1st time buyer, need help choosing

[Corgi]

Hello, I've been looking at the Dashcam Talk website for weeks and though the information on models is wonderfully thorough, I am still having difficulty picking out which camera(s) to buy. I would greatly appreciate your help, advice, and suggestions.

Considerations:
1) Temperature: I'm located in New England in the USA. In winter, it can get to 0F (-18C). In the summer, it can reach the high 90's (32C), but may be hotter inside the car. I don't have a garage to put my car in, so the vehicle will experience these temperatures. Does this limit me to capacitor models only?

2) more than one camera? I am worried about what happens to my car in the parking lot while I'm at work - that it could get hit or scratched. Would a rear-view camera be helpful in that situation? Would it be helpful when driving on the highway? I am thinking of the scenario of someone drifting from their lane and side-swiping me (which may not be captured on a front-facing camera).

3) I have a hatchback Subaru Imprezza 2011. There are airbags in the front side panels, and the fusebox is on the driver's side of the car. Not sure if this makes any difference as to what camera you'd recommend.

4) day/night: I am looking for something with good night quality. (sunset in winter can be around 4PM)

5) GPS. Do I need this? The GPS seems like a double-edged sword. What are the benefits? What are the draw backs? Note: There are many highways in my state where the speed of traffic is 10mph or greater than the posted (legal) speed limit.

6) Cost: I'd like to keep this as low as possible without compromising quality. I figure that it would easily pay for itself (even the expensive dual channel cameras) if it proved my innocence in an accident. So, let's say that cost is not an issue, but I don't want to pay extra for features that won't be used.

I plan to trade in my car in the future. Will wiring up the camera void my warranty or make it difficult to remove the cameras to put in a new car? Do I need to hire a car electrician mechanic to install wiring? For a front facing camera, I could tack the wires along the frame of the car's interior (no removing panels). Could I do that for a rear facing camera?

 

[kamkar]

Yeah in winter it get dark erly at our latitude,even more so further north as Denmark is, and not forgetting the poor Finnes which hardly see sunshine in winter.

You would have to go for a dashcam with capasitors instead of the LIPO batteries wich dont handle extreme temperatures well.

Having a camera in both ends will be helpfull when parked to capture a would be offender, just be advised your windows are often obscured by somthing, rain - dew - snow - frost.
For parking mode capasitor based cameras are allso best, and you will need some form of battery discharge protection, and if you only drive a little to and from work every day, the 7 houres the car discharge at work and those while its parked at home may be too much for your generator to keep up with.
Dashcams dont use that much power, but it all add up.
I have no personal experience on using parking mode.

Dont really matter, if you go for a allways on system for parking protection, you need to piggyback on a fuse in the fusebox.

Night time is the hardest time for any dashcam to make good footage, you can only expect to capture licenceplates under favorable conditions.
But if a car go out of lane and hit you, or drive out in front you it will be captured in a manner your insurence company will like when they have the fight with the other company about blame.

I like GPS myself, but some Americans seem to be opposed to it, seemingly of fear to incriminate them self.
Here its allso common to do the +10 KMH, i do that too at times, i dont think courts here would ticket me if i was doing 60 in a 50 Zone just before that guy ran a full stop and plowed into me.
Anyway a traffic accident never go to court here, its just somthing the insurance companies work out among them self.
Lawyers are low life the world over, but a argument that "if you hadent been speeding my client would not have hit you" would be overruled in a court here.
Anyway if it come down to it speed can be determined by distance covered in the footage + time.

I would not go low, so many times have and we heard countless horror stories, if money is tight start with 1 good camera in the front, and park in such a manner it have the best chance to capture anyone hitting you while parked.

If you use a piggy back fuse and so on, it will be impossible to tell it was there after you removed the kit again before a sale of car.
Plastic panels on A pillars is normally just clicked in place, in my little suzuki there is 2 pices there, first one rip right off, the other long one covering most of A-piller is held in place with 1 screw ( behind first rip off pice ) and then some click thingies.
You will have to be a really violent or inept at mecanical work to mess it up, at least in my suzuki.
My wires allso travel along headliner, in my car thats some form of felt like stuff, so it is easy to tuck wires up behind it along the windscreen.

My mobius rear camera sit on the end of a really long USB wire that start in my glowe box, its just tucked in under mats and what ever plastic on the way back along the doors.
I plan on splicing in on the rear light this summer so i get some outlets in the back of my shoebox sized suzuki.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

1) yes, only consider super-capacitor products

2) since there are no perfect dual channel systems available today, I'd start with a high quality single channel in front, and then think about adding a rear one after you gain some experience. The SGZX12RC is an excellent second rear system.

3) there is always room to run wires even with airbags, no problems

4) get something with a Sony Exmor sensor for maximum night performance

5) GPS is fun when you playback in http://datakam.com/download or http://dashcamviewer.com You can disable logging, yet still use GPS to sync time/date in the SG9665GC for example. (your choice)

6) Lower cost is fine for day time, but night time will suffer the most after a certain price point.

Use your local car audio installer for help if needed for hard wiring etc.

 

[Corgi]

Thanks for the replies and great advice! As Pier28 suggested, I'll start off with a front-facing camera before I dive into multi-channel. For a single camera, I tentatively put my price limit at $200. I don't mind going over that amount if there's a kit that bundles in components I'd have to buy separately anyway (like add-a-fuse, cable clips, etc.)

I took a look at the SG9665GC - it seems to be similar to the Panorama II in that they both have same Exmor sensor model. The form-factor (the shape of the dash cam) is different between the two, and it looks like the Panorama can take larger capacity microSD cards. Are there any other difference I should consider? What about the view angle? Is 120 better than 140 degree for capturing plates more accurately? Will 140 be too distorted (like a fish eye lens)?

When looking at the Panorama II on ebay and Amazon, I saw a bundle that included something called a "CPL filter". This seems to be a polarized lens that is recommended for bright daylight (but not for night). Do you have any thoughts on this CPL filter? Do a lot of people tend to purchase one? My morning commute will take me east into the sunrise.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

SG9665GC has an edge on picture quality from a new lens, and is more stealthy as you can see. GPS is also included. I'll PM you a discount code as well since you're now an active member of DashCamTalk. If you plan on using motion detection (hard wire 24/7 use) the Panorama can pre-buffer 5 seconds before. The GC is a near instant pause-standby-record for it's motion detection. CPL cuts down glare but actually introduces motion blur making fast moving license plates harder to read. (trade-off) You do have less glare/reflections though if you're trying to capture a scenic drive etc.