A118C2 - First Impressions / Using A119 and 118c2 with FFmpeg

[GTA Driver]

I have had my A118c2 for close to a month and am fairly impressed. I was a little hesitent to get one given the reviews for the A118c that claim video isn't as sharp and night vision not as good as the A119. There is a $20 difference at Amazon.ca between the A118c2 and the A119 so I decided to take my chances. Apparently the A118c2 has some new parts such as the lens.

In the spring of last year, I did a test on my newly arrived A119 on the back of my Rav to see if it would be suitable as a ceiling mounted dash cam at the rear. It would. So after a number of incidents where it would have been nice to have a rear cam, I decided to get the least expensive but suitable option.

Whereas the A119 would be suitable as a ceiling mounted rear cam, the A118c2 is not. I was a little suspicious of this given the photos of the two, the different design of the A119 allow it to more slope downward when mounted to the ceiling. Also the thicker mount (in particular the GPS mount) lens allowed it display the rear window without the top frame. With the A118c2, I was getting much of the top window frame. Although the A119 or A118c would be unseen to drivers behind me if it was ceiling mounted, the A118c would otherwise be unsuitable given the picture it gives at this placement.

Which may be a blessing in disguise. I had a Mobius mounted on the rear ceiling with suction cup mounted and some home made mounts (that ultimately fell and may have damaged it) and could never get it be as discreet as mounting as an A119 with the lens slanted downward to the window. As a ceiling mounted camera was a foot from the window, I was NOT getting the best pictures. Also, given that I have big dogs which have been in the rear of the SUV, I was getting nose smear.

With the lens close to glass, I am getting pretty good pictures. Much better than the ceiling mount with less possibility of nose smear.

Here is the first spot I mounted it.





I have since moved it to the centre to get the benefit of the wiper blade and window wash and of course used the cable clips.

Here is a video of the first day I had it. Note of the time of year. There is plenty of slush and salt on the roads that results in a messy wind shield.

Note how blue the sky and how there isn't any glare. I found my older two channel dashcam struggled with sunlight if there was fresh coating of snow.

Also the night vision is better than anticipated. Note how sharp the ornamental deer is.

Here is video shot during sun rise, sun set conditions and wiper action during good sun light. Unfortunately there smear or dirt the wiper and wiper blades are unable to remove, but even then

Note even with lens pointed almost directly to the low sun, the rest of the picture isn't blurred out.

 

[GTA Driver]

Different File type / Same codec as A119 and using FFmpeg Concat

I use FFmpeg to do the initial editing of my videos. What takes seconds with Ffmpeg takes minutes with Kdenlive. FFmpeg "concat" feature is able to join numerous video files and produce to one amalgameted clip in mere seconds, as long as all the source clips have the same codec and file extension.

My A118-c2 produces MOVs and my A119 produces MP4'x

FFprobe shows that A118c2 and A119 have the same
- codec name, Codec long name, codec_tag_string,codec_tag for video
- encoder for video

FFprobe show that A118c2 and A119 have different
- codec name, Codec long name, codec_tag_string,codec_tag for audio
- Bit rates for both audio and video
- TAG:major_brand, TAG:major_brand , TAG: compatible_brands, TAG: original_format, TAG: original_format-eng, TAG: comment,











Problem is the A118c2 produces MOVs and A119 produces MP4s. I have tried simple convert, that is converting both to have the same target extension. When using simple convert to change both to either AVI or MKV and then using ffmpeg concat option, the video is fine, but the sound is removed where when it goes from a video from one camera to another. That is if file 1 is from A119 and file 2 is A118-c2 is both are converted to AVI, and then the avi files are used with the concat option, the video is fine, but the sound is dropped when it encounters what was the second source file.

This isn't a problem if you want to remove sound entirely.

The solution to getting ffmpeg concat to work with files with different encoding or "compatible brands" is to re-encode all files to be the same. But that can 4 minutes on 61 second files from A118-c2 and 7 minutes on 60 second files from my A119.

My only complaint with A118-c2 is the different extension and encoding from my A119 preventing quick turn around when combining clips from both cameras when using FFmpeg.

 

[Gibson99]

i would expect the video to be shaky when mounted to the ceiling child seat anchor point, but i guess not.

i have my a118 mounted to the rear glass on my 06 rav4 because for some reason, the wiper doesn't ever clear the top few inches of glass, even with a new blade. so mounting it to the trim like you did would result in the lens looking through grime/dirt/etc. i dunno what it is about this little suv (maybe the rear spoiler?) but it collects a LOT of dirt/spray on the back of the car, even in just light rain.

 

[GTA Driver]

When I had my mobius mounted on the child seat anchor, yes it was shaky.

My A118c2 has been at three locations on the back of my Rav. It was so cold, the three 3M wasn't holding. I tried to remove the camera from the mount and it fell off, I tried to take the SD card out and it fell off. Ran out of 3M tape, so I am using double sided carpet tape, which is fine if its on the plastic trim but one obviously wouldn't want to put that on glass. I think that may hold better on plastic and cold weather than 3m tape anyway.

The second time I had it mounted, the one with the video of the sunrise and sunset, I may have had it too high. The cable was interfering with the door. Its now lower and closer to the center and gets the windshield wiper fluid and blade. I may move it closer to the wiper spry outlet, as that is closer to the passenger side. I haven't retrieved any video with location number three.

Its funny, but I have mounted that thing 3 times in less than half a month. I have a four year old camera at the front that has remained at the same spot.

 

[Agie]

Great review mate, always interesting to see what others expericnces are. Unfortunately I can't say the same for me - I have a Chupad D501 for the rear, and A119 for the front. A118C2 for the right side of the car.

Day quality is worse and not as clear as the A119 - discernable but not a deal breaker. However daytime footage takes a massive dip. Granted I am using it when cars drive past me on the side for the A118C2, but doesn't hold up. Didn't really expect it to either to be honest. With the price drops the A119 has had lately here in Australia, much better deal to recommend that over the c2

 

[GTA Driver]

Great review mate, always interesting to see what others expericnces are. Unfortunately I can't say the same for me -

With the price drops the A119 has had lately here in Australia, much better deal to recommend that over the c2

In Canada, Its about $24 dollar difference between the A118c2 and A119 with GPS logger. Even with Spytec, which is based in New York, but sells to Canada, there is that price difference. Although, I am happy with the image quality (I think my old wind shield wipers in the rear are effecting the image with smear) it would be worth the $24 more to have the A119. The raw files produced by both are different and therefore I can't use ffmpeg concat option without re-encoding both to a consistent codec, which takes an average of 6 minutes per one minute file.

. A118C2 for the right side of the car.

Day quality is worse and not as clear as the A119 - discernable but not a deal breaker. However daytime footage takes a massive dip. Granted I am using it when cars drive past me on the side for the A118C2, but doesn't hold up.

Curious, but as a side cam, do you have it at 60 fps? I am not sure if the a118* has 60ps ... I never looked. Its not as accessible as its at the back and I can't take it off the mount any longer. It appears either the mount or the camera expanded or contracted with the severe cold weather (or some other factor) and the two seem to stuck. I can't take it the front and go thru the menu options sitting down like I was able to last month.

 

[Agie]

In Canada, Its about $24 dollar difference between the A118c2 and A119 with GPS logger. Even with Spytec, which is based in New York, but sells to Canada, there is that price difference. Although, I am happy with the image quality (I think my old wind shield wipers in the rear are effecting the image with smear) it would be worth the $24 more to have the A119. The raw files produced by both are different and therefore I can't use ffmpeg concat option without re-encoding both to a consistent codec, which takes an average of 6 minutes per one minute file.



Curious, but as a side cam, do you have it at 60 fps? I am not sure if the a118* has 60ps ... I never looked. Its not as accessible as its at the back and I can't take it off the mount any longer. It appears either the mount or the camera expanded or contracted with the severe cold weather (or some other factor) and the two seem to stuck. I can't take it the front and go thru the menu options sitting down like I was able to last month.

It's roughly same price difference here too between the two cameras, still miles better quality than what would one buy locally from a major electronics retailer - but then again not many people understand that here in Australia (for some reason, after all these years only 12% or so do online shopping during the year). Which is just baffling.

Don't think it can do 60fps from memory, but then again I never use 60fps in any dash camera. Only time I use 60fps is when filming cinematic looking videos and slow it down to 24fps in post for the slow motion look. But that's another topic for another day.
I don't know but I found the build of the a118 series (from any manufacturer) just to be weaker than other models. Dunno what it is about it, is it the price is something

 

[GTA Driver]

It's roughly same price difference here too between the two cameras, still miles better quality than what would one buy locally from a major electronics retailer - but then again not many people understand that here in Australia (for some reason, after all these years only 12% or so do online shopping during the year). Which is just baffling.

According to the website for the largest brick and motor major electronics retailers does sell good dashcams, such as Viofo and Black Vue, but its online orders only. Its been so long since I have been in a computer or electronic stores. There is a large automotive\hardware\ home appliance \sports shops here in Canada that sells really crappy ones. Thing is, I see several cars a day with a dash cam on the way to work and most of the good quality cameras. So appears drivers are doing online orders.

I
Don't think it can do 60fps from memory, but then again I never use 60fps in any dash camera. Only time I use 60fps is when filming cinematic looking videos and slow it down to 24fps in post for the slow motion look. But that's another topic for another day.
I don't know but I found the build of the a118 series (from any manufacturer) just to be weaker than other models. Dunno what it is about it, is it the price is something

I just looked and it does do 60 fps @ 720 p. I think the consensus for the thread on sidecams ( https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...a-side-view-dashcam-for-your-car-doors.12675/) was to be at 60 fps. I used a Mobius at the side for a few weeks and I set at 60 fps. I was able to get e fairly sharp frames of cars going past in the opposite direction.

 

[Agie]

According to the website for the largest brick and motor major electronics retailers does sell good dashcams, such as Viofo and Black Vue, but its online orders only. Its been so long since I have been in a computer or electronic stores. There is a large automotive\hardware\ home appliance \sports shops here in Canada that sells really crappy ones. Thing is, I see several cars a day with a dash cam on the way to work and most of the good quality cameras. So appears drivers are doing online orders.



I just looked and it does do 60 fps @ 720 p. I think the consensus for the thread on sidecams ( https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...a-side-view-dashcam-for-your-car-doors.12675/) was to be at 60 fps. I used a Mobius at the side for a few weeks and I set at 60 fps. I was able to get e fairly sharp frames of cars going past in the opposite direction.

Thanks for that link mate , great helpful read. Perhaps cos it's A118 it's not the best regardless so will look into getting a better camera for the side - always hard cos I have a hatchback and the rear windows slope is something have to contend with. Just the night quality that bothers me most of all

 

[GTA Driver]

More shots with my A118-c2 as a rear dash on the drive home with difficult light conditions. Low sun, at times almost directly into the lens with snow on the ground. Clean rear window this time as it has not snowed in a few days and I don't have road salt to contend with. Also I lowered the camera. You will notice a blurred red line. That is the top line of the defrost grid. Still need to work on its placement.

Drove around bridges and trucks with a low sun

Following day, encountered a distracted driver.