Car Cameras, Anyone fitted?

[Jim Bowen 1]

Thinking of getting some sort of video camera setup so i record incidents on the road, mainly idiots etc

 

After getting reported myself and having a visit from the police this weekend i have decided i want to report people as well, with video evidence. :lol:

 

tbh i have been thinking about it for ages, not just because of the police thing.

 

Anyone here use something similar, a bit like the Russians do, i would quite like a front and rear facing camera

 

---------- Post added at 12:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:24 PM ----------

 

Looking at this, read about it on pistonheads

 

http://www.store.mi-witness.co.uk/mi-witness-range/mi-witness-exclusive-package.html

 

Interesting it says you can get an insurance discount for installing one

[davidwort 0]

expecting a meteor shower?

they do look like a good idea though, even if it is just for a youtube compilation, I'm sure we could all put together one of those, I see at least one near miss/idiot every morning, and it's not always me.

[fla 9]

werent there some micro cameras that people bought a few years back from China? About the size of a keyring iirc? I'm sure there could easily be wired to work on the car battery.

[Jim Bowen 1]

I bought 3 of them and stuck them in a drawer somewhere. Didn't seem as user friendly as I wanted. Although I did manage to get footage.

[emu 0]

My mate is using go pro, in a car, on his bike and even on his helmet when was on a ski's. Very well build and practical thing.

[timmaaah 0]

FWIW I tried a cheapy £30 ebay special - it is utter crap - so bad I got a full refund. I'm looking at the DOD F520. Seems to be good and about £120 ish. The footage on youtube using it looks pretty good.

 

Just being nosey, but what was the report about and what did the police say or do? :)

[Jim Bowen 1]

I had been driving noisily past the community speed watch people. Wasn't speeding but just accelerating hard from a stand still. It was just a friendly word really. One policeman on a bike. But I would of been quite happy to show him the footage if I had any. As I believe its the speedwatch people being the nuisance.

[guildmage 11]

Well, I'm running cheap and plasticky camera from fleebay.

Got myself interested in one after having too many near misses and also after reading this post, by RW1, on our forum: http://the-corrado.net/showthread.php?69121-8v-Bites-The-Dust-Ali-Knockout-Punch!&p=852577#post852577

 

It's nothing amazing. No whistles, it's cheap but does the job for me. Never had problems with it. When I start my engine it starts recording when I remove my car keys, it stops. It records in continuous mode... and well that's about it.

 

Here's example video:

 

Ah and it's attached on velcro in my car, like so:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]72681[/ATTACH]

 

I'm sure nowadays you can either get smaller camera or/and with better picture/sound... but then can't expect miracles from a £30 camera ^^ I think the main downside is the fact it looks super cheap but footage is quite decent so it never really bothered me. Hope it helps.

[davidwort 0]

^ Who's the tw$# who pulled out on you in the old vw, I'd send that footage to the police, looks like a menace to other road users!

[Jim Bowen 1]

I know if i get a cheapy ebay one i will end up losing interest in it when something goes wrong. I think its the sort of thing i'd happily pay out for as it can be transferred from car to car

[craigowl 0]

guildimage

 

footage is impressive quality.

As with all these things they are becoming cheaper and getting better technically as every month passes.

[guildmage 11]

My problem with higher end of in-car camera is that I would be afraid to leave it in my car overnight, etc... Having a cheapo at least I have this peace of mind. To be honest, I would be more angry of having smashed window than a stolen camera.

 

I like the idea of, helmet mounted camera, as Emu mentioned. This would be ace for snowboarding, bike raiding, etc... The one I am using is no good for such things.

[Jim Bowen 1]

Am on the verge of ordering this

 

http://www.store.mi-witness.co.uk/mi-witness-range/mi-witness-hd-inc-2nd-camera.html

 

A bit expensive at £299, but i don't think thats too bad really. It comes with a front and rear camera, you can overlay your journeys on google earth as well.

 

I wonder if it would be worth asking about a group buy.

[Jim Bowen 1]

Ordered one now. But went for the exclusive kit. Worked out at £356 delivered. But shortly after placing order I got a phone call to say out of stock until the 20th March.

 

Will update when I get it and fit it etc

[V-Dubstar 0]

guildmage, what's the song over the video footage please?

[guildmage 11]

guildmage, what's the song over the video footage please?

 

Johnny Chase - One More Day

[Jim Bowen 1]

Just arrived, when i ordered he was out of stock so i waited.

 

 

Going to fit it myself, maybe this weekend depending on the weather

[AaronGS 10]

that looks like a nice bit of kit. Roadhawk is another option.

There is a downside to these though. If the insurance companies (or other drivers) know they are fitted it can work both ways. What could have been a simple claim or 50/50 split may suddenly be your fault if pictures show that. If we are all honest folks, that of course is not a big concern.

 

I think Roadhawk became a little infamous some years back as one was fitted and showed an owner that instead of the service he paid for, the mechanic had spent a fair while 'road testing' the Monaro, passing 100mph on 50mph limits etc etc. All denied until the cheeky video was produced!

[buttles 0]

Waiting for a Blackvue DR500. Forward only. wifi to a smart phone. Fitting to another car as have had two very obvious attempts to 'be the guilty party ' in a rear ender. Avoided both luckily so far.

[Jim Bowen 1]

Its the UFOs and Meteors i want to share with people :lol:

[Jim Bowen 1]

Got round to fitting it today, all pretty straight forward.

 

I just connected the power to the headunit wiring using them little blue things

 

Tucked the wires in through here

 

Ran them down the a pillar and behind glovebox

 

Camera mounted just behind the rear view, i put it as high as i could, then realised i can't see it at all when driving, so can't read the status lights, doesn't really matter i guess.

 

Trim back on, cut a tiny notch in it for the wires

 

Didn't mount the rear one to the screen, thought the plastic on the roof would be alright

 

Still messing about with settings, it keeps triggering an event mode on rough roads/potholes etc, so i get a "PING" noise, really annoying.

 

---------- Post added at 8:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 8:39 PM ----------

 

Quick test video, the ping you hear is the event thing.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OALnHyxcuw

 

Tbh the quality is "ok", am not blown away by it, but apparently having the rear camera lessens the quality of the front one

[Jim 2]

Looks pretty decent quality to me and should be more than enough to cover you in the event of an accident that's not your fault! Be interested to see what the quality is like at night though..

[davebirl 0]

@ guildmage What camera did you use and how did you get it to start recording when you start the engine?

Edited April 1, 2013 by davebirl

[guildmage 11]

Tbh the quality is "ok", am not blown away by it, but apparently having the rear camera lessens the quality of the front one

 

Look spot on to me, most important thing it's wide lens and that you can easily read reg plates of the cars.

 

@guildmage What camera did you use and how did you get it to start recording when you start the engine?

Camera is ebay "special" called SmartCam, quick check show they do now SmartCam 2 edition. Not sure what's that about. If you check my earlier post here, there's a link to RW1 review of the camera.

 

I have it connected through USB in my car stereo - it simply starts recording as soon as you provide power to it (aka switch-on ignition). You have to remember if doing it through USB you need to convert USB data into USB power only.. and you do that with this: ebay link. If you don't use that little cable it ill put your camera into a "storage mode" so that you can copy data from it instead of recording - like connecting it to PC.

 

Alternatively you can connect it directly to lighter socket and it will do exactly the same without that red cable.

[Stonejag 10]

Can you turn the sound recording off for extra storage space? Tbh the only thing that's been putting me off one of these lately is the thought of it recording all my dodgy car singing :lol: