Complete Review BlackSys CF-100. 2Ch 1080p Sony Exmor CMOS + 720p, GPS, 24/7 Parking.

[steph280]

Do you guys have any issues with heat related warpage? Mine is installed in a black interior car, but the area I live does not get excessively hot. I do notice the camera itself gets very hot. Mine is hardwired to constant 12v for parking mode. Email to Blacksys went unanswered.

 

[Gibson99]

Do you guys have any issues with heat related warpage? Mine is installed in a black interior car, but the area I live does not get excessively hot. I do notice the camera itself gets very hot. Mine is hardwired to constant 12v for parking mode. Email to Blacksys went unanswered.

mine did that, but it was because i made a metal mount bracket that unfortunately warped the case, causing it to touch the heat sink, and then it deformed. mine was way worse though - the vent holes were almost melted shut so it got REAL hot. to the point that it caused some weird film to appear on the inside of the lens. i had to take it apart and clean the lens and sensor from the inside, and i don't think i got the focus quite right when i put it back together.

i DO live in a hot area though - Houston, TX. on top of that, the car is black, and doesn't get parked in a garage, so it's outside in the heat every day. mine's also wired up for parking mode.

 

[jokiin]

i DO live in a hot area though - Houston, TX. on top of that, the car is black, and doesn't get parked in a garage, so it's outside in the heat every day. mine's also wired up for parking mode.

that's a torture test

 

[esox07]

What kind of power connection port is on this camera. I was looking to hardwire it with a battery discharge prevention device inline and they all come with Micro or Mini USB connectors. It looks like the power connector on this camera is neither, but instead one of those round power connectors???

 

[CheckYourLights]

What kind of power connection port is on this camera. I was looking to hardwire it with a battery discharge prevention device inline and they all come with Micro or Mini USB connectors. It looks like the power connector on this camera is neither, but instead one of those round power connectors???

It is a round connector.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4KN1ZG7375
Is what Gibson99 used in his install thread.
You can read it here
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/installing-a-cf-100-in-a-2008-toyota-sienna-van.8111/

 

[Gibson99]

All the battery discharge prevention devices I've ever seen have a standard cigarette socket as their output, so they're pretty universal. Never seen one with USB output.

 

[CheckYourLights]

A little out of sync and shape, but here is my first quick POC using Corel Video Studio

I wish syncing and shaping was a little easier. I have seen a few videos sync with in video audio ques.

 

[Gibson99]

i've noticed that when i sync front and rear from the beginning of the clip, the first 1 second or so of the rear video is completely frozen. but the audio will sync up just fine.

also, for my rearview, i typically crop out the top half since it's nothing but sky. that also has the side effect of making it look more like the shape of a typical rearview mirror - a wide rectangle.

edit: another thing i do is that once i get the video tracks synced (or at least within a few ms - close enough) i then mute audio on all but one of them so there's no weird echo effects. that said, the echo can help you get them in sync if you can figure out which one is "ahead" or "behind". probably not so simple with 4 tracks though!

good work!

 

[CheckYourLights]

for my rearview, i typically crop out the top half since it's nothing but sky.

I never thought about that. Thanks.

 

[Muzza]

Also, not having a display its hard to aim camera. Its takes some test and try before you find right lens angle, unless you have a portable- or in-car built in display that you may connect to CF-100.

Hi Niko,

In your "Cons" section, you mention the above about the CF-100, so for aligning the camera correctly, is it possible to connect the camera to a portable display such as a tablet/laptop using the camera's A/V Out Port? If so, what connector would be required?

BTW, superb review!

Muzza

 

[niko]

Hi Niko,

In your "Cons" section, you mention the above about the CF-100, so for aligning the camera correctly, is it possible to connect the camera to a portable display such as a tablet/laptop using the camera's A/V Out Port? If so, what connector would be required?

BTW, superb review!

Muzza

It's a 2.5mm plug RCA video cable. I was connecting to external display which has RCA AV-input. Tablets / laptops don't have them.
Without display it is also possible to aim camera angle. For that you just record short video clip, remove microsd / insert into laptop / check footage. If not happy then adjust angle and do above mentioned steps again. I am sure it will take max 3-4 (5?) attempts / 5-8min, but its a one time procedure.

 

[Muzza]

Thanks for that.

I have a portable DVD player with an RCA AV input, so once the camera arrives, I'll try that as an external display.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

I just saw this new review posted today:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dashcam/comments/3w1j2y/my_review_of_the_blacksys_cf100_dashcam/

 

[Gibson99]

I just saw this new review posted today:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dashcam/comments/3w1j2y/my_review_of_the_blacksys_cf100_dashcam/

he must have got a bad one if he thinks the g1wh gives the same quality video, even at night.

 

[jokiin]

he must have got a bad one if he thinks the g1wh gives the same quality video, even at night.

he has samples at imgur.com/a/K8qhk

edit: couldn't post the proper link, the forum software broke it for some reason

 

[kuoh]

I'm thinking he may be misinterpreting the quality due to different FOV and lighting conditions, since the images are from different days. Also it appears that the road was wet in the CF-100 images, which can make it appear to be darker.

KuoH

he must have got a bad one if he thinks the g1wh gives the same quality video, even at night.

 

[jokiin]

I'm thinking he may be misinterpreting the quality due to different FOV and lighting conditions, since the images are from different days. Also it appears that the road was wet in the CF-100 images, which can make it appear to be darker.

KuoH

side by side samples are the only way to be sure

 

[cheesetoast99]

That's my post on reddit. I still have my broken G1W-H. I'll put both up in my window tomorrow and get daytime/nighttime video to compare. You may be right about the wet road condition, this will be the only way to tell and i'm curious myself. I'll edit both videos into 1 for comparison. Let me know if you guys have any questions I can answer. I'm not trying to trash on the camera, just trying to provide information that would have been helpful to me when I was shopping.

 

[Gibson99]

That's my post on reddit. I still have my broken G1W-H. I'll put both up in my window tomorrow and get daytime/nighttime video to compare. You may be right about the wet road condition, this will be the only way to tell and i'm curious myself. I'll edit both videos into 1 for comparison. Let me know if you guys have any questions I can answer. I'm not trying to trash on the camera, just trying to provide information that would have been helpful to me when I was shopping.

I had both the cf100 and a118 (almost the same thing as g1w series, just different form factor) installed and could do direct comparison. There was no comparison - the cf wins hands down, day or night.

It's not night but it's a true side by side

 

[cheesetoast99]

Sorry for the delay.

Cf-100 on the left. G1w-H on the right. You can also see at 8:45 where I screwed up a bit. Was looking at the car pulled over that was starting to move and didn't notice the other one coming up the merge lane going 30kmph slower than I was going. I misjudged the on ramp, didn't realize it merged onto another ramp.