My thoughts / review of the N5

[egonvdv]

2 Months ago i bought the N1 to use as "rental car travel" cam and posted my thoughts about it.
@Jeff_Vantrue saw that and asked me if I wanted to review the N5, which I gladly accepted.

I've had it for about 2 weeks now, but only just managed to set it up .
So still in full test mode, but some first impressions:

nicely built camera, which is easy to set up , especially with the screen
Menu is easy to go through and settings are clear .
same goes for the user manual which is quite detailed (something you don't always see with chines products...)

I do find the screen pretty useless other than to set up the camera, as it's too small to see anything when driving (like your kids in the rear seats)

Can't yet comment on the image quality as the camera doesn't seem to like my memory card..
no idea why, cos it it's a Sandisc extreme pro (formatted in the camera itself)
.
It show an error message on the screen (no sound) and then stops recording .
i can get it to continue to record by pressing manual recording and then it keeps going till the next card error.

So, the be continued!

Meantime some setup picture (next to a thinkware U1000, of which i have 2 installed)

 

[kamkar]

I am testing the N5 too, i also put a not compatible memory card in it the first day, so for 2 days i drove around and barely got much in the way of recordings.
But fixed that by throwing in another memory card, which i will soon replace CUZ it is filled up and in the process of over writing old files to get room for new stuff.
Or that is, i am actually on the #2 memory card now, the Kingston canvas go which also seem to work just fine, but a new memory card will soon go in the camera.

Funny thing, testing the E2 model from Vantrue i had a very hard time finding a memory card that did not work in it, even cards that did absolutely not work in the Viofo A 229 duo worked just fine in the E2, which is pretty much the same hardware.

Other than that not much to say about the N5, so far it is doing a " magnifique " job

 

[egonvdv]

but according to vantrue's specifications my card should work

anyway, i'll see what else i have laying around, possibly a smaller one

But regardless, the cam should give some sort of audio warning...

 

[egonvdv]

Ok this is getting a bit frustrating, none of my cards work in this camera

wasn't planning on buying another one since i have so many already, but think i have no choice

@kamkar which card works for you ?

 

[kamkar]

Sandisk high endurance - OK
Sillicon Power 3D nand ( brown/whie card ) - not OK
Kingston canvas go plus - OK
I put in a regular Kingston canvas select plus i think its called, it appear to work, though i forgot to check on that today, so i will have to take a short drive later to look.


I have noticed the N5 write something on the screen changing to parking guard ASO, this is wayyyyy too small for my old eyes so i can not read it, i wish the camera made sounds for things.
With the sillicon power card that did not work, i got no error sounds, but the camera might have written something i have not seen.

 

[kamkar]

The canvas select plus seem to be doing alright, having recorded everything since i put it in, but can not say for sure before it have filled up and begin to recycle memory space.

 

[egonvdv]

tried the sandisk again and now it does seem to work.
though on my 45 minute drive 2 times the files were corrupt.

I really want to like the camera but so far i do not have so much faith in it.
I keep looking at the screen to see if something goes wrong, since the camera itself doesn't give any warning.

So still trying to get it to work properly before i can really test it .
Though so far the image of all 4 cameras is pretty good ...


Btw, front & cabin cameras have date + speed, but the rear cam does not ? is that normal ?

and the player (3.6.6) does not show the gps location

 

[Karagandinez]

Btw, front & cabin cameras have date + speed, but the rear cam does not ? is that normal ?

I have a stamp on all cameras.

Vantrue Nexus 5 4CH 2K / My introduction to the new model.

This is also something rcg530 had found. The IR filter being wired backwards is an issue present with the pre-production units. Those units will not be able to use any of the production firmware updates because the IR filter will operate the reverse of normal. After I received a production...

dashcamtalk.com

 

[rcg530]

I'm not aware of v3.6.6 of the Vantrue Player (at least for Windows). I has Vantrue player 2.0.2 installed from when I reviewed the E1/E1 Lite dash cameras. I downloaded and installed 2.0.6 for Windows. It does display the GPS location information. Location I downloaded the Vantrue Player from: https://www.vantrue.net/app/app.html



I turned off the GPS LAT/LNG display in the status line for my N5, but it displays the speed in all of the camera status lines.

Here's the Vantrue Player displaying the rear exterior camera footage and you can see the speed in the status line.

 

[egonvdv]

there are 2 players: https://www.vantrue.net/support/player

now realise the 3.6.6 is not for the N5

the 2.0.2 works! - thanks for pointing me in the right direction

 

[egonvdv]

as you can see, no timestamp on the rear cam

btw; is in normal to have this purple glow on the front interior camera ? (my seats and top liner are black, but look purple)

 

[Karagandinez]

as you can see, no timestamp on the rear cam

btw; is in normal to have this purple glow on the front interior camera ? (my seats and top liner are black, but look purple)


View attachment 66797


View attachment 66798

Vantrue N5 - 4CH Dash Camera Test & Review - RCG | Page 3 | DashCamTalk

Vantrue Nexus 5 4CH 2K / My introduction to the new model.

This is also something rcg530 had found. The IR filter being wired backwards is an issue present with the pre-production units. Those units will not be able to use any of the production firmware updates because the IR filter will operate the reverse of normal. After I received a production...

dashcamtalk.com

 

[egonvdv]

thanks, hadn't seen that .
mine also hasn't got a serial, so guess pre-production too
would maybe explain the problems i have with it

 

[Dashmellow]

Just curious. How difficult might it be to access the wiring on the circuit board or lens module to reverse the wiring on the IR-cut filter mechanism solenoid? Looking at photos there is no way to tell how difficult it would be to dismantle the camera.

 

[egonvdv]

Well,
I have to give up on testing the camera as it definitely seems to be a faulty unit,
and don't want to write bad reviews just because of that.

unless a FW update could fix the problems @Jeff_Vantrue ?

 

[kamkar]

How difficult might it be to access the wiring on the circuit board or lens module to reverse the wiring on the IR-cut filter

I mentioned that before, for sure something i would do even if i do not like to open or mess with the inside of test cameras.

Regarding taking apart, the first post of jeff on the N5 is dismantling the camera and showcasing hardware,,,, a post i find pretty cool.

Nexus 5 internal mold design details

The Vantrue design team decided to announce the important design details of Vantrue Nexus 5 in advance. Vantrue hopes that customers, technology enthusiasts, and competitors can make some suggestions and discuss how to make better products for the automotive safety industry.

dashcamtalk.com

The wire are right there on the interior camera modules, either to cut and move around, or i figure you could also just swap around the wires in the plug itself.

 

[Dashmellow]

I mentioned that before, for sure something i would do even if i do not like to open or mess with the inside of test cameras.

Regarding taking apart, the first post of jeff on the N5 is dismantling the camera and showcasing hardware,,,, a post i find pretty cool.

Nexus 5 internal mold design details

The Vantrue design team decided to announce the important design details of Vantrue Nexus 5 in advance. Vantrue hopes that customers, technology enthusiasts, and competitors can make some suggestions and discuss how to make better products for the automotive safety industry.

dashcamtalk.com

The wire are right there on the interior camera modules, either to cut and move around, or i figure you could also just swap around the wires in the plug itself.

Thanks @kamkar! That's exactly the answer I was looking for. While it would be quite a project it doesn't look all that hard to reverse the wires going to the IR filter solenoid. And as you point out it might even be possible to swap the wires going into the plug. Certainly, you wouldn't need to dismantle every component of the camera like in the photos, you'd just need to access the lens module.

 

[Nigel]

Maybe put the plug on backwards having got a knife to whatever is stopping you doing so accidentally,

 

[kamkar]

Yeah.
I think these plugs are like molex ones, so there will be a hook on the leg in the plug, press that in with a tip of a needle and you should be able to pull the leg right out, but you will probably have to raise that hook a little before you insert it in its new place as the metal are not the kind that spring back into place.
But at least on larger molex plugs i have often worked on / with my my case modding hobby in the old days, it is pretty simple stuff once you have your pin out in order.
For PC you can get a PSU tester for near no money, this make sure you have not messed up something CUZ after all whe you get to the ATX power plug there are quite a few wires to keep track off.

Back then before modular power supplies for PC, i would spend a week or so tailoring ( cut down or extend ) the wires to exactly fit my computer the way i routed them.
The " trick " of just cramming the cables in on the back of the mounting plate for the mother board, that just do not cut it for me.

 

[egonvdv]

I'm thinking about giving the camera away (I asked jeff if he wanted it back but he never replied, so I guess it's ok)
Definitely won't sell it with the problems it has, but maybe I can find a good home here on the board.
It has to be an active member.
any ideas ?