Dashcam

[ernieb]

A couple of dash cams ago I had a HP front only unit 1440 resolution and it was clear night and day, excellent compact unit.

@Catlover, totally agree that the night time resolution is key as a reasonable frame rate so that tracking detail is not lost.

[Nick72]

5 hours ago, ernieb said:

I thought we'd agreed it would be a Betamax?

Only in the 2023 edition 😂

[Roy124]

My dealer offered and fitted a Nextbase GW380.  They fitted it on the passenger side which is not very convenient. It is behind the sun visor so could be on the driver's side without interfeing with your vision.

The Camera fell off its 3M mount after a few months.  The dealer refitted it with a new mount (free).

I was not offered the rear camera and fitted a 322 .  As the car was new I got the dealer to fit it which cost just £40.  I had selected a spot low on the right side in the swept area but out of my line of sight.  The dealer fitted it top left, not in the swept area but in my line of sight.  It is a very small camera so not obstructive.  It does not have to be on the centre line.  He bodged the wiring and fed the power cable through a hole he made in the rubber boot.

Finally regarding the WiFi connection, it has worked but rarely.  I have tried enabling the camera WiFi and then selecting the camera using the phones settings rather than the App.   I like the GPS and speed data on the camera display.

PS, my best WiFi camera however was a Chinese model with a fisheye lens.  Its coverage was amazing .  In addition to the road view it also showed inside the car as far back as the gear stick.  It could prove you had both hands on the wheel and were not using the phone (or vica versa).  

[ernieb]

@Roy124, thanks for that information I’d been looking at getting the dealer to fit a dual front/back and had been going to ask for people’s experience on having it done. In the past I’ve always fitted them myself and had been eyeing the spot you mention on the drivers side hoping that the 3M pad could go onto the dotted screen area and the camera poke out into the clear part of the screen?

I've been changing internal light bulbs and eventually managed to get the roof centre console off to fit the internal lights, big improvement, and was surprised at how much space there was behind the console and the roof no issue to run a cable inside the roof lining.

Where do others have their front and rear cameras fitted?

[philip42h]

1 hour ago, ernieb said:

Where do others have their front and rear cameras fitted?

Ernie,

See posts with pictures from Shootgun and myself earlier in this thread (22nd August). Mine is as fitted by the dealer and I'm very happy with that; Dorin has his on the driver's side of the rear view mirror as I think you want ...

[PAISLEY1903]

@ernieb  My front and rear dealer fitted dash cams  if helps.

 

ignore batman! (car seat)... but that's the view I see from driver position.  

[PAISLEY1903]

I found this in my Dashcam box if helps in any way

[ernieb]

Thanks that great to have.

[PAISLEY1903]

worth noting 1 week in when someone clipped my mirror the fact I had that Dashcam... when I pointed it to him he was like fair enough zero complaints....

[Peterd23]

This week I found a use for a Dashcam that hadn't occurred to me before. Driving through the centre of Keswick at much less than 30 a man walking along with his back to me managed to walk into the road just as I passed him. The sound of the mirror being hit was loud as you can imagine but having slowed down I could see him wave that he was OK. Reviewing the video it clearly shows that he stepped off the pavement without looking.

At least the mirror was OK and it didn't knock the cover off !!

[Nick72]

1 hour ago, Peterd23 said:

This week I found a use for a dashcam that hadn't occurred to me before. Driving through the centre of Keswick at much less than 30 a man walking along with his back to me managed to walk into the road just as I passed him. The sound of the mirror being hit was loud as you can imagine but having slowed down I could see him wave that he was OK. Reviewing the video it clearly shows that he stepped off the pavement without looking.

At least the mirror was OK and it didn't knock the cover off !!

lots of silly tourists in their own little world in Keswick. We have a place up there about 12 miles away so can appreciate the daft tourists. I've ended up driving around at 20mph between the outskirts, town centre, and the rugby club.

[Marcusthehat]

I swithered, a lot, about the Toyota fitted Dashcam. Turned out they were on VERY extended back order anyway(and atributted to Brexit) so I festered some more before ordering the Nextbase 662 c/w the seperate rear screen mounted camera. Ordered direct from Nextbase, since no cheaper elsewhere.

Which kit I fitted myself(sweating blood while prising off the brand new trim panels, especially the airbag marked one down the "A" pillar btw) successfully and safely hiding all cables and powered from the ciggarette lighter socket through the thoughtfully Toyota provided pinky sized access hole. Slightly tricky feeding the cable up through the rubber tube/grommet to the hatchback for the top/centre mounted rear camera, but a sniff of WD40 worked wonders there.

Front camera fitted to the passenger side of the screentop cluster, and totally invisible to the driver, which is a slight(and recognised prior to installation) issue, i.e. "is it on, is it working anxiety"

Zero interference to DAB signal either.

And superb quality with fully functioning bluetooth to our cheapie Motorla Android phones. 

Marcus

[MickJo]

Just a few points on positioning a dash cam.

The front dash cam must not  by law be fitted  in is such a position that it covers any part of the 'swept area' of the windscreen. The 'swept area' is that part of the windscreen covered by the sweep of the windscreen wipers. That refers to the suction cup or any other means of attachment, i.e. glue or sticky pads. The camera itself can overhang the swept area, indeed it should so that it looks through a clean area of glass. That mean that in the UK, with right hand drive vehicles, all the windscreen on the drivers side is a 'swept area' and therefor a camera cannot be fixed there. In practice the only area to fit one is somewhere behind the rear view mirror on the passenger side of the windscreen. That will answer Roy 124s problem where he wanted the camera in front of him but the garage fitted in a correct position on the nearside. It is an MOT failure if anything obscures the 'swept area'.

This does NOT apply to the rear camera which can be placed where you want, but still ideally looking through the clean swept area of the rear wiper.

One or two writers have commented that they cannot see the camera whilst driving ?? Well, that is as it should be. You should be looking down the road, the camera is only recording what you are already seeing.

One last thing. If you are going to hardwire a camera yourself, make sure you get a proper kit. It contains a 12volt to 5volt rectifier already wired into the line, your camera will probably be 5 volt. 

[PAISLEY1903]

33 minutes ago, MickJo said:

Just a few points on positioning a dash cam.

The front dash cam must not  by law be fitted  in is such a position that it covers any part of the 'swept area' of the windscreen. The 'swept area' is that part of the windscreen covered by the sweep of the windscreen wipers. That refers to the suction cup or any other means of attachment, i.e. glue or sticky pads. The camera itself can overhang the swept area, indeed it should so that it looks through a clean area of glass. That mean that in the UK, with right hand drive vehicles, all the windscreen on the drivers side is a 'swept area' and therefor a camera cannot be fixed there. In practice the only area to fit one is somewhere behind the rear view mirror on the passenger side of the windscreen. That will answer Roy 124s problem where he wanted the camera in front of him but the garage fitted in a correct position on the nearside. It is an MOT failure if anything obscures the 'swept area'.

This does NOT apply to the rear camera which can be placed where you want, but still ideally looking through the clean swept area of the rear wiper.

One or two writers have commented that they cannot see the camera whilst driving ?? Well, that is as it should be. You should be looking down the road, the camera is only recording what you are already seeing.

One last thing. If you are going to hardwire a camera yourself, make sure you get a proper kit. It contains a 12volt to 5volt rectifier already wired into the line, your camera will probably be 5 volt. 

Thanks for this, that must be why dealer fitted mine in pics previous posted v where I wanted it (driver side!)

[Heidfirst]

1 hour ago, MickJo said:

Just a few points on positioning a dash cam.

The front dash cam must not  by law be fitted  in is such a position that it covers any part of the 'swept area' of the windscreen.

you are allowed a 40mm intrusion into the swept zone but must not obstruct your view ahead.

[Lawnmowerman]

3 hours ago, MickJo said:

Just a few points on positioning a dash cam.

The front dash cam must not  by law be fitted  in is such a position that it covers any part of the 'swept area' of the windscreen. The 'swept area' is that part of the windscreen covered by the sweep of the windscreen wipers. That refers to the suction cup or any other means of attachment, i.e. glue or sticky pads. The camera itself can overhang the swept area, indeed it should so that it looks through a clean area of glass. That mean that in the UK, with right hand drive vehicles, all the windscreen on the drivers side is a 'swept area' and therefor a camera cannot be fixed there. In practice the only area to fit one is somewhere behind the rear view mirror on the passenger side of the windscreen. That will answer Roy 124s problem where he wanted the camera in front of him but the garage fitted in a correct position on the nearside. It is an MOT failure if anything obscures the 'swept area'.

This does NOT apply to the rear camera which can be placed where you want, but still ideally looking through the clean swept area of the rear wiper.

One or two writers have commented that they cannot see the camera whilst driving ?? Well, that is as it should be. You should be looking down the road, the camera is only recording what you are already seeing.

One last thing. If you are going to hardwire a camera yourself, make sure you get a proper kit. It contains a 12volt to 5volt rectifier already wired into the line, your camera will probably be 5 volt. 

Hmm, the letter of the law is not the be all and end all.

Sun visors cover the 'swept area' - if they didn't they would be NBG. I suspect if PC Plod was stupid enough to take you to court you would win your case. The caveat being that it is not in a ridiculously stupid position. If it could be hidden when a sun visor is lowered I think I could argue a strong case.

In saying that, my dealer has fitted it on the passenger side, just visible beyond the mirror.

[Marcusthehat]

10 hours ago, Lawnmowerman said:

Hmm, the letter of the law is not the be all and end all.

Sun visors cover the 'swept area' - if they didn't they would be NBG. I suspect if PC Plod was stupid enough to take you to court you would win your case. The caveat being that it is not in a ridiculously stupid position. If it could be hidden when a sun visor is lowered I think I could argue a strong case.

In saying that, my dealer has fitted it on the passenger side, just visible beyond the mirror.

I would also argue that if it was mounted low on the "swept area" such that it lies in that area of visibility blocked by the bonnet (and this is quite a significent portion of the lower windscreen with my driving position in the Rav4 design) can it be proven  obstructing the drivers vision of the road or surroundings. 

Marcus

[Rigsby]

 

 

It’s about time car manufacturers started including front and rear dashcams built into the vehicle at the factory, the cost would be tiny.

That way the cameras could be discretely located in the optimum position, they could be supplied without a micro SD card for those not wanting to take advantage of the system for personal reasons.

I have a integrated camera at the front, it’s mounted centrally, which is the ideal location, doesn’t obstruct the view at all, driver or passenger. 
 

 

[Heidfirst]

2 hours ago, Marcusthehat said:

I would also argue that if it was mounted low on the "swept area" such that it lies in that area of visibility blocked by the bonnet (and this is quite a significent portion of the lower windscreen with my driving position in the Rav4 design) can it be proven  obstructing the drivers vision of the road or surroundings. 

However, in that low position the camera's view of the road would be severely curtailed.

[Heidfirst]

  

20 hours ago, Lawnmowerman said:

Sun visors cover the 'swept area' - if they didn't they would be NBG.

Mine on my Avensis don't intrude 40mm into the swept area.

[Lawnmowerman]

4 minutes ago, Heidfirst said:

  

Mine on my Avensis don't intrude 40mm into the swept area.

You need longer visors or longer Wiper Blades.......🤣😂🤣😂

[Heidfirst]

3 hours ago, Lawnmowerman said:

You need longer visors or longer wiper blades.......🤣😂🤣😂

already 650mm ... 😜

[Roy124]

"Slightly tricky feeding the cable up through the rubber tube/grommet to the hatchback for the top/centre mounted rear camera, but a sniff of WD40 worked wonders there." 

My garage simply pierced that rubber tube 😢

Regarding factory fit, I believe California law prohibits things like Satnav being stuck on the windscreen, may apply to Dashcam too.  Factory fit the way to go. 

[Rav4ster]

I had dashcams fitted for at least 8 years now. Always try to install it on the passenger side, close to the mirror mounting, with the lens just below the sweeping line (pointless otherwise). However, on 2016 auris, it is on the driver's side, behind the mirror. Never had issues with MOT, only annoyance that dealer disconnects the Dashcam during service for privacy reasons and forgets to connect back. On RAV4 I used two separate cameras: VIAFO front: hardwired using Nextbase kit and slim tube DDPAI back: connected with the supplied cable to the rear power supply. All cables neatly hidden. It is fairly easy to DIY install, plenty of youtube videos. Longest part is to run and hides the cables, wait for a warm day, so plastic panels clips do not break.

[Torrox]

On 9/26/2021 at 8:52 AM, Marcusthehat said:

I swithered, a lot, about the Toyota fitted dashcam. Turned out they were on VERY extended back order anyway(and atributted to Brexit) so I festered some more before ordering the Nextbase 662 c/w the seperate rear screen mounted camera. Ordered direct from Nextbase, since no cheaper elsewhere.

Which kit I fitted myself(sweating blood while prising off the brand new trim panels, especially the airbag marked one down the "A" pillar btw) successfully and safely hiding all cables and powered from the ciggarette lighter socket through the thoughtfully Toyota provided pinky sized access hole. Slightly tricky feeding the cable up through the rubber tube/grommet to the hatchback for the top/centre mounted rear camera, but a sniff of WD40 worked wonders there.

Front camera fitted to the passenger side of the screentop cluster, and totally invisible to the driver, which is a slight(and recognised prior to installation) issue, i.e. "is it on, is it working anxiety"

Zero interference to DAB signal either.

And superb quality with fully functioning bluetooth to our cheapie Motorla Android phones. 

Marcus

I am thinking of this kit but compared with the 380 from the dealer the 622 may be too big. Can you post a picture of this Dashcam? Thank.