A118C Novatek 96650 Capacitor Battery Dash Cam@Gearbest

[slave0418]

Here's a daytime footage with the 3-20 firmware... Turned off WDR, no exposure change, pretty much default settings.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2qkuvgnl4x2c65i/2015_0402_134744_010.MOV?dl=0

Still uploading more, takes about 1 hour 30 minute to upload a clip lol

It is out of focus, completely. :-(

 

[runtohell121]

It is out of focus, completely. :-(

Might be the problem with my camera, as the result is completely different from Ardiano.


Here's the last 2 clips I have... Probably not worth uploading any clips from my dash cam, might be wasting my time.
Night time sample clip, dark outside, with a little bit of street light for first half.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oxp3gko59a079au/2015_0402_205254_023.MOV?dl=0

Daytime sample clip
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jczlco3gp5jayv9/2015_0403_164324_045.MOV?dl=0

 

[Adriano]

Keep in mind that i've opened mine and refocused it before started playing with FW and settings.

 

[SuperGoop]

There is definitely something wrong with runtohell121's camera. I have a A118 & A118C, and they both have good focus. The only exception is that with the original FW, it would appear out-of-focus sometimes (due to over-softening, I think, because FW can not physically adjusted focus), but with the Mar 20th FW, this focus issue seems to be fixed.

In the sample below, you can read the licence plates, even all the way to the extreme sides (cloudy day):

Here is another (sunny day):

 

[wing0]

Keep in mind that i've opened mine and refocused it before started playing with FW and settings.

Please post instructions and pictures on how to refocus the lens.
My cam shows something between SuperGoop and runtohell121.

SuperGoop's one looks extra clear...envy...
Just realized where those footage are from, hello fellow GTA residence.

 

[Adriano]

Hi,
Here is a link how to refocus your camera https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...-focus-a-dashcamera-lens-video-tutorial.8166/ ,it's not made on this particullar model but you can take it as example.I used a sharp cutter to remove the glue and then gently with a multitool plier i broke the glue,be careful to hold the plastic base otherwise you can damage it or worse even damage the sensor as the plastic base might break and scratch or brake sensor.
Link to dissmantle B40 https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/disassembly-inside-tiesfong-b40-a118-ae-cc30.5876/
I've made a video from yesterday trip in daylight,sunset and bluehour
WDR ON EV+1/3

 

[SuperGoop]

SuperGoop's one looks extra clear...envy...
Just realized where those footage are from, hello fellow GTA residence.

Please note that 1) I was almost stopped and 2) the light conditions were ideal, during these 2 screenshots. I "hand-picked" this screenshot purposely to show the maximum quality of the A118/A118C. When I am driving at normal speeds with car passing me at variable speeds, and during various lighting, shadows, reflections, etc, it is not always this good.

There is a thread somewhere that explains how the quality of any dashcam can be affected by different variables (lighting, relative speeds, reflections, glare, colour, HID lights, contrast, vibrations, aim height, etc.)

P.S. In a live video, the "noise" is much more noticeable. Much more blotchy as the dashcam adjusts constantly to varying conditions. On this issue, the original January FW was much better. I didn't have nearly as much noise, but than the January FW also had other issues... mainly the out-of-focus issue. Overall, I prefer the March 20th FW, but miss the clean picture of the January FW.

 

[fac3]

I just got around to trying out my A118C purchased in February, and unfortunately it looks like I got one of the faulty units that have the blurry picture. Hopefully I can get a replacement since I love the form factor.

 

[jokiin]

lens is out of focus

 

[fac3]

lens is out of focus

Is there any way to fix it without voiding the warranty?

Thanks.

 

[jokiin]

Is there any way to fix it without voiding the warranty?

Thanks.

it needs to be opened up to correct it, where did you buy it from?

 

[fac3]

it needs to be opened up to correct it, where did you buy it from?

I purchased from @GearBest, and sent Sunny a message over the weekend. I have faith that everything will work out, just kind of annoyed since it takes a month to receive a new one.

 

[jokiin]

if it was bought locally it would have been a lot easier to deal with, see how you go I guess

 

[Gibson99]

not much else would fit in an elise without sticking out like a sore thumb. drove one once at an autocross... had a hell of a time getting in/out over that huge door threshhold since the top was still on. and on top of that none of us could figure out how to start the damn thing - the factory alarm was laughing quietly to itself as it ignored everything we did, till i finally got the right combo of keyfob button presses, starter button and tongue position to make it start. owner was probably also laughing at us from across the grid as he watched the whole thing. but man, once i got going, it was absolutely one of THE most fun cars i've ever driven at an autocross. and as an instructor, i've gotten to drive a LOT of different cars, ranging from a delorean, twin turbo NSX, C4 and C5 vettes, a boxster, loads of miatas, civics, a couple STIs and EVOs, and even (wait for it...) a 1984 Volvo 740 wagon!

 

[siuksliadeze]

Please post instructions and pictures on how to refocus the lens.

Refocussed mine because distant objects were blurry while close ones were relatively OK. License plates were visible fine from within a couple of meters, but hardly readable from 8 meters distance.
I took only a couple of pictures, the rest can be checked from Niko's post
So, once the case is opened, and lens enclosure is split apart, you have to unscrew 2 screws and take out the lens:

Then I cut the glue that holds the lens in a fixed position with a sharp knife (cardboard cutter can be used). The base is made of plastic and the screw with a lens seems to be made from aluminium. Then I used 2 pairs of narrow pliers to hold plastic base and turn the lens with a thread counter-clockwise while applying force to make glue break. Note that metal and the thread is quite soft and it can get damaged easily (not something I was worried about myself as only lower part of the thread is used anyway).

My refocus consisted of turning the lens ca 30 degrees clockwise and putting some hot glue on the thread to keep focus in place. I recommend to mark initial position of the lens before adjusting so that it's easy to go back to initial setting and start over if needed.
Before starting to re-focus your lens, check that lens base is properly fitted to the board as it may be a bit loose sometimes (check step 2 here ).
Previously objects that were even 10 cm close to the cam were in focus which meant that remote objects (e.g. 10 m and more) weren't focussed properly. From my experiments I found that best focus point for this lens is when an object becomes sharp from ~30-40 cm minimum distance (a magazine cover was a perfect object for testing).
Results can be seen below (firmware used is aka "March 20th") - a snapshot from video (not the best examples, but still):
Before re-focus:

After re-focus:

As you see, most distant objects are much sharper now and I'm happy with the results.

 

[volksjagger]

Does anyone know of a video tutorial for this firmware update process?

I have the file downloaded from here... https://dashcamtalk.com/b40-a118/#Firmware (hope this is most up to date version) AND have the 32 gig Kingston SD card ready to format in my laptop.

For me I am nervous doing the firmware update because I am not familiar with the process of Step 2: Format the SD card, copy the firmware file to the root directory of the newly formatted SD card. The root directory part is where I am confused. But I would like the longer shutdown time and (possible) better consistent video quality so willing to try the update.

 

[jokiin]

this is the current one if yours is the capacitor version https://dashcamtalk.com/cams/b40/FWA118C_Welcome_20150318.zip

extract the zip file, copy the bin file to your memory card, format it first is best

power on from the adapter it will load the firmware and update then power up and start recording, stop the recording, go into the menu and format the card then set any settings you want as you like them as they would have reset to defaults as part of the process

 

[volksjagger]

OK thank you! I have done this, it is working and have gone in and adjusted the settings.

The shutdown is not immediate any longer, and hope to get a better quality consistency as the first time I used the camera in the middle of the day it was very clear. The night had a lot of "halo-ing" with the lighting but today during the day it was a bit blurry in the middle of the day. Fingers crossed.

 

[volksjagger]

I guess night time light "halo-ing"is to be expected though from what i am seeing on most videos online.

 

[Gibson99]

I guess night time light "halo-ing"is to be expected though from what i am seeing on most videos online.

yep, it's pretty prominent on red lights for some reason. white lights aren't as bad. i mentioned it in my mini-review as well. the original a118 has the same problem, which isn't surprising since nothing really changed in terms of optics/sensor/cpu between a118 and a118c.