Can I use a dash cam outside the car?

Michael Andrews

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Can I unplug the power and take a dash cam outside the car to make still photos of an accident?
 
Many battery based cameras have this capability but you need to confirm that on a camera by camera basis. No capacitor based camera will do it. You would probably be better off just using your cell phone - assuming you have one - as most have a camera integrated (even my wife's flip phone).
 
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Thanks DT MI

It may seem odd but my mobile is so old that it doesn't have a camera (and I am happy with this)!
If I get a dash cam with a good internal battery, how would I make it turn on after I have disconnected the power lead?
 
...If I get a dash cam with a good internal battery,...
That may be a bit of an oxymoron as many feel there is no such thing. LIPO batteries (used in most dash cams) are prone to failure - reportedly more so in hot environments. It may not be an issue for you since allegedly that never occurs in the U.K. :D


...how would I make it turn on after I have disconnected the power lead?
Those cameras that I'm familiar with it only requires that the power button/switch be activated to turn it back on and resume video recording which would in all likelihood be the default operating mode. Each camera will have it's own unique method to stop video recording and switch to photo mode.
 
Thanks for your replies. Very helpful. 'Hot environment' is a relative term :).
 
Most cams with batteries tend to claim an hours usage running off the battery but you can usually only get around 20 minutes, I wouldn't bother getting photos, just let it continue to film as you slowly walk round the scene, That way if an "offender" doesn't want you to take his photo, he wont know you'll already have his face on cam if you're discretely recording (or her, ya never know), and you can then just take screenshots as you review the footage on the computer.

You could also keep a charged powerbank handy in the car too, which would actually probably work with a capacitor based cam away from the car. One of my cams is a battery cam but due to its age the cam literally only lasts a few seconds on the battery now
 
England's climate makes battery-powered cams viable there. In reading these forums I've seen reputable members there reporting 2-3+ years battery life from some of the better dashcams :) However there are some brands which seem to be heavily promoted there with short battery life leading to cam failure, sometimes as short a life as six months :eek: So you need to do your research well to avoid those.

One of the main differentiations between dashcams and action cams is their powering, with dashcams not needing lots of battery capacity while action cams do. A good dashcam will give you at least a few minutes of self-powering should you want to take pics or vids detached from the car even with age. When a cam battery will no longer do this it is time to replace the battery so that you don't lose the last vid file in normal usage ;) Some action cams do well as dashcams if you want even more out-of-car recording time. Again you need to do research if you want that as some action cams (which aren't meant for dashcam use anyway) simply will not tolerate the long-time recording dashcams require :whistle:

Phil
 
I'm not sure I'd want to be fumbling with menus and buttons you probably don't use or access much to take photos. I would worry about deleting the important video.
I also have the notion leaving the cam recording is smart, to pick up various utterances, and other stuff that happens post-accident.
Maybe it's time to upgrade to a basic, 5-10 year old model cell phone? :)
 
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Can I unplug the power and take a dash cam outside the car to make still photos of an accident?

Probably best to use this guy:

pic_of_cell_phone_-_Google_Search_-_Mozilla_Firefox_2017-10-30_0.png

;)

Wait a minute. That guy has no image processing capability either. In that case, try this guy:

pic_of_cell_phone_-_Google_Search_-_Mozilla_Firefox_2017-10-30_0.png


Much better image processor, too! :D
 
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