I'm thinking about getting a new cam. Suggestions?

[Kristian]

Hi.
I've been using a G2000 for some time now, but theres a few things I'd like improved.
- It's only avarge at nighttime. I'd like better night filming since I mostly drive at night.
- It crashes/locks up too much. Keep it plugged in too long = locks up and needs reset. Also randomly freezes for no reason.
- Powercut makes it shut down, even if it's programmed not to.
- It can only hold 3 locked files.

If theres any fix for those last 3, I'll keep my current cam (and buy a bunch more for friends and family), but if theres some other cam with similar or better specs (needs good film quality, gps, nightvision etc), I'll go for that.


And thanks for a awesome site! I've been lurking in here for some months, and I love it!

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi Kristan,

Seems like your camera might be a lemon if it crashes / hangs a lot. For the shutdown, perhaps the internal battery is dead. Locked files depends on firmware. You are right, the night time quality is not the greatest. For the best night time quality, Korean cameras are likely your best bet (FineVu, BlackVue, Itronics) however the great eBay deals from the past are less common now.

 

[Kristian]

Hi DashCamMan!
The internal battery is not dead. I can turn it on without plugging in cable, and it will run for a long time without any issues.
Are there any updated/hacked firmwares I can add to my cam to fix the locked file amount?

And what do you mean by the camera might be lemon?
Which model of the GS2000 and from which site would you suggest I buy more? I bought my current one from dx.com, but I see they got a billion different GS2000's, and their shipping time is a bit too slow for my liking..

Also, here's a test I did with the cam. Nighttime is not as bad when it's snow, since snow reflects light good.

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi Kristian,

What firmware is your camera running now? The firmware for these cameras are not well documented so it may not give you more locked files. The risk of bricking the camera may not be worth the firmware update.

As for a lemon, if the camera is hanging / freezing, this is not normal. Could be firmware related or just a defective camera. Really for the GS1000 / GS2000, check with the vendors for firmware. Aliexpress seems to have the better quality cameras. Start on the main GS1000 page for some vendor ideas.

 

[Kristian]

Hi,
Firmware version is SMH3.34.240412A.

 

[Roberthodgson]

Take a look at the Finevu CR500HD I have had mine for a couple of weeks and I am very happy with the camera

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi Kristian,

That firmware version is fine from what I have read. Not sure if there is much you can do to rectify the problems with your camera.

 

[Kristian]

Hi again.
One last question this time.
I found this camera on aliexpress.com, and it seems to be good. It says original orange menu version SM5H5HGB.121013.V1 and the ambarella chip. Is that the good version?
It also seems to have a doublesided-tape and suction foot (I sent them a message to clearify this).

Which type of SD card (atleast 32gb) would you recommend?

 

[jokiin]

Which type of SD card (atleast 32gb) would you recommend?

personal preference (I've tried a lot of cards) are either Samsung Class10 or Sandisk Class 10 Ultra U1 cards, the Sandisk are the faster of the two, in our market there's only a $2 difference between the brands

 

[DashCamMan]

HI Kristian,

SM5H5HGB.121013 is a newer firmware released in December. Apparently it is using a different sensor (supposedly SENSOR_OV5653). Not sure if it is better or worse than the previous versions.