High-end dashcam

[Prime-Omega]

Hello,

I have been lurking on Dashcamtalk for the past few weeks but I am still lost in the huge amount of available/different dashcams.
I'm hoping some of the more experienced people here will be able to lend me a hand.

I plan on hardwiring the dashcam into the car as I want to utilize the parking mode.
I was therefore thinking of getting multiple dashcams or perhaps a 2 channel one for both front/rear protection.

The most important thing for me though is video quality.
I basically want to be able to read the license plates of all cars around me at all times.

Requirements:

• Awesome video quality
• GPS
• Parking Mode
• Reliable

Not important:

• Discreet
• Pricing
• Size

 

[reverend]

If it's the numberplates you're really wanting then the best for that sort of thing are the Ambarella cams running in the super wide 2560x1080 mode. It's a cropped and zoomed image but means you've got more pixel detail for the numberplate.

The Panorama X2 is shaping up to meet your needs but there is still a lot of firmware work going on and it runs at 1920x1080 like most cameras.

Parking mode wise it's got individual front and rear motion detection which is pre buffered - on some cams they kick into life and by the time they start recording they've missed most of what happened whereas on a lot of the Korean cameras they constantly record to a buffer and as soon as motion is detected it writes out the five seconds before as well so you see exactly what happened.

The Mini0806 may also meet your needs but it's not final yet so I'm not sure what exactly it will do in Parking Mode. There are other cameras coming along - @Pier28 should be able to help you out

 

[jokiin]

you might want to check into the legality of cameras in Belgium, from what I've read it could be a problem so discrete might still be important

 

[Phuncz]

Garmin should know what they can and can't sell and they sell their dashcams in Belgium: https://buy.garmin.com/nl-BE/BE/op-de-weg/cameras/cOnTheRoad-c533-p1.html

There are also multiple dashcam shops in Belgium and I've also seen multiple advertisements for these from car manufacturers and electronics stores. If these are illegal in Belgium, nobody got the memo

EDIT: this is also informative about the legality of dashcams in Belgium:
http://uwdashcam.be/nl/content/14-rechtsgeldigheid (DUTCH)
Basically: as long as you don't publish the videos, this is even legal in court (!)


I'm also looking for a preferably two-channel high-end camera with no video quality compromise. I have a PowerUcc Panorama II for over a year now and while it is excellent quality compared to most, to me it still isn't where it should be. Reading license plates from cars that pass by (not even that fast) is still not clear enough with the Belgian licenseplates (1-XXX-111), the few ones I wanted to be able to read were barely readable or needed some frame-per-frame analysis to figure out the digits.

But the competition doesn't seem to be better. There is also a lot of lies regarding the features:
- 21:9 mode is just a cropped 16:9 video (VicoVation Marcus 4)
- 60fps 720p is heavily cropped, by reducing 1080p to 720p frame size (PowerUcc Panorama II)
- most "images" on the manufacturer's websites are all stock photography, not real examples (all manufacturers)

I'm still waiting for the real high-end dashcam to be made that doesn't suffer from bad optics, underachieving sensors and the most basic of firmware.

 

[jokiin]

there's some restriction around what you can and can't do apparently, worthwhile knowing where you stand beforehand

http://www.hunton.com/files/Publica...09/Guidelines_on_Use_of_Dashboard_Cameras.pdf

 

[reverend]

The marketing does lie about the 21:9 modes (maybe the engineers didn't explain it right to the marketing guys) but it turns out that as you get extra resolution for the cropped area of the 16:9 shot you're getting more detail in there which is good for numberplates.

The G90 and Mini 0806 both take very good footage in the 2560x1080 modes.

I'm looking forward to see what the Sony IMX322 and Ambarella A7 devices can do. The clarity of the Novatek / Aptina devices with the dynamic range of the Sony sensor and the higher frame rates of the A7 could make for a very nice device.

Toshiba just launched a new 2Mp sensor for this sort of usage with proper WDR so that might compete with the Sony chip.

 

[Prime-Omega]

...

You seem to be in the same situation as me, I also feel like modern camera's still aren't where they are supposed to be.

Regarding the legality of the devices, I believe you have to fill in an admission form (€25) for the privacy commission.
This to let them know you will be filming in public however I believe they then give you the rights to use the video in lawsuits.

Does anybody know the release dates for any upcoming/anticipated/popular devices?

 

[Sabe]

Does anybody know the release dates for any upcoming/anticipated/popular devices?

Yes, it's tomorrow - always
You cannot wait "the best" camera to come...

 

[reverend]

Yes, it's tomorrow - always
You cannot wait "the best" camera to come...

Very true - if you wait for the best in six months then a week later something will come out that beats it in some way!

The best dash cameras are the ones that are already in your car working if you don't have one