Front 24/7 dash cam recommendations

FO151

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Hi guys,

I’m looking for a dash camera that stays on 24/7, more for home security reasons (the front of my vehicle faces the back of my house and back garden fence)

Which camera would you recommend?

I’ve looked online there’s that many I wouldn’t know if I was buying something that is going to last me a week and break or overspending for my needs.

Thanks
 
Viofo A119 V3 or A119 Mini?

Is night time important, or just daytime?
Is power consumption important? (what size of battery do you have)
Is resolution important? (distance to the target)

 
Viofo A119 V3 or A119 Mini?

Is night time important, or just daytime?
Is power consumption important? (what size of battery do you have)
Is resolution important? (distance to the target)

Night time isn’t critical but would be nice

I’m not sure on power consumption, If I have the dash cam hard wired into my Ford Fiesta is that going to drain the car battery?

Distance to target is 10 - 15m
 
Night time isn’t critical but would be nice

I’m not sure on power consumption, If I have the dash cam hard wired into my Ford Fiesta is that going to drain the car battery?

Distance to target is 10 - 15m
Viofo A119 V3 or A119 Mini?

Is night time important, or just daytime?
Is power consumption important? (what size of battery do you have)
Is resolution important? (distance to the target)

Sorry, my car battery is a 60Ah
 
Night time isn’t critical but would be nice
Distance to target is 10 - 15m

Might be worth considering a 4K dashcam then, maybe the Viofo A129 Pro, although that does use more power. The A119 uses a narrower angle lens, so the difference in distance seen is not as much as might be expected, but the A129 Pro does also see a fair amount more to the sides, due to its wider lens view, which can also be important.

A negative on the A129 Pro is that like all 4K cameras, it does use a fair amount more power.

I’m not sure on power consumption, If I have the dash cam hard wired into my Ford Fiesta is that going to drain the car battery?
All dashcams will drain the car battery if used 24/7, unless you fit an extra battery dedicated to the dashcam.
The A119 V3 is one of the least power hungry cameras, hence the recommendation.

You should connect the camera via a "hardwire kit", with a low voltage cutoff so that it doesn't leave you stranded. Best to use a 3 wire hardwire kit for parking mode. With a 2K dashcam, you should get 24/7 if you drive around 30 minutes per day, with a 4K you will need 45 minutes, and if you go for a 2 channel, add half an hour driving, it wont use twice as much, but batteries charge slowly when they get full and it needs more time to get enough power in.

Older/worn out batteries will not do so well.

You can use seperate batteries or powerbanks, but that is a big subject, and I don't think necessary for a 1 channel system, unless you are driving less than 30 minutes per day. Since you said that night is not that important, I guess it doesn't matter if you don't get the full 24/7, since the few hours missing would be early morning.

Sorry, my car battery is a 60Ah
That is a reasonable size, actually quite big for today's cars, how old is it?
 
Might be worth considering a 4K dashcam then, maybe the Viofo A129 Pro, although that does use more power. The A119 uses a narrower angle lens, so the difference in distance seen is not as much as might be expected, but the A129 Pro does also see a fair amount more to the sides, due to its wider lens view, which can also be important.

A negative on the A129 Pro is that like all 4K cameras, it does use a fair amount more power.


All dashcams will drain the car battery if used 24/7, unless you fit an extra battery dedicated to the dashcam.
The A119 V3 is one of the least power hungry cameras, hence the recommendation.

You should connect the camera via a "hardwire kit", with a low voltage cutoff so that it doesn't leave you stranded. Best to use a 3 wire hardwire kit for parking mode. With a 2K dashcam, you should get 24/7 if you drive around 30 minutes per day, with a 4K you will need 45 minutes, and if you go for a 2 channel, add half an hour driving, it wont use twice as much, but batteries charge slowly when they get full and it needs more time to get enough power in.

Older/worn out batteries will not do so well.

You can use seperate batteries or powerbanks, but that is a big subject, and I don't think necessary for a 1 channel system, unless you are driving less than 30 minutes per day. Since you said that night is not that important, I guess it doesn't matter if you don't get the full 24/7, since the few hours missing would be early morning.


That is a reasonable size, actually quite big for today's cars, how old is it?
Brilliant, the battery is 2 years old.

As I’ve overlooked how much energy the camera is going to need being used 24/7 are there cameras out there that start recording when something walks past?
 
CCTV is often a good solution for covering parked cars, especially for overnight coverage, it can see things the in-car camera can't, definitely worth thinking about. However the in-car camera can often see things that CCTV can't, especially if you don't park on your own drive, so it depends on circumstances, and maybe you want both.

Brilliant, the battery is 2 years old.

As I’ve overlooked how much energy the camera is going to need being used 24/7 are there cameras out there that start recording when something walks past?
A 2 year old battery should power a 1 channel camera pretty well. Doing so will put some extra wear on the battery and shorten its life, but batteries are replaceable items and they need replacing anyway at some point. If you need the parking mode then don't worry about using the battery.

The Viofo cameras will start recording when something walks past if set to "event recording", problem is that to see something walk past, the image sensor needs to be powered and looking for things, so you only save the amount of power used to record the video to the memory card, which is quite a small saving.

There are a few cameras that use radar modules for the movement sensing, and they can run for weeks instead of 1 day, but the only decent one at the moment is the Thinkware U1000, which doesn't have a nice price, especially when you add on the optional radar unit. In addition, it takes a little time to wake the camera up, which can mean it misses the important action, while a Viofo will buffer what it is watching and then when activated will write the preceding 10 seconds to the memory card in addition to what follows. The price difference between a Viofo and the Thinkware will buy you a very decent supplemental battery!

There are also some cameras that will wake up from very low power based on being shaken, but by then they have often missed the important action, and they tend to be rather unreliable at detecting the events, so not many people recommend them. If you can sort the power issues satisfactorily, then an A119 with continuous low bitrate parking mode is probably the most reliable way to catch things, and it is not too expensive, and could come in very useful during normal driving, so not wasted money anyway. If you drive every day then the power shouldn't be much of an issue for a 1 channel camera, just something to be aware of.
 
I've now used the Vantrue E1 and find it's not bad.
Most of the E1′s better features are: 24/7 monitoring and buffered motion detection, where it starts rolling five seconds before the event and ends recording 30 seconds after the motion. It’s also nice to have collision detection, where the camera auto-starts recording when it senses a collision event.
 
Vantrue offers an advanced inbuilt 24 hours triggered parking mode in its Element 2, which means around-the-clock protection and surveillance for the vehicle. This “Smart” Parking Mode in the dash cam ensures immediate recording whenever its G-sensor detects any motion while your vehicle is parked and the engine is off. Parking mode eliminates the need to leave the camera continuously On when you park your car, which helps to minimize unnecessary recording time and save energy.

How does parking mode work?

The Vantrue Element 2 dashboard is equipped with a shock-detection sensor, the G-sensor, which enables Parking Mode to automatically turn on and record -- the camera vibrates when your car is parked there -- for example, a crash event.

After recording, it will securely lock the video data to avoid deletion by the loop cycle function and automatically shut down. This sensitive parking mode feature of the Vantrue dashboard limits the camera's internal battery from being drained.
 
Motion alerts send you push notifications to your phone if camera detects activity
Mine notifies me on person detection and it triggers an alarm if the person is too close to the car. It does it without a radar, vibrations or internet connection.
 
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Vantrue offers an advanced inbuilt 24 hours triggered parking mode in its Element 2, which means around-the-clock protection and surveillance for the vehicle. This “Smart” Parking Mode in the dash cam ensures immediate recording whenever its G-sensor detects any motion while your vehicle is parked and the engine is off
Is there a Vantrue model that streams its video over RTSP? That would be very cool when parked near your house.
 
Question:

Doesn't the camera overwrite the prior video? So unless a burglar or whatever wakes you up so you can go out and get the video it will be gone in the morning?
(Unless you are using a parking mode wake up save feature? will parking mode wake up if someone jumps the fence?)

I haven't been on here for a long time, probably before parking mode dash cams, so more of a question than statement. Surprised new cars dont have dash cams by now with everything else they offer.

I guess it could relay the video somewhere else, or have a really large memory card?
 
I am god mode in regard to my parked car, from a camera on my 2 floor balcony door, a big + here is the camera have AI motion detect so only sound alarm for human or vehicle shape.
+ as i have a downward angle at about 35 degrees, nothing in the back that could trigger a event.
Also as i am zoomed in, it is rare traffic in the back yard create a event, even if a lot of other people park there / move around there.
And this close up, there actually are a chance of identification, which there would not be otherwise as this is from a distance of 20 - 25 Meters.

A CCTV camera could also have defog feature, something that is a clear and present danger in the UK and DK


bil.jpg


I do use parking guard too, and while there are PIR activated LED light in the otherwise pitch black back yard, then all it would do is just backlight a person approaching my car.
Also i just use parking guard for 3 hours on the timer as i have this CCTV camera at home.
I do not have much faith in the dashcam doing parking guard capturing anything of value, unless it is daytime, and daytime are short this time of the year in Denmark.
 
I am god mode in regard to my parked car, from a camera on my 2 floor balcony door, a big + here is the camera have AI motion detect so only sound alarm for human or vehicle shape.
+ as i have a downward angle at about 35 degrees, nothing in the back that could trigger a event.
Also as i am zoomed in, it is rare traffic in the back yard create a event, even if a lot of other people park there / move around there.
And this close up, there actually are a chance of identification, which there would not be otherwise as this is from a distance of 20 - 25 Meters.

A CCTV camera could also have defog feature, something that is a clear and present danger in the UK and DK


View attachment 62227


I do use parking guard too, and while there are PIR activated LED light in the otherwise pitch black back yard, then all it would do is just backlight a person approaching my car.
Also i just use parking guard for 3 hours on the timer as i have this CCTV camera at home.
I do not have much faith in the dashcam doing parking guard capturing anything of value, unless it is daytime, and daytime are short this time of the year in Denmark.
To capture emergency footage in time with high image quality, that's mostly related to pre-recording functions and the super night vision guaranteed with the cutting-edge chip.
 
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