1, 3, 5 minute clip length?

[LeJerk]

What are the pros and cons of different lengths? I have my dashcam set to 1 minute, but am thinking about increasing the time. I feel like if I don't hit the "save" button at the right time, I miss a little bit before or after what I want to save with a 1 minute clip. What do you think?

 

[jokiin]

Depends on the camera

 

[kamkar]

I feel 1 minute are too short, so i have always used 3 minutes for segment size.
How cameras behave when hitting the event button vary, some just give you a few seconds buffer from before, and a few seconds from after.
My Street guardian cameras operate in segments, and how far i an into a segment.
So say i an 2 minutes into a segment when i hit the button, than that whole 3 minute segment will be saved in the RO folder along with the following segment, so a total of 6 minutes are saved ( double that on my dual channel system as it do the same but with 2 cameras )
On the other hand if i am just 30 seconds into the segment when i hit the button, then this whole segment will be saved + the previous 3 minute segment, so still 2 X 3 minutes saved for each camera.

So i don't have to rush to the event button.
Neither do you if you just treat the event material as a beacon in time, you should be able to "dress" that with the regular footage from before and after, if you havent driven for so long it have been recycled, which are not really a issue unless you use a unusual small memory card, in this day and age i say at least 64GB for each camera.

 

[SawMaster]

I've never bothered with saving a file. Anything I need I can find that evening here at my desk. I started with 5 minute files but now I prefer 3 minutes or less, with one of my cams doing 1 minute files. I'm not bothering to change that one.

It needs mentioning that some cams or cam/card combinations have issues with certain file time settings. Irregular file lengths or erratic recording are the usual issues when this happens, and not all users of that cam may have the same experiences as you. If you do change file length time best to check the files on the card after a day's driving, and again after the card has looped to ensure everything is going as it should.

As long as it's reliable, any file time setting you like is OK
Phil

 

[DT MI]

Here's another thread on this subject with a bit more discussion: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/new-owner-question-about-video-length-1-3-5.33836/