Looking for a high quality(~$250?), discrete dash cam with no wires hanging around

timbob

New Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2015
Messages
4
Reaction score
1
Country
Canada
I'm looking for a dash cam for my 2005 Toyota Tacoma that is not very visible at all from outside, and will not have any wires hanging down through the middle of the windshield etc. (Tuck it in roof, down side of truck, etc, anything to hide it) I'm willing to spend around $200-$300 to get a very high quality cam that is reliable, turns on when I start the truck, saves over the old footage, is easy to transfer videos over (PC) etc. Night isn't a big concern, as well I'm not very concerned about parking footage.

I really appreciate any advice, thank you. I've read through a lot of the threads here and I'm still having trouble deciding :S

Thanks, Tim
 
Look heavily at the latest version of the Mini 0806. I've had dozens of cameras over the last 11 years. I've never found one that ticks every one of the 'must haves' and 'nice to haves' features on my list until I found the 0806. It's so good, I ordered 8 of them to install in my cars and motorhome. Got mine for about $100 USD w/free DHL (3-day) shipping from AliExpress. All 8 worked perfectly right out of the box. 2560x1080 @ 24mbps provides an unbelievable level of clarity and wide field of view.
 
Here's a mobius wide angle in the Thai version of a tacoma.



And video from a Mobius standard lens, and A118-c in the tractor trailer.


Both are small, reliable, not so expensive, and a good starting point for dashcams.
 
I'm looking for a dash cam for my 2005 Toyota Tacoma that is not very visible at all from outside, and will not have any wires hanging down through the middle of the windshield etc. (Tuck it in roof, down side of truck, etc, anything to hide it) I'm willing to spend around $200-$300 to get a very high quality cam that is reliable, turns on when I start the truck, saves over the old footage, is easy to transfer videos over (PC) etc. Night isn't a big concern, as well I'm not very concerned about parking footage.

I really appreciate any advice, thank you. I've read through a lot of the threads here and I'm still having trouble deciding :S

Thanks, Tim
Let me know if you have any questions :)
I agree with everything everyone has told you. Mini 0806 continues to be a hot and popular camera.
We briefly sold the mini 0806. But stopped after losing trust in our source unless we paid top dollar for the camera. With such a popular generic camera, there are going to be countless manufactures producing the model. Making it much more difficult for us to guarantee absolute quality to our customers.
Admittedly early this spring when I decided to drop the camera, I didn't realize it was going to be such a hit. Perhaps we will look to start selling it again..

Anyways Street Guardian is always a good option, both the SG9665GC and the SGZC12RC are extra stealthy.
As a retailer, I am not going to give you much of a suggestion of what you should buy, but if you have any specific questions. I am always here :)
 
Wow thank you so much everybody for the fast replies, everybody is so friendly :O

For the Mini 0806, I read on Amazon that you can tuck it behind the rear view mirror? I think this would be amazing for a dash cam, where would the wires go though? Does it come with enough wire to tuck into the roof down to the power outlet?

As for the SGZC12RC "The night time is where it is really going to shine" I'm not very concerned with night time driving, it is nice but I put a lot more importance on daytime driving, this camera is still great in daytime too right?
 
Daytime performance on just about ANY decent cam is good, was what jokiin tried to type :p

In regard to tucking anything in behind / in front of rear view mirror it depend a lot of the model of car, in my little Suzuki i can fit a 2.5 x 2.5 x 4-5 inch cctv camera, and in other cars there is so much other stuff there that you will have to hang dashcam below that or move it to the side.

For daytime use i would say you just need to have the cam within the area covered by the wipers, and then just go for a model that have capasitors and dont suffer from focus shift in hot weather.

The SGZC12RC camera is about 1/3 the size of the 0806, and it have capasitors where the 0806 have a lipo battery.

First batch of SGZC12RC did suffer from focus shift, but that is beeing taken care off as i type now and free of charge ( offcourse )
And with the apologies from the maker for the hassel it might have been for you having a slightly out of focus camera for a while and needing to install the replacement camera.

Judging by pics i found of your car it like like the tacoma will accomodate just about any decent dashcam :)
2016 tacoma + gopro
2016-toyota-tacoma-interior-rear-view-mirror-and-gopro.jpg
 
Last edited:
Daytime performance on just about ANY decent cam is good, was what jokiin tried to type :p

In regard to tucking anything in behind / in front of rear view mirror it depend a lot of the model of car, in my little Suzuki i can fit a 2.5 x 2.5 x 4-5 inch cctv camera, and in other cars there is so much other stuff there that you will have to hang dashcam below that or move it to the side.

For daytime use i would say you just need to have the cam within the area covered by the wipers, and then just go for a model that have capasitors and dont suffer from focus shift in hot weather.

The SGZC12RC camera is about 1/3 the size of the 0806, and it have capasitors where the 0806 have a lipo battery.

First batch of SGZC12RC did suffer from focus shift, but that is beeing taken care off as i type now and free of charge ( offcourse )
And with the apologies from the maker for the hassel it might have been for you having a slightly out of focus camera for a while and needing to install the replacement camera.

Thank you! :D

Well the SGZC12RC seems like the cam for me then, it easily gets to 120ºF in the truck when its sitting so the capacitors will be nice, it is small and I can "stick" it behind the rear view mirror, and run the wires through the roof.

So the best person to buy from is @CalgaryDashCam then? On Amazon the cam is listed at $250 CDN
 
I would shop local for sure, but any certified Street Guardian seller will have good service as that seem to be a major thing for that brand.

CDC would be a good bet, but i am not sure if he carry the SG brand too, its a little out of my way as a casual dashcam user to keep track of that.

Form what i hav seen on here they appear to be good folkes at CDC

From what i know the #2 batch of that dashcam is just about to go out the door from the factory, and those should come with a bullet proof camera unit.
 
Thank you! :D

Well the SGZC12RC seems like the cam for me then, it easily gets to 120ºF in the truck when its sitting so the capacitors will be nice, it is small and I can "stick" it behind the rear view mirror, and run the wires through the roof.

So the best person to buy from is @CalgaryDashCam then? On Amazon the cam is listed at $250 CDN

We have the SGZC12RC on both our website and Amazon.
On our website we are selling for 240 $CAD.
Higher price on Amazon because we have to pay Amazon money for the sale.
Feel free to use our DashCam Talk coupon code for 10$ off your order. From our website price.
8KLH6Z4WODY6
 
From what i know the #2 batch of that dashcam is just about to go out the door from the factory, and those should come with a bullet proof camera unit.

We have the SGZC12RC on both our website and Amazon.
On our website we are selling for 240 $CAD.
Higher price on Amazon because we have to pay Amazon money for the sale.
Feel free to use our DashCam Talk coupon code for 10$ off your order. From our website price.
8KLH6Z4WODY6

If the newest dash cams are about to go out from the factory, do you guys carry them @CalgaryDashCam?
 
If the newest dash cams are about to go out from the factory, do you guys carry them @CalgaryDashCam?
Hey Timbob,

The newest lens is still in the testing and quality control stage, but once it comes out. Once the new lens is available, my plan is to buy the new lens for all my RC customers to replace the first one. Just want to make sure everyone has a quality dash camera.
 
And since summer is dropping off, you should be good with the default lens.
I dont think if it get hot and out of focus it remain there, so for the days i assume is the most in Canada this time of year you should be just fine untill the improved lenses come out.
Changing the old camera to the new should be a seconds long operation, unscred endcap on camera - unplug USB cable - slide old camera unit out of mount - slide in new camera unit - plug in USB wire - screw back on endcap. ( i belive )

I was in Canada in 1990, you guys had a nice summer then, and the largest forrest fires for the time as i recall.
sadly it was only for 3 days, then the good ship MT. Torm Gunhild made her way back down river to the atlantic ocean
 
I'm looking for a dash cam for my 2005 Toyota Tacoma that is not very visible at all from outside, and will not have any wires hanging down through the middle of the windshield etc. (Tuck it in roof, down side of truck, etc, anything to hide it) I'm willing to spend around $200-$300 to get a very high quality cam that is reliable, turns on when I start the truck, saves over the old footage, is easy to transfer videos over (PC) etc. Night isn't a big concern, as well I'm not very concerned about parking footage.

I really appreciate any advice, thank you. I've read through a lot of the threads here and I'm still having trouble deciding :S

Thanks, Tim

what ever dashcam you decide to buy, - buy locally !
 
Back
Top