Hello all, I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a dash cam that I can mount on my dashboard, or use with a sandbag mount? I don't want something that uses a suction cup mount with a cord hanging down to the plug in. I've never had good luck with suction cup mounts and I just would prefer something that is on the dash, that can be taken out of the car or hidden away without too much trouble. I suppose I could mount one low on the windshield. Thoughts? thank you
Dashcam for dashboard mount
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kamkar
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There are not much to do in the way of this, a few guys have used little cameras like mobius, and then glued them to the dash as thats just about the only way to get something to stick to that, and then throw a cap over the camera when parked as it is after all in a very visible location.
Routing a wire along the headliner to the A piller and down that are pretty east and often even tool less, having a wire dangle down over the windscreen are silly and even illegal here in Denmark.
I have just take a dremel to my center console to be able to route a wire in a fashion i can live with, cuz i too cant have wired dangling no matter where it is.
And my relation to my little cheap mini car are in a place where taking a dremel to the center console plastic dont bother me, the little car have no resale value all when i sell it some day, will be much better as part of a trade in for a new car where i could get much more than the resale or scrap iron value.
Even if i should sell the car some day, the buyer will be looking for a cheap car that just passed its last inspection so he / she have a fairly cheap car to drive for 2 years before the next inspection.
But most dedicated dashcams are not meant for on dash install, so one would have to get creative here.
Routing a wire along the headliner to the A piller and down that are pretty east and often even tool less, having a wire dangle down over the windscreen are silly and even illegal here in Denmark.
I have just take a dremel to my center console to be able to route a wire in a fashion i can live with, cuz i too cant have wired dangling no matter where it is.
And my relation to my little cheap mini car are in a place where taking a dremel to the center console plastic dont bother me, the little car have no resale value all when i sell it some day, will be much better as part of a trade in for a new car where i could get much more than the resale or scrap iron value.
Even if i should sell the car some day, the buyer will be looking for a cheap car that just passed its last inspection so he / she have a fairly cheap car to drive for 2 years before the next inspection.
But most dedicated dashcams are not meant for on dash install, so one would have to get creative here.
kamkar
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Down low are not a optimal location, wipers in resting position and hood of the car will be a lot in the footage as you cant aim the camera up too much as this will have a effect on the light metering and so compromise the footage making it darker than it need to be.
The recommended alignment of a dashcam are 50/50 at the horizon.
I would recommend watching a few how to install a dashcam video on youtube, the routing of power wire around the windscreen are the same for any brand camera and most kind of vehicles.
And sticking a camera to the windscren using dual sided tape mount, well it are not easy but you can remove the sticky part fairly easy and often without any tool or solvent used.
The recommended alignment of a dashcam are 50/50 at the horizon.
I would recommend watching a few how to install a dashcam video on youtube, the routing of power wire around the windscreen are the same for any brand camera and most kind of vehicles.
And sticking a camera to the windscren using dual sided tape mount, well it are not easy but you can remove the sticky part fairly easy and often without any tool or solvent used.
Thank you, I saw one on Amazon once that set on a stand that looked like it would work, but of course I can't find it now. I have a magnetic ball mount that I could use, the only issue is that the bottom of many units have something that putting a magnetic sticky pad on would render it useless for the intended purpose. Oh well, the search continues.
kamkar
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Good luck buddy.
The dash in dashcams are a little confusing, i dont think dashcams even been mounted off the dashboard itself even in the early days.
Also with dashcams you can most often not flip the image 180 degrees if you mount it upside down, so that will have to be done in post production where it is easy to do in any editor, just take a little while, but should work fine for just accident logging where you just have to flip the footage in case you get into a alteration, or maybe leave it so some one else to flip it so you can not be blamed for tampering with evidence.
The dash in dashcams are a little confusing, i dont think dashcams even been mounted off the dashboard itself even in the early days.
Also with dashcams you can most often not flip the image 180 degrees if you mount it upside down, so that will have to be done in post production where it is easy to do in any editor, just take a little while, but should work fine for just accident logging where you just have to flip the footage in case you get into a alteration, or maybe leave it so some one else to flip it so you can not be blamed for tampering with evidence.
kamkar
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I forgot to tell, with a camera down low, then the plate of cars around you have to be at a decent distance for the camera to see the plate over the hood of your car, and with the wide angle lenses dashcams use, then you cant really read plates 3 car lengths or so away ( thats just the nature of the lenses used )
On my little car not much of a problem as the hood of it is 4 foot MAX and it start slope down at once at the bottom of the windscreen, i lovingly say i have a snub nose car
i hope the crumble zones work otherwise i can quickly end up with the little 1000 ccm engine in my lap.
As you can see in my video here comparing a standard dashcam lens Vs a after market lens that let me see plates in the footage as far out as i can IRL with my eyes.
The trade off is Field of View for the "zoom" 12 mm lens, and dashcams are mage to capture as much as possible to the sides.
Of course plate capture isent everything and perfect location and best of dashcams it is still hard to capture plates, but it is nice to have a chance at least, something i think you to a large degree rule out if you install a camera low on the windscreen or dashboard.
On my little car not much of a problem as the hood of it is 4 foot MAX and it start slope down at once at the bottom of the windscreen, i lovingly say i have a snub nose car
i hope the crumble zones work otherwise i can quickly end up with the little 1000 ccm engine in my lap.
As you can see in my video here comparing a standard dashcam lens Vs a after market lens that let me see plates in the footage as far out as i can IRL with my eyes.
The trade off is Field of View for the "zoom" 12 mm lens, and dashcams are mage to capture as much as possible to the sides.
Of course plate capture isent everything and perfect location and best of dashcams it is still hard to capture plates, but it is nice to have a chance at least, something i think you to a large degree rule out if you install a camera low on the windscreen or dashboard.
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DidYouSeeThat?
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You might look at the "Owl Car Cam". I don't know much about it, other than that it's the only camera I've seen that mounts down low by the dashboard.
https://owlcam.com
It looks like it has a little T-shaped mounting bracket that you shove down against the base of the windshield, which then uses either an adhesive patch or a suction cup to hold it to the windshield? You might be able to make a similar mount and adapt it to other cameras.
https://owlcam.com
It looks like it has a little T-shaped mounting bracket that you shove down against the base of the windshield, which then uses either an adhesive patch or a suction cup to hold it to the windshield?
You might be able to make a similar mount and adapt it to other cameras.SawMaster
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Pretty much any dashcam can be mounted onto or above the top of the dash. There are just multiple problems in doing that which don't happen when mounted high on the windshield as usual. One of those issues will be heat from direct sun exposure; these devices tend to run hot already and often that is enough to kill them. That is nt covered under most warranties. Another issue will be sun glare and dashboard reflections due to the longer distance to the windshield. And of course the limits of nearby low-level viewing such as number plates.
For scenery views that can be a good location, but it's not optimum for what dashcams are usually used for. A beanbag mount is not plausible as you will find that any movement changes the view, and each time you use the can it will need re-aimng. Works well for a GPS but not a cam. Plus if you crash, the cam goes flying and may end up dead when you want it the most. There are plenty of discreet high level mounted cams and the wiring is easy to conceal with most cars, so I think you'd do well to consider all this before spending your money getting disappointing results.
The perfect cam has never been made and never will be, so choose the one which does best with what you need the most, and don't be afraid to spend for quality.
Phil
For scenery views that can be a good location, but it's not optimum for what dashcams are usually used for. A beanbag mount is not plausible as you will find that any movement changes the view, and each time you use the can it will need re-aimng. Works well for a GPS but not a cam. Plus if you crash, the cam goes flying and may end up dead when you want it the most. There are plenty of discreet high level mounted cams and the wiring is easy to conceal with most cars, so I think you'd do well to consider all this before spending your money getting disappointing results.
The perfect cam has never been made and never will be, so choose the one which does best with what you need the most, and don't be afraid to spend for quality.
Phil
