In Car Safety Cameras

[Guest]

Just got an e-mail add from Amazon that I found a little unbelievable to be honest. There are a number of cameras in the following pics, but I'm not so sure about those really cheap ones. Still, it does show that you get what you pay for, but it also shows that one doesn't have to spend close to £300 to get one either. Interesting, no?

[craggle]

Interesting indeed.

I have a Blackvue which was around £300 and very pleased with it and I'd be lost without it speaking to me now at the beginning of each journey. :)

Good to see there are alternatives out there though, maybe not so compact and discrete to leave in the car as the Blackvue but certainly alternatives.

Craig.

[johnan]

Interesting indeed.

I have a Blackvue which was around £300 and very pleased with it and I'd be lost without it speaking to me now at the beginning of each journey. :)

Good to see there are alternatives out there though, maybe not so compact and discrete to leave in the car as the Blackvue but certainly alternatives.

Craig.

+1

John

[Soeley]

Interesting indeed.

I have a Blackvue which was around £300 and very pleased with it and I'd be lost without it speaking to me now at the beginning of each journey. :)

Good to see there are alternatives out there though, maybe not so compact and discrete to leave in the car as the Blackvue but certainly alternatives.

Craig.

+1

John

+2 The main reason for me getting one was so that it can record whilst the car is unattended, using both motion and shock sensors to record an event.

[Guest]

I can see the benefits of the more expensive cameras and the obvious pay-offs if something happens is you have proof of the event. I'm not sure how much the details of GPS position will help but the idea that a stationary car can record some careless moron hitting it, and hopefully obtain proof of the culprit, and therefore the consequences of their cowardly actions are on video for all to see. Would the Police be able to use this against the scumbags? Would it be admissable to the courts if it came to that? I think, if I could afford it, I would have two of the cameras that record front and rear, and have one covering both sides too, just to be sure you capture the scum.

Would it help in the event of some t-pot scratching your car with a supermarket trolley or their sodding doors as they hit your car? Could one of those flame throwers they use in Africa as an anti-carjacking device be tied into the video/gps/car being damaged gadgie to give them toastie toes for scratching your ride? I would hope so people, I would hope so!

[sweet-dentist]

Already I have a camera in the car for years... It is right of the back-mirror on the glass. On such a way that the wipers clean the glass it looks through..

The first one got broken (about 120 euros)... I then tried all kinds of camera's...like video-camera's and such.. Battery operated and on the power-outlet.

Turns out that the use of a very cheap one (22,95 euro's) does a very very good job.

I keep the screen closed all the time... it goes on when you switch the car on..and goes off when you shut the car off.... When on, there is a little blinking light... A sound is played when turned on and also when off..

I have changed the mount you get with it for a mount that is used for a mobilephone.. The mount costs 24,95 euro's ... witch is more than the camera ha ha...

PLUS a 16GB SDcard.. at about 10 euro's... So a camera-car-system would add up to a total of.. 22,95 + 24,95 and 10,00 to about 60 euro's..

And have stuck it to the windshield...

Here:

When somethings happens it shows a 750 HD picture and the time of date.

I have had some occasions where it was handy after an accident in front of me... also once to figure out what happened after I got a ticket at a gas-station. Good to prove things.

Also the motorcycle has one...

Hope this helps... I can make "in" car photo's if somebody asks... :-)

[bobkneale]

FYI Just bought one of these in car camaras for less than £30.00p on E bay, installed it and also bought 32gig micro SD to go with it, it records about 10hrs and it seems to work fine so far.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p4712.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=True+Full+HD+720P+Dash+DVR+Car+Video+Camera+Black+Box+IR+Recorder+Crash+Cam&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Regards, Bob.

[Guest]

That seems to be a great little camera there Peter. It sounds perfectly adequate for the job of stopping people claiming it wasn't their fault, or they were not even there.

I do also see the attraction of the more expensive cameras as they provide more detail as they record such things as a gps position, with time and date, G-force involved, which would be handy if they say they were not going that fast. I'm sure the cops can work out the higher g-force the harder impact. And those that record when the car is parked up if necessary. I think it is necessary when already on this forum we have had a couple of people hit in car park incidents.

Nice one Bob. I can see the benefits of these, and the more I look at and into them, the more sense they make. Trouble is, my wife cant see the sense in them, mostly the initial cost/outlay for them.

Edited - Removed crappy diagram cos it was crap!

Edited January 18, 2014 by Guest

[craggle]

Often wondered if you could dismantle the camera and separate the camera part from the rest of the device. The smaller camera and lens could probably be installed in a hole in the back of the interior mirror then the recording device could be hidden out of site somewhere else in the car. Connect the two parts together again with leads and an invisible camera you have.

Chances are though the camera part is PCB mounted and difficult to separate so it may not be possible and you really need the camera looking out the windscreen inside the wiper arc. If you place it outside the wiper arc you get blurred vision in misty, damp or wet conditions. Not sure if the mirror is in the arc or not without looking.

My Blackvue is very small and is mounted on the black part of the screen around the mirror mounting so just the lens looks out past the black pattern. It's pretty discrete and you have to get pretty close to see what it is.

Craig.

[Guest]

Often wondered if you could dismantle the camera and separate the camera part from the rest of the device. The smaller camera and lens could probably be installed in a hole in the back of the interior mirror then the recording device could be hidden out of site somewhere else in the car. Connect the two parts together again with leads and an invisible camera you have.

Chances are though the camera part is PCB mounted and difficult to separate so it may not be possible and you really need the camera looking out the windscreen inside the wiper arc. If you place it outside the wiper arc you get blurred vision in misty, damp or wet conditions. Not sure if the mirror is in the arc or not without looking.

My Blackvue is very small and is mounted on the black part of the screen around the mirror mounting so just the lens looks out past the black pattern. It's pretty discrete and you have to get pretty close to see what it is.

Craig.

You must have one of the best camera's then and are lucky with that, if it's not easily visible to people outside the car. That is one of the things putting me off -money being the main one- getting one, will it be discreet, or yelling that it's there? Is there any way to tell before buying one? Rhetorical question really, probably not.

[AndrewMW]

FYI Just bought one of these in car camaras for less than £30.00p on E bay, installed it and also bought 32gig micro SD to go with it, it records about 10hrs and it seems to work fine so far.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p4712.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=True+Full+HD+720P+Dash+DVR+Car+Video+Camera+Black+Box+IR+Recorder+Crash+Cam&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Regards, Bob.

I was watching/considering several of these, but was always worried about image quality, is it as good as they say and you can read street names and even faces?

[mrpj]

I also have and use one of those cheaper cameras from eBay, quite good too for the price.

A fairly positive review on Youtube in two parts

[sweet-dentist]

This model has been upgraded... about the same price, slightly better quality... Better power inlet socket...

Costs about 25 Euro here

[bobkneale]

FYI Just bought one of these in car camaras for less than £30.00p on E bay, installed it and also bought 32gig micro SD to go with it, it records about 10hrs and it seems to work fine so far.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p4712.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=True+Full+HD+720P+Dash+DVR+Car+Video+Camera+Black+Box+IR+Recorder+Crash+Cam&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Regards, Bob.

I was watching/considering several of these, but was always worried about image quality, is it as good as they say and you can read street names and even faces?

I have been using this unit now for well over over a week now. Image quality on mine is quite good, switches on when I start the car and full HD including sound recording inside the car, mine is set to a 10 min loop so it records over again after 10 min, Re Image quality I can read number plates etc, and it has a G force option setting that in the event of accident it saves the recording to mico flash disk in a protected area so it cannot be lost, or recorded over my mistake. (I have not tested this part) The cost was less than £30 on E bay I also needed to buy a 32gig class 6 micro SD to go with the unit. I hope I never need to use the data that is being recorded !

I will attempt to use this unit as a negotiating point when my insurance is due for renewal, that of course remains to be seen how the insurance companies respond.

[Guest]

In this weeks edition (10 July issue 1276) of Auto Express, on page 69, is a new product review for what it calls, 'Tiny crash cam's a big shot.' It's the Park Safe PSDVR009 and costs £99.

You can see the details at parksafeautomotive

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi,

Just to let you know that a number of our insurance schemes offer discounts for certain in car cameras.

Regards,

Dan.

[bobkneale]

Had this camara for a few weeks now:

Fitted it just above rear view mirror on windscreen, starts automaticly when I turn on and stops when I switch off, records a continuas 10 min loop of HD video and sound.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p4712.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=True+Full+HD+720P+Dash+DVR+Car+Video+Camera+Black+Box+IR+Recorder+Crash+Cam&_sacat=0&_from=R40&clk_rvr_id=503141042336&afsrc=1

Working very well for less than £30.

[moumoumou]

ya, there are so many cheap car cameras on eBay or Amazon, but it is still suggested to get a quality one, it happens occasionally that the car camera get bombed under sunlight exposure because of the poor Battery embedded, that's so dangerous, so it is wise to pay a bit more to get a good one.

http://www.szswill.com/car-camera.html

These items are quality guarantied.

[sweet-dentist]

Sorry to disagree... a good camera is OK, but we just need to see what happened and be able to read the number-plates.

The cheap ones do this fine...

If you are going for better quality, fine.... Some like to have GPS and rear camera at the same time... So, in one picture all the details...voice..picture front...picture inside...GPS...time...etc.

Then again I have 4 of them... Smart / iQ / Verso an on the motorbike..... It can count up, the money...

Also they all nead a good grip on the glas (25 euros) and a good 16 Gb card... 15 euros... So about 65 euros for a very cheap (but good working) camera....

The motorbike stands in the open...and the camera can easily be stolen... if so.. it's just 25 Euros (plus extra costs for grip and card :-( )... Until now, it has not happened... :-)

I'll see if I can upload a film from the motorbike... Nope... sorry... Photobucket does not work with these big file... have to size it down... Sooo.. later...

[bobkneale]

My View - You can spend hundreds of UK pounds on these things, I have many years no claims bonus and it is also fully protected in the event of an accident, I chose to spend £30 on a front view camara, as rear view accidents are 90%+ not your fault automaticly.

I plan to continue with defensive driving techniques and hopefully go for many more years without any accident, so If you have lots of cash to spend on all sorts of gadgets then thats fine, however from a payback perspective I chose to keep my cost low.

The £30 HD camara seems to work very adaquatly so far, lets see how reliable it is as time goes on.

I have fitted it on windscreen just above rear view mirror so it is out of view unless you look very closley.

Positive Regards, Bob

[sweet-dentist]

Hope not to offend anyone..

Nice ... then all goes well then... and one tries not to get any accident... All very good and dandy....

Sounds like the first time with safetybelts.... "Naaahh I drive very carefully, it's really not necessary .... etc. etc. etc. That's only for people who speed and such...

Sometime you just have to make sure you are never to blame,,IF something happens ... but the camera does also take films of the surrounding of the car... and records what takes place around you...

Like .. I had a ***** that stopped in front of me to give me a face-over or something (he was very ******...later on it turned out I looked like someone)... All on tape... face of the guy / numberplate car / color car etc.

I was over-taken by a car, on the wrong side, in an impossible place in an impossible way... all on tape for the cops... (they did not do anything with it though)...

I was behind a motorcycle crash by another car... That car-driver stated (a she btw) that he drove to fast. But on the tape one could clearly see that that car-driver took over another car and overtook in the crossing...thereby hitting the motorcycle from the right (with right of way)... convincing for the cops...

I was at a traffic light and it goes green ... the car in front of me turns left... and then BAMMM, that car is hit by a in coming car from the other side... That car was speeding... When I looked at the victims (everybody lived thanks to airbags... a real smoke thing)... The passenger of the incoming speeding car, let loose of a cellular-phone... it was on texting... So ... whether ... they were in an argument or so?

I once got a ticket from a company 5 days later where I had been. I thought it was a scam to get my money / by some unclear company ... But time and date fitted with my being there.

Luckily I had the camera en looked it up in the PC from the SD-card. Looked at it...phoned the company and the fine was reduced. It was my bad...but for me the seeing of my actions made it less pain-full..It was a kind of an extra memory...

So there is a lot to take on film... not just your own accidents and who had right of way (witch.... by the way... the camera is ideal for... for these situations)...

Police did not use this as well....

What I mean to say... it's not just for your insurance ... but also to look back on what really happened... sometimes there are not any witnesses....