In there anything that covers 360 degrees?

monotious

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Hi, I am new to the idea of getting a dash cam and new to the forums.
I am sure a similar question would've been asked by others but running searches here and going through stuff is a bit daunting when I am first starting out and even Google doesn't help a whole lot with this question.

So, I am looking to get a dash cam in my car. I am interested in something that covers the rear and sides, as well as the front. From my search of what's out there, most dash cams just record the front view, although almost all of them are some sort of swivel mounted to be able to be turned to sides and rear (but I also see installations or products that go right beneath the rearview mirror - I guess people with that kind of installations care only about the front).

First, why is it that people don't generally seem to worry about about the back or sides? I am equally concerned about the rear and sides as well as the front. Accidents can happen from any angle... You could take the front facing cam and take the video or pics of the sides and rear but that would be after the fact and you wouldn't have anything recorded as it happened. So I am curious why most dash cams are just one way - it obviously reflects that the market does not really demand full coverage. Why not though?

Second, given my concern, what would be a good option for a dash cam? I live in Canada and I don't have the full array of selections like Americans do, so I would like to be able to get something that's relatively easy to get in Canada (read Amazon.ca, ebay and costco.ca).
Of course I would like all the features, like g-sensor, looping etc. Lcd screen is probably not critical.

I was looking at e-prance dual cam one, which seemed like something I might go for, except the one I found on Amazon.com doesn't ship to Canada and couldn't find elsewhere. Besides, I just read another thread on this board that recommended against it.

Another one I was looking at was 4sight dual cam one, but a number of the reviewers were saying the rear recording camera wasn't very good.

If there are no dash cams that cover the sides or at least the rear (that are reasonably affordable - around 200 range, less is better of course) would getting multiple dash cams and mounting them separately on the front and back be a solution? Is that recommended, and how would the wiring go (I am new to this)?

That was a bit of text and I am afraid I might have driven away some people who could potentially help me but I wanted to explain my situation from the beginning.

Thank you for reading.
 
To get a true 360 view you would have to mount the camera on top of the car and then it would need to be waterproof and theft proof which would be very expensive and require professional installation, also it would have to be well above the car in order to see down the sides sufficiently to see any contact! Mounted in the car you are never going to get a clean 306 degree view, there are people/seats/pillars etc. in the way, the best would be to use 4 cameras including cameras in the side windows. However the side windows can be wound down so how do you mount the cameras where they aren't in the way?

A 135 degree camera at the front and another at the back gives 135+135 = 270 degree view, there is only 90 degrees missing, 45 degrees on each side, plus the length of the car. It is unlikely that a car could hit you and then drive away and not be caught on camera.

Cameras in the side mirrors would probably give the best evidence but that requires complex installation and weather proofing so is expensive.

At the end of the day you have to remember that serious accident damage will be paid for by your insurance anyway so there is a limit to the amount you are likely to save by having even a front camera. Any serious accident you are involved in must be declared to your insurance and will increase your next insurance even if you can prove it was not your fault. Trying to justify the cost of more than a front and a rear camera is difficult.
 
The panorama X2 is a top end dualchannel system at the moment. Its full HD front and back

Thank you. I think it's a bit over my budget, but would definitely consider it.

To get a true 360 view you would have to mount the camera on top of the car and then it would need to be waterproof and theft proof which would be very expensive and require professional installation, also it would have to be well above the car in order to see down the sides sufficiently to see any contact! Mounted in the car you are never going to get a clean 306 degree view, there are people/seats/pillars etc. in the way, the best would be to use 4 cameras including cameras in the side windows. However the side windows can be wound down so how do you mount the cameras where they aren't in the way?

A 135 degree camera at the front and another at the back gives 135+135 = 270 degree view, there is only 90 degrees missing, 45 degrees on each side, plus the length of the car. It is unlikely that a car could hit you and then drive away and not be caught on camera.

Cameras in the side mirrors would probably give the best evidence but that requires complex installation and weather proofing so is expensive.

At the end of the day you have to remember that serious accident damage will be paid for by your insurance anyway so there is a limit to the amount you are likely to save by having even a front camera. Any serious accident you are involved in must be declared to your insurance and will increase your next insurance even if you can prove it was not your fault. Trying to justify the cost of more than a front and a rear camera is difficult.

Points taken. Setting aside the issue of the sides though, because I see your point that someone who hits my car will be unlikely be able to drive away without being caught on front or back camera, why do most dash cams out there are only one directional? Shouldn't this be sort of the "default" setup for most people? I mean, if you care enough to put a dash cam in your car, I don't see why you would only care about the front and not the back.

Also, serious damages may have to get insurers involved, but minor damages could be handled between the parties, right? And it's in those situations that the video evidence will come in handy, so if I install a $200 dash cam and then get into a minor one, I may save myself from being out of $1000. Of course that's provided that such an accident happens, which I hope won't (people drive pretty aggressively in the town I work in).
I mean, isn't this kind of why people get a dash cam to begin with?

Anyway, limiting it to front and rear, what would be a good solution that's a bit more affordable?
 
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hoping for prices to come down on Mobious,

I wish there was a small, discreet, easy to install and remove Dashcam that covers 360 degrees or near that for $100.
 
A full HD 360/quad camera DVR for $100? That's asking for a bit too much I'm afraid. The möbius is already priced pretty low as it is. Maybe 5-10 years from now? How long are you willing to wait?
 
Points taken. Setting aside the issue of the sides though, because I see your point that someone who hits my car will be unlikely be able to drive away without being caught on front or back camera, why do most dash cams out there are only one directional? Shouldn't this be sort of the "default" setup for most people? I mean, if you care enough to put a dash cam in your car, I don't see why you would only care about the front and not the back.

Also, serious damages may have to get insurers involved, but minor damages could be handled between the parties, right? And it's in those situations that the video evidence will come in handy, so if I install a $200 dash cam and then get into a minor one, I may save myself from being out of $1000. Of course that's provided that such an accident happens, which I hope won't (people drive pretty aggressively in the town I work in).
I mean, isn't this kind of why people get a dash cam to begin with?
A front camera will show who is at fault in a front accident and will show if you were driving correctly or badly in a rear accident. In a rear accident it is fairly unlikely that you will get a hit and run which isn't recorded on the front camera, partly because a lot of rear accidents happen at the end of slip roads where running away rearwards isn't an option. The rear camera is less important.

A dual camera with the rear facing lens in the box mounted at the front is never going to have a good rear view so you really want a second lens in the rear. The question is only if it is best to have a single box with two cameras attached or two separate cameras. The single box is only cheaper if you don't have already have a front camera you are upgrading, two separate cameras means that if one fails you still have a record of your driving standard even if you miss the accident. When one of the cameras eventually fails, separate cameras means you only have to replace one instead of both.

Your insurance argument may be valid if you have one or more accidents every year, or if your cameras have a service life of 50 years. In reality most people survive for many years between accidents and recent generations of camera have had a service life of maybe 2 years. You need to think of your camera as a form of insurance and to work out if it is worthwhile you need to calculate all the risks and costs. Decent cameras are getting cheaper and more reliable but few are designed with a replaceable battery/capacitor so you still shouldn't expect a service life much beyond 5 years and a lot less if used frequently for long periods in hot conditions.
 
I have 3 cameras. 0805 looking forward, some a GS1000 HD looking backwards out the rear window, and a Mobius covering inside the car.

For rear-facing, I have tried a couple different cameras. Best quality was the HD93 with its external waterproof camera, but the RFI from the external device that starts/stops the camera with the car was too much, I couldn't use my radio, hands-free or remote locks.

I have orders the innovv c3 for rear facing for the same reason - waterproof so I can mount the camera next to the existing backup camera (not recorded).

For the most part, the kinds of situations were a side-facing camera would help (did they wave you out? did the car change lane as you were pulling out of a sidestreet onto a two-lane road?) are situations that can be easily avoided with defensive driving. Your front-facing camera should be more than enough evidence to show if you were doing the right thing if you are hit by a lane-changer.

For a rear-end accident - it's surprisingly common for a rear-ended to become a hit and run. Whereas some of us might imagine we'd chase down a hit/run driver, in real life you'd be dancing a tango through a legal minefield. Not worth the risk of hurting someone just for the satisfaction of seeing "justice" served. That's why you have insurance.

Rear cameras can be useful:


A quick story: A friend of mine was hit at a red light - the front car in a three way rear-ender.
- The middle car said he got stopped in time and the rear car pushed them into the front car.
- The rear car said the middle car hit the front car first so the middle car owed damages to the front car. HE only owed damages to the middle car.
- My friend felt one impact, and could not tell which driver was correct. Her insurance was liability only, her car was totaled/written off. It took 18 months for the insurances to settle it before she got paid. although she DID eventually get paid, in the meantime she had to buy a replacement car out of pocket.
- In this case a rear-facing camera would have settled the who-hit-who first debate immediately. A front camera might have done the same (impact versus sound) but they could argue the sound was not in synch with the video.

Two quick notes on hit/runs...

- A friend of mine had her car hit in a parking lot. Tons of witnesses. They wrote down the license number, but then the driver fled. Nobody followed. License plate came back to a different car, the police refused to investigate further.
- A local guy here got in trouble for chasing a car that hit him. He was on the phone with 911 and initially refused to pull over and wait for the police. He finally stopped, the police caught up with him and gave him a bollocking for chasing. The chased car was long gone by this time. The license plate came back to a company, the company went bankrupt a year before and the old company owners had lost track of the license plate, so there was no way to find the vehicle or who was driving, nor could they identify any owner of the car (liable by default in cases where the driver cannot be identified). The police gave it a good shot, but the investigation ended there.

There is no right or wrong answer, every situation can be very different. To me, more footage is better than less footage.
 
For most accidents, a front facing camera is enough. If you want to be safer, install cameras in both the front and the rear. All you need to prove is that you weren't doing anything wrong when the accident happened, which the front facing camera will prove.

Make sure you buy from a dash cam retailer and not a big box store, you won't get any after sale service from them and they do no always stock quality dash cams. Since you're in Canada, take a look at our selection of dash cams. :)

Kelvin
 
But what about door dings?

We need cameras facing forward from the rear bumper.
 
Drove past one of those last week (Bing). Gonna have to look for myself in their version of streetview.
 
Drove past one of those last week (Bing). Gonna have to look for myself in their version of streetview.
I did as well a bit over a year ago. That's me in the silver Toyota Highlander.

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The street I was on is listed as not having "StreetSide", so either they haven't uploaded it yet or the car was traveling rather than recording. Oh well.
 
A few years ago I was almost hit broadside on my driver's side door by a guy who ran a red light. Quick reflexes and the fact that nobody was in front of me allowed me to hit the accelerator and get out of his way just in the nick of time.

Over the last few months I've experimented with side facing cameras to supplement the front and rear cams I usually run. I used two older cameras that have been sitting idle for awhile and I installed them in the rear windows of my extended cab pick-up truck. Since these rear side windows are darkly factory tinted the cameras are virtually invisible from outside the cab. I've found that I love having almost 360º coverage and that it is very practical and useful. It is especially useful in parking mode when I leave my car in places like supermarket parking lots.

When I review footage from the side cameras I am sometimes amazed at what I capture going on to either side of my vehicle that I didn't even know about, whether it is parked or moving. When we think of using dash cameras to protect ourselves we generally think only of protection/documentation of other motor vehicles. One of the revelations about having side facing cameras has been capturing the behavior of pedestrians. On one occasion I had to slam on my brakes when a kid on a bicycle raced right across my path and the camera on the passenger side captured how reckless and oblivious he was as he approached my vehicle from the down the sidewalk, right into the roadway. On another occasion I had the same thing happen with a pedestrian and the camera documented that she was totally distracted on a cell phone not watching where she was going as she approached and that the pedestrian traffic crossing light was against her. The side facing camera actually captured her walking right into the street while the crossing light with the symbol of a pedestrian was flashing red behind her. The front facing camera basically only documented her stepping in front of my vehicle just as with the kid on the bicycle.
 
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Personally, I believe front and rear cams are essential
Two recent incidents captured on my ageing F70. I've got two Mobius cams to replace this old workhorse - just not got around to sorting everything out.
 
But what about door dings?

We need cameras facing forward from the rear bumper.
how did you survive all these years with ZERO cameras in your vehicle...? ;)
 
how did you survive all these years with ZERO cameras in your vehicle...? ;)
My first use of a cam in a car was around 10 years ago when I used a cheapo small camcorder stuck to my dash with blu-tac.
My first proper dashcam was around 7 years ago. But it wasn't until around 5 years ago that I started noticing bad driving habits.
OK, I probably have a few - but these were bad compared to my own.
People no longer seem to give a stuff anymore - they cut lanes as they feel fit, they all seem to assume that the road is their domain & everyone else should get out of their way. I've even seen new-ish Audis, BMWs, Mercs etc try to barge their way past builders vans - seems they don't care about their posessions.
I do around 40 miles a day on the school run, all out in the country & it's astonishing the amount of expensive stuff you see hurtling around blind bends on the wrong side of the road.
 
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