Multi-channel vs 2/3 single channel?

Chris Richards

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Hi,
am looking to purchase a dual / multi-channel dash cam but after going through the posts it seems that there is no perfect dual / multi-cam setup. I've looked at the Vicovation Marcus 5 which looks decent to me, am I missing something? Would 2 or 3 single dash cams be better? Can only imagine they'd be a pain because you have to manage them all separately and the saved files aren't in one central location. Any good multi-cam setups available in the UK?

Cheers,
Chris
 
Hi Chris,
I'm currently using a Panorama X2 (bought via Nico on these forums) and when the firmware bugs are ironed out it will be a very good dual cam option. There's a new firmware upgrade imminent, so this may bring the reliability a £200+ camera should have had out of the box. Forum and individual support for the product from Nico & Pier21 has been great despite the buggy firmware from the manufacturer, so it may be a dual cam you can consider, if the firmware is eventually sorted out. It's a little large and not as stealthy as some cams too. I've wrapped my x2 front camera in matt black vinyl wrap and it's now not so obvious.

Saying that, if you don't need front and rear parking mode, you could always go for a single cam solution from Street Guardian for example and a mobius (powered from a rear 12v socket) for rear camera duties.

Also worth factoring in the cost of some well regarded SD cards too, particularly if going Panorama x2, such as the Lexar 633x cards.

I'm not too far away from you in Neath if you ever wanted to see the Panorama X2 in person?

Cheers,
Dean
 
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At £60, the BlackSys CF-100 is a cracking deal, fair play :)
 
there is no perfect dual cam system, Marcus 5 included, they all have the strengths and weaknesses

I started off few years ago with a cheap, generic dashcam but it did the job. Then recently I put software on my smartphone to turn it into a 'dashcam' but with everything else running on it it struggled to cope. Then I looked at single dashcams and would have been very happy with one of them, probably a Transcend, BUT THEN I saw a dual cam setup!!! It was the Koonlung K1S then I saw the Marcus 5 on Gumtree. Am edging towards the K1S at the moment.
 
Hi Chris,
I'm currently using a Panorama X2 (bought via Nico on these forums) and when the firmware bugs are ironed out it will be a very good dual cam option. There's a new firmware upgrade imminent, so this may bring the reliability a £200+ camera should have had out of the box. Forum and individual support for the product from Nico & Pier21 has been great despite the buggy firmware from the manufacturer, so it may be a dual cam you can consider, if the firmware is eventually sorted out. It's a little large and not as stealthy as some cams too. I've wrapped my x2 front camera in matt black vinyl wrap and it's now not so obvious.

Saying that, if you don't need front and rear parking mode, you could always go for a single cam solution from Street Guardian for example and a mobius (powered from a rear 12v socket) for rear camera duties.

Also worth factoring in the cost of some well regarded SD cards too, particularly if going Panorama x2, such as the Lexar 633x cards.

I'm not too far away from you in Neath if you ever wanted to see the Panorama X2 in person?

Cheers,
Dean

Thanks Dean, very kind of you to offer. After you mentioned the lack of stealthiness the Panorama offered it's now something that I have added to my list of requirements for the dashcam lol. If I had bought a Transcend when I first started looking I wouldn't be in this pickle now.
 
The k1s has some big drawbacks like horrible audio, and that it uses a battery, which is no good for parking mode. In fact I think it may not even have parking mode.
 
... stealthiness ... something that I have added to my list of requirements for the dashcam ...

Stealthiness/ discretion / probability that opportunist thieves won't see my DashCams is one of the reasons I chose SGZC12RC & Mobius for my dashcam solution.

image.jpg image.jpg
 
The k1s has some big drawbacks like horrible audio, and that it uses a battery, which is no good for parking mode. In fact I think it may not even have parking mode.
Yes, heard audio is pretty poor, but that's pretty low on my list of 'needs' :) And it has got a parking mode, supposedly 'up to 30 mins' but god only knows how long it'll last in real life.
 
parking mode on the blacksys cf-100 (and most others with true parking mode) is powered by the vehicle battery, so it can go for "days" not "minutes". basically the camera goes into a sort of standby mode where the camera is watching and "feeling" for any motion, and only records something when it sees/feels anything. so in these systems, you need some sort of battery drain prevention device. on more expensive cameras, the camera itself has BDP built-in, but on the cf-100 and other cheaper ones, you need an external device. i have mine set to shut off the camera when the car's battery reaches 12.2v. that way i don't get stranded somewhere and can't start the car. that said, i'm planning on adding a solar battery maintainer so that it'll help keep the camera running longer during the day (when it's most needed for us), and to help keep our hybrid highlander's little 12v starter battery alive a little longer, since houston heat tends to kill car batteries in short order.

i'd be surprised if you get more than 10-15 minutes on the k1s in parking mode, in real life, especially once the battery starts to wear out.
 
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