GS2000 review, aka DV5F5

monoculus

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hey all. Bought a GS2000 after researching for several weeks trying to make sense of all the cams on the market. Wish I would have found this site while I was searching, would have saved me a lot of time!

I almost bought it from alibaba, but when it came time to pay I wasn't comfortable with the payment system they offer. I found the same cam from what I take as one of the same vendors via Ebay (ebay seller 2010ljc2012) which allowed me to pay with paypal, so I took the plunge. $130, no shipping charge. Camera shipped from China and they said it would take 15-25 days to arrive and it arrived on the 15th day. Nice. It's kinda awesome to get a package from China, with Chinese writing on it, in two weeks.

First impression, it's slightly smaller then I thought it would be. One thing about the pics online is none of them give you a perspective on the size. Sure, they list the dimensions, but I don't have a ruler handy and there's only so much you can do by holding your fingers apart and trying to guesstimate 123mm or whatever. So I was pleased the cam is quite small.


Not going to do a big review of the video quality, as that is cover on the GS1000 page and this cam matches that. Night recording shows what I see as video compression artifacts. The gradient from dark to light is not subtle, creating blocky shapes in the video playback. Day recording look pretty good.

I do however want to talk about the angle difference between 1080 and 720 recording. Why would a lower resolution show more viewing area? I do not understand. The stats say 120 degree view angle. At what resolution because the angle is very different between the highest settings. I currently record @ 720 because i think wider angle is better than the higher image quality.

Ok, so here's the cam stats, when it boots, shows iTracker logo, firmware version SMH3.34.240412A. I don't see this one on the GS1000 page and I'm willing to upload if you want it, just tell me where. It's 13.8 meg.


http://www.samoon.net - this web site calls the cam DV5F5.

The one problem I have is I set the cam to record for one minute after it loses power. But it displays 'bye bye' and just shuts right down. Why little cam, why? If I crash and power is cut, i need you to record for another minute to capture my last words!

That's all I got. Seems like a good little camera.
 

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Thanks for the detailed review monoculus.

The Ambarella A2S60 processors are unique in that they have a narrow viewing angle in 1080p recording and a wider viewing angle in 720p recording. This applies to the GS1000, GS2000, GS5000, F500LHD, F900LHD and any other A2S60 based camera. Some people have measured the angle of the lens and apparently the 1080p records at 72 degrees and the 720p records at 97 degrees. Much less than the advertised 120 degrees. Most of the dash cams on the market today exaggerate the angle.

If you could upload the firmware to a file sharing site like rapidshare, 4shared, 2shared, I will download and include on this site.

The problem with recording after powering off is the size of the battery included in this camera. It is so small it can't run the camera for very long. Larger cameras like the F500LHD use a Nokia cell phone battery which allows for recording after the camera is off. People have "upgraded" the battery in this camera which would likely solve that problem.

Dash Cam Man
 
PM sent with link to firmware.

As far as battery life is concerned, I've tested it and it easy lasts 1 minute. I think it will go over 30min with the display off.
I suspect a bug. Or user error!
 
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monoculus said:
The difference I see between the GS1000 and GS2000 is still image quality and the battery. The GS2000 has twice the battery.

GS1000 / DV5E5
http://www.samoon.net/en/product_show.a ... xlm=&id=16
Maximum output picture element:5M
3.7V 500mAh Polymer rechargeable battery

GS2000 / DV5F5
http://www.samoon.net/en/product_show.a ... xlm=&id=20
Maximum output picture element:12M
3.7V 1000mAh Rechargeable Lithium Battery

fyi

Thanks for the firmware file. I have posted to the site. Great info on the battery and picture output. I didn't see those differences before!!!

Dash Cam Man
 
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Hi all,

I have just found this forum and found this topic.

I have just purchased one of these secondhand and need some help.

How do I turn on the GPS and set time and stamp on as well as setting speed stamp to on?

The menu options I have areas follows: resolution, record overwrite, motion detection,
Power on record, power off delay, power on delay, Mic, language, tv type, auto power off, time set up,
Date time stamp, format, auto LCD off, default setting, night mode, flicker, gsensor set and firmware version.

The instructions provided don't really help and I hope someone can help me.

Thanks

Jayse
 
Jayse said:
Hi all,

I have just found this forum and found this topic.

I have just purchased one of these secondhand and need some help.

How do I turn on the GPS and set time and stamp on as well as setting speed stamp to on?

The menu options I have areas follows: resolution, record overwrite, motion detection,
Power on record, power off delay, power on delay, Mic, language, tv type, auto power off, time set up,
Date time stamp, format, auto LCD off, default setting, night mode, flicker, gsensor set and firmware version.

The instructions provided don't really help and I hope someone can help me.

Thanks

Jayse

Hi Jayse,

What firmware does your camera have? Perhaps you have one that does not have a GPS module?

Dash Cam Man
 
DashCamMan said:
Jayse said:
Hi all,

I have just found this forum and found this topic.

I have just purchased one of these secondhand and need some help.

How do I turn on the GPS and set time and stamp on as well as setting speed stamp to on?

The menu options I have areas follows: resolution, record overwrite, motion detection,
Power on record, power off delay, power on delay, Mic, language, tv type, auto power off, time set up,
Date time stamp, format, auto LCD off, default setting, night mode, flicker, gsensor set and firmware version.

The instructions provided don't really help and I hope someone can help me.

Thanks

Jayse

Hi Jayse,

What firmware does your camera have? Perhaps you have one that does not have a GPS module?

Dash Cam Man

Edir removed. Parcel arrived safely.
 
Anyone from Samoon that speaks English has been in Hong Kong for the last week and won't be back to their offices until tomorrow, that said though I'm not sure they're actually connected to whoever you purchased the cams from
 
jokiin said:
Anyone from Samoon that speaks English has been in Hong Kong for the last week and won't be back to their offices until tomorrow, that said though I'm not sure they're actually connected to whoever you purchased the cams from

Parcel arrived at my mates house about an hour ago.
 
Matt789 said:
jokiin said:
Anyone from Samoon that speaks English has been in Hong Kong for the last week and won't be back to their offices until tomorrow, that said though I'm not sure they're actually connected to whoever you purchased the cams from

Parcel arrived at my mates house about an hour ago.

You'll probably get a reply to your email in the next day or so
 
Samoon camera we bought was the 5e5 that we ordered some time ago.
Thankfully it came. Had given up on that. Arrived at my mates place. Looks the same on the outside
as that other car cam I bought in the gs1000 blue menu. Charging up the cam now and then set up the menu
and then I'll try it out and compare the two.

Have ordered myself another car cam which I may cancel if this one turns out to be any good.
The other one that I've ordered has a super night mode so will see how the 5e5 goes at night.
 
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