Camera for recording police encounters: cabin and driver window.

[tolamik]

I just installed a streetguardian dual camera system which covers what's going on in front and back of the car. Now I would like to add another camera to record police and other encounters which take place on the side of the car. I'm thinking something to mount on the pillar between passenger front and rear doors, aimed at the driver. So it would cover both the cabin and the policeperson who usually is outside the drivers window.

I have read the older threads about police encounters, but they seem more geared towards front/back than sideview.

Having something that is discreet and "set it and forget it" is important to me; I don't want something big that will get knocked around by passengers or be in the way. A wifi camera without a screen is appealing, so that I won't need access to the back, and the back can be mounted right against the pillar. I live in Arizona where heat is an issue so capacitor vs battery is required.

I'm leaning toward the Blueskysea b1w for its small size and lack of display. It sounds like the problem with the mic reported in some reviews has been fixed by the manufacturer. The only thing obviously missing is IR illumination, but that seems to only be available on dual camera dvrs which I don't need.

Anyone have other thoughts?

 

[country_hick]

A side view camera will not see much after dark.
A low light sensor in any camera you choose would be preferred unless you are never out after dark.

 

[kamkar]

I use the B1W as a cabin camera, it is fine in daytime and with light in the cabin.

BUT ! it have a permanent stick on mount to you will either have to aim it at your driver side door window permanent or stick it to some mount that allow you to swivel it around.
As i understand US cops do all of their interactions at the driver side door, but not having their face right up there, so something on the dash aimed at the door window and maybe aimed up a little will probably be the best.

 

[tolamik]

I think you are correct that around the center of the dash would have the best view, aimed up towards the window a bit. Only problem is that is a very indiscreet location; I prefer if the cop doesn't realize he is being filmed (so he won't confiscate the footage). For that reason I'm now considering mounting on the passenger side grip assist (the handle above the door).

 

[kamkar]

Not a issue here, aside for putting my camera over another persons fence or hedge or film in his windows i cam pretty much film all i want, but there can be some issues if i post my footage online.
All my youtube dashcam footage i am told are illegal as i don't blur out plates on cars, but i cant be bothered with that and will keep doing that until a judge tell me to stop.
At which time i will just report every event to the police, keep a list of how many times i have done that and them doing nothing due to severe cop shortage here, and then bring in media like i had to do a few years ago when i reported a extraordinary large idiot to the police.
ATM there are a range of offenses police here just have to say " im sorry to" due to the cop shortage, things like shop lifting have pretty much no consequences here now just to mention one "minor" thing.

Im my book there are nothing as a minor crime, either you break a law or not, only sentences for what ever can be minor of major.

You can get pinhole lenses though i am not sure they are that wide angled, but they will let you conceal the camera or in some cases the lens of the camera ( as for instance the old mobius allow for you to move the small Lens assembly away from the rest of the camera by 4-5 inch of cable )
There are also a range of hidden spy cameras to choose from, some the size of a pack of chewing gum, but i am not familiar with their low light performance. but maybe a ally worth investigating for you.
And i am not aware if they have dashcam functionality, it would be preferable to have a camera on a wire for power so you don't risk pulling a camera with no power on the battery.

Got cameras all over my car so i drive in a video bubble so to say, but none aimed at the door, beside i always get out of my car as i have a problem with people hovering over me, and Danish cops are okay with that as they don't have the same dangers to deal with as American cops.

 

[kamkar]

New remote cameras like on the K2S we are testing and preparing for production are quite small, about 1 X 1/2 inch or so.

Fairly east to work with, i am planning for using this system for new side cameras as i am using two single cameras there ( mobius B lens left side & innovv C3 on the right )
Sop footage out the side window in video above are from the discontinued C3

 

[tolamik]

Cool, my searching indicates that the K2S is nearing release by Street Guardian. Edit: no, actually SG says it's by MEGtech.

K2S Dual-Remote

Here's some unboxing pics of the K2S cam which was supplied to me free for beta-testing and review. Full review to follow shortly. Box- Top Contents- Contents 1- Contents2 - Cam- GPS- Clip Mount- SD card side

dashcamtalk.com

They mention that eventually they will have IR illuminated cameras... that would be pretty sweet.

 

[jokiin]

Cool, my searching indicates that the K2S is nearing release by Street Guardian.

we do have a dual remote model coming (SG9663DR), the K2S is not ours though, that's MEGtech's product

 

[tolamik]

TIL that there is such a thing as a motorcycle DVR, with two remote cameras and a seperate dvr box to be hidden. Like the Innovv K2.

 

[estore009]

TIL that there is such a thing as a motorcycle DVR, with two remote cameras and a seperate dvr box to be hidden. Like the Innovv K2.

Not a good idea to use K2S as a motorcycle dash camera. It has holes on both two lenses, and will be better to use it as a car dash camera!

 

[jokiin]

Not a good idea to use K2S as a motorcycle dash camera. It has holes on both two lenses, and will be better to use it as a car dash camera!

he was referring to the Innovv K2, (it's a motorcycle camera), not the K2S

 

[kamkar]

Yeah IR aided cameras are a must i think.
All the brands making these new models with remote cameras also seem to want to provide waterproof cameras for outside use.

I haven't heard about a release for the K2S yet, ATM it is still pretty RAW i feel, some features need polish and IQ also need some polish i think, though here i am guessing as WDR are always on ATM and the camera don't handle that too well in low light.
But i hope we will have this dialed in soon. but that's up to the maker MEG industries.

I am wondering if the people going to make these will be adding a option to do both cameras as IR aided ?

 

[tolamik]

I pulled the trigger on the b1w. I figure police encounters are relatively rare so not worth the cost and install hassle of a dual remote camera setup. I suppose I can turn the dome light on in the car if I'm stopped in a dark place to get a little fill.

So my procedure for a police stop will be to turn off the engine, engage the 12v/acc mode of the ignition so the cameras are up, and turn on the dome light. Leave the headlights on, unless the stop ends up taking more than about 15 minutes in which case I'll turn them off to save the 12v battery.

 

[Nigel]

I pulled the trigger on the b1w. I figure police encounters are relatively rare so not worth the cost and install hassle of a dual remote camera setup. I suppose I can turn the dome light on in the car if I'm stopped in a dark place to get a little fill.

So my procedure for a police stop will be to turn off the engine, engage the 12v/acc mode of the ignition so the cameras are up, and turn on the dome light. Leave the headlights on, unless the stop ends up taking more than about 15 minutes in which case I'll turn them off to save the 12v battery.

Not sure you will be delighted with the audio, even though it was improved, but your SG should get the audio OK and the B1W is a good choice for the video. You might like to test your theory about the dome light, could be that will affect the auto exposure negatively and you would be better off just using streetlights, the B1W does quite well in low lighting, especially when parked, and if you are stopped by the police it is always a good idea to stop under a streetlight, good for both you and the police if you can both see without shining torches in each others faces!

 

[country_hick]

Cool, my searching indicates that the K2S is nearing release by Street Guardian. Edit: no, actually SG says it's by MEGtech.

K2S Dual-Remote

Here's some unboxing pics of the K2S cam which was supplied to me free for beta-testing and review. Full review to follow shortly. Box- Top Contents- Contents 1- Contents2 - Cam- GPS- Clip Mount- SD card side

dashcamtalk.com

They mention that eventually they will have IR illuminated cameras... that would be pretty sweet.

IR cameras tend to record in black and white. Just something for you to consider.

 

[SawMaster]

Many US departments will now approach you on the passenger side if on a busy highway or Interstate so the Officer won't be as exposed to passing traffic. If there's more than one Cop involved there will almost certainly be one over there. Side cams will handle this as well as enhance your coverage for driving incidents, some of which occur directly beside you where a F/R cam won't capture them.

Phil

 

[kamkar]

Many US departments will now approach you on the passenger side if on a busy highway or Interstate

O yeah totally forgot that too , they do that too here.
So you would need 2 fixed cameras, or one you can turn to face the "danger"

I am glad i can jump out of my car and "confront" them, some thing i will have to put a note on the dashboard about not to do, if i get to do my all American road trip.

Though both of the cops in the video above seem to ready their guns as they approach my car, then statistics say a civilian are far more likely to get shot than a police officer.
Last cop getting shot at here was a few years back, where some psycho shot a cop leaving work in the head with a .22 stolen from a gun club, but other than that you almost have to count cops getting shot in the line of duty in decades, and traffic cops having pulled over a car even rarer.

Still they should of course be prepared, anything else would be amateur which we have plenty of to go around over here.

12 cops have been killed here since the end of WW2, 2 of them by the same guy in 1965, and he pretty much executed them but he did get out of jail in 1998.

Killing a cop do seem to entail a bigger sentence here than if you killed a regular guy, something i find wrong.

 

[tolamik]

Well I got the b1w installed. Ended up attaching it to the front dome light, about 10" rear of the middle of the top of the front windshield. It's aimed directly to the drivers side. It does a good job of showing me the driver, from my lap up to the top of my head. But that position does not seem ideal for capturing what happens beside the car. The main problem is exposure during daylight; the outside side window looks mostly washed out white. For this reason I can see why a true side camera would be useful. Mounting cameras inside on the top of the side windowsills seems like it would work well, but at this point I'm not ready to buy and install two more cameras. Also they would less discreet.

Under artificial light the exposure seems decent; both the outside and inside look decently exposed. I'm more concerned about night stops than daylight stops; that seems to be when the cops are most twitchy and afraid. So I'll probably just leave it as is for now. Overall I'm very happy with the b1w. The only annoyance is that the only way to know for sure that it is recording is to turn on the fake voice which says "sd card detected. Recording start". I prefer to have that off for discretion so I have to use the app to verify it is recording.

 

[tolamik]

Oh, one other note: I found that leaving my headlights turned on with the engine off is not a good idea. The hardwire kit I got for the b1w has a cutoff voltage of 11.6V while the headlights brought the battery voltage down to about 11.3V. I was confused that the dashcams stayed on for a little while, but Streetguardian said their hardwire kit takes about 100 seconds of undervoltage before it shuts off. I assume the amazon one I got for the b1w is similar.

 

[estore009]

Well I got the b1w installed. Ended up attaching it to the front dome light, about 10" rear of the middle of the top of the front windshield. It's aimed directly to the drivers side. It does a good job of showing me the driver, from my lap up to the top of my head. But that position does not seem ideal for capturing what happens beside the car. The main problem is exposure during daylight; the outside side window looks mostly washed out white. For this reason I can see why a true side camera would be useful. Mounting cameras inside on the top of the side windowsills seems like it would work well, but at this point I'm not ready to buy and install two more cameras. Also they would less discreet.

Under artificial light the exposure seems decent; both the outside and inside look decently exposed. I'm more concerned about night stops than daylight stops; that seems to be when the cops are most twitchy and afraid. So I'll probably just leave it as is for now. Overall I'm very happy with the b1w. The only annoyance is that the only way to know for sure that it is recording is to turn on the fake voice which says "sd card detected. Recording start". I prefer to have that off for discretion so I have to use the app to verify it is recording.

You can switch off "beep" in APP to mute camera! And as for its hardwire kit, just make sure it comes with drain battery protection!