BlackVue 450 or ThinkWare F100

[steve32123]

Hi all.
I'm looking for a basic good quality 1 channel barrel shaped camera for my car and the BlackVue 450 or ThinkWare F100 seem to be the obvious choices.
I can't find any reviews on the f100 though. Any thoughts out there which one of these would be the best choice?
Are there any other barrel shaped cameras that would be a better choice?
The reason I'm looking for a barrel shaped camera is because I want a camera that is not very noticeable in the car. A friend has a BlackView 650 and its not very noticeable at all. If anyone can think of a better option that would be even less noticeable that would be good too.
I plan to hardwire any camera that i buy.

 

[Maddog1974]

I can't comment to much on the Blackvue but the F100 is a nice unit. One thing to keep in mind is that you need to buy a power magic if you want to use the Blackvue for parking recordings. The Thinkware has this built in (battery voltage & timer menu to allow the camera to shut down when the battery voltage is getting low)

If you hunt around this forum we have a discount code for www.thinkwaredashcam.uk too that knocks off about 12%

 

[steve32123]

I can't comment to much on the Blackvue but the F100 is a nice unit. One thing to keep in mind is that you need to buy a power magic if you want to use the Blackvue for parking recordings. The Thinkware has this built in (battery voltage & timer menu to allow the camera to shut down when the battery voltage is getting low)

If you hunt around this forum we have a discount code for www.thinkwaredashcam.uk too that knocks off about 12%

I take it you are the ThinkWare representative?
How long does the internal battery last for the F100? I would imagine the much larger battery in the power magic would last a lot longer?
Is there any way of stopping the f100 overwriting any incidents that its recorded if the car is left for a longer period of time?

 

[tabetha]

If the F100 has the same thing as the F770 that I have you can allocate more space to "event" recording by moving partitions around.
Every one has their own opinion but I prefer the flat on the screen type cam like my 770 and think it way less noticeable, it is in line with mirror and blends in very well esp in dark interior cars, or those with tinted windows,

 

[jokiin]

I can't comment to much on the Blackvue but the F100 is a nice unit.

what's the video like, are we talking F50 or F770 type results?

 

[Maddog1974]

I take it you are the ThinkWare representative?
How long does the internal battery last for the F100? I would imagine the much larger battery in the power magic would last a lot longer?
Is there any way of stopping the f100 overwriting any incidents that its recorded if the car is left for a longer period of time?

We are a UK Thinkware Distributor. There isn't any internal battery on any Thinkware they all have the Super Capacitor to finish a recording if the vehicle lost power. (I assume the Blackvue will be the same as batteries often leak when they get hot leaving you with a dead camera 6 months down the line so good manufacturers avoid them) there are different types of Power Magic, the standard one just monitors the vehicle battery voltage and shut down power to the camera when the battery gets low. (Thinkware has this built in) and then they do a small rechargable battery pack version, Thinkware don't make anything like that, only a much larger version that needs proper installation.

 

[Maddog1974]

what's the video like, are we talking F50 or F770 type results?

More like F50 (but slightly better in our opinion) than the F770 etc

 

[steve32123]

so if the video is only slightly better than the f5o whats the advantages of buying the f100 over that camera?

 

[Maddog1974]

The main thing with the F100 is that it can have a rear 720p camera attached (Internal Rear Window or Internal IR to watch driver and lastly an External IR Rear Cam for vans with no rear window) its just got a 5 degree wider lens too (135 deg instead of 130)

 

[steve32123]

So are you saying its basically an f50 with all of these extra features?

 

[jokiin]

so if the video is only slightly better than the f5o whats the advantages of buying the f100 over that camera?

you'd hope for better, the F50 video is really poor

 

[Maddog1974]

So are you saying its basically an f50 with all of these extra features?

Basically yes, we sell loads of F50 models for Company vehicles & vans and needed a 2 channel version so Thinkware made one.

 

[steve32123]

Ok Thanks. Not sure I'll be happy with the video quality of the f50. After reading many reviews the quality seems best suited to a rear camera or as you've mentioned for vans etc. Its a shame that ThinkWare didn't improve the video quality of the unit as well, seeing as the f50 was already lagging behind competitors in video quality in this price bracket.
Looks like i'll either go for a black view 450 or maybe another barrel type camera if i can find one. Shame as I liked the idea buying from ThinkWare.
If for some reason i do decide to go with ThinkWare, if I dont want or need the extra features of the f100 should i then just buy the f50 if the video quality is the same on both?