Mini 0806 - first impressions

[richcam]

I've seen videos like that when the computer can't play HD format as well so maybe check in another computer.

Nope, the video footage plays fine, the vertical lines are rolling as I turn the car, as in, that is what is being recorded by the camera.... But just in case Quick Time Player couldn't play it properly I also viewed the video in VLC which can pretty much play any type of video format that you can throw at it and the result was the same.

Sounds most like a faulty sensor chip to me. Hope you got it from somewhere easy to send back.

Luckily I purchased the 0806 from Combi whom are based in Leicestershire, I sent them an email with the bad news and Lee phoned me straight back, had a chat with me about what had happened and the steps I had taken to try and resolve the issue, then asked me to return the defective unit and would send me out a replacement by return. This is what is known as excellent after-sales service.

I've just done a test of the in-camera formatting on mine with the latest firmware and something has changed since I last tested it. It now formats correctly in exFAT format and records correctly to it, as I think you had said. I'm going to leave it formatted in exFAT to see if jokiin is correct that it will not loop, I'll post the results when the 64GB fills up...

It's interesting that you say that because I formatted the two 64GB cards in MS-DOS (FAT) on my Mac using Disk Utility and it performed flawlessly when in 1920 x 1080 resolution (except the quality wasn't good enough) so wonder if there is any benefit of using exFAT, like you say, it will be interesting to see if your card loops round when it's full, or whether it just stops recording as jokiin has suggested.

Once I receive the replacement 0806 dash cam I will try the 128GB class 10 card to see what happens - from what I can gather, the only thing holding back the use of larger memory cards is the pure expense of it.

 

[Nigel]

exFAT does allow larger files, presumably it allows one file to fill the card while FAT is limited to under 4GB per file. But for a dashcam using loop recording that isn't important. The main advantage is that 64GB and larger cards come formatted in exFAT so you can just use them if the camera can support exFAT. My card is nearly full...

 

[Nigel]

It appears that exFAT is fully functional on the mini 0806 now - that wasn't in the list of fixed bugs! Maybe the manual needs updating?

I'll keep mine using exFAT for a long term test...

 

[jokiin]

It appears that exFAT is fully functional on the mini 0806 now - that wasn't in the list of fixed bugs! Maybe the manual needs updating?

I'll keep mine using exFAT for a long term test...

would be much better if it is, they would have had to have bought the exFAT licensed SDK for that to have happened, I queried the manufacturer about this previously and at the time they weren't even aware that it was an option

 

[richcam]

UPDATE: I received the replacement 0806 from Combi today which is very good, it would have been here sooner except the Post Office dragged their heels with the 1st class recorded delivery, so it arrived around lunchtime when the wife signed for it and didn't tell me. I've been at work for most of today so haven't managed to test it thoroughly, though did record a little bit of footage in the car later in the day.

This evening I checked on the settings for the 0806 and noticed it was set to 1920 x 1080 FINE. so have increased the resolution to 2560 x 1080 FINE. I have two Kingston 64GB micro SDXC SD cards installed which I believe are class 10, I formatted these in MS-DOS (FAT) on my Mac using Disk Utility.

Unlike the previous 0806 that I returned this one doesn't appear to lock up when tested in-house at the higher resolution. Will try the camera out in the car tomorrow to see what the video quality is like and whether or not it locks up when recording over a longer period.

Not sure if this is an error but it would appear that the card inserted into slot B is being written to first (according to the sticker), this slot is located underneath the dash cam, surely it ought to be the card inserted into slot A that should be written to first - perhaps the employee with the sticker needs retraining in which side to stick side A stickers on

Have to say that the exterior design of the 0806 is very good, it feels solidly built, is matt back all round, without the horrible tacky silver finish shown on some of the early press releases, is a nice bit of kit.

Now all I hope for is that the internal mechanics have been thoroughly sorted out, and the 0806 is a reliable dash cam.

So 11/10 for Combi, and in particular Lee who took the time to phone me yesterday after I emailed him to say that the Post Office hadn't delivered. They also have an ebay page as well as a website, just search for 'Combi dash cam' on Google. I'm well impressed.

Slightly off-topic, the truly out-of-touch management at the Post Office are increasing the price of 1st class and 2nd class stamps on the 30th March.... it's no wonder more and more people are sending emails!

 

[Nigel]

Slightly off-topic, the truly out-of-touch management at the Post Office are increasing the price of 1st class and 2nd class stamps on the 30th March.... it's no wonder more and more people are sending emails!

Thanks, time to stock up for the next year or two then

Given that it wasn't on default settings for some reason, I would use the "Reset to default settings" menu or whatever it is called so you know that nothing else is messed up. Hopefully they were just testing it for you.

 

[richcam]

Thanks, time to stock up for the next year or two then

Given that it wasn't on default settings for some reason, I would use the "Reset to default settings" menu or whatever it is called so you know that nothing else is messed up. Hopefully they were just testing it for you.

Last time I looked at the price of stamps I'm sure they cost approx 27p. Apparently the out-of-touch Post-Office management said they had thought 'carefully' about the impact on its customers, before deciding to raise prices. A first class stamp will rise from 62p to 63p, while second class is rising from 53p to 54, a large letter will increase by 2p to 95p for first class and by 1p to 74p for second class. Both changes come into effect on March 30 2015. I take it that they haven't heard of the internet or EMAIL, which saves an absolute fortune in stamps, and is so much faster.

As for the replacement 0806, I asked them to test the unit at 2560 x 1080 and received an email a few days ago to say that it had been tested at this resolution.

Tomorrow I will find out just how good (or bad) the 0806 dash cam is, and will post the updates on here.

If it starts acting up then I will reset the unit to default settings and let you know what happens....

 

[richcam]

Good news, have been using the 0806 for just under an hour's worth of driving today and it's performed extremely well.

As mentioned previously, the resolution is set to 2560 x 1080 FINE. I have fitted two Kingston 64GB micro SDXC SD cards.

I fitted a CPL polarising filter which has made a heck of a difference in reducing reflections on the windscreen.

The fact that the video resolution is now 2560 x 1080 means that less sky and more road view is recorded so the actual footage has less chance of being burned out when it's bright outside.

File sizes are not much bigger compared to the 0801 which was consuming approx 100MB per minute whilst this 0806 uses approx 120MB per minute which is perfectly acceptable to me. Remember that the 0806 is recording at 2560 x 1080.

As regards the overall quality of the video, it's very good, but I'm not convinced that in the daytime it is any better than the far cheaper 0801 which I fitted in Sept 2014, I intend to fit the 0801 alongside this 0806 in the next week or two so that I can compare identical footage under the same conditions and will post screenshots so that you can compare like for like. Might actually upload a few one minute video files onto Mega so that you can download and view the comparison video footage for yourselves.

Possible firmware improvements I can think of:

• The video footage can be a little jerky at times - and don't blame the hardware, the 0801 video files play smoothly and 120MB isn't very big when compared to cinema size movies I sometimes watch.
• Video footage still a little bit blocky
• Seems over sharpened to compensate for lack of actual detail - noticed this when trying to view number-plates of oncoming cars.

Considering how new the 0806 is in the marketplace I do think there is great potential to further enhance the video quality as the firmware is improved by the developers.

Bottom line, I'm well impressed with it and even more pleased with Lee at Combi for replacing it so quickly when the original unit malfunctioned.

 

[Nigel]

Possible firmware improvements I can think of:

• The video footage can be a little jerky at times - and don't blame the hardware, the 0801 video files play smoothly and 120MB isn't very big when compared to cinema size movies I sometimes watch.
• Video footage still a little bit blocky
• Seems over sharpened to compensate for lack of actual detail - noticed this when trying to view number-plates of oncoming cars.

• I've never seen jerky footage from the mini 0806, it will be the display device causing the issue, maybe it doesn't like the cinema width video. I'm sure if you convert it to normal 1080 you will find it becomes smooth which will prove that the original was smooth too.
• Video can be a bit blocky as it is compressed but you should use super fine rather than just fine to get the best video quality, I find it very hard to see any blockiness in good lighting conditions.
• The amount of sharpening depends on the circumstances, I've never really tested it in fine quality but in super fine I think it normally gets it about right. Having too little is as bad as having too much.

 

[Rayman.Chan]

Hi RichMan,
don't doubt the default setting is 1920*1080 as that is Lee's request. Maybe he have his reason.
and try to adjust the VIDEO QUALITY to SUPER FINE which was defined to FINE as default.
May be you can mail Lee to share your idea.

 

[richcam]

An update which the manufacturers might want to make notes on:

The 2nd 0806 dashcam has performed flawlessly since install, or so I thought.

So the good news is that at a standstill or lower speeds the 0806 does indeed record video footage at slightly higher resolution than the 0801 so I can assume the manufacturers are pleased to hear this, however, the bad news is that at higher speeds (50mph) the 0801 is better at recording number-plates, I can assume that this is because the 0801 is 1920 x 1080 so has less pixels to deal with.

Have enclosed a few screen shots to illustrate the differences between the 0801 and the 0806 - the 0801 always has the date and time in the top left if you wish to compare the differences.

And apologies if the images aren't in order, the forum software won't allow me to change the sorting order!

So I'm fairly happy with the improvement in resolution at lower speeds but not so happy with the quality of recording at higher speeds.

What I'm not pleased with is the loss of video files on the card occupying slot 2, whilst the card occupying slot 1 has nothing recorded to it whatsoever. Am tempted to bounce the 0806 back to the supplier because this is totally unacceptable, though will give the manufacturers the benefit of the doubt to see whether they can fix the firmware in the next month to see if this sorts the problem.

Have enclosed a screen-grab of the files on the media card in slot B and you can see quick clearly the leap in file numbering on the 13th March (Friday 13th) when all files
earlier than 13.04 (between file numbers 0623 and 0903) have disappeared. Also note that all files between AMBA0516 and 0600 have also disappeared.

This is so very disappointing...

 

[jokiin]

may not be related to your problem but as I notice you use a Mac it's worth a mention, always format your cards in the camera if you've had them in the Mac and have copied or deleted any files off, the Mac will mark files gone that are not which will trip the camera up

 

[richcam]

may not be related to your problem but as I notice you use a Mac it's worth a mention, always format your cards in the camera if you've had them in the Mac and have copied or deleted any files off, the Mac will mark files gone that are not which will trip the camera up

I beg to differ, I have had no problems whatsoever with copying files from any SD cards from any cameras or video cameras or indeed either of the 0801 dash cams I have purchased since Sept 2014. The ONLY time I have had problems is when I have have deleted the video files on the Mac which caused the 0801 dash cam to crash.

As regards formatting on the dash-cam, this only formats SD cards up to 32GB in size, whereas when I format the 64 GB card (or bigger) on the Mac using the Disk Utility software everything works just fine.

I think you need to buy a Mac before making further comments.

 

[jokiin]

deleting files off with a Mac and not formatting the cards after will cause a problem for the camera, it's a problem for the camera, not for the Mac

 

[Sunny]

@richcam
Just set 0806 to 1920x1080p so both will have same resolution to compare.

 

[Nigel]

@richcam
Just set 0806 to 1920x1080p so both will have same resolution to compare.

That does not give a reasonable comparison, the 0806 is better because it has a higher resolution, if you don't use that resolution then it is pointless having it and it will then actually loose the comparison since it has a wider FOV so less pixels per degree.

So the good news is that at a standstill or lower speeds the 0806 does indeed record video footage at slightly higher resolution than the 0801 so I can assume the manufacturers are pleased to hear this,

I've cut out and enlarged one of the cars:

There is not much chance of recognising the driver in the 0801 image on the left,
I don't recognise the driver in the 0806 image either, but that's because I don't know him!

I'm not sure this is an entirely fair comparison since the images I can see don't appear to be at original resolution.

however, the bad news is that at higher speeds (50mph) the 0801 is better at recording number-plates, I can assume that this is because the 0801 is 1920 x 1080 so has less pixels to deal with.

I've cut out and enlarged another vehicle:

Not so much difference this time, but the details of the bumper are much clearer on the 0806 image on the right, largely due to the extra brightness, presumably due to a longer exposure time. However a longer exposure time gives more motion blur which while it isn't an issue for this car, does cause an issue with the readability of the license plate on the closer car which is moving across the image faster and also the signpost in the first image. You are seeing different compromises between good exposure and low motion blur. Which compromise is correct will depend on what you want from the image and the results will be different depending on light levels.

 

[Nigel]

Have enclosed a screen-grab of the files on the media card in slot B and you can see quick clearly the leap in file numbering on the 13th March (Friday 13th) when all files earlier than 13.04 (between file numbers 0623 and 0903) have disappeared. Also note that all files between AMBA0516 and 0600 have also disappeared.

Have those few older files got locked, either by g-sensor or the lock button or by your computer?

There does seem to be a bug with the auto switch between the two cards at present, a firmware fix should be on it's way.

 

[richcam]

Have those few older files got locked, either by g-sensor or the lock button or by your computer?

Hi Nigel, I've taken a look at all the folders on the card and cannot find any of the missing files, I also noticed that the log files match the video files so it's not like only the video files were deleted, it seems like the dash cam is deleting them out of order!

I particularly remember 13th March because I spent quite a few hours in the car travelling over to see a customer so set off early in the morning and arrived back mid-afternoon. The video footage from yesterday was interesting because it was overcast in the morning though brightened up in the afternoon and the driving was a mixture of town and country so was pretty ideal for comparisons between the 0801 and the 0806.

With regard to the screenshots, I selected 'object' for selecting the pics and haven't altered anything. I can upload a few of the original video files onto Mega so that you can download and compare them side-by-side. The dash cams are only a few inches apart so it was quite interesting to see the differences in the quality between stationary, low speed and at faster speeds.

Will upload a few of the files later today.

 

[Nigel]

Hi Nigel, I've taken a look at all the folders on the card and cannot find any of the missing files, I also noticed that the log files match the video files so it's not like only the video files were deleted, it seems like the dash cam is deleting them out of order!

I particularly remember 13th March because I spent quite a few hours in the car travelling over to see a customer so set off early in the morning and arrived back mid-afternoon. The video footage from yesterday was interesting because it was overcast in the morning though brightened up in the afternoon and the driving was a mixture of town and country so was pretty ideal for comparisons between the 0801 and the 0806.

With regard to the screenshots, I selected 'object' for selecting the pics and haven't altered anything. I can upload a few of the original video files onto Mega so that you can download and compare them side-by-side. The dash cams are only a few inches apart so it was quite interesting to see the differences in the quality between stationary, low speed and at faster speeds.

Will upload a few of the files later today.

The camera has got to delete something when the memory card fills up so I don't understand what the problem is other than that it has left a few of the older files for some reason, maybe because they are protected, marked as read only. Your card does appear to be full, although I don't know much about Apples if that is what the computer is.

It's normally better to post single frames than large videos as not everyone wants to download huge videos, including me. But I don't know how you can save a full frame at original resolution if not using Registrator Viewer on a Windows computer...

Most of the time you should find the 0806 has the sharper image until something is moving too fast, then it tends to be OK until it gets close, on a bright sunny day things can get very close before you see the motion blur, at night it happens at quite large distances. The compromise the 0806 makes between motion blur and image brightness isn't always right but changing it would make things worse at times when it currently does much better than the 0801 such as seeing bicycles in the shadows under trees which my 0803 used to make completely invisible in the dark shadows but the 0806 manages to display as though they are well lit.

 

[Mtz]

My advice is to use the G-Sensor setting at 4.5G. This should be the default value when using the car just for driving, not parking mode.

enjoy,
Mtz