2019 Nissan Maxima - Dash Cam Recommendation

[tkelly0313]

Looking to purchase and hardwire a dash came for my 2019 Nissan Maxima. I'm also going to have a radar detector hard wired.

Can you guys give me suggestions as to which camera would be best for me?

 

[SawMaster]

Welcome to DCT @tkelly0313

Plenty of good cams out there- how much were you looking to spend? Decent cams start at around $40 and decent SD cards for them start at around $25. Are you wanting a cam with parking recording too, or are you just seeking driving protection? Also do you just want a front-facing cam? There are 2 and 3 channel cams for expanded coverage.

Phil

 

[tkelly0313]

Thank you!

Price isn’t necessarily an issue.
Parking protection is preferable but not necessary.
And yes, front facing. I don’t feel that I would like the camera in the back.

I am most focused on a small form factor with the best quality. I’m not really a fan of the “wedge” type cameras.

 

[SawMaster]

With 'wedge cams' eliminated there's not a lot to choose from. The B4IK REVIEW HERE offers true 4K video, buffered parking mode with the optional hardwire kit, wifi for app control as well as an LCD screen, comes with GPS and supercaps, and is a reliable cam with good factory support. An optional rear cam can be added later if you wish. Disclaimer: I do beta test for this company. One downside is that the vertical aiming notches are somewhat coarse, so it may not give the optimal 40%- 50% 'sky' view needed for best exposure control but it still does OK with that. A lot of cam for the price. Beyond that all I can think of is something from Blackvue; very expensive, or the SG dual-remote (you don't have to use the included rear cam with these). There are some other choices with bulkier mounts, lesser vid resolution, and such if you don't find any of the other cams to your liking.

Phil

 

[jokiin]

I am most focused on a small form factor with the best quality. I’m not really a fan of the “wedge” type cameras.

wedge style cameras typically are more discrete when mounted than a lot of cameras, even ones that might appear to be physically small

 

[SawMaster]

I have to agree with Jokiin- today's smaller wedge cams can be very discreet and fit well in modern cars. They don't always offer the best solution though, which is why the different form-factors exist. Even remoted cams like the K2S with it's tiny lens modules aren't going to work for everybody. Part is in how and where the cam is installed and part in what you want from it.

The real problem here is that cams come in only one form-factor, so if you want the vid quality of an A129 Plus, you have to accept the wedge form factor it has. If you want the cloud connectivity of the DR900X you have to accept the tubular form-factor it has. Calling for a specific form-factor is going to limit what you can get from a cam, which may be acceptable if your only goal is to have reasonably decent video images. There's nothing wrong with that approach either; it's just a path fewer people take as for most it's the cam's features and performance which matter most.

Phil