Dash Cams and the iPad

Dashmellow

Dashmellow

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I've been using Apple's Lightning to SD Camera Card Reader to transfer video from a Mobius to an iPad mini. This is very handy if you want to review, edit or show video when out on the road. All you need is the reader and an SD adapter for the microSD card from the camera.

I've discovered that not every camera will allow for one to do this, even if it is using a compatible format such as .Mov. For example, I have not been able to transfer video from the GT300W or GT680W using this method. It may be due to the file structure the camera is using to write the files to the card but even copying files directly to a blank card and then trying to transfer GT300W files to the iPad won't work.

I've considered buying a Lightning to USB camera Adapter but I have no idea if these work with dash cams.

Does anyone else have any experience with this?



 
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That's an unusual problem. I just checked on a Mac (10.7.5) and both the Mobius .MOV files and the GT300W .MOV files can be read whether the camera is directly connected via USB or just the card itself via an SD card adapter. File structure is the same according to the Quicktime Inspector, so I don't get it. Have you tried using the Mobius card in the GT300W, take a short clip and then try to transfer it? I don't have an iPad or an iPhone so cannot comment on the latest iOS.
 
My computer is an iMac running OS 10.8.5. I also run Windows 7 via a virtual machine under Parallels. The computer has two monitors and often I have the Mac OS running on one monitor and Windows on the other. (This is how I update the Mobius firmware and change the settings.) I can transfer and work with files from virtually any dash cam on either OS with no problem. This works whether the cams are connected as mass storage devices or from a card using a reader. (Using a virtual machine method such as this you can also work with video files and apps back and forth seamlessly between both operating systems.) Also, I can transfer dash cam video files from my computer to the iPad (even via WiFi) with no trouble using iTunes. The problem is unique to the iPad itself (running iOS 7.0.4) if you want to transfer files directly to it from an SD card. I've tried your suggestion of putting the Mobius card in the GT300W but it makes no difference in my efforts to transfer those files to the iPad. There is apparently something different about the files that different cameras write to the card.
 
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Might be an iOS 7 thing. Have you tried it on an iOS 6 machine?
 
Gurkha9 said:
Might be an iOS 7 thing. Have you tried it on an iOS 6 machine?
Click to expand...

I only have one iPad and I've never tried (or had any reason) to downgrade the software but I 'spose it could be a factor. Apparently, once you upgrade to iOS 7 you can no longer go back to iOS 6 so it's a moot point, I guess.
 
Apart from iOS 7 there does not appear to be another variable as the .MOV files seem to be encoded the same way from both cameras according to Quicktime Inspector, right down to the Audio and bit rate (using Standard on Mobius).
The fact that the Mac and Windows can play them both leaves only one thing suspect in my mind. Maybe an update to iOS 7 will solve the issue down the road. I've been around Mac OS since System 4.1 :eek: but I gave up on iOS a while ago and went to the dark side (Android) ;)
 
Thanks for your feedback Gurkha. I certainly have no clue at this point. Maybe after this thread has been around awhile someone else might chime in with some insight or other folks with iPads can report whether they've run into this problem. Would also love to hear about people's experiences in general using iPads with dash cams.

I guess if transferring files to an iPad while out on the road could only work with one camera, thank God it's the Mobius! Oh...wait, I completely forgot to mention that this does work with my trusty old AT20....(my first dashcam), which amazingly is still on the market).

P.S. I'm a very long time MacHead too. So, what's your experience with Android and dash cams? Do you use the available app?
 
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Yes I use the Android app by therau2000. One of the reasons I got into the Mobius in the first place. Works great (of course with Android it depends which phone you have) One less reason to fire up XP on Parallels :) Just switched over a Lens A for rear usage and did all config in car using an OTG cable.
 
I've thought about buying a cheap Chinese Android tablet to keep around just for this purpose but I'm not clear if it would work as I've not really explored the details about the app. Being able to adjust settings on the fly would be an appealing capability.
 
Without the proper USB protocols (Host USB feature, Mass Storage Mode) the app would not work. No-name brand Android tablets may not work as expected I would think. Essentially this is the problem with Android, there are very few controls unlike the tightly controlled ecosystem from Apple.
 
Yeah, It's been my hunch that a no-name tablet wouldn't work with the app but unless somebody else has tried it and can report their experience the only way to know would be to buy one. I guess I'll stick with the SD card reader and the Mobius for the time being.
 
i've been looking for a solution to be able to play video files from the mobius while on the road as well. is this still working for you after updating the ipad to the latest version of iOS? have you tried playing .avi files from it? i have my mobius set up to record as AVI, not MOV. i'm not even sure if there's any benefit to that, but that's how I was told to set it up by the person who recommended the mobius as a dash cam to me.
 
Asharus said:
i have my mobius set up to record as AVI, not MOV.
Click to expand...

AVI files have 1 to 2 second gaps between consecutive clips, which is undesirable. For seamless recording, you really should set Mobius to record in MOV format.
 
ok i'll do that thanks guys. back to my original question. does this solution still work for the current version of iOS? should i be able to play .mov files directly from the sd card or the mobius using the 2 adapters in the original post?
 
Asharus said:
ok i'll do that thanks guys. back to my original question. does this solution still work for the current version of iOS? should i be able to play .mov files directly from the sd card or the mobius using the 2 adapters in the original post?
Click to expand...

Yes, if you use Apple's adapter you can load .MOV files from your micro SD card to the iPad.
 
Asharus said:
awesome, thank you. i was also considering the kingston mobilelite here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00KU2E9IW
perhaps it's able to stream directly to my iphone to elimiate the need to store an ipad in the car.
Click to expand...

@russ331 has one of those. He can tell you more about it. From what he's said, I really want one but haven't purchased yet since I've got that expensive Apple adapter. :)
 
Dashmellow said:
I've thought about buying a cheap Chinese Android tablet to keep around just for this purpose but I'm not clear if it would work as I've not really explored the details about the app. Being able to adjust settings on the fly would be an appealing capability.
Click to expand...
I have a no-name tablet (Azpen) running Android 4.2 and it plays .MOV files directly from the microSD card using ES File Manager (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop&hl=en) and an appropriate OTG adapter. (I assume it would play via the USB slot as well but haven't tried.)
 
DT MI said:
I have a no-name tablet (Azpen) running Android 4.2 and it plays .MOV files directly from the microSD card using ES File Manager (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop&hl=en) and an appropriate OTG adapter. (I assume it would play via the USB slot as well but haven't tried.)
Click to expand...

Thanks @DT MI. That's quite an old post I had forgotten all about! Anyway, in this instance, I wasn't talking about viewing .MOV files on an Andriod tablet while I'm out and about as I can do that on my iPad. What I was referring to in that post was an Android app that provides the capability to adjust the settings on Mobius cameras while out on the road using an OTG adapter. Mobius cameras otherwise require a desktop computer based GUI to change internal settings, so that was the appeal since there is no iPad version.

The Android app, Mobius USB Tools apparently doesn't work easily on every device so that's why I said, "I'm not clear if it would work" when mentioning Chinese tablets. My post about this was from so long ago I honestly don't know what works with what at this point in time. I should look into it. Some Chinese tablets are even cheaper than they were back when I wrote that post.
 
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