Dash cams

Yeah, I'm about the same with the wiper settings myself. My Stealth windshield is also at a very sharp angle so I know what you mean by the distortion here; however, the camera is easily within the wiper's path so I know if I can see, then the camera can as well. But, with the Civic, that damn widow's peak looks like it will create a decent sized blind spot. I'm starting to think this is something a little Rain-X may be able to help compensate for. Anyhow, thank you for your insight.
 
not exactly a dash cam, but it's the tesla sentry cam catching a vandal keying the car. @sunofwolf still think security cameras are useless?


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJIopYeP25U


The following incident happened in Dorschester, Massachusetts last Thursday. Initially, it shows a man wearing black clothes entering a Target store at 9:16 a.m. that morning. Fast forward to 10:34 a.m. and the man can be seen walking towards the Tesla with headphones in and pulling a set of keys out of his pocket. Very subtlety, he sticks out his arm as he walks down the side of the Tesla, keying it from just in front of the front door all the way to the middle of the rear door. As he walks away, he looks back at his handiwork, perhaps admiring his “handiwork”. The owner of this particular Model 3, filed a police report shortly after the incident and provided authorities with the video as evidence.

In the months since Tesla introduced the Sentry model for the Model 3, the system which uses the car’s various cameras has captured numerous incidents of people vandalizing cars or breaking into them. It has become so common that we would have thought would-be criminals would know by now that, if they approach a Tesla suspiciously, they can be assured that the car will record whatever they’re doing.
 
I had an old phone (Samsung S8+) that had SIM card slot issues. So I am using it as a dash cam.

I found AutoBoy Dash Cam - BlackBox app so I've been using that. It's been doing the job.

play.google.com

AutoBoy Dash Cam - BlackBox - Apps on Google Play

AutoBoy Dash Cam - Blackbox, Excellent choice for your safe driving.
play.google.com play.google.com
 
webby said:
Better than your previous dash cam?
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The quality is MUCH better than my previous dash cam. I need to buy a long USB Type C cable and run it properly instead of just letting it dangle lol
 
bootyluvr said:
The quality is MUCH better than my previous dash cam. I need to buy a long USB Type C cable and run it properly instead of just letting it dangle lol
Click to expand...

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webby said:

USB C CABLES - HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!

Monoprice, Inc. (DBA. MonoPrice.com) specializes in the wholesale distribution of world class cable assemblies for home theater, PC, and high technology industries. MonoPrice.com offers a wide range of products from standard PC products, network cables, and HDMI cables to custom cable assemblies...
www.monoprice.com
Click to expand...
Damn! And free shipping. :thumbsup:
 
I realized yesterday on the way home from work that I don't have Type-C to Type-C cable currently.

I have Type-A (charger port) to Type-C (phone port).

---------------------------------------------------------------

I like the idea of using an old phone as a dash cam but after thinking about it... it's kinda big/bulky. Also I've ran into issues on sunny days where the phone won't charge because "phone temperatures are too hot.. charging has been stopped".. :rolleyes:

I never had overheating problems with the dash cam I had.
 
Same. Every time I look I get overwhelmed with the choices and end up convincing myself that I don't even need one. But then I see an accident or something that changes my mind and the cycle starts again.
 
I use a viofo a129 that I got for Christmas a few years back and it's been great. Haven't had any issues with it.
 
We have the VAVA 2k dash cam. It's been good to us so far. Just got it for Christmas.
 
stilletto said:
I need to commit and buy one. Just can’t decide on which. Such a difference in pricing.
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fahnix said:
Same. Every time I look I get overwhelmed with the choices and end up convincing myself that I don't even need one. But then I see an accident or something that changes my mind and the cycle starts again.
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When I was researching these for my cars, I found the reviews here helpful (especially the day and night footage videos):

Best Dash Cam Reviews 2013-2020

We review the best dash cams from 2013 to 2020, updated constantly. Full specs & details, sample videos, price comparison.
dashboardcamerareviews.com

For the most part, you need to determine what setup you want, single channel (camera in only one direction) or dual channel (front and rear cameras); then, you need a basic idea of the features you want, do you a parking mode where it will start recording if the camera detects movement in the car while it is off, do you want it to have GPS to record your speed, do you want to be able to live stream your video feed for easy access to footage, etc. Once you get a basic idea of what you want, what resolution and video quality you're looking for, jump to the tables linked at the top of the page (basically giant comparison charts), then find the one that best fits your desires and is in your price range. When I did my research, I found the ThinkWare F800Pro to be the best overall fit for what I wanted in a dash cam and have been very happy with my purchase (but, I'll admit, it is my only experience with a dash cam so I have nothing for an independent comparison). I've been running the F800Pro in my Stealth for quite a few years and just recently bought 2 more, one for my Civic and the other for my Pilot. ThinkWare has some newer ones but I still find the F800Pro better overall as I don't need 2k/4k video feed (1080p has been good enough for me) nor do I really think I need a live stream or cloud based service. Plus, since the F800Pro is older, the price on it has come down a bit since it was originally reviewed.

Anyhow, your mileage may vary; but, that was how I was able to sort through the clutter and make a decision on one of these for myself.
 
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MrsJrotax101 said:
We have the VAVA 2k dash cam. It's been good to us so far. Just got it for Christmas.
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It looks like a nice one. I just don't want an interior camera watching me. I understand why some people do want that tho.
 
AlmosN8kd said:
When I was researching these for my cars, I found the reviews here helpful (especially the day and night footage videos):

Best Dash Cam Reviews 2013-2020

We review the best dash cams from 2013 to 2020, updated constantly. Full specs & details, sample videos, price comparison.
dashboardcamerareviews.com

For the most part, you need to determine what setup you want, single channel (camera in only one direction) or dual channel (front and rear cameras); then, you need a basic idea of the features you want, do you a parking mode where it will start recording if the camera detects movement in the car while it is off, do you want it to have GPS to record your speed, do you want to be able to live stream your video feed for easy access to footage, etc. Once you get a basic idea of what you want, what resolution and video quality you're looking for, jump to the tables linked at the top of the page (basically giant comparison charts), then find the one that best fits your desires and is in your price range. When I did my research, I found the ThinkWare F800Pro to be the best overall fit for what I wanted in a dash cam and have been very happy with my purchase (but, I'll admit, it is my only experience with a dash cam so I have nothing for an independent comparison). I've been running the F800Pro in my Stealth for quite a few years and just recently bought 2 more, one for my Civic and the other for my Pilot. ThinkWare has some newer ones but I still find the F800Pro better overall as I don't need 2k/4k video feed (1080p has been good enough for me) nor do I really think I need a live stream or cloud based service. Plus, since the F800Pro is older, the price on it has come down a bit since it was originally reviewed.

Anyhow, your mileage may vary; but, that was how I was able to sort through the clutter and make a decision on one of these for myself.
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Thanks for the input. Tables always make it easier to make choices for me. I'll definitely check that out.
 
I spent a few days installing a ThinkWare F800Pro dash camera system into my Civic (I did this in combination with installing the auto-dimming mirror since it was only a little bit more work to combine the two).

I started by dropping the headliner to make running the wire back to the rear camera easier. Plus, it basically needed to be done to install the mirror harness (the installation instructions basically tell you to just pull down the front but I pulled the whole thing down).
View attachment 62784

View attachment 62785

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The dash became a convenient spot to store things (please ignore how dirty the car is, I needed/wanted it dirty to make the widows peak on the windshield super easy to see to aide in camera placement; plus, it is pollen season so I'm not bothering too much):
View attachment 62787

Working on getting the wiring all run:
View attachment 62786

Rear camera installation (the cord was way longer than really needed so I ran some excess over to the right side and then back to the left and forward along the harness for the sunroof actuator; even then, there were still about 3 loops front to back of excess cable):
View attachment 62789

Finished placement of the rear camera:
View attachment 62790

Front camera. Ignore the windshield, I was using a spay bottle with soap water to check if the wiper line would block part of the camera's view; I really hate the odd wiper design on this car, it just made everything more difficult; this was the 3rd one of these camera installs I have done and the wiper issue was by far the biggest pain when it came to determining where I wanted the camera to go for final placement. In the end, I went for higher up and off center to get it into the wiper arc; both of my other camera installs were easy enough to get placed in the center as they had a standard wiper setup.
View attachment 62791

Finally done after everything was reinstalled (you can see the rear camera in the mirror, it is mounted high enough to not really be much bother in the field of view):
View attachment 62792

All in all, it was a 1-day job that I spread out over 3 days. Besides, it gave me an excuse to drive my Stealth to work during the nice weather we've been having. But, it is raining now, and should be tomorrow; so, I'll be driving the Civic to work.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm currently looking for a new dashcam, not for my civic but for my pickup. I need one that I could mount on the headache rack that I got from 4WheelOnline.
 
bayswater17 said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm currently looking for a new dashcam, not for my civic but for my pickup. I need one that I could mount on the headache rack that I got from 4WheelOnline.
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So you want a weather safe external camera?
 
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