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- May 1, 2013
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- Dash Cam
- Street Guardian UK / EU / EEA Distributor
I will spread my thread posts into 4 messages due to a lot of pictures. ( max. 10 pictures can be added in one post )
This thread is about understanding of Lens Aperture on Dash Cameras.
Full understanding of lens aperture you can find from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture
Generally the lens aperture number on dash cameras shows how good will be recording at night.
F3.0, F3.5 - is son-so ( nothing special )
F2.5, F2.6 - is OK
F2.0, F2.2 - getting better
F1.8 - good nigh vision recording
F1.6 - very good night vision recording
F1.4 - excellent ! ( there are no mass-production dash cams yet with this aperture )
Another words: The larger the aperture - the smaller is "F"- number, - the better night vision / recording ... OR IS IT ??!
Actually there are much more to this in dash cameras, than just looking to the aperture "F"-number.
For good night vision recording is not enough to have lens with large aperture, - there are many other factors that affect night recording:
- lens quality
- CMOS type / brand
- CMOS size
- CPU quality
- "other" hardware
- FIRMWARE
Only a perfect combination of all dash camera components will decide on how good it will perform at night or day.
For example:
You can have two dash cameras with exactly the same specifications "on the paper", but for some reason one dash camera can perform much better at night than the other. Why ?
Because that other dash camera has much higher quality components and better firmware.
In this thread I will share my side by side tests with 4 dash cameras:
- Mobius, approx 65-70usd
- LS300W, approx 140-150usd, - same dash GT300W dash cam approx 103-108 usd
- GT450W, approx 103-108 usd
- Panorama2 ( Powerucc ), approx 180-185 usd.
NB!
Please do not jump into making harsh judgement between those dash cameras on what is good and what is bad. This thread is about understanding of aperture.
All those dash cameras perform very well in their own price range.
It is unfair to make full judgement on product which are in different price-range.
Aperture on tested dash cameras:
Mobius, LS300W, GT450W, - they all have very large lens aperture of F1.6, - this is considered to be one of the best figures in present days dash cameras, so majority of buyers "chasing" for dash cameras with larger "F"-number in order to get best night vision video recording. In most cases dash camera with larger aperture, truly perform better than other dash cameras with lower aperture, but as mentioned above, - there are much more to this.
Panorama2 has lens aperture ( you do not believe this ), - its F2.8 ! So, by looking into common rules of aperture, F2.8 is not that great. I must say "on the paper" its below average, so most buyers start thinking that night video recording on this device will be below average. Wrong ! ( read below and watch videos / pictures )
I bought Panorama2 dash camera about half year ago without knowing that it had such a "bad" aperture number. If I would new back then about its aperture, - I would not bought it for sure, because back then I still thought ( like many of you think now ): the larger dash camera lens aperture, - the better night video recording.
Despite such a huge difference in aperture nubmers, Panorama2 is more sensitive at night. It's all due to having much better CMOS sensor ( Sony Exmor ), much higher quality lenses and much better firmware which is tailored to the best possible result.
NB!, - again I want to repeat myself: - don't get me wrong, I am not trying to muck down other dash cameras tested, - this would be wrong from me. Those other dash cameras are also very good in their own price range and I truly can recommend them as well.
It's all about price !
For people with limited budget I can recommend LS300W, or it's neutral brand GT300W ( approx 103-108 usd ). They are performing very well and have been proven to be reliable dash cameras.
For those who need to get more out of night video recording, - then of course need to pay much more. Many well known dash cameras which have Sony Exmor CMOS might perform at night as good as Panorama2 ( Lukas LK-7900 etc. ) and others that are using SOny Exmor CMOS, - I can not say, - never tested them all. I can judge only by those dash cameras I had in hand.
From my tests below you can see that Panorama2 delivers more background details at night, but background in most places is bluish-violet colour, not that cinema-looking as other dash cameras, however you can see on Panorama2: houses, trees, electric poles, fences, bushes, people road sign posts, and all other objects, etc., that are not shown on other dash cams and which might be a vital information in case you need to solve some "situation" in court or police station to prove something.
So it's up to individual dash camera buyer to chose to have dash camera that shows more details at night, but slightly "wrong" background colours ( instead of nice back it shows bluish-violet colour), or have correct background colours, but with less or no details.
Also you may see that Panorama2 videos are slightly noisier than other, due to having average 12Mbps bit-rate, others have 15Mbps, however slightly lower video bit-rate does not affect much on overall crutial info reading on Panorama2, - it's just visually comparing two videos side by side on the big screen, you can see slight noise on Panorama2 videos.
So there are pros and cons if choosing between different dash cameras and each person has to decide what is best for him / her.
YouTube Videos below ( select 1080p from bottom right corner of the video settings )
NB!, - my car windscreen is not in perfect conditions, has some tiny stone chips, so in some video places you can some see glare from windscreen, - it is due to imperfections of car windscreen ( need to change it soon ).
Mobius vs LS300W vs Panorama2. Night.
LS300W vs GT450W vs Panorama 2. Night.
As we all know, YouTube is not the best place to judge videos quality due to data compression, I have uploaded same videos individual RAW files here:
Panorama2 Night ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (3).MP4 (255.3 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!rRJ12A5L!Ycfbgg93rSJ5mPMENHPGRG5uNglykRiScIClnG_NMZI
Panorama2 Night ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (2).MP4 (255.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!vZJRhDaL!HU-2Pis_inkNvVIavFHy8WUDpx8T6BpOdzncSsnG3CY
Panorama2 Night ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (1).MP4 (255.2 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!yExXCBjK!Jd8X3C5pNvb0wcBAYRzZcTt6FzsaVvHqmH9i_hxx6yY
Panorama2 Day ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (3).MP4 (255.2 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!zFIz3JhI!BldTQHIy1YO9-bfERBzEoSYei9AdA228hbiE5BjpDSs
Panorama2 Day ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (2).MP4 (255.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!TURFxIpJ!WqljcFaMrKRs-w09xntsgEH1osAGMbOEcx8UNa_mGiM
Panorama2 Day ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (1).MP4 (255.2 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!jAQhwLjK!BMjHbDwxvqQOQTR_dBNgn1hw_Wc1QOpZMATW0BduKtw
Mobius Night ( vs LS300W vs Panorama 2 ) (3).MOV (396.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!ncIA3ByL!aZeUkBfcuq0fh_kv-M4dQQMfjaM-WFrMXZjuGOccJ0s
Mobius Night ( vs LS300W vs Panorama 2 ) (2).MOV (396.3 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!ecI3gRDS!XkKmDFsf0vHR6-xgJSHwAWIoQ_lZ5Du_vKK-p3jsBOo
Mobius Night ( vs LS300W vs Panorama 2 ) (1).MOV (396.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!jNJVXQAD!frJz_z0xMtAJiKJlJVZIPlAMQWwTLVQ7S5Hr_wm1nSw
Mobius Day ( vs LS300W vs Panorama2 ) (3).MOV (396.3 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!6dYHxZ5a!XeUR8nB5WEceDhE3ZyYhzh_631kpK8hOdCBPMCzmJEs
Mobius Day ( vs LS300W vs Panorama2 ) (2).MOV (396.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!fRRWzaxI!Tz5IV3uZcXC3TWAIy-Rd8EC8PkNq58BUi1kPe_xVTRk
Mobius Day ( vs LS300W vs Panorama2 ) (1).MOV (395.8 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!CZxR2ZzQ!fm_zEEimQFNdaczopY7BbRK1UEkDQxmPUAcUJPRsLEM
LS300W Night ( vs Mobius vs Panorama 2 ) (3).MOV (355.2 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!6MJSVSqS!b44t_z4myYOde13bGnIrTlUj6HM21w0pyPXSn2sLV98
LS300W Night ( vs Mobius vs Panorama 2 ) (2).MOV (355.0 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!vNxWBDDS!aU-3oyZWSsJ416rAbgm4CEWam2IiVI1ZOEfhLBpn5gw
LS300W Night ( vs Mobius vs Panorama 2 ) (1).MOV (355.0 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!rQQzFQ5T!evtkuRFPBVPh1sQEpwr2cmx-58ZVaw3t9_Np_NPfipA
LS300W Day ( vs Pan2 & Mobius) (3).MOV (355.0 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!rJh1zLzL!P_md_BmxMb6-Fr4uesNZfWacdZVqwy-6k6aiZm-PnHs
LS300W Day ( vs Pan2 & Mobius) (2).MOV (355.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!HEoUUKLA!ehS5IGpTiil_ai7Lwg2UiFqdycQhGHGCTiLFRNilkMU
LS300W Day ( vs Pan2 & Mobius) (1).MOV (355.0 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!eA5j3KiC!GH9NtzBtw7ToVCjVS9SN_wryrLMqD7lkqtu-z1sQlN8
This thread is about understanding of Lens Aperture on Dash Cameras.
Full understanding of lens aperture you can find from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture
Generally the lens aperture number on dash cameras shows how good will be recording at night.
F3.0, F3.5 - is son-so ( nothing special )
F2.5, F2.6 - is OK
F2.0, F2.2 - getting better
F1.8 - good nigh vision recording
F1.6 - very good night vision recording
F1.4 - excellent ! ( there are no mass-production dash cams yet with this aperture )
Another words: The larger the aperture - the smaller is "F"- number, - the better night vision / recording ... OR IS IT ??!
Actually there are much more to this in dash cameras, than just looking to the aperture "F"-number.
For good night vision recording is not enough to have lens with large aperture, - there are many other factors that affect night recording:
- lens quality
- CMOS type / brand
- CMOS size
- CPU quality
- "other" hardware
- FIRMWARE
Only a perfect combination of all dash camera components will decide on how good it will perform at night or day.
For example:
You can have two dash cameras with exactly the same specifications "on the paper", but for some reason one dash camera can perform much better at night than the other. Why ?
Because that other dash camera has much higher quality components and better firmware.
In this thread I will share my side by side tests with 4 dash cameras:
- Mobius, approx 65-70usd
- LS300W, approx 140-150usd, - same dash GT300W dash cam approx 103-108 usd
- GT450W, approx 103-108 usd
- Panorama2 ( Powerucc ), approx 180-185 usd.
NB!
Please do not jump into making harsh judgement between those dash cameras on what is good and what is bad. This thread is about understanding of aperture.
All those dash cameras perform very well in their own price range.
It is unfair to make full judgement on product which are in different price-range.
Aperture on tested dash cameras:
Mobius, LS300W, GT450W, - they all have very large lens aperture of F1.6, - this is considered to be one of the best figures in present days dash cameras, so majority of buyers "chasing" for dash cameras with larger "F"-number in order to get best night vision video recording. In most cases dash camera with larger aperture, truly perform better than other dash cameras with lower aperture, but as mentioned above, - there are much more to this.
Panorama2 has lens aperture ( you do not believe this ), - its F2.8 ! So, by looking into common rules of aperture, F2.8 is not that great. I must say "on the paper" its below average, so most buyers start thinking that night video recording on this device will be below average. Wrong ! ( read below and watch videos / pictures )
I bought Panorama2 dash camera about half year ago without knowing that it had such a "bad" aperture number. If I would new back then about its aperture, - I would not bought it for sure, because back then I still thought ( like many of you think now ): the larger dash camera lens aperture, - the better night video recording.
Despite such a huge difference in aperture nubmers, Panorama2 is more sensitive at night. It's all due to having much better CMOS sensor ( Sony Exmor ), much higher quality lenses and much better firmware which is tailored to the best possible result.
NB!, - again I want to repeat myself: - don't get me wrong, I am not trying to muck down other dash cameras tested, - this would be wrong from me. Those other dash cameras are also very good in their own price range and I truly can recommend them as well.
It's all about price !
For people with limited budget I can recommend LS300W, or it's neutral brand GT300W ( approx 103-108 usd ). They are performing very well and have been proven to be reliable dash cameras.
For those who need to get more out of night video recording, - then of course need to pay much more. Many well known dash cameras which have Sony Exmor CMOS might perform at night as good as Panorama2 ( Lukas LK-7900 etc. ) and others that are using SOny Exmor CMOS, - I can not say, - never tested them all. I can judge only by those dash cameras I had in hand.
From my tests below you can see that Panorama2 delivers more background details at night, but background in most places is bluish-violet colour, not that cinema-looking as other dash cameras, however you can see on Panorama2: houses, trees, electric poles, fences, bushes, people road sign posts, and all other objects, etc., that are not shown on other dash cams and which might be a vital information in case you need to solve some "situation" in court or police station to prove something.
So it's up to individual dash camera buyer to chose to have dash camera that shows more details at night, but slightly "wrong" background colours ( instead of nice back it shows bluish-violet colour), or have correct background colours, but with less or no details.
Also you may see that Panorama2 videos are slightly noisier than other, due to having average 12Mbps bit-rate, others have 15Mbps, however slightly lower video bit-rate does not affect much on overall crutial info reading on Panorama2, - it's just visually comparing two videos side by side on the big screen, you can see slight noise on Panorama2 videos.
So there are pros and cons if choosing between different dash cameras and each person has to decide what is best for him / her.
YouTube Videos below ( select 1080p from bottom right corner of the video settings )
NB!, - my car windscreen is not in perfect conditions, has some tiny stone chips, so in some video places you can some see glare from windscreen, - it is due to imperfections of car windscreen ( need to change it soon ).
Mobius vs LS300W vs Panorama2. Night.
LS300W vs GT450W vs Panorama 2. Night.
As we all know, YouTube is not the best place to judge videos quality due to data compression, I have uploaded same videos individual RAW files here:
Panorama2 Night ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (3).MP4 (255.3 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!rRJ12A5L!Ycfbgg93rSJ5mPMENHPGRG5uNglykRiScIClnG_NMZI
Panorama2 Night ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (2).MP4 (255.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!vZJRhDaL!HU-2Pis_inkNvVIavFHy8WUDpx8T6BpOdzncSsnG3CY
Panorama2 Night ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (1).MP4 (255.2 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!yExXCBjK!Jd8X3C5pNvb0wcBAYRzZcTt6FzsaVvHqmH9i_hxx6yY
Panorama2 Day ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (3).MP4 (255.2 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!zFIz3JhI!BldTQHIy1YO9-bfERBzEoSYei9AdA228hbiE5BjpDSs
Panorama2 Day ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (2).MP4 (255.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!TURFxIpJ!WqljcFaMrKRs-w09xntsgEH1osAGMbOEcx8UNa_mGiM
Panorama2 Day ( vs LS300W vs Mobius ) (1).MP4 (255.2 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!jAQhwLjK!BMjHbDwxvqQOQTR_dBNgn1hw_Wc1QOpZMATW0BduKtw
Mobius Night ( vs LS300W vs Panorama 2 ) (3).MOV (396.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!ncIA3ByL!aZeUkBfcuq0fh_kv-M4dQQMfjaM-WFrMXZjuGOccJ0s
Mobius Night ( vs LS300W vs Panorama 2 ) (2).MOV (396.3 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!ecI3gRDS!XkKmDFsf0vHR6-xgJSHwAWIoQ_lZ5Du_vKK-p3jsBOo
Mobius Night ( vs LS300W vs Panorama 2 ) (1).MOV (396.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!jNJVXQAD!frJz_z0xMtAJiKJlJVZIPlAMQWwTLVQ7S5Hr_wm1nSw
Mobius Day ( vs LS300W vs Panorama2 ) (3).MOV (396.3 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!6dYHxZ5a!XeUR8nB5WEceDhE3ZyYhzh_631kpK8hOdCBPMCzmJEs
Mobius Day ( vs LS300W vs Panorama2 ) (2).MOV (396.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!fRRWzaxI!Tz5IV3uZcXC3TWAIy-Rd8EC8PkNq58BUi1kPe_xVTRk
Mobius Day ( vs LS300W vs Panorama2 ) (1).MOV (395.8 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!CZxR2ZzQ!fm_zEEimQFNdaczopY7BbRK1UEkDQxmPUAcUJPRsLEM
LS300W Night ( vs Mobius vs Panorama 2 ) (3).MOV (355.2 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!6MJSVSqS!b44t_z4myYOde13bGnIrTlUj6HM21w0pyPXSn2sLV98
LS300W Night ( vs Mobius vs Panorama 2 ) (2).MOV (355.0 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!vNxWBDDS!aU-3oyZWSsJ416rAbgm4CEWam2IiVI1ZOEfhLBpn5gw
LS300W Night ( vs Mobius vs Panorama 2 ) (1).MOV (355.0 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!rQQzFQ5T!evtkuRFPBVPh1sQEpwr2cmx-58ZVaw3t9_Np_NPfipA
LS300W Day ( vs Pan2 & Mobius) (3).MOV (355.0 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!rJh1zLzL!P_md_BmxMb6-Fr4uesNZfWacdZVqwy-6k6aiZm-PnHs
LS300W Day ( vs Pan2 & Mobius) (2).MOV (355.1 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!HEoUUKLA!ehS5IGpTiil_ai7Lwg2UiFqdycQhGHGCTiLFRNilkMU
LS300W Day ( vs Pan2 & Mobius) (1).MOV (355.0 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!eA5j3KiC!GH9NtzBtw7ToVCjVS9SN_wryrLMqD7lkqtu-z1sQlN8
Last edited: