I want to take a permanent marker and make my dash cam totally black.

[SandraWIhan]

My dash cam is black, but there are logos, writings, and even a white right around the lens.

I want to take a permanent marker and make my dash cam totally black.

Or is this a very bad idea?

 

[CheckYourLights]

I want to take a permanent marker and make my dash cam totally black.

Or is this a very bad idea?

A few users have done this with their G1W. It's not necessarily a bad idea, but just be very careful to not mark the lens of course.

I'm not sure why manufactures make chrome lens rings or write all over the front of the camera.
My Vico is written on, but at least the mount covers the writing. Some of these DOD cameras and the G1W are a little ridicules though.

 

[fieldofview]

Some people have mentioned the Plasti Dip product, thicker than the ink of a marker. I used flat black electrician's tape. Another option is a craft store will have black acrylic paint. It dries fast, covers well, and should hold up to heat.

 

[jokiin]

I'm not sure why manufactures make chrome lens rings or write all over the front of the camera.

it's an Asian thing, to be fair though the bulk of their market to date has been to markets where the users want people to know they have a camera, in western markets discretion is the way to go

 

[SandraWIhan]

changed my mind... I'm getting these big bumpers stickers and putting them on my car!

or paint my dash cam in these colors....

 

[niko]

Second type of sticker is used on many public transport vehicles ( busses, taxies ). For private use might not be a good idea in many countries, - sticker will attract bad guys to steal your dash cam.

 

[SandraWIhan]

Second type of sticker is used on many public transport vehicles ( busses, taxies ). For private use might not be a good idea in many countries, - sticker will attract bad guys to steal your dash cam.

no self-respecting thief will want to steal a dash cam that has "My Little Pony" and pink stripes on it, I sincerely hope?

(unless the thief happens to be a 9-year-old boy or girl!)

 

[niko]

no self-respecting thief will want to steal a dash cam that has "My Little Pony" and pink stripes on it, I sincerely hope?

(unless the thief happens to be a 9-year-old boy or girl!)

Self-respecting thief dont go for relatively cheap dash cam. I am worried about narcomans who doesnt care about self-respect, or what kind of sticker used on dashcamera. They just need a new doze and ready to smash your car window, steal 100-200usd dash camera ( with pony sticker ) and sell it for 20-25usd.

Best detracting sticker can be something like this:

" 24h CCTV recording + live wireless data transmitting".

Those words "live wireless transmitting" will put off many potential thiefs to brake in into your car being afraid of "maybe" trully somebody watching ( monitoring ) this car. And he more likely will not brake in into your car. Of course well-educated thiefs who specialising on dash cams, they know differences in dash cameras. So you better have not most popular or cheap dashcam. Otherwise they instantly realise your sticker us bluff.

 

[jokiin]

best defense is a stealth install, any indication of a camera raises awareness but that's not necessarily a good thing, every bank has cameras but they still get robbed, knowing they have cameras the thieves are just more cautious about how they approach the job, not pre warning them is a better tactic I think

 

[niko]

best defense is a stealth install, any indication of a camera raises awareness but that's not necessarily a good thing, every bank has cameras but they still get robbed, knowing they have cameras the thieves are just more cautious about how they approach the job, not pre warning them is a better tactic I think

There are "two sides of a coin". I also like stealth install, like dedicated high quality mirror dvr with 24/7 auto-parking motion detection rec, very good night vision etc, rear camera built into rear centre brake light, but there are no such solutions yet.
Having stealth dash cam does not putt off thief of braking into your car, its opposite, - he doesnt see dash cam and more confidently commits crime stealing something from your car.
Having sticker "24h live CCTV recording + wireless data transmitting" and dedicated dash cams ( example built into mirror ) in most situations puts off thief to brake into the car. If dash cam is built into mirror or any other dedicated solution which takes a long time to remove, will not be interesting for thieves. But still, thief should be warned by sticker about your car dedicated dash cam solution with "wifi live data transmiting".

 

[Dashmellow]

My dash cam is black, but there are logos, writings, and even a white right around the lens.

I want to take a permanent marker and make my dash cam totally black.

Or is this a very bad idea?

I think it's very good idea to have a dash camera that is as discreet as possible so I've made an effort to modify the cameras I've owned for this purpose. The DR32 I bought comes with a chrome ring around the lens so I opened up the case, removed the ring and painted it black. The camera used to stick out like a sore thumb in my windshield but afterwards it was much harder to see and when you could see it, it was often hard to really tell that it was a camera. If you are even just a little bit handy, with most cameras it is relatively easy to remove the front of the case for painting. If you don't want to dismantle the camera, the lens can simply be carefully masked off before painting.

Here's a photo I previously posted in another thread of a case I painted where we were talking about all the logos plastered all over the GT300W.

 

[CheckYourLights]

it's an Asian thing, to be fair though the bulk of their market to date has been to markets where the users want people to know they have a camera, in western markets discretion is the way to go

That is true. I always seem to forget that in other markets that seeing the camera is part of the deterrent where here seeing the camera might be part of the reason to break in a car.

 

[SandraWIhan]

There are "two sides of a coin". I also like stealth install, like dedicated high quality mirror dvr with 24/7 auto-parking motion detection rec, very good night vision etc, rear camera built into rear centre brake light, but there are no such solutions yet.
Having stealth dash cam does not putt off thief of braking into your car, its opposite, - he doesnt see dash cam and more confidently commits crime stealing something from your car.
Having sticker "24h live CCTV recording + wireless data transmitting" and dedicated dash cams ( example built into mirror ) in most situations puts off thief to brake into the car. If dash cam is built into mirror or any other dedicated solution which takes a long time to remove, will not be interesting for thieves. But still, thief should be warned by sticker about your car dedicated dash cam solution with "wifi live data transmiting".

To make that believable, the dash cam should have an antenna sticking out, as well as a red blinking LED?

I had a friend who was very paranoid about his car. He had the installer hook up a smoke machine to the security system. When triggered, the smoke poured into the cabin. He had to stop using it after a close call when someone called the fire dept thinking the car was on fire. He got there just as the fire truck pulled up. I imagine the firefighters would have smashed the windows to put out the "fire" or worse!

 

[sludgeguts]

best defense is a stealth install, any indication of a camera raises awareness but that's not necessarily a good thing, every bank has cameras but they still get robbed, knowing they have cameras the thieves are just more cautious about how they approach the job, not pre warning them is a better tactic I think

BTW, how are you getting along with the dual camera stealth unit?

 

[jokiin]

BTW, how are you getting along with the dual camera stealth unit?

still working on hardware, will be a while yet

 

[Tokai]

My idea is that the camera need to be as invisible as possible, if needed you can show it, or to have a bumper sticker.
but it should be controllable - a shinning lens binding is definitely no good to this.

I don't think a thief would break the windshield just for your cam, there must be something more, unless the cam got noticed and he thinks he was caught by the cam.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Sharpie marker tends to leave an almost semi gloss dark purple color at times. (not as black as you'd think at least) Being permanent it might hurt resale value if you tend to upgrade often like me.

If you can take apart your DashCam, then Plastic dip is pretty easy. It's not permanent either. It's a spray on rubber, so just make sure you do like 4 coats. When it's nice and thick, you can very easily peel it off once you pull up over the edge hard etc. (see youtube videos for examples)

Electrical tape is not heat friendly and will turn into a goo'y mess.

It's hard to say what the "best" option is depending on if you don't care about permanent alterations.

 

[jokiin]

Sharpie marker tends to leave an almost semi gloss dark purple color at times. (not as black as you'd think at least) Being permanent it might hurt resale value if you tend to upgrade often like me.

fades off very quickly also

 

[Street Guardian USA]

fades off very quickly also

Yeah you're right, it does tend to rub off certain materials too. You could probably get it to fully come off with GooGone or 3M Sticker/Marker Romover
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00009L1WF

 

[jokiin]

Yeah you're right, it does tend to rub off certain materials too. You could probably get it to fully come off with GooGone or 3M Sticker/Marker Romover
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00009L1WF

sorry should have clarified, wasn't meaning it would fade off and then you could resell, meant it fades off and you need to keep doing it over if you want to keep the look, goes purple quite quickly