Looking for very specific details in a dash cam.

[infestedchris]

Hello. I recently bought the VAVA front cam (my first dash cam). I like it a lot for just plug and play. I got it because it has this really cool wireless button you can stick any where in the car and it will save photos and videos. From this info I bought it, but did not care for the photo part, its video I want. But clearly noticed that when I held down the button it made a noise on the cam, and I guess that means when you hear that sound a separate video is being recorded for 20 seconds from the start of that beep. It is then saved in a different folder for safe keeping. But It don't make sense to record video while the cam is already recording, right?. I feel VAVA dropped the ball on this cool feature.

That being said, the dash cam I need is just for work. I want to save clips on the go to take back home without having to dig that SD card out every day. When I do my deliveries I want to archive all the crazy drivers I see.
I got 128GB sd card so the whole day recording on the card. Tons of 3 min clips to sniff through. It's hard to remember when and where that one driver did that dumb move on the freeway. I wish I can find it easier. Then I notice how long it takes to download a 3 min clip. Omg it's like 4-5 min. Then sometimes it freezes and says error and have to retry and download it all over again. What a nightmare. But I like it just in case I need to show the footage to a officer quickly. But not practical to try and download all 30+ clips at 4min a pop 1h30min to download, if no errors. That's why I need a button that can clip out parts of my day without having to sniff through all them videos.

I am just looking for a cam that can read the license plates in day time perfectly. I don't drive at night so I do not care about night quality.

I am also looking for a cam that can archive 1-3 min clips with a touch of a button. I notice on youtube videos I like to watch where someone saw something then they reach for the cam, you can hear the mic getting scuffled, then a loud beep and the camera shakes. I assume this is the button they are pressing to save this video. This is so hard to find this detail when looking for a camera online. They never advertise this feature, but I feel is the best feature a cam can have.

I would like to download the clips I save on my phone icloud storage.

Anyone please help me find a cam that does this.

 

[jokiin]

This is so hard to find this detail when looking for a camera online. They never advertise this feature, but I feel is the best feature a cam can have.

just about every camera has this function, except the VAVA by the sounds of it

 

[kamkar]

It do differ in how dashcams handle events, created by pressing the event button or triggered by G-sensor or movement.

Some just have a short buffer to give you a little footage from before the actual event, but this is just a few seconds, and if we then factor in the time it take you to press the button it is all but gone.
My SG camera deal in segments, and as i favor 3 minute video segments, and my system have 2 cameras, when i press the button the camera save 2 files ( 2 X 3 minutes ) from each camera so in total 12 MIN are saved in the RO ( Read Only ) folder.

The order of the 2 files can change a bit, if you are more than half way into a segment when you press the button the current file + following file get locked, but if you are not half way in the current file when you press button the current + the previous file get locked in the RO folder.

This way you dont have to hurry pressing the event button at all, actually you could pull over / stop, and then light a cigarette and then press the button

It is highly recommended you have a large enough memory card, and that is at least 64GB for each camera in the system, but going bigger on that number are only better.

The event button are not always a remote BT button, some times it are just on the camera,,,,,, which is also fine if you dont have to rush for it.
The new dual remote camera from SG i test actually have a wired button as it also have the microphone in there ( the system are dual remote cameras meaning you are supposed to hide the main unit in the car, so if the MIC was on the main unit you risk weak muffled sound )


PS. in my SG systems the content of the RO folder also get recycled when that memory space are full, but dont worry you can have several events a day for days and still have the first one in there.
It is good the RO folder also recycle when full, otherwise if it dident and was full and you wanted to save a event you could not as it is full.
On the other hand if there are no size limit for RO files, your memory card could fill up with those, leaving no room for regular driving along video, and if you had a event and the card was full of RO files you still could not save your event.

 

[DT MI]

I am just looking for a cam that can read the license plates in day time perfectly.

In addition to what the others have already said this item on your requirements list cannot be met by any consumer level camera available today. Some do a very good job but none will do it 100% of the time under all conditions.

 

[kamkar]

No plate capture are problematic, not least American plates that are designed to be as hard to read as possible ( more or less )

On a nice sunny day, yes you stand a okay chance, but on the same day at the same time if you are on a road in the shade of some threes, plate capture are a whole other beast.
Or if it is a grey dreary spring or fall day.

low light issues for any dashcam dont mean after the sun have set sadly, you will get challenged on this even in the middle of the day

You are best off seeing the plate yourself ( if you can ) and then call it out for the microphone to pick up

I feel as a American you can increase your chance of a plate capture by installing a dual system, CUZ you guys dont have 2 plates on the car like we EU boys have, so a rear camera getting a chance as the car go the other way are better than a front camera alone catching nothing as there are no plate on the front of the car.

 

[SawMaster]

There's some folks who are DL'ing their vids to their router at home each night, and some others are DL'ing to 'the cloud' as they drive but neither is cheap or easy to do. And the cams which allow this don't have the best-quality vids. The wifi in dashcams isn't really meant to do these things- only commercial cam systems currently offer such functionality in a robust easy-to-use package and those will cost you dearly

The best way to save vids is still by directly taking them from the card to your storage device. It takes only moments to do and is less likely to have any problems or issues pop up. My advice is to have two cards, keeping one in a card adapter to reduce the chance of loss, then at the end of the driving day take the one out of the cam, put the second one in, go inside and DL the day's files, then take the card back to your car in the morning. This also has the advantage of ensuring you've got a spare card in case one fails mid-day which they sometimes do. It's simple and easy and cheap and reliable too.

Phil

 

[Privateer]

Hi @infestedchris,

@kamkar1 has hit the nail on the head with:

It is highly recommended you have a large enough memory card, and that is at least 64GB for each camera in the system, but going bigger on that number are only better.

Grab a largish, good quality memory card and remember to fully format it regularly and even if you forget to hit the button you can recover the footage later on. If you carry a spare memory card swap cards as soon as possible and you know that you will have caught and kept the incidents.

You are best off seeing the plate yourself ( if you can ) and then call it out for the microphone to pick up

Another useful tip, always shout out the number plate just in case the footage doesn't show the plate well enough.

I feel as a American you can increase your chance of a plate capture by installing a dual system, CUZ you guys dont have 2 plates on the car like we EU boys have, so a rear camera getting a chance as the car go the other way are better than a front camera alone catching nothing as there are no plate on the front of the car.

Again, a second camera (either dual system or two separates) can give you an edge on capturing a number plate.

Regards,