B40 / A118 / AE-CC30 or Mobius... and a few questions.

[Tomato_Punch]

Long time lurker finally joining in.

I've been using my smartphone as a dash cam, but it occasionally force reboots and records in 15fps at night so I decided to get a dedicated dash cam. I want something discreet and reliable that can stand heat (Up to 95'F ambient temperature here in DC) while left in car, although I'm not planning on recording while parked. Checking the sample videos from both, I am happy with both cameras' video quality -- it's anyway a huge upgrade from my phone. I like B40's simplicity and lower price, but I like the form factor of Mobius and how easy it is to replace parts on it. However, B40's memory card reading problem concerns me and if it is that big a deal, I'm willing to sacrifice the display and choose Mobius. On the other hand, Mobius has overheating issues reported frequently, which I'm not sure if I should be worried since my climate isn't as extreme as the Southern states.

Also, how much of footage can be stored in, for example, 16gb memory card? I often drive about 4-5 hours to NYC and I'm wondering if 16gb would be enough to store the trip in 1080p with audio on.

Thank you in advance.

 

[GJHS]

As a Mobius owner, I can help you with that camera. Let me start by saying the overheating issue is a non issue. I don't know of one recent post regarding any heating problem. I was worried when I was first investigating it, yet 8 months later with my Mobius and not one problem.

What's great about the Mobius is it's reliability, size, video quality, support, easy to find info, choice of lenses, lens extension option and continued updates. I also like that it doesn't look expensive, so a thief may just pass it by if he sees it. If you're worried about the heat, you should swap out the battery for Super Capacitors. It's a $7 part and an easy swap. I like having a battery for short parking mode recording and outside the car stuff, so I just take the camera out when ever I'm parked in the sun on hot days. The metal tripod mount makes it easy to just spin it off and on. I have been removing it since I first bought it 8 months ago without issue.

While up here in NYC, stop by @spytec on 38th and see @TJ_Spytec. This way you can get a hands on of the two cameras.

A 32gb card will hold about 4 hours of video on Standard Bitrate on the Mobius and most cameras. You can also use a 64Gb if you wanted to hold more; to me 4 hours is enough.

 

[reverend]

I've got both here as well - the A118 has potentially the slightly wider view than the Mobius B lens - daytime wise they're very similar but at night time the Mobius with the B lens is the better camera out of the two.

I only recently got the Mobius after reading pretty much nothing but positive feedback on here and other forums and it's great how flexible it is.

If you just want something you can fit and forget maybe the A118 would be better, but if you're happy to tweak then the Mobius is the way to go as it's so flexible in comparison and has so many other uses.

If you just want discrete then although the Mobius is so small you can hide it pretty much anywhere there's not much beating the A118 form factor.

I'm currently running the Mobius with the wide (B) lens in narrow mode and the footage is fantastic.

 

[russ331]

Forget about Mobius heat issues ... an urban myth proven incorrect in the nearly 14 months it's been on sale. Just make sure the external power supply delivers minimum 1A at 5V.

I find that a 32GB card gets around 4 hours 30 minutes of clips at the Standard Data Rate.

I like the A118 form factor very much. It's one of the very few DashCams I'd consider buying if a capacitor version were available ... say no to LiPo. I'd also want to see improvement in night time video clarity ... it looks fine in isolation but not so good by comparison ... judge for yourself ...

http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/night-2-b40-a118-vs-panorama-vs-mobius-b-vs-mini-0803.6312/

I'm biased but I vote Mobius. When you eventually replace it, it'll still serve you well as a rear screen cam, bicycle cam, motorcycle cam, scuba cam, pet cam, web cam, rc model cam, hat cam, home security cam ... so many uses.

 

[Tomato_Punch]

Thanks everyone for response. Sounds like I don't need to worry about overheating. Off to order Mobius from SpyTec!

 

[GJHS]

Thanks everyone for response. Sounds like I don't need to worry about overheating. Off to order Mobius from SpyTec!

Now to choose between A and B lens. That's usually the tough part

 

[Tomato_Punch]

Of course B lens! I like its mildly wide FOV, not crazy like a fish eye.

 

[GJHS]

Better night performance as well. You can choose narrow or wide angle from the menu as well.