Looking for 2 cameras for side view or possibly 1 with wide angle.

pepporony

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Hi DCT,

I currently have A119 for the front and A119S for the rear view. Now I'm looking for a full coverage setup.

I tried my Sony AS300 (around 170 degree angle) mounted at the center of the rear windshield (looking in) just to see the coverage. I don't see many dash cam with this wide angle (without getting too expensive like Garmin 65W) so I'm looking for a 2 cameras setup, probably mounted at the edges of the rear windshield, looking out each sides.

I'm looking at Viofo WR1 but looks like it is still in the early stage with some issues.

I don't need any features like parking or good G-sensor. Just want to record the side views.

Any recommendation? I don't have any specific budget, just want to see what is the option out there.
 
I've been running Mobius C2 cameras for lateral facing coverage (and Mobius B in the rear) for over two years now. They are simple, low cost, discreet and highly reliable.

See this LINK for examples from a four camera full coverage set-up using an SG9665GC and three Mobius cams.
 
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What kind of vehicle will you be putting them in? I'm using a couple of 'spare' A118C's for side cams, but then I drive an SUV/CUV with windows behind the rear doors so don't have to worry about making provisions for them to move around.
 
I've been running Mobius C2 cameras for lateral facing coverage (and Mobius B in the rear) for over two years now. They are simple, low cost, discreet and highly reliable.

See this LINK for examples from a four camera full coverage set-up using an SG9665GC and three Mobius cams.

I have been looking into Mobius as well. By C2 you mean Mobius 1 with wide angle lens C2 and not Mobius 2, is this correct?


Thank you :D.

What kind of vehicle will you be putting them in? I'm using a couple of 'spare' A118C's for side cams, but then I drive an SUV/CUV with windows behind the rear doors so don't have to worry about making provisions for them to move around.

Honda City.

To add more background to this. I had a recent accident where a motorcycle try to squeeze through traffic and hit my side windshield with some pole he carried. Luckily the tip of the pole was covered by some rubber so no damage.
 
I have been looking into Mobius as well. By C2 you mean Mobius 1 with wide angle lens C2 and not Mobius 2, is this correct?

Yes, the original Mobius 1 camera with the C2 lens (and a super-capacitor).

Avoid the Mobius 2. It is a flawed camera that at least for now appears to have been abandoned by the developer.
 
There is also a side-mounted lens set-up available for Mobius which might make for a better fit. Great cam, somewhat marginal at night, though it's never a bad choice :)

My side-cams in the work-van are G1W-HC's, about $35 each and they do almost as well as cams costing twice as much though are still marginal at night. Probably to big and boxy for your car but maybe not if they can be mounted well. I'm with you on the WR-1 which looks pretty good so far but I'm waiting for some history with it before buying ;)

And welcome to DCT!

Phil
 
Welcome to DCT.

motorcycle try to squeeze through traffic and hit my side windshield with some pole he carried

Sounds like jousting are becoming popular in Thailand.
p00q6n8s.jpg


I will second the wide angle Mobius 1 cameras, i have one in my Left side just behind the B pillar ( 5 door car ) it is in a place where it have not been bumped, but i have to say it is not often i have people on the back seat.

I took a pice of sheet metal, folded it over so it could slide over my headliner which there are pretty flat where it slide under the rubber door seal.
This way the headliner and the rubber seal hold the metal strip in place.
I have then glued / taped a neodymium magnet to the camera housing, so i can pull the wire and easy bring the whole camera with me when i want to get footage off it.

I can not recommend a camera deep inside the car looking out, the cameras really need to be up against the glass i think.
 
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I can not recommend a camera deep inside the car looking out, the cameras really need to be up against the glass i think.

I'm not certain of this for I've seen good vids done that way, along with some bad ones :rolleyes: Then there are cases like my 5m long van where mounting close to the glass means I need at least 6 cams to achieve about 90% coverage, and where my shelving makes a cross-interior aim useless for seeing much outside :( My front cam well away from the glass gives no problems while many with close-mounted wedge cams have significant issues with reflections :eek:

All you can do is try your ideas and see if you like the results, being ready to make changes if you aren't satisfied. There are no 'hard and fast rules' with dashcams.

Phil
 
True that.

you can always get one camera first and make a mock-up install and see if you like the result you are getting.

My experience with interior cameras tell me this:

To get good footage of the inside of the car the camera need to be up high, but this also mean what is close to the car outside of it, well that you can not see what is higher than the windows.
And metering / lightning settings might be biased towards the wrong thing, so if camera set itself to the "dark" inside of the car, well then what is outside will have some degree of over exposure, off course depending on the time of day and available light in general + the camera.

On the other hand if you place camera down low on dashbord, well then seats and what not will block a lot, so seeing people in the back or out the back side windows might be problematic.

I just did a little recording of my 2 side cameras and where they are installed, i will link to that here shortly.
 
You will have to live with the somewhat grainy video, due to clouds and rain ( filmed in dry passage thru apartment building ) then the footage is not that good.
BUT ! you can still see what i have done with the mobius on the Left, and see where the discontinued innovv C3 are installed in the Right side.

you can also see i had to tape something to the front half of the mobius to press against the rubber seal, otherwise the camera was just filming up in the air, and this was a quick fix to get it pointed more down.
Stick on just fine, no problem driving 80 km/h with that window and others in my car fully open.

The 2 magnets i use ( side by side ) are 10 x 8 mm cylinder shaped, and as mentioned before strong neodymium magnets.

And it is a little OOF as the action camera are not really focused for things this close.

You can also see rain on the side windows can be a issue, i got to see if i can get some nano stuff on them to let the rain run off faster, when / if it get summer again.
 
Thank you for all the suggestions and example.

I will try to use my existing cams to test the setup first but looks like my pick will be either Mobius or WR1 (if the issues were fixed).
 
You may also see what one cam will show, mounted backwards in the front windscreen, or forwards in the back windscreen. You could get most of the coverage you want, with one cam.
May also be handy for encounters with the friendly Thai police. :)

I like the Mobius, but the WR1 will probably work OK, even in it's current state of evolution.
 
You may also see what one cam will show, mounted backwards in the front windscreen, or forwards in the back windscreen. You could get most of the coverage you want, with one cam.
May also be handy for encounters with the friendly Thai police. :)

I like the Mobius, but the WR1 will probably work OK, even in it's current state of evolution.

I tried that with Sony AS300 at the center of the rear windshield. With 170 degree fov, there are some clipped at the back of both sides windshield. The front side windshield was blocked by front seats. Dash cam with narrower fov should be worse (unless of course, something like Garmin with 180 degree fov).

I'm thinking about having a clamp type mount on the metal pole of the headrest or maybe stick it on the c pillar.
 
So here are my current setup.

At first I want to mount both cams on the c pillar but nothing stick. Tried different 3M but no luck. Therefore, I mounted them on the windshield instead. They didn't obstruct the view as much as I thought (probably because I got used to having 1 camera there already).
3sSiSga.jpg



Here are the views from the right.

amuNLTP.jpg


CcV4Eyv.jpg

amuNLTP

CcV4Eyv

and left (apology for the rain doll :D).

dzLJxnj.jpg


Both sides have the view of the side mirrors. Motorcycle hit your side mirrors folded is very common here so this should be good.

Will need to handle the cables better than this. Not sure if they will get in they way of the airbag or not.

PS. I really like Mobius. The ease of changing the capacitor, the setup using PC. If their night time footage is improve, it would be awesome.
 
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That's a rain doll? Some sort of Phi? (Ghost?)

I'm just curious if you tried one mobius, centered in the back windshield, pointing forward? If that would cover the side mirrors well enough?

If the problem is motorbikes, aren't most of them uninsured, or the rider unlicensed? (and has no money to pay the damages?)

Just curious. I drive in Thailand occasionally.
 
That's a rain doll? Some sort of Phi? (Ghost?)

I'm just curious if you tried one mobius, centered in the back windshield, pointing forward? If that would cover the side mirrors well enough?

If the problem is motorbikes, aren't most of them uninsured, or the rider unlicensed? (and has no money to pay the damages?)

Just curious. I drive in Thailand occasionally.

More like a Japanese talisman thing (they were called Teru Teru bozu) to bring good weather. When we went on a road trip it's always rain so my girlfriend made this doll just for fun.

I haven't tried the Mobius pointing forward but I tried Sony AS-300 mounted next to A119S so it's a bit off center.

4ACrtD4.jpg


Mobius, even with narrower FOV should still handle side mirror fine if you mounted it the very center. (In this image the camera rotated to the side a bit due to loose mounting).

After the road trip I could try mounting the Mobius center if you want to see.

For the Motorbikes incidents that I encountered (that didn't hit and run) they did insured but yes, a lot of them were not. In that case the police should handle it (which...is not that reassuring..)
 
Do what works and you are comfortable with. The mobius gives you a lot of options . :)

I'll probably end up starting spending part of the year near Loei, next year, and when I finally buy a car/pickup there, will have multiple cams.
(and a Buddhist amulet or two) :)




Happy Mothers Day! (the Queens birthday)


Queen3.jpg
 
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