A119 V4 Soon?

[Nigel]

Half a year has passed. Any rumours on when a V4 is coming out? V3 was heavily discounted on AliExpress for $72 USD and currently on sale at Amazon Canada for $108 + tax.

Having released the A119 Mini with wi-fi, the only thing the V3 really needs is a sensor upgrade to Starvis-2, and Viofo is busy with other new cameras at the moment, like the A229 Pro, so if there is an update to the A119 or A119 Mini in the near future then it is likely to just be a sensor update. Does that make it a V4, or a V3.1? Whatever it is, I don't think Sony has started mass production of the required Starvis-2 sensor yet, although they have done the press release, so it will likely be Easter time at least, more likely a summer release.

For now, if you want Starvis-2 in a single channel dashcam, then you need an A139 Pro 1 channel, and that will also give you the benefit of 4K, which is very useful for taking advantage of the new HDR.

 

[geokilla]

Having released the A119 Mini with wi-fi, the only thing the V3 really needs is a sensor upgrade to Starvis-2, and Viofo is busy with other new cameras at the moment, like the A229 Pro, so if there is an update to the A119 or A119 Mini in the near future then it is likely to just be a sensor update. Does that make it a V4, or a V3.1? Whatever it is, I don't think Sony has started mass production of the required Starvis-2 sensor yet, although they have done the press release, so it will likely be Easter time at least, more likely a summer release.

For now, if you want Starvis-2 in a single channel dashcam, then you need an A139 Pro 1 channel, and that will also give you the benefit of 4K, which is very useful for taking advantage of the new HDR.

Is the Starvis-2 and A139 a huge upgrade from the A119 V3 or Mini? To me, I feel like the Mini is just a smaller V3 with USB-C and Wi-Fi but I could be wrong...

 

[Kremmen]

For me, having suffered sub standard video, partially through ball joint vibration and partially 1080 the V3 was a significant improvement.

Whilst I could change to a Starvis unit or the Mini, the improvement looks minimal and not worth the rewiring.

 

[Dashmellow]

For me, having suffered sub standard video, partially through ball joint vibration and partially 1080 the V3 was a significant improvement.

Whilst I could change to a Starvis unit or the Mini, the improvement looks minimal and not worth the rewiring.

What about new ball joints?

 

[Kremmen]

Oh, don't remind me, the trick of putting blu-tak into the ball joint before tightening wasn't ideal. Then the less than discrete mounting.

Give me a solid wedge any day

 

[Dashmellow]

Oh, don't remind me, the trick of putting blu-tak into the ball joint before tightening wasn't ideal. Then the less than discrete mounting.

Give me a solid wedge any day

I remember the days before wedge shaped cameras became available. Living on a bumpy mountain road there were days when you'd arrive home and discover the dash cam was askew even if the ball joint was tightened to the max. Some footage shot on washboard roads was completely unusable and the word "vibration" hardly did it justice. I did learn that some ball joint mounts were much more secure than others though.

 

[Kremmen]

Yep, those were the days

Then every time you put the camera back in the car you had to realign it as the joint had moved.

When I think back to this monstrosity :

Compared to :

 

[Nigel]

To me, I feel like the Mini is just a smaller V3 with USB-C and Wi-Fi but I could be wrong...

That is more or less correct.

Is the Starvis-2 and A139 a huge upgrade from the A119 V3 or Mini?

If you are happy with the A119 V3 or Mini and want to stick with a single channel camera then it would probably make sense to wait for an A119 with a sensor upgrade to Starvis 2, rather than move to the A139 Pro immediately.

The A139 Pro does have the advantage of 4K and significantly more dynamic range, so yes it is a big upgrade, but Starvis-2 will be coming to the whole range given time so they will all be significantly upgraded. If you want the very best then maybe wait for the A229 Pro, or if you want the very best and are prepared to pay for regular upgrades then go for the A139 now.


The benefit of Starvis-2 at night seems to depend a lot on your headlights and if they put out enough light onto the plates you want to read, or not. Pre-Starvis-2 you probably couldn't read the plates at night anyway, although the A119 V3 does have an HDR function which does work in some situations. With the right headlights and Starvis-2 you can get a huge improvement in night time plate reading, but not everyone is seeing the full benefit.

 

[Mtz]

With the right headlights and Starvis-2 you can get a huge improvement in night time plate reading, but not everyone is seeing the full benefit.

No matter if benefit is seen or not, the Starvis 2 is better just because enabling HDR during day is not affecting the image so much like the HDR offered by Starvis.