Dash Cams

[Simon Fletcher]

Hi all

Hopefully collecting MP on the weekend so looking at potentially picking up front and rear dash cams.
Has anyone got any recommendations? I have seen that there are hard wired and plug and play variety using the cigarette lighter. Unsure with which version to head towards, if you plug a camera into the cigarette lighter will it drain the leisure battery? Hoping to have a camera that films during motion even when the vehicle is parked and engine not running as well as the usual filming when the ignition is turned.

Thanks

Simon

 

[BabaJen]

I can only tell you my experience with a Cali.

Wiring in using a handy 12v socket: Easy to loop the cable behind a sun visor, down the passenger side A pillar trim, and then into a dashboard socket - the point at which it becomes a little messy. Runs all the time unless you manually turn it off. Dashboard sockets wired to the starter battery although the current draw is so low that it is unlikely to impact unless something else is running. My can ran for days happily videoing my garage door without harm. It also, as a bye product, made me, and my vehicle , a temporary heroine in France when parked in a side street in a small southern town it silently filmed a gunfight going on including very nice close-ups of the now unmasked gunman!

Fitted: So much nicer but fiddly to access data card, turns off when parked. Will wake itself up if it detects movement, such as a parking bump, but does not film what happened before. Once in fitted position then not lot of scope to place it somewhere else on the windscreen. It all somehow feels a lot more remote and I'm constantly checking to see if it's working. Love the neatness of the wiring, big dislike is lack of control over where and when!

 

[Simon Fletcher]

Thanks for your response BabaJen. As if you managed to get a gun fight on camera, bet you couldn't believe it on playback. I actually quite like the sounds of permanent recording as long as there are no battery problems, seems like it could add an extra bit of protection to you pride and joy

 

[BabaJen]

Thanks for your response BabaJen. As if you managed to get a gun fight on camera, bet you couldn't believe it on playback. I actually quite like the sounds of permanent recording as long as there are no battery problems, seems like it could add an extra bit of protection to you pride and joy

My family really enjoyed distributing this photograph, entitled "Granny led off to the slammer"..... A cordoned off area of street, crowds gathered at either end as white-overalled forensic officers scoured the place, then police emerge from a house with "a suspect" who is then driven off to Gendarmerie brigade HQ

I do believe the cam I have now, and no doubt most of them, can be set to "continuous record" but I have yet to discover how.

 

[Roy C]

Hi all

Hopefully collecting MP on the weekend so looking at potentially picking up front and rear dash cams.
Has anyone got any recommendations? I have seen that there are hard wired and plug and play variety using the cigarette lighter. Unsure with which version to head towards, if you plug a camera into the cigarette lighter will it drain the leisure battery? Hoping to have a camera that films during motion even when the vehicle is parked and engine not running as well as the usual filming when the ignition is turned.

Thanks

Simon

I have a front dash cam that I power from the 12v socket in the front centre console. I actually found it quite easy to thread the cable around the dashboard on the drivers side and up the front pillar and across under the roof lining to a position near the rear view mirror. The MP has nice handy gaps that you can push the wire in securely. The only tricky bit was at the bottom of the pillar where I used a sticky clip. However the dash cam does go off as soon as I turn the ignition off so if you want constant recording when parked up then you'll need to wire into a permanently live circuit.

 

[RFT]

I have a front dash cam that I power from the 12v socket in the front centre console. I actually found it quite easy to thread the cable around the dashboard on the drivers side and up the front pillar and across under the roof lining to a position near the rear view mirror. The MP has nice handy gaps that you can push the wire in securely. The only tricky bit was at the bottom of the pillar where I used a sticky clip. However the dash cam does go off as soon as I turn the ignition off so if you want constant recording when parked up then you'll need to wire into a permanently live circuit.

What about the usb at the front of the bellows? The usbs generally seem to stay live and while it would be difficult to hide the wire it is only a short run.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ian Chadwick]

I have a F 770 Think ware front and rear, they are really good quality cameras with wifi connection to your phone, there is no screen inside the car/van it has lane change signal speed camera alert and mobile speed camera alert plus loads of other useful info, its 24hour recording and park alert warnings, this was recommended by a Auto Electric Technical guy I have known for many years its fully fitted hard wired and not a wire in sight

 

[Paul Edwards]

Just reading that anything that shows road speeds or camera alerts are banned in some countries. So if you're thinking of going across the pond, you may need to consider which dash cam you're allowed to use.

 

[Ian Chadwick]

With this particular camera you can turn all of the settings on or off as you require

 

[Roy C]

Just reading that anything that shows road speeds or camera alerts are banned in some countries. So if you're thinking of going across the pond, you may need to consider which dash cam you're allowed to use.

Paul, on your specific point "anything that shows road speeds....are banned in some countries" the COMAND online sat nav has road sign recognition that displays the current speed limit on the sat nav screen and on the dashboard display. I'm not sure this is banned but rather it is devices that display the location of speed cameras or use radar detectors to alert you to cameras isn't it? I would think something that reminds you of the speed limit zone you're in is actually a good thing.

 

[Epigram]

I have a F 770 Think ware front and rear, they are really good quality cameras with wifi connection to your phone, there is no screen inside the car/van it has lane change signal speed camera alert and mobile speed camera alert plus loads of other useful info, its 24hour recording and park alert warnings, this was recommended by a Auto Electric Technical guy I have known for many years its fully fitted hard wired and not a wire in sight

Hi Ian (or anyone else who is satisfied with their installation)
I am planning on getting a front and rear Thinkware F770 and would like it fitted so that the wiring is not seen, unlike the dash cams on our cars.
Would it be possible for you to give me the contact details of your installation guy please?
It would good to use someone who already has a satisfied customer if not too far away.