how it works?

Welcome to MSE :hello:

Here's an anser to the g-sensor question:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080224071123AAouHGk

As for cameras in general, there's someone on YouTube called Techmoan, he has a playlist just for car cameras and seems very thorough with his reviews:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Techmoan