Looking for VERY Descreet Cam with excellent video quality

[William Robinson]

Hi all

Am new here. I have been browsing the web for ages looking for a Cam to suit my particular needs but there are just too many options. It would be great if you guys could suggest a particular Camera based on my exact requirements.

I want my cam to posses the following qualities:
Excellent video quality in Day & Night
No Screen (Because I want the cam to be as discreet as possible)
As small as possible (Again, so it is discreet).

I would like it to activate if my vehicle is collided with whilst stationary.

I'm not bothered about GPS either way.

Basically, the area in which I live (In Manchester, UK) is renown for people breaking into vehicles and stealing from cars. Therefore, if the cam was easily identifiable or visible it would be gone in days. That's why I don't want a screen. Also, another reason for not wanting a screen is that I want to install the camera and forget about it. The only time I want to bother with the camera is if I need to. Otherwise, I'd like to forget about it.

There is a lot of talk about the Mobius but I'm a little concerned that the night images are not excellent and also I have read that there are a lot of Mobius fakes around.

I am not particularly bothered about the price as long as the cam suits my needs.

Thank you in advance.

 

[russ331]

There is a lot of talk about the Mobius but I'm a little concerned that the night images are not excellent and also I have read that there are a lot of Mobius fakes around.

See...

Top Left - B40 / A118. FW: B40.20140523.001, HDR On, ( 15Mbps )
Top Right - Panorama 2. FW: v1.12.03 ( 15Mbps )
Bottom Left - Mobius B-lens. FW: v1.17, 1080p-W, WDR On, 15Mbps
Bottom Right - Mini 0803. FW: 20140510V1.1, HDR On ( 15Mbps )

I think Mobius acquits itself very well against the competition in relation to low light video quality.

There's no risk of buying a fake if you choose from the Mobius-approved vendors list...

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=25170905&postcount=2

 

[country_hick]

See...

I think Mobius acquits itself very well against the competition in relation to low light video quality.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=25170905&postcount=2

Here is my take after watching this video and stopping motion many times.

Firmware revisions can change results. The picture quality is reduced to much to tell if seeing letters on signs is better from one of these dash cams or not. I realize that putting 4 cams in one frame requires this compromise. This acknowledges only the limitations of my computer screen and youtube.

You can see some differences in FOV from one cam to another. The wider FOV catches more details from the side.

When looking at this the mobius seems to have the best video. The only exception was the lit sign on the side of the building at 3:49 and 6:54. At 7:14 while turning the mobius had the best picture of a sign that has letters that are lighted from the back. The back lights seem brighter and set off the letters better. At 7:22 we can see the limitations of mobius light gathering capability. The blue sign on the building does not seem to have any letters in it unlike the other cams.

The mini0803 and panarama had less distortion of the ceiling lights with the mini being best at 4:35 At 5:09 the mini does the best job recording the lighted signs. It is the only section of the screen I can actually read "exit" on. At 5:23 none of the cams can see the license plate of the car in front. Glare from the reflective license plates beats them all. At 5:38 it looks like the mobius might have the worst performance catching the plate number with your car on low beam, but my screen is to small to verify this.

6:18 shows a sign being lit up. I do not see much of any advantage to any cam here. At 7:56 you can see an exit sign to determine if you think any cam has an advantage reading the lettering.

At 6:54-6:55 we can see a man in darker clothes walking. The mobius seems to catch him a bit quicker than the other cams. At 8:04 another man is in the picture. The mobius captures his presence earlier with less light compared to the other cams.

At 8:10 the mobius catches the unlit McDonalds sign before the other cams do. The b40 barely catches that sign as a reflection of the street light at 8:13.

After seeing these differences I would say if you want to be able to make out lighted signs after dark and to see lighting globes without distortion do not buy a mobius. To me this is not a defect, it is a sign of excellent light gathering capability. If you want very good night time recording quality the mobius is the best of the 4 shown in the video above.

I am honestly impressed that such a small and reasonably priced camera can get this level of recording quality. This video just makes it that much harder for a competing dash cam to get my money as the mobius looks like a tough act to beat.

The remaining question is how well any dash cam handles cold winters and hot summers. After seeing at least -14f (-25c) recently the cold weather capability is a concern. Making sure your dash cam has capacitors instead of a lipo battery would make summer safer.