Looking for flexible, custom setup

Phlarbelakk

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I've read several threads on here and haven't found quite the answer I'm looking for.
I hope you folks would be so kind as to sharing with me a bit more of your knowledge, if it might help me find what I'm looking for.
I am looking for a car camera system. I've several ideal features that are making it difficult for me to find a solution that fits all of my needs.

What I am looking for:
  • 3 or 4 channel video input, 30fps, 1080p
  • GPS with video overlay (so that it's recorded directly onto the video of at least one of the video channels, rather than simply logged to a separate file).
  • Manual stop & start switch, preferably able to be mounted remotely (need it to be able to keep recording even when the car is shut off, e.g. during a police stop).
  • small cameras that can be mounted discretely
  • DVR box separate from any of the cameras
  • interchangeable lenses, for different viewing angles, so I don't need to purchase different camera brands/models
  • 128 GB minimum storage
  • h.264 format
Bonus features:
  • 2 or more channels audio in, instead of 1
  • external connections for microphone(s), for better quality than ones built-into the camera
  • standard SATA hard drive connection, instead of SD card
  • ODB-II data logging

I really don' t need "parking mode" or "g-force sensor" or other things these dashcams usually come with. Not interested in having a screen for playback or realtime viewing.

Initially, before I realized there were so many systems specifically designed for this sort of thing, I assumed it would be all DIY. And I found, for example, that RC plane hobbyists have some devices that could serve this purpose: small HD cameras with interchangeable lenses & optical zoom, gps overlay... even gimbals for camera stability and panning via servos, sensors for things like airspeed, accelerometers, altitude & attitude (not terribly useful on a car, but could be fun). I'm still willing to go the DIY route if necessary to meet the aforementioned specs. But the DVR component has always been a difficult piece of the puzzle. I work in technology, so I'm comfortable with piecing things together, installing linux, using CLI, soldering, etc (I just don't do any coding) as necessary. I've considered using DVRs designed for building surveillance, but the ones I've seen are rather expensive without including cameras and I have doubts about their suitability for use in a vehicle.

Ultimately, if I really really have to settle, I guess I could so long as I have at least two 1080p cameras, the 3rd (& 4th) camera could be okay at 720. I could get two of the dual-cam units (which would give me 2x 1080 and 2x 720p), but I'm not sure how I would discretely turn them all on from the driver's seat, and be able to manually keep them on even when the car is turned off for a short while.

Thanks!
 
For the 720p cameras you will probably be ok with an itronics ITB500-HD. As for the 1080p cameras... I think the most discrete are the Lukas Ace. If I remember correctly Lukas had a dual camera setup with a front camera similar to Ace 7900 and a 720p or 480p camera. You could consider the Finevu CR-2i as well.

You can eventually feed the power from a shared power cable and mount a switch on that if you really want manual control. On the other hand the motion/shock sensing can work decently with some cameras.

I used to have a Szest DVR recording on a hard drive, but even if they are still in the CCTV business with CCTV camera DVRs they eventually moved to SD cards to make the DVRs smaller, consume less power and produce less heat and noise. So I don't think you will be able to find HDD recording DVRs anymore. Before I went with my current setup I found a 4 channel 720p DVR that was recording on hard drive but was some professional DVR and the price was somewhere around $1500. And the cameras were not that discrete.
 
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