Hard to find what I'm looking for.

[TaccomXX]

It seems I am seeking the impossible, there doesn't seem to be a dashcam that exists with the specs I'm looking for, well, not below the $1200 price point.

First - the background.
I own a pickup truck, this means the rear window is 7 feet from the back of the vehicle, it kinda puts a kink in the idea of a rear dashcam. I also live in a state where people don't know, or don't care about using roundabouts. I see people staring at me immediately before pulling out in front of me on a daily basis, or screeching to a halt just before hitting me. Then when there is snow they get worse.

Perfect dashcam -
Low profile, 4 cameras (Front, Left, Right, Rear) with minimal wiring, good night vision (able to pick out a license plate) HD (1080) record from at LEAST front and rear, with GPS on board. Reverse camera mode ideal.

Acceptable - Front and rear with GPS and Reverse mode.

Rear camera MUST be able to be mounted as a license plate mount (US type) or fully waterproof / weatherproof. I want to mount it at the actual back of the truck, not in the rear window.

 

[Deleted member 46308]

Welcome to DCT @TaccomXX

 

[Nine29]

Check out the Blackvue DR650S-2CH TRUCK. It has front and rear (exterior) cameras...

https://www.blackvue.com/dr650s-2ch-truck/

 

[kamkar]

@Dashmellow have 4 cams in his pickup ( open bed ) and it seem to be a perfectly okay setup, though if a car is right up there against your rear then the camera in the rear window will off course not be able to get a chance of capturing the plate.

I cant find his post, but he have a good video bubble he is driving his truck inside.

O yeah, and welcome to the party

You can get a optional waterproof camera unit for the SGZC12RC camera.

Big minus with a outside mounted camera on the rear is dirt on the lens, so prepare to have to go clean the lens with a cloth often, or make do with somewhat dirty footage.

 

[Nine29]

Big minus with a outside mounted camera on the rear is dirt on the lens, so prepare to have to go clean the lens with a cloth often, or make do with somewhat dirty footage.

If outside cameras mounted on the rear are such a big minus due to dirt, why do they now come standard on all U.S. passenger vehicles? I have them on all my cars and dirt accumulation has never been a problem...

 

[Dashmellow]

@Dashmellow have 4 cams in his pickup ( open bed ) and it seem to be a perfectly okay setup, though if a car is right up there against your rear then the camera in the rear window will off course not be able to get a chance of capturing the plate.

I cant find his post, but he have a good video bubble he is driving his truck inside.

O yeah, and welcome to the party

You can get a optional waterproof camera unit for the SGZC12RC camera.

Big minus with a outside mounted camera on the rear is dirt on the lens, so prepare to have to go clean the lens with a cloth often, or make do with somewhat dirty footage.

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...m-for-your-car-doors.12675/page-9#post-310270

 

[Dashmellow]

https://www.cars.com/articles/2014/01/most-backup-cameras-dont-like-bad-weather/

 

[Ralph2]

If outside cameras mounted on the rear are such a big minus due to dirt, why do they now come standard on all U.S. passenger vehicles? I have them on all my cars and dirt accumulation has never been a problem...

I guess it depends on where you live and what kind of roads you are driving on. If.. you don't have to wash your car to keep it clean for months at a time.. then your camera as well will not have an issue.. for the rest of us driving in slush / snow / dust..

 

[kamkar]

It was just a assumption on my part, i have a little Suzuki 5 door hatchback with a pretty much flat and vertical rear end, and the dirt just collect back there like there is no tomorrow, so i am pretty happy i have a rear washer & viper on my rear window.

It could be if the camera is up high like you will see on vans and campers / mobile homes, it will be sort off in the wind passing over the car, but further down here is a vacum as wind is spinning there ( see mythbusters test of gas economy in pickups with rear hatch closed Vs rear hatch open )

In their water tank flow test there is a vortex behind the cap of the model pickup, and i am sure its even more pronounced behind my little Suzuki, cuz while it is a small car i own the rear of it is still about 2 X the vertical area of what i had of rear surface on the Mitsubishi L 200 pickup i once owned.

Off course i have no idea how it is out back behind the bed of a pickup and down low on the bumper / below bed hatch hinge line.

But personally i would go a long way to avoid a outside mounted camera for day to day use, what Dashmellow have and then maybe paired with a narrow FOV lens to reach back further behind the car, you just cant do that alone as a lens in the 6 - 12 mm size i would recommend for such a setup have a pretty narrov Field Of View.
But the plus of such a narrow lens is you have a much better chance of plate capture far off, while normal wide angle dashcam lenses you dont get more reach than 1 - 2 car lengths.

And as ralph say above where you live / drive might also have a lot to say, and how often you wash your car.
Washing my car is not something i do often, and i really should as due to taxes and what not Danes have to pay for 2 - 3 cars to get 1.

But im a pig i admit it and even though i pay a lot for my car, it is just a means for me not having to walk from A to B, or take public transport that i have disliked a lot my whole life.

 

[kamkar]

O and dont get too hooked on plate capture, it is still a thing that will need the best of circumstances to be reliable, put a grey rain cloud in front of the sun even on the best of summer days and at once even the best dashcams will begin to struggle with plate capture at normal road speeds.
And late afternoon - evening and early mornings the light levels are also low enough to create big challenges to dashcams in regard to plate capture.

Me beeing in Denmark thats as far north or further on the globe as the US/ Canada border, this time of the year i generally dont capture plates, at least not on the normal grey winter days, only the good ones with a clear blue sky is usefull,,,,, for the 5-6-7 houre the sun is up before it set again this "far" north.

 

[Dashmellow]

I guess it depends on where you live and what kind of roads you are driving on. If.. you don't have to wash your car to keep it clean for months at a time.. then your camera as well will not have an issue.. for the rest of us driving in slush / snow / dust..

Good point!

Try living on a rural dirt road as I do and you'll know why outside cameras, especially dash cameras can be very problematic. On a regular basis I drive through dirt, dust, mud, snow and slush. A dash camera mounted on my truck's license plate would be entirely unusable within a day or so of typical driving. In fact, at this very moment my rear bumper and license plate are covered in last night's snow. It's going to warm up a bit later today and the wet snowy dirt roads will become a splattering muddy mess.

Also, typical car back-up cameras are a different animal than dash cams that perform their duty just fine even with some dirt, snow or splattered mud on them but dash cams really require cleanness and clarity.