I need some advice & recommendations for good dash and rear camera

[pyrofreak3]

It's been about two years since my last dash camera purchase, when I purchased the PowerUCC Panorama II for my VW Jetta. The camera has been amazing and I owe my life and finical help to that camera. It saved us from a finical burden when someone wild women ran us off the road and I can't begin to count the numerous "hello your on camera don't act stupid" moments I've had with people.

Now my wife and I have decided to purchase another car, a VW Tiguan and while we are in love with our new SUV the need for a second camera arises. In fact driving without a camera seems strange and unnatural, so the looks began. At first I assumed a two year hiatus would be good, I expected the dash camera market to make leaps and bounds. It appears I was right to a degree, cameras that were good two years ago have gotten better and have became more reliable.

That being said I still need suggestions because my knowledge on dash cameras is quite limited. In my Jetta I've only worried about what's ahead of me, mainly because mounting a rear dash cam in a car seems obnoxious and difficult. With the SUV on the other hand I can open the hatch and wire the camera accordingly. So, what have I found? Well their is always my tried and true:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00JFUU5OM
Which will it is a great camera I wanted to look around more which lead me to finding this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00MTW25IM
From the YT videos I've seen the imagine quality day and night seems exceptional and I assume its probably along the lines of what I currently own. I also ran into a combo front / rear camera system, as I was looking from something along that line and the blackvue popped up:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00MC56AXM
My question is, should I look for combo front / rear camera options. OR should I just go and buy separate front and rear cameras? Regardless of the route I go, I am hoping you guys the community and post some links to well known, great, reliable front and more importantly rear cameras.

Thank You

 

[niko]

In fact driving without a camera seems strange and unnatural

Quite often I hear this expression. Same here.

 

[jokiin]

the DOD has a battery inside, lifespan will be shorter, not a good value proposition

 

[Deleted member 46308]

Welcome @pyrofreak3

 

[pyrofreak3]

the DOD has a battery inside, lifespan will be shorter, not a good value proposition

Like the temporary battery that slowly shuts the unit off when you turn the car off? Or a battery that keeps the unit running regardless. I only ask because I think my PII has a battery that it uses to slowly turn the unit off when I turn the car off.

 

[jokiin]

Like the temporary battery that slowly shuts the unit off when you turn the car off? Or a battery that keeps the unit running regardless. I only ask because I think my PII has a battery that it uses to slowly turn the unit off when I turn the car off.

it's just for file shutdown, not intended to run off, your Panorama camera does not have a battery

 

[CDNinHH]

Like the temporary battery that slowly shuts the unit off when you turn the car off? Or a battery that keeps the unit running regardless. I only ask because I think my PII has a battery that it uses to slowly turn the unit off when I turn the car off.

There are only 2 options with dashcams, those with batteries and those with capacitors. Those with batteries can actually operate the camera for various amounts of time without any power from the car. Whereas capacitor based cameras only use the limited amount of energy stored by the capacitor to save the last file before shutting the camera down as jokiin says.

They both have pros and cons depending on what you want the camera to do, but the biggest con to a battery is the very real danger of it causing a fire. Have a look around this forum or the web and see the amount of cameras that have swelled, burst or caught fire due to batteries.

I would never consider a battery equipped dashcam for my car.

 

[pyrofreak3]

OK, while I appreciate the comments about batteries we're beginning to drift away from my initial recommendation request. I already know I should avoid car cameras with batteries, my current question, which I will reiterate is:

What is a good front & rear dash camera combo?
Should I look for camera combined together with one front and one rear?
Or should I look for independent front and rear cameras?

Please provide an explanation and recommendation of camera.

Thank You

 

[2000rpm]

.....
What is a good front & rear dash camera combo?
Should I look for camera combined together with one front and one rear?
Or should I look for independent front and rear cameras?

Please provide an explanation and recommendation of camera.

Wherever possible I would go for two independent cams because a failure of hardware, software, power cable, memory card or user error probably won't take out both cams at once - and if the front one stops working the rear one can be swapped into its place until a replacement can be found.

Unfortunately I don't know what's available to you in the USA, nor the prices you'd have to pay, so it's not easy to recommend a cam.
However, if you've been happy with a Panorama you could do a lot worse than buy another Panorama; it's still a cam that's above average performance and one which you are familiar with and had good service from.
I replaced my failed DOD/Nextbase (battery/charging circuit failure) with a Panorama last year.
For a rear window you may need an adhesive mount due to the heating wires causing slight ridges that a suction cup won't usually stick to (my Panorama came with both suction and adhesive but I think the mounts supplied vary from time to time).

 

[arcticfire]

I'm a few days I'll be running two independent front and rear SG9665GC cameras through a single Multi Safer battery protect unit.

It may be a little more expensive than a dual channel setup but the following things could be considered if it helps:

1. Front and rear at full resolution and full bit rate (some dual channel have a lesser quality rear camera)

2. Both units will use gps for clock allowing easy syncing during playback.

3. Better redundancy in case of failure. At least you'll still have another working unit which may still capture enough to help/prove a situation or for ensuring you always have a full resolution backup dashcam available to point forward until a replacement arrives.

4. Great profile and form factor, especially for the rear.

5. The SG9665GC is capacitor based.

6. If you find that you don't need the rear camera after all you will have a spare dashcam for another car.

 

[pyrofreak3]

Wherever possible I would go for two independent cams because a failure of hardware, software, power cable, memory card or user error probably won't take out both cams at once - and if the front one stops working the rear one can be swapped into its place until a replacement can be found.

Unfortunately I don't know what's available to you in the USA, nor the prices you'd have to pay, so it's not easy to recommend a cam.
However, if you've been happy with a Panorama you could do a lot worse than buy another Panorama; it's still a cam that's above average performance and one which you are familiar with and had good service from.
I replaced my failed DOD/Nextbase (battery/charging circuit failure) with a Panorama last year.
For a rear window you may need an adhesive mount due to the heating wires causing slight ridges that a suction cup won't usually stick to (my Panorama came with both suction and adhesive but I think the mounts supplied vary from time to time).

I fully agree, I do love the Panorama cameras and I've thought about getting the newer S series one. My only issue is the size, I accept the size for the front, just not sure about having something so big in the rear.

I'm a few days I'll be running two independent front and rear SG9665GC cameras through a single Multi Safer battery protect unit.

It may be a little more expensive than a dual channel setup but the following things could be considered if it helps:

1. Front and rear at full resolution and full bit rate (some dual channel have a lesser quality rear camera)

2. Both units will use gps for clock allowing easy syncing during playback.

3. Better redundancy in case of failure. At least you'll still have another working unit which may still capture enough to help/prove a situation or for ensuring you always have a full resolution backup dashcam available to point forward until a replacement arrives.

4. Great profile and form factor, especially for the rear.

5. The SG9665GC is capacitor based.

6. If you find that you don't need the rear camera after all you will have a spare dashcam for another car.

Yes these are all great points, ones I've actually encountered when doing my own research. I'm still doing more search, but please let me know the results of your experiment.

 

[arcticfire]

I'm already running two but through a power magic pro which only outputs 2A so it's probably a little stressed running two cameras, the Multi Safer can output 8A. The rear cam is a Mini 0805 but I think it may be on its way out but it could be the PMP not giving enough juice. But I'm not happy with the profile of it as it's s little obvious in the rear and because it's attached to the rear screen where the cars antenna is built into I can't pick up DAB radio and have poor reception with regular due to interference from it. The SG9665GC will fit flush and discreet on my high brake light housing and will probably be more reliable also!

 

[2000rpm]

I fully agree, I do love the Panorama cameras and I've thought about getting the newer S series one. My only issue is the size, I accept the size for the front, just not sure about having something so big in the rear.

I had a Transcend DP100 in the rear for over a year which is quite a large cam (temporarily removed for trial of a JooVuu X and I also recently had the Panorama out the rear of our family car for additional tests) and none of the cams were/are easily noticeable from the outside. It also wasn't a major impairment to my rear view because I positioned it slightly offset to one side, therefore having a clear view directly behind.