A118 / B40 or A118-C / B40-C or something else?

[striking]

Hello members,

I'm new in this forum, and I already read a few articles but I have some questions which I would like to ask you guys, as I believe I'm on the right place and I'm gonna get help here.

I want to buy Dashcam for Mazda 6 2006/7 (if relevant). The highest price I could spend is 100$. I don't need
GPS or Wifi and etc. What I need is perfect day quality of video and average at night. I think 1080p is enough.
The SD card size which I can use is also something important, 32gb is OK but 64gb would be better I think.
I want to be more discrete, because I don't want someone to break my car, because of the dashcam (where I life is possible). Other thing I would like to have is the option when I park for a few hours, the cam to be able to record that time if someone scratch my car with keys or what ever at the front (as I know the cameras which can record and on the back are more expensive, so I will not have this), or if someone hit me at the front to record it as well.

I read a few articles and reviews and decided that A118 / B40 is a good choice for the price. Then I saw the newest model A118-C / B40-C, where correct me if I'm wrong but the difference is only the work temperature instead of -10/60 degrees to -20/60 degrees? And there is also some plastic part which you can connect to it, which I don't know what is suppose to do.

Can you please advise which of the 2 models I mentioned is better and it's worth the money more. And also
please let me know if you think there is some better model I can buy and why you think is better.

I'm totally new in this think so I only have a few hours reading experience and I that's it.
All kind of advises and explanations will be helpful as well, but the main point for which I created the thread is
because I need to decide in the next 2 days what should be my choice.

Thank you in advance and have a great day!

 

[Gibson99]

the A118 and A118C are no good for parking mode. i did a side by side comparison video (link in my signature). one of the cheapest that has good parking mode is the CF-100, which i also have, though i haven't done a video review of it. it's available on amazon for about $100 for dual camera and single camera for less, though you will also need a battery protection kit to use it in parking mode. see my CF-100 install thread (also in signature) for more info and a link to the battery protector i used.

edit: both the cf-100 and the A118(c) can use a 64gb card. just format them directly in the camera and you'll have no issues.

 

[niko]

B40 capacitor version is a good choice, plus adding a BDP ( battery discharge prevention device ), or buying an external portable battery pack. All together will be within +/- 90€ / 100$ bought in EU ( no extra taxes ) and with local warranty.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

If you want good parking mode be aware the B40/A118 both regular and capacitor uses a pause/resume motion detection system. Aptina sensor doesn't work well at night either

There is no 5 second pre-buffered motion detection available so you might miss the moments leading up to the g-sensor/motion event. (Like higher end systems have) This will be one compromise you'll need to make to meet your budget.

 

[Gibson99]

Then I saw the newest model A118-C / B40-C, where correct me if I'm wrong but the difference is only the work temperature instead of -10/60 degrees to -20/60 degrees? And there is also some plastic part which you can connect to it, which I don't know what is suppose to do.

Sorry I forgot to address this. the difference is that the A118 uses a battery inside, and the C uses a capacitor. This means the original version will record a little bit longer after power is cut, and the C version shuts down and stops recording almost instantly after power is cut (car is turned off). the practical difference is that the capacitor version is not affected by extreme heat or cold the way a lithium-ion battery is. it won't lose charge over time, and will never leak, explode or catch fire like a Li-ion battery pack can. to me, the choice is simple - get the C version. I have both, but that's only because I bought the A118 before the capacitor version was available.

the plastic part is a wire cover. You don't have to use it, but if your vehicle has a long slanted windshield (the 6 might) then it will make the install look very nice, almost like it came from the factory. here it is in my toyota sienna van:
B40 / A118 / AE-CC30 Mounted in your Car. ( Photos )

 

[russ331]

one of the cheapest that has good parking mode is the CF-100, which i also have, though i haven't done a video review of it. it's available on amazon for about $100 for dual camera

Dual channel DashCam with capacitor & pre-buffered parking mode for $100? Bargain!

 

[Street Guardian USA]

CF-100 might be worth a try at that clearance price dump. It might actually pre-buffer too. Night should be at least average hopefully.

 

[Gibson99]

CF-100 might be worth a try at that clearance price dump. It might actually pre-buffer too. Night should be at least average hopefully.

the front cam of the cf-100 has the same sony exmor sensor as the sg9665* cameras. now that the price is only 100 for the front AND rear, i'm seriously thinking about buying a second one. no, it doesn't come w/ GPS but i don't need/want gps. the one in my sienna came w/ gps but the antenna is sitting in a box in the closet.

and yes, it pre-buffers. motion detection is pretty good. so far it hasn't recorded any impacts in parking mode (because there haven't been any thankfully!) but the other day when we had that insane storm come through here, it basically recorded all night - lots of wind, an incredible amount of lightning, some branches coming down... we got about 5 inches of rain over the course of a few hours. other parts of town got TEN inches of rain. one of my co-workers ended up with about 2 feet of water in her house. both cars likely totalled since water got up to the dashboards, furniture floating around... not good. at least they were uninjured. i'm gonna see if any of the footage is worth keeping and maybe put it on youtube. hell of a storm.

all that said, when i originally posted the link to the $100 cf-100, i didn't realize you weren't in the US. still a good camera though, esp if you can get it shipped to you at a decent cost.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

It will most likely be the sony 122 and not 322, plus different quality lens and firmware tuning of course. This amazon review doesn't sound good.

 

[russ331]

It will most likely be the sony 122 and not 322, plus different quality lens and firmware tuning of course. This amazon review doesn't sound good.

This review by @niko looks good...

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...p-sony-exmor-cmos-720p-gps-24-7-parking.7441/

 

[Gibson99]

It will most likely be the sony 122 and not 322, plus different quality lens and firmware tuning of course. This amazon review doesn't sound good.

any product will have bad reviews now and then. also depends on how many other cams that reviewer has used or seen. IMHO, the cf-100 is sharper than either of my a118's.

blacksys's site doesn't list exactly what sensor it uses, but it does show the sensor size and aperture: http://blacksys.co.kr/eng/product/product.php?id=43# I also tried checking the metadata in VLC, but it's completely blank, likely because of the way cf-100 combines front and rear video streams into one avi file. i'll have to check it again after i split the videos and see if maybe the individual stream will have any metadata. edit: even after splitting, there's no useful metadata.

also, i think the cf-100 does pretty good at night. definitely better than the a118. here's a snapshot from that storm i was talking about. pouring rain, lightning popping every 2-3 seconds, and enough water on the road that it feels like you're driving through a puddle, but you're not - it's just raining THAT hard.

 

[smithdean]

Sorry I forgot to address this. the difference is that the A118 uses a battery inside, and the C uses a capacitor. This means the original version will record a little bit longer after power is cut, and the C version shuts down and stops recording almost instantly after power is cut (car is turned off). the practical difference is that the capacitor version is not affected by extreme heat or cold the way a lithium-ion battery is. it won't lose charge over time, and will never leak, explode or catch fire like a Li-ion battery pack can. to me, the choice is simple - get the C version. I have both, but that's only because I bought the A118 before the capacitor version was available.

the plastic part is a wire cover. You don't have to use it, but if your vehicle has a long slanted windshield (the 6 might) then it will make the install look very nice, almost like it came from the factory. here it is in my toyota sienna van:
B40 / A118 / AE-CC30 Mounted in your Car. ( Photos )

Do you have link for the new C version? or the newer capacitor or AA8 or the B40? Mine is 07 Camry Hybrid and needed one on windshield. Thanks

 

[Gibson99]

i bought my A118 from SpyTec, and I actually won my A118C in a drawing from GearBest. You might be able to get it cheaper than SpyTec on amazon; just search.

 

[smithdean]

i bought my A118 from SpyTec, and I actually won my A118C in a drawing from GearBest. You might be able to get it cheaper than SpyTec on amazon; just search.

Is there a newer and Capacitor version of A118 / B40? Both are considered small & discrete dashcams? And they are better than the G1Ws or the Mini 0805?

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Is there a newer and Capacitor version of A118 / B40? Both are considered small & discrete dashcams?

My understanding is there is only one factory for the B40(C)A118(C)

If you like this form factor and are ready to take things to the next level, check out the premium SG9665GC

 

[Gibson99]

Is there a newer and Capacitor version of A118 / B40? Both are considered small & discrete dashcams? And they are better than the G1Ws or the Mini 0805?

yes, the capacitor version is called the A118C or B40C. both are the same size/shape (they use the same chassis). Click the CF-100 install link in my signature and you will see a photo of both the CF-100 and A118 sitting on my laptop - should give you a good idea of the size of each one.

video quality of the A118 and A118C should be almost identical to the G1W since it uses the same image sensor and processor. there may be small differences due to optics and firmware tuning, but overall they're very similar. the 0805 uses a different sensor and processor than the a118 and g1w, so it's capable of higher resolutions. you should check out the dashcam comparison tool on the front page of this site. looks like it would help you here.

 

[striking]

Ok guys, from what I understood so far I think that for the budged I have I can't get exactly what I would like to have, like rear cam and parking records and so on.
Even if I take something like that it wouldn't be good as it's suppose to be or as I wanted to be. And I will need additional battery and so on, so it becomes too
expensive of what I want to spend and more complicated.
From all the opinions and information you provided to me I think I decided that the best choice for me is the A118-C dashcam as it have good quality video during the
day and average one during the night. And another important think that have, and actually I forgot to mentioned in my first post, is the 170 degrees angle, and for me
this angle of view/recording is really important as I would like to record more on the road, not just right at the front of my car.
The other option you gave me CF-100 so I can use it for parking mode and so on, have smaller angle and also I don't think is the best choice for me as I already
explained above.

I have a few more questions.

1. If the car turned ON, but parked for a moment the video will be still recorded right? I mean there will not be some additional options as G option / movement and something similar
which should take place, so the camera can record something. More accurate what I want ot say is, camera is recording all the time when the car is ON and it's not recording
at all when the car is turned OFF.
2. What I will do If I need the the charger in the car for GPS or another device? Is there any charger hub or something like that, so I can connect 2 or 3 devices at the same time?
3. Do you think that 32gb SD card will be enough or 64gb is a must (using Full HD mode). And also can you suggest what class of SD card I need, as I'm going to buy this memory
card but for my phone, and if I can use lower class/cheaper card it will be better, as I would like to skip the expense of 27$ and for such a card
4. If I turn off my car, what will happened with the recorded video of the last 1-2 minutes lets say. I'm asking this because I know there is a time which you can set up, for how long the
parts of the videos should be - 3,5,10min and so on. If the part is set up for 5min and I turned off the car, is that means that the last 3 minutes will not be saved?
5. On the A118-C how long is the charger cable and can I wiring the cable starting from the camera going through the whole glass and so on, right to the car charger, as I don't want/like
at all, free and moving cables in my car. Can I do that, or I need to buy longer cable?
6. The part which should be stuck on the front glass, so I can put on and off the camera on it, if I remove it for some reason will it damage the protective layer for sunlight on the glass where
will be sticked or there is no such a chance?

And last but not least, if you know or can think of another great camera for day and night record 1080p or more, within the price range of the A118-C, now is the moment to share with me

I would like to thank you for all the answers you gave me so far, that's really helping me so I can take the best decision for me.

 

[smithdean]

yes, the capacitor version is called the A118C or B40C. both are the same size/shape (they use the same chassis). Click the CF-100 install link in my signature and you will see a photo of both the CF-100 and A118 sitting on my laptop - should give you a good idea of the size of each one.

video quality of the A118 and A118C should be almost identical to the G1W since it uses the same image sensor and processor. there may be small differences due to optics and firmware tuning, but overall they're very similar. the 0805 uses a different sensor and processor than the a118 and g1w, so it's capable of higher resolutions. you should check out the dashcam comparison tool on the front page of this site. looks like it would help you here.

CF-100, A118C quality are all about same ? Or A118C and B40C are same camera with 2 different names? The A118C doesn't have suction mount and there it is it difficult to remove at night? Thanks

 

[Gibson99]

Ok guys, from what I understood so far I think that for the budged I have I can't get exactly what I would like to have, like rear cam and parking records and so on.
Even if I take something like that it wouldn't be good as it's suppose to be or as I wanted to be. And I will need additional battery and so on, so it becomes too
expensive of what I want to spend and more complicated.
From all the opinions and information you provided to me I think I decided that the best choice for me is the A118-C dashcam as it have good quality video during the
day and average one during the night. And another important think that have, and actually I forgot to mentioned in my first post, is the 170 degrees angle, and for me
this angle of view/recording is really important as I would like to record more on the road, not just right at the front of my car.
The other option you gave me CF-100 so I can use it for parking mode and so on, have smaller angle and also I don't think is the best choice for me as I already
explained above.

I have a few more questions.

1. If the car turned ON, but parked for a moment the video will be still recorded right? I mean there will not be some additional options as G option / movement and something similar
which should take place, so the camera can record something. More accurate what I want ot say is, camera is recording all the time when the car is ON and it's not recording
at all when the car is turned OFF.

with the a118 and a118c, the camera will only record when the car is ON. when you turn the car off, it stops recording.

2. What I will do If I need the the charger in the car for GPS or another device? Is there any charger hub or something like that, so I can connect 2 or 3 devices at the same time?

yes, these are very common and inexpensive. search for 12v splitter.

3. Do you think that 32gb SD card will be enough or 64gb is a must (using Full HD mode). And also can you suggest what class of SD card I need, as I'm going to buy this memory
card but for my phone, and if I can use lower class/cheaper card it will be better, as I would like to skip the expense of 27$ and for such a card

for a cam like this it's best to get a class 10 card. any slower, and it may not be fast enough to record full HD video. also, $27 is an excellent price for a name brand 64gb card!

4. If I turn off my car, what will happened with the recorded video of the last 1-2 minutes lets say. I'm asking this because I know there is a time which you can set up, for how long the
parts of the videos should be - 3,5,10min and so on. If the part is set up for 5min and I turned off the car, is that means that the last 3 minutes will not be saved?

the last file will simply be shorter. say you set it to 5 minutes and then you go for a 12 minute drive. you will have 2 files of 5 minutes, then one file of 2 minutes. you will not lose any video.

5. On the A118-C how long is the charger cable and can I wiring the cable starting from the camera going through the whole glass and so on, right to the car charger, as I don't want/like
at all, free and moving cables in my car. Can I do that, or I need to buy longer cable?

yes, it's very long because it's designed to do exactly what you say, so that the wire is hidden.

6. The part which should be stuck on the front glass, so I can put on and off the camera on it, if I remove it for some reason will it damage the protective layer for sunlight on the glass where will be sticked or there is no such a chance?

if you have tint film, then yes, removing this sticky mount will probably damage the film. but a strong suction cup will do that too.

 

[Gibson99]

CF-100, A118C quality are all about same ? Or A118C and B40C are same camera with 2 different names? The A118C doesn't have suction mount and there it is it difficult to remove at night? Thanks

yes - same camera, different names. kinda like the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra - same truck, different badge.

very easy to remove at night (if you don't use the wire cover). the flat plastic mount will stay on your windshield, and to remove it, you simply unplug the power cord, then slide the camera up and it comes off. it's actually better than a suction cup because it goes back on just as easy - slide onto mount, plug in cable, go.