Gearbest Blackview BL950

[CheckYourLights]

Both reverend and Sunny have done great jobs picking a part the G90s that have been coming out lately. I was going to post in Sunny's thread since we both got our cameras from Gearbest, but since I see they seem to be two different listings on Gearbest and mine is slightly different I figured maybe I should start my own thread to keep things a little more sorted.

Like Sunny I also received my camera rather fast. It took about 8 days or so. Not bad at all.
The box it came in was a plain white long box with the Blackview logo.

and this sleeve that slide over the box.

No specs or anything are written on it other then the above pictures.

My camera is branded a Blackview BL950 while Sunny's is unbranded. It included the same style suction mount and power cord

it shipped with Carcam_C6000A: SVN r4396

I am looking forward to doing some testing this week I shot some video earlier today, but I think my time stamp was incorrect. I'll pull some screen shots and post them up in a bit.

Since Sunny kind of went for a size and close price comparison along with that I am going to try and put it up against my my Marcus 3 witch has the slightly higher level A7 chip I believe, but also cost about 3 times as much as this.

After testing with the shipped firmware I would like to update to what seems to be the newer firmware and then maybe to the modified higher rate firmware to give everyone as much information as I can.

I'm sure some of you know how much passion I have to get as many DashCams in drivers cars as I can so i'm really glad to be able to help put the information out there. I hope that the more I learn and post on this new G90 along with the great work reverend and Sunny have done help others out as well.

 

[Sunny]

Hopefully, mic is not an issue on that one.
Also, battery. G90 battery doesn't last more than few minutes and discharges even when it's off.
I have to fully charge it to use for few minutes.
Other than that, it's very good camera.

 

[CheckYourLights]

Hopefully, mic is not an issue on that one.

This one seems to have sort of a small metallic whine in the audio that I would kind of describe as comparable to what a very light fan belt squeak on a car sounds like.
It's not to noticeable unless there is no one in the car or you really really listen for it.

 

[reverend]

The Blackview r4396 firmware is dated the 2014-05-21 - the latest firmware which should work on this camera is the latest G90 one

This Blackview firmware does also work on the G90.

Looking forward to seeing how this stacks up against the Marcus and then I'm really looking forward to seeing how the M4 stacks up against the various G90 models Dome have coming our way

 

[CheckYourLights]

I keep trying to upload a parked clip to show what I mean about the sound. I try to cut a 1 min clip down to about 10 seconds in Registrator Vewer and the output file keeps having a few vinyl like sounding pops that are not in the original file.

The first four seconds are noise I was trying to describe that is not to bad during normal driving. After that are the pops. They are not in the raw file though. I have tired 3 or 4 times cutting different clips while parked and it still happens in the Registrator Vewer output file.

 

[CheckYourLights]

30 second event clip straight from camera to YouTube

Full clip. Sound stripped in Registrator Viewer

 

[CheckYourLights]

 

[reverend]

These and the G90 are nice little cameras for the price - how does it perform at dusk, as that is the only major weak point where video suddenly gets very dark?

 

[CheckYourLights]

I gave the camera to a family member who wanted to go driving last night and let them try it out.
Dusk seems to be good. I'll try to get some videos up in a bit, but looking at some screen caps when it is dark and you hit a section with no street light things feel like they are closing in a little.
HDR is on.

It has still been a really good camera so far, and as most people know the A7 is still a bit brand new. We are kind of on the ground floor here. As firmware keeps improving the only place to go is up.

 

[Doreen]

hello everybody, pls download and check the videos from G90-7 (A7LA70), Super Full HD 1920*1080p/60fps, improved the sound.
https://www.sendspace.com/file/jrlnjb

 

[reverend]

@Doreen are you doing a Blackview version of the G90-7?

 

[CheckYourLights]

HDR is on.

 

[Doreen]

@Doreen are you doing a Blackview version of the G90-7?

Not yet, will see the market. What's you opinion?

 

[Sunny]

Not yet, will see the market. What's you opinion?

What's the point of making same camera with two different names?

 

[CheckYourLights]

Along with doing testing in my own car this camera has been on vacation if you will with other family members. I have been trying to get as much footage in as many different cars as I can for everyone.
So expect more cars and footage in the coming days.

Even going to be giving the BL950 a ride in the Camaro, and most of you know how important I think it is to be protected while i'm driving the Camaro. I don't just toss any DashCam in there.

Something a little different. Decided to save a clip before the the wipers were hit to give an idea of how it preforms trying to catch a plate with a rain covered windscreen.

I also really like the way the Event/SOS button is set up. Press once to bring the screen on and again to lock the file. I love that it can hold 50 clips. Really nice for both review and people who save a lot of things they see on the road without having to constantly take the camera out and clear.

It seems to be 10 seconds, button pressed then 20 more seconds, and if need be the entire clip is still in the regular folder. Really like it being set up that way.

Really impressed so far. I would defiantly recommend this to other drivers, and as I have said before I believe this will take the place of the G1W as the best camera for the money with its higher end chip and great at night performance.

I just noticed the time stamp is incorrect after I posted this. I believe it is because I wanted to make sure my firmware was up to date so I flashed the most new stock firmware and it reset my date and time stamp and I forgot to fix them.

You can grab the BL950 from Gearbest for $69.98 by using coupon code: "BL950".
I've seen these go for 80+ dollars other places so if you want to stay protected by a good camera at a great price check out the Blackview BL950 here
Take one for a drive yourself. You won't be disappointed.

 

[CheckYourLights]

Marcus 3 in 1296p with CPL filter and EV at 0

BL950 1080P

BL950 1080P 18MB

Also keep in mind that the Marcus 3 runs at about 18MB at 1296p with a higher end A7 chip and the BL950 runs at 15MB at 1080P. Also that the Marcus 3 costs $220-$260 while you can get the BL950 for 70 dollars.
When Dome gets their higher end A7LA50/70 chipped G90 in cars it will get even closer to the Marcus 3 for a fraction of the price.

I am waiting to hear back to see if the official for BL950 firmware coming from Blackview posted on the support page will get the updated 18MB firmware posted around here. I will then update to the 18MB and then the custom 24 and go from there to try to be as in depth as possible.

 

[reverend]

The Marcus does look a lot better in that shot!

I'm intrigued to see how you get on with all the various firmwares

 

[CheckYourLights]

The SOS button cut the clips a little weird since they happened so close together, and I have to run them through Regisatrator Viewer to mute passengers talking.

Marcus 3 to compare.

 

[Sunny]

Video looks grainy/fuzzy.
Not sure what's going on.

 

[reverend]

Video looks grainy/fuzzy.
Not sure what's going on.

I had issues with the G90 lens dropping out of focus in the heat - looks like the same thing in this video