Mounting Location?

[SoCalDriver]

Well.... I've finally have had it with Los Angeles drivers. After nearly getting into an accident yesterday and again this morning, I broke down and bought a dash cam. I decided on the mini 801 after watching some dash cam review vids on YouTube and combined with the mostly positive Amazon reviews it was enough to pull the trigger.

So I ordered the cam today (prime next day shipping! woo hoo!) I also ordered a Samsung 32gb class 6 card as that seems to be one of the less buggy cards to use with this cam. Hey, as long as it's quick enough to record 1080p video and not mess up that's good enough for me!

I'm going to be mounting it in my GMC Yukon and I'm trying to decide on a location. I think behind the rear view mirror would be best but I have a question.... like many people I want it to be as discrete as possible so I'm going to cover the 1080p lettering on the front with electrical tape. But I was also thinking of mounting it so it's entirely behind the blue tint at the top of the windshield. Has anyone done this? Does it completely ruin the quality of the video during the day and night? Just seems like if the quality drop isn't too extreme it might be a good spot for it.

What do you guys and gals think?

 

[jokiin]

behind the mirror is ideal, just below the tint line is preferable though, it's small enough not to stand out and if you're fortunate enough that the mirror is behind the camera in this position then it will be very hard to see, it also needs to be within the sweep area of the wipers so you can keep the glass clean in front of the camera

I mentioned that here as well as some other point to consider about cabling http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/thread...amera-and-running-the-cables.3733/#post-43318

 

[GJHS]

I would think the night time video would be especially affected, if not rainy low light days. Imagine wearing sunglasses at night . Best placement is usually behind the rearview, out of site, maybe protected by the shade dots.

 

[SoCalDriver]

Thanks guys, I didn't even consider when it rains! lol

 

[Reg dashcam]

Welcome and good to see yet another driver getting a dash cam here in Southern California. I believe placing the dash cam behind the tint would definitely affect the footage, especially at night, so I would avoid putting it in that area. My Mini 0801 just arrived from China today so I'll be installing it in my car as well, replacing the K2000 car cam I had been using previously (which will now be used as a rear dash cam). I'll need to buy a dual 12-volt charger soon.

I think that out of all the regions in the US, California probably has the most dash cam users right now. Especially in this part of the state. God knows dash cams are a necessity here

 

[efoo]

I think that out of all the regions in the US, California probably has the most dash cam users right now. Especially in this part of the state. God knows dash cams are a necessity here

I thought dashcams are more of a necessity in Russia than anywhere else

 

[jokiin]

I thought dashcams are more of a necessity in Russia than anywhere else

by percentage Taiwan and then Korea have the highest uptake although the number of users in Russia probably outdoes both combined, driving in Russia is almost an extreme sport at times, only spent 5 days there but a very interesting place

 

[Reg dashcam]

I thought dashcams are more of a necessity in Russia than anywhere else

What about southeast Asia, all of Africa, Middle-East, and South America? Russia is only a little worse than U.S., but get all the attention because they have over one million dash cams there (originally to combat police corruption and insurance scams). Look at Iraq.

 

[jokiin]

everywhere needs them, not saying that because we make them but it's a reality of the world we live in these days

 

[SoCalDriver]

Welcome and good to see yet another driver getting a dash cam here in Southern California. I believe placing the dash cam behind the tint would definitely affect the footage, especially at night, so I would avoid putting it in that area. My Mini 0801 just arrived from China today so I'll be installing it in my car as well, replacing the K2000 car cam I had been using previously (which will now be used as a rear dash cam). I'll need to buy a dual 12-volt charger soon.

I think that out of all the regions in the US, California probably has the most dash cam users right now. Especially in this part of the state. God knows dash cams are a necessity here

I think you're right. Unfortunately we live in an area full of people that for various reasons are bad drivers. Some are inexperienced, sometimes there's a culture or etiquette barrier and sometimes they just have their head up their butt texting. To add to that many of these people don't want to take personal responsibility for their actions and are quick to sue and lie there way to an insurance settlement. Not like I'm bitter or anything.... lol

I think I might make one of those "bad driver" YouTube channels to showcase some of the lovely people I come across in my daily commute.

 

[DavidA]

I'm in Dubai, and it's actually not legal to "film any person without their knowledge", so technically dash cams are not allowed.

A guy recently was arrested for filming a local attacking an Indian van driver and posting the vid on Youtube. It got to be quite famous.

 

[Beachcomber]

I'm in Dubai, and it's actually not legal to "film any person without their knowledge", so technically dash cams are not allowed.
A guy recently was arrested for filming a local attacking an Indian van driver and posting the vid on Youtube. It got to be quite famous.

A current debate here in Switzerland proposes a ban on dashcams (as exists in neighbouring Austria) as they contravene privacy laws.

Legal opinion definitely agree that any video publishing, e.g. YouTube, from them with visible licence plates is illegal under current law and the person publishing, if identifiable could be prosecuted.