Front dash cam with buffered parking mode

J

Jez

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Hi all,

I've been distracted by a while but would really like to make a decision now. I'm looking for a front dash cam that has the following features:

-Good day and night quality
-Buffered parking mode (it will be connected to a multi safer BDP)
-I'm in the UK so capacitor battery not essential but still preferable for parking mode
-Discreet

Budget - I'd like to keep it low but I don't want to sacrifice any of the above.

I've seen the following dash cams:

1. Blacksys CF-100 - will this meet my requirements? Plus it has a rear camera as a bonus and is only £60.
2. Joovuu X - looks good but I think parking mode is still being developed? £95 I think.
3. Street Guardian SGZC12RC - The best of the bunch but £160 is more than I'd like to spend really...maybe Niko can help out with that :) I've seen it's now on V2, what's changed from the V1?

I can stretch to a SGZC12RC if really necessary and I suppose it's a more long term investment...still on the fence on that one.

Are there any others I should consider? Will the SGZC12RC be that much better than the Blacksys? At two and a half times the price and no rear cam I think it needs to be!

Does a video comparison exist between the SGZC12RC and the Blacksys?

Thanks everyone
 
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I don't have video comparison of CF-100 vs SGZC12RC.
CF-100 has a good value for money, but biggest advantage of SG is discrete design.
When you ready to buy SG, send me PM, I am going to look after you in regards of some special offer.
 
Thanks Niko, if I decide on the SGZC12RC I'll definitely take you up on that offer :) What's changed between the SGZC12RC V1 and V2?

I've also seen the Livue LB100 which is a little old now but on the comparison page it says "Used to be a top pick but cams with better video quality now exist for the price." Can anyone tell me which cams it might be referring to?

Thanks
 
V2 have the lens focus issue fixed, other then that i dont think there is any major difference between the 2 model versions.
 
Thanks kamkar, what do you think about the potential cams I've chosen? Are there any others I should consider?
 
I would just shop with niko ( and i will in the future ) what he carry seem to be no BS products, and his level of service is high, and that i am willing to pay a little extra for.
As you might know i am part of the Joovuu X test crew, and yes the x cam is not bad, but then again its allso not where it will be, we will be dialing the buttons on that one for a while to come, both us testers and Joovuu feel we have unused potential in the X cam we can release.
Dan seem to be pretty dedicated to this X cam venture, and he do have some interesting ideas with the x cam and other stuff in the future. But it is still his first lap on the dashcam track.
I have high hopes for my X cam, and i find it pretty usefull both as a dashcam and not least as a action camera, and i look forward to see what else Joovuu will bring to the table.
But the way i am wired up and with the knowlege i have with dashcams i think i would bypass the X cam as it is right now, and then go for a much more proven platform, not least if its going to be my first dashcam.

That beeing said the SGZC12RC is allso a pretty new platform, but i think it have spent a longer time under the radar in testing before it was released to the masses, and still the V1 had the focus shift problems, but those was in turn fixed by a no BS service, just say i want a new lens/camera and one is in the mail to you ASAP.
As soon as SG became avare of the issues with the first batch of cameras they trew a lot of effort at solving the problem as fast as possible and then get updated hardware out to ther customers as fast as posible.
It still took a while, but i cant see how it could have been done much faster, so props to the SG minions for ther prompt and fast work.
 
Hi kamkar, thanks for your detailed post.

I know I will get good service from Niko and the street guardian does seem like the best product on offer which meets all my requirements. But the question really is whether it's worth the difference from the Blacksys...noting that the Blacksys also has a rear cam? It's a tough decision!

If I do get just a front cam with parking mode, are there any cheap cams that can be used for the rear that have parking mode? If I use something like the mobius on the rear I assume it will be runninguntil the BDP turns it off (6 hours minimum) which is not ideal.

Thanks for your honesty with the Joovuu X.
 
Yeah there is some what of a price gap between the blacksys and the Street guardian camera, and truth be told i have not noticed many negative posts about the blacksys CF 100.
But i do think the SG camera is 1 up on the blacksys camera on footage and stealth, and for sure it enjoy a much better customer support from the factory.

I have been running a mobius for a rear camera for a while and it served me well and still do that in the left side of my car, now i have a joovuu X cam as a rear camera and another one i test in my windscreen and on my RC "toys"

Its safe to say i will be a part of the X camera wave for a long time to come, i greatly prefer the X cam form factor over so many other action / dash cameras out there.

PS. i am also somewhat affiliated with the Street Guardian brand, but i try my best to stay neutral and offer ppl good sound advice based on my modest knowlege of these cameras.

Other than the low bitrate on Lukas dashcams i cant talk much smack about them either, my LK-7500 server me well and its now on duty in my little sisters car.
Okay lukas could improve on ther design i think, but thats a cultural thing and ther home marked seem to like things that can be seen.
And ther player / firmware ecosystem seem a little confusing.
 
Ok thanks, I'll leave the Blacksys on the list for now and do some more research. Obviously the main drawback compared to the street guardian is the form factor, the street guardian really does look tiny. Can I ask why you went for the SG9665GC over the SGZC12RC ?

I've also seen that the mobius has motion detection/parking mode now (only the newer model I think) Do you know if it has a buffering time period prior to motion detection?

Are there no others that are discreet and have parking mode that you would recommend?

Thanks for your help :)
 
Jez said:
Ok thanks, I'll leave the Blacksys on the list for now and do some more research. Obviously the main drawback compared to the street guardian is the form factor, the street guardian really does look tiny. Can I ask why you went for the SG9665GC over the SGZC12RC ?
Click to expand...

@kamkar1 has been one of our beta testers on the SG9665GC project for about the last 6 months or so, he has lived through about 17 beta firmwares with us
 
The SGZ12RC was not out at that time as i got on the SG9665GC bandwagon pretty erly.
And me beeing jobless for a while now dont allow for me making too many changes to my current setup.

But i have good coverage now, should time me over just fine untill the next big step forward in dashcams ( for me thats much better night performance )
But thats not anything that will happen soon, and so i must soldier on at the grace of god and ppl wanting my help developing ther products.
 
Ok thanks guys. Are there any other cams you can think of I should consider alongside the street guardian? I don't suppose you know much about the mobius motion detection? Thinking about a rear cam.
 
I have not been much into this as i dont use it or plan to in the near future, but the lukas cameras along with panorama allso have prebuffered parking guard.

I did experiment a little with motion detect and my old Lukas LK-7500.

If i was to use parking guard i would rely on the G-sensor and not motion detect, the latter create too many false recordings, a sparrow flying by will trigger a recording or a cat on a fence in the background.

That or just allways record while parked, and no matter what i would just do that with 1 or 2 cameras as the battery match the size of my Susuki Splash car
 
Allso as i have said so many times in this regard, remember how often your car windows is obscured by somthing when you get into it for a drive.
So this issue will offcourse render your camera useless many times of the year, for me thats the prime reason as to why i am in no hurry to use parking guard.

Allso at home i have a 1080p IP camera on my car where its parked, and i need that cuz the yard is pitch black at night, but the IR aided IP camera have it lit up like its daytime down there.

cctv.jpg
 
Haha nice video ;)

I've seen the Lukas cameras and they do look good but the front cameras aren't very discreet.
 
Yeah they do have pretty big cameras now, the old 7500 and 7900 was okay small, but that again depend on the car at hand how a camera appear from the outside.
My little Suzuki have plenty room in front of the rear view morror, i would have no problem fitting 3 of the largest lukas cameras side by side there.

Newer cars with ther sensor array on the windscreen it can be problematic, with a car like that you are somewhat forced to go for the smallest cameras if you still want it to be in the middle of the windscreen below the sensors.
 
Jez said:
... Good day and night quality ... Buffered parking mode ... capacitor preferable for parking mode ... Discreet ...
Click to expand...

I was torn between CF-100 & SGZC12RC. In terms of bang for buck, the £60 CF-100 is unbeatable by any other dashcam. Unfortunately for me, I'm accustomed to Mobius levels of small & discreet camera, & the CF-100 just didn't appeal to me in terms of form-factor or discreetness. So I spent loads more cash on the SGZC12RC. No regrets.

image.jpg

ps Mobius doesn't have buffered parking mode. Some cameras claim to have parking mode but, IMO, if it's not buffered it's not true parking mode
 
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Exactly what I'm thinking russ. The CF-100 in terms of what you get seems like a serious bargain, plus you get a rear cam. But the street guardian is tiny, has the warranty from niko, better quality and better support. Think I've made up my mind...

I think I'm going to get a SGZC12RC for the front and a mobius for the rear. Is the motion detection mode on the mobius good? (except for no buffering). Only thing about the mobius is it doesn't come with a discreet mount? So people seem to be making their own...another project which I don't need lol
 
Jez said:
Is the motion detection mode on the mobius good? Only thing about the mobius is it doesn't come with a discreet mount?
Click to expand...

Despite having owned Mobius for over 2 years, I've never used it in motion detect mode. When parked, I used a power bank to operate Mobius in loop-recording mode. I think it's comparable to most inexpensive DashCams in that motion detect is best left disabled. This mount is small & neat...

image.jpg
 
Yeah. If i was to use recording while parked some where for a fjew houres i would just add a mobile power source and allways record.
But offcourse not on all cameras in my car, i think i would just use my front camera for that and then reverse into my parking slot.
 
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