Dash cam recommendations?

[Cyker]

Good to know!

Do you... give more discount for higher res cameras...?   (*Starts shopping for an 8K dashcam*)

(Just kidding  )

[Marcusthehat]

I am still very pleased with our Nextbase, a 625 from recall, c/w the dedicated rearview camera mounted to the read screen.

[Firecycle]

This week I fitted a Thinkware F200 Pro front and rear cam. Fitting was straightforward and nice to know that I have parking protection that is time lapsed and will record prior to and after any event. 

[Spo2]

Just wondering what is the good Dashcam for C-HR if anyone got fitted? Do they also offer coverage when parked so that you know if someone is damaging the vehicle (bit like sentry mode of tesla)? Somone had put huge scratch on my last car with possibly a key.

[philip42h]

10 minutes ago, Spo2 said:

Just wondering what is the good dashcam for C-HR if anyone got fitted? Do they also offer coverage when parked so that you know if someone is damaging the vehicle (bit like sentry mode of tesla)? Somone had put huge scratch on my last car with possibly a key.

My wife has the Nextbase dash cam as fitted by the Toyota Dealer to her 21My C-HR

On 1/31/2022 at 9:31 AM, philip42h said:

The Nextbase dash cam appears on the Toyota pricelist as a dealer fit option. You can choose front only or a front and rear pair. They are not overly intrusive and it's really easy to get the dealer to fit before you pick up your new car ...

It's hard wired to the switched side of the ignition so 'off' when the car is switched off - so no park mode function though Nextbase do offer such via an additional Battery

[Spo2]

2 minutes ago, philip42h said:

My wife has the Nextbase dash cam as fitted by the Toyota Dealer to her 21My C-HR

It's hard wired to the switched side of the ignition so 'off' when the car is switched off - so no park mode function though Nextbase do offer such via an additional battery

Thanks Philip. Checked RAC https://www.racshop.co.uk/nextbase-dash-cams and it seems they fit for £65 but there seems to be too many camera's option- like rear view cam and rear window cam? Are they required? Secondly if I want park mode surveillance, then do I need hard wire kit as well?

[ApophisAstros]

Had this one on my Corolla 1.2 Corolla HB/TS Estate with front and back cams and parking mode. I reported a dangerous driver in the first week i drove with it , case ongoing.

Very good unit so far.

Link to Nextbase

Roger

[Hornet3D]

The Aygo I purchased from my Toyota Dealership had a Nextbase 380GW fitted but I purchased a different make as I found it to be a pain to use.   You gain access to it using a mobile app and WI FI, no sorry you should be able to access it via the mobile app and Wi Fi.  I tried for hours and then gave up assuming it would not work with my phone but on reading the reviews it seems this is not an uncommon problem.  I have since tried again and I have a success rate of around one in twenty and often it crashed after a few minutes.  Taking the unit from the car and plugging into the computer I can download the files and the both the picture quality and the audio is good but it connects to the computer as a data connection so while I can copy the files but I cannot program the unit.   Even out of the car and fully powered up the Wi Fi fails to set up correctly.  

I have since equipped the car with a Vantrue S1 with a front and rear camera.  There is no Wi Fi but I can swap the memory card with ease (with the Truebase I have to remove the unit as it is too close to the mount for the rear view mirror to remove the cover, a fitting issue rather than a camera issue).   The Vantrue is much better picture quality despite the fact they are both meant to be 1080P and viewer also tracks your journey of goggle maps as the video plays which I like a lot

[Spo2]

34 minutes ago, ApophisAstros said:

Had this one on my Corolla 1.2 Corolla HB/TS Estate with front and back cams and parking mode. I reported a dangerous driver in the first week i drove with it , case ongoing.

Very good unit so far.

Link to Nextbase

Roger

Roger, for the back cam which one do you go with - rear window cam (attaches to the rear window) or rear view cam (connects directly with the main Dashcam to give a view from the front of the car out of the rear window). The parking mode does detects miscreants who try to scratch/damage the car? Is your unit is hard wired? Did you get this fitted by the dealer or DIY?

[Rav4ster]

If anyone is thinking of DIY install, below are some pictures of DDPai Z40 (front) and DDPai mini (rear).
Took me about 2 hours to do both. I am in East Cheshire, so if anyone needs some help, let me know.

 

[ernieb]

1 hour ago, Rav4ster said:

If anyone is thinking of DIY install, below are some pictures of DDPai Z40 (front) and DDPai mini (rear).
Took me about 2 hours to do both. I am in East Cheshire, so if anyone needs some help, let me know.

 

Andy, where did you pick up the 12v supply and how did you run the wires from the supply to the front camera and then to the rear. Did you go behind the A pillar and then along the roof lining for the rear?

[Rav4ster]

Hi Ernie, I do not have the dual cameras setup, as I did try it twice and both times had issues. I have to separate cameras.
Front:
Make sure the hardwire kit works first.
From camera cable is run under the roof liner, then between the top part of the A pillar on passenger side and the roof liner, then between the A pillar / body and the rubber seal (very easy to push it in by using plastic tool provided). You will need to remove the glove box, plastic cover from the door seal (just a few clips) and the corner piece in the footwell (one nut and a clip, once nut is undone, pull the part down). With the cable in the footwell, connect the hardwire kit (if only ACC and ground) ACC cable to the fuse #1 in the picture (do not forget to put the original fuse in the connector). If you are using the hardwire kit with parking mode, then yellow VCC cable might need connecting as well, in my case DDPai hardwire kit needed yellow cable connecting, but I did not want the parking mode, so connected it to another ACC fuse #2 in the picture. The camera turns on and off with the car.
Rear:
Connected to the power outlet in the boot. Cable is run via the left rubber grommet and under the roof liner (from inside the roof liner, using something like filling knife (flat and wide, lined with masking tape), carefully remove two clips holding the roof liner), then between the trim and the rubber seal, then pushed between rear door trim panels. I removed the 12v Battery cover and hid the access cable there, it is coming out just above the power socket, there is enough play in the plastic. When feeding via the rubber grommet, I used copper ground core from the 2.5 mm cable as a guide and fed a straight flat part of USB cable (double-check the power cable direction). The plastic cover above the rear screen needs removing, with the rear door fully open, slowly pull down from the glass side (it is held by four white clips). Leave some cable length on the rear glass side. When fixing camera to the glass, make sure lens is below the wiper line. With the rear camera, I tried to put the lens between heating elements in the glass, but failed. The heating element is right in the middle, but because the lens is focusing on the road, it is not an issue.

[ernieb]

37 minutes ago, Rav4ster said:

Hi Ernie, I do not have the dual cameras setup, as I did try it twice and both times had issues. I have to separate cameras.
Front:
Make sure the hardwire kit works first.
From camera cable is run under the roof liner, then between the top part of the A pillar on passenger side and the roof liner, then between the A pillar / body and the rubber seal (very easy to push it in by using plastic tool provided). You will need to remove the glove box, plastic cover from the door seal (just a few clips) and the corner piece in the footwell (one nut and a clip, once nut is undone, pull the part down). With the cable in the footwell, connect the hardwire kit (if only ACC and ground) ACC cable to the fuse #1 in the picture (do not forget to put the original fuse in the connector). If you are using the hardwire kit with parking mode, then yellow VCC cable might need connecting as well, in my case DDPai hardwire kit needed yellow cable connecting, but I did not want the parking mode, so connected it to another ACC fuse #2 in the picture. The camera turns on and off with the car.
Rear:
Connected to the power outlet in the boot. Cable is run via the left rubber grommet and under the roof liner (from inside the roof liner, using something like filling knife (flat and wide, lined with masking tape), carefully remove two clips holding the roof liner), then between the trim and the rubber seal, then pushed between rear door trim panels. I removed the 12v battery cover and hid the access cable there, it is coming out just above the power socket, there is enough play in the plastic. When feeding via the rubber grommet, I used copper ground core from the 2.5 mm cable as a guide and fed a straight flat part of USB cable (double-check the power cable direction). The plastic cover above the rear screen needs removing, with the rear door fully open, slowly pull down from the glass side (it is held by four white clips). Leave some cable length on the rear glass side. When fixing camera to the glass, make sure lens is below the wiper line. With the rear camera, I tried to put the lens between heating elements in the glass, but failed. The heating element is right in the middle, but because the lens is focusing on the road, it is not an issue.

Thanks Andy, brilliant description.  I have dual set up but your info is still very useful.

[Rav4ster]

For the dual setup,  run the cable from the front camera to the rear camera under the roof liner all the way to the rear door rubber grommet.

 

[Bcc212]

On 3/17/2022 at 4:37 PM, Rav4ster said:

Hi Ernie, I do not have the dual cameras setup, as I did try it twice and both times had issues. I have to separate cameras.
Front:
Make sure the hardwire kit works first.
From camera cable is run under the roof liner, then between the top part of the A pillar on passenger side and the roof liner, then between the A pillar / body and the rubber seal (very easy to push it in by using plastic tool provided). You will need to remove the glove box, plastic cover from the door seal (just a few clips) and the corner piece in the footwell (one nut and a clip, once nut is undone, pull the part down). With the cable in the footwell, connect the hardwire kit (if only ACC and ground) ACC cable to the fuse #1 in the picture (do not forget to put the original fuse in the connector). If you are using the hardwire kit with parking mode, then yellow VCC cable might need connecting as well, in my case DDPai hardwire kit needed yellow cable connecting, but I did not want the parking mode, so connected it to another ACC fuse #2 in the picture. The camera turns on and off with the car.
Rear:
Connected to the power outlet in the boot. Cable is run via the left rubber grommet and under the roof liner (from inside the roof liner, using something like filling knife (flat and wide, lined with masking tape), carefully remove two clips holding the roof liner), then between the trim and the rubber seal, then pushed between rear door trim panels. I removed the 12v battery cover and hid the access cable there, it is coming out just above the power socket, there is enough play in the plastic. When feeding via the rubber grommet, I used copper ground core from the 2.5 mm cable as a guide and fed a straight flat part of USB cable (double-check the power cable direction). The plastic cover above the rear screen needs removing, with the rear door fully open, slowly pull down from the glass side (it is held by four white clips). Leave some cable length on the rear glass side. When fixing camera to the glass, make sure lens is below the wiper line. With the rear camera, I tried to put the lens between heating elements in the glass, but failed. The heating element is right in the middle, but because the lens is focusing on the road, it is not an issue.

Thanks for posting this. I recently got a very good deal on a Garmin Mini 2 dash cam, so will go with this set up, as it’s tiny. 
 

The hardwire kit I have seen seems to just have a single wire and an earth. I’m not overly fussed with the parking mode to be honest, but if bought a kit with a parking mode, which fuse would be best to use if I wanted that function?

 

 

[Rav4ster]

Hi, pink one is the permanent power.

Below installation video has the voltage test, from about 3:45. You do not need to follow all the steps in it, as it is very complicated install, but it does show how to remove the glove box, footwell cover and two side covers (left-hand drive, American car).

[Corkster52]

On 2/1/2022 at 1:30 PM, Vogit said:

I’ve got the Fitcamx one. Not sure how the voltage is handled, there is a lump in the suppled wiring loom, but it’s wrapped in foam tape. It’s all plug & play.

Unfortunately they don't have one for the 2022...yet....