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

[leggo]

yes, it'll run till your car battery dies, which would be a bad thing. i added a discharge preventer when i installed mine. also from newegg. go to the ojocam store on newegg (or search for other items from the seller, i can't remember how it's phrased on the newegg site), and look for the discharge preventer for about $35. it's not as simple as just plugging into the lighter, but it's worth it because you won't end up with a dead battery.

you can disable parking mode in the settings of the cf100 application in windows, but i think all that will do is just constantly record/recycle all files, and still drain your battery if your lighter is always on. what kind of car do you have?

I bought a Blacksys CF100, but cannot get the camera to recognise the bin file, I adjusted all the settings in the pc viewer to the way I want, but it makes no difference when I turn on the camera.

 

[sockr1]

this mount sucks i wish there was a permanent mount solution. this is the third time i have to reposition the camera and mount, it starts releasing it's hold about 2 weeks after adding silicone sealant. this time i'm just going to go big and fill in the ball socket with polyurethane adhesive so it won't ever move.

 

[Kip]

Mine seems to move around if I actually try to adjust it without loosening the nut and can also be moved by accident when removing the microsd card (bloody awful tiny thing that it is!). But, it does stay in one place when driving so as long as I have it set right before I set off it's fine. It is a pain having to remove/install each time I leave the car somewhere for long periods though (excluding home). I may have to do a DIY magnetic mount at some point.

 

[Gibson99]

Mine seems to move around if I actually try to adjust it without loosening the nut and can also be moved by accident when removing the microsd card (bloody awful tiny thing that it is!). But, it does stay in one place when driving so as long as I have it set right before I set off it's fine. It is a pain having to remove/install each time I leave the car somewhere for long periods though (excluding home). I may have to do a DIY magnetic mount at some point.

maybe consider blacking out the front of it with a black marker or paint pen. then it will just blend in and disappear from the outside.

i cut off the tip of a nitrile exam glove and slipped it over the ball part of the mount - that helped tighten it up so it doesn't move quite so easily, especially on hot days here in houston. but yes, the ball mount seems to be the weakest part of this camera. i tried making a metal bracket to replace it so it would NEVER move. unfortunately, that warped the case of the camera (i'm thinking it may have carried heat from the windshield to the camera), and that melted the case which blocked the heat sink opening in front, then it overheated and ruined the camera. so be careful if you try doing anything custom.

 

[jaro]

Just bought a cf-100 (to used as a rear cam). How do you check on what is the fw that it currently has?
Since it is new, I assume it is on the latest fw (M1.3). Just curious to know how?

 

[Gibson99]

Just bought a cf-100 (to used as a rear cam). How do you check on what is the fw that it currently has?
Since it is new, I assume it is on the latest fw (M1.3). Just curious to know how?

it shows up in the bottom right corner of the video itself. just view any of the video you record with it and you'll see.

 

[jaro]

it shows up in the bottom right corner of the video itself. just view any of the video you record with it and you'll see.

Thanks. Was not able to notice that on the sample videos.

 

[ljw2k]

I have been reading through this thread and very interested in this camera but, how do you think it would compare to the mini 0806 . I ask this as my mini 0806 from GeasrBest has been OOF since I purchased it a few weeks back so looking for something else. ( NOT from GearBest ) I have learnt my lesson there!.

 

[Gibson99]

OOF? as in the sound you make when someone hits you?

Well, it's not as high resolution as the 0806 - the front cam maxes out at 1080p but it gives nice sharp video both day and night thanks to a sony exmor sensor. rear cam is only 720p - it gives decent video in the day and is poor at night, especially compared to the front cam. but for the price, you really can't complain. and actually the rear cam does pretty good through factory tinted rear glass on both our toyota sienna van and toyota highlander.

the other consideration is size. i've never seen any of the mini 080x cameras in person, but i'm pretty sure that the cf-100 is larger. so if stealth is a main concern for you, this may not be the right camera for you (unless you don't mind painting/taping over the white and shiny parts on the front - rear cam is already 100% black). look for my thread on when i installed it in our sienna - it has pretty good pics which should give you a general idea of the size of the camera. it's not HUGE, it's just that it hangs down from the screen rather than being tight against it like the 080x's and a118.

 

[ljw2k]

I am a amateur photographer and OOF has always been short for ( Out Of Focus ) here in the UK and good job your not in Hawaii to mean "sex", "intercourse"...you get it. last night me and tina went oof

As for the camera choice I was looking more at quality rather than size.

 

[ilaneq]

ljw2k

I used to have a mini 0805(after my 0803 died) and switched to Cf-100 , i must say that when watching video on my pc from the 0805 video quality is a bit better than the CF-100.

however when you take into account the other features the CF-100 gives you it is no match for the mini 08xx series :

1. When my 0803 started dying- it stopped recording at some random point and the led changed from blue to red(no warning sound or any other indication) , it seems to happen only after 20 or 30 mins of driving , and i didn't really notice this for a few weeks. Which was really annoying when i found out because i drove all this time and was sure it records continuously.

Now with my cf-100 its much easier to keep track that the camera is working since it has voice prompt for almost every task (start record,parking mode starting etc..)
and if it fails for some reason you will not be left unnoticed (try to drive for more 2 mins without a sd card and see if you can survive ).

2. the build quality is much better than the 08xx

3.It has 2 video channels recording which is great - when my 0803 died and i was waiting for my 0805 someone hit my car from behind while i was driving . I don't have any recording of this event and even if i had a front camera it is not the same as when you can actually see the hit on recording - still waiting on the hitter car ensurance company money ...

4. if you ever decide to try a continuously recording system in your car so it will record even when you are not driving the 08xx are not a good choice since they are based on batteries , and its a really bad practice to continuously charge batteries( you can read about this on the forum) , the CF-100 has no battery and is much more fit for this kind of operation.

so for me it was worth it hope it helps you

 

[jaro]

So I have been running test recording with my unit. One thing I have noticed is that how sensitive the g-sensor is ( even setting it to 0 ). Just holding the camera by hand and moving it around causes g-sensor to trigger. Will just have to wait of actual recording to see if this would be an issue to me.

Quick question, is there a some sort of extension cord for the included power cord? Since I'm planning to place the main unit at the back, my best guess the power cord would be shorter by two feet.

 

[Gibson99]

So I have been running test recording with my unit. One thing I have noticed is that how sensitive the g-sensor is ( even setting it to 0 ). Just holding the camera by hand and moving it around causes g-sensor to trigger. Will just have to wait of actual recording to see if this would be an issue to me.

Quick question, is there a some sort of extension cord for the included power cord? Since I'm planning to place the main unit at the back, my best guess the power cord would be shorter by two feet.

G sensor will be more predictable once it's solidly mounted.

You can get cigarette lighter extension cables pretty easy, but that might be a little bulky to hide behind a panel, depending on your vehicle.

 

[jaro]

You can get cigarette lighter extension cables pretty easy, but that might be a little bulky to hide behind a panel, depending on your vehicle.

I was hoping there are other solution. I guess I have to deal with it when the time comes (hopefully my calculation are wrong this time around).

 

[Gibson99]

I was hoping there are other solution. I guess I have to deal with it when the time comes (hopefully my calculation are wrong this time around).

It you're not afraid of splicing wires, you can cut the wire in the middle and just extend it that way. Should only be two wires inside the black outer insulation.

 

[tomintx]

Yup, that's the point of formatting. Just don't do it with anything larger than a 32GB card in this dashcam, gotta use a PC for that.

KuoH

I just formatted a 64GB card in my CF-100, which it properly did as FAT32, so I wonder KuoH why you say this? Also, how would one format as FAT32 using a Windows PC? At least, my W7 computer would only do 32GB for this 64GB card.

I would like to hear whether anyone has yet tried either a 200GB or 256GB card in this cam. These are getting to be reasonable in price and might even store my entire 26 hour (regular) cross-country trip in its entirety.

Don't recall seeing anyone mention this, but I just tested a PNY 128GB card in my cf-100 and it seems to work fine. The bad news, as expected, it wastes about 24GB of space pre-allocating 400+ files in the events folder. I wish the developer would fix this in the next firmware and make this adjustable or set 4 to 8 GB as a maximum instead of wasting so much space.

Also, I note this 64GB card was "only" populated with 2.1GB total 36 files (just 3.5%), so it does seem odd that yours KuoH took 10x that for only 2x more capacity?

 

[tomintx]

I would like to hear whether anyone has yet tried either a 200GB or 256GB card in this cam.

Another question: Can any other player be used with this cam, a player that includes the GPS data (and rear camera) other than the CF-100 player? That player is of course hideously bad in displaying the footage, as if it were interlaced or something. Yeah I know MPC-HC and VLC Player work; I just wonder given how so much Chinese stuff gets shared-around (stolen!) that maybe another co's player works better.

 

[kuoh]

I did my testing with the original shipped firmware. I think the later firmware resolved the 64GB formatting issue. As for the wasted space, I just checked my 64GB card and the EVENTS folder has 199 files, mostly the preallocated 64MB TMP files. Did you check there or were you just looking in the NORMAL folder?

KuoH

I just formatted a 64GB card in my CF-100, which it properly did as FAT32, so I wonder KuoH why you say this? Also, how would one format as FAT32 using a Windows PC? At least, my W7 computer would only do 32GB for this 64GB card.

Also, I note this 64GB card was "only" populated with 2.1GB total 36 files (just 3.5%), so it does seem odd that yours KuoH took 10x that for only 2x more capacity?

 

[tomintx]

I did my testing with the original shipped firmware. I think the later firmware resolved the 64GB formatting issue.

Ah, that would explain it.

I did get a 128GB card and tried it today. The CF-100 said it had a problem (wouldn't format it) so I did pull the card and it came OOB as exFAT. I used the old HP USB utility to format it as FAT32 and then it worked fine in the CF-100.

I can confirm too kuoh your original finding about files--the CF-100 initialized the card contents to 409 .tmp files in the EVENT folder!

The next step up in cards appears to be 200GB but the way prices have been dropping lately I don't want to buy anything!

 

[qkarl]

For the loosening ball joint problem, has anyone tried drilling small holes through the socket and the ball, then pinning the joint in the desired position? This might make it a "fixed" mount.