My dream camera

voon

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Switzerland
If I could have anything, this is my dream cam:

Generally
My dream cam has no quality issues. There is no focus problem, no blur, no overheating, no broken lenses, no crappy case ... nothing. The company making it has excellent QC and support and delivers consistent quality.

Case
Small. It has to fit behind a windscreen mirror and not obstruct my view at all (which is illegal here .. I can not mount something, that obstructs view). I like bardesigns like the Itronics etc. Case is of quality, maybe even metal parts .. good haptics, solid feel. Should not interfere with GPS or Wifi etc, though. Can also be small and elongated like a Contour+2 etc. Waterproof option to use the cam as a sports/activity cam as well ideally. At least good rubber seals, so dust and water spray from rain can not enter the cam when used outside the vehicle as tour cam for nice videos without windshield glass interference. Case is matte black. I like small color enhancements ... an orange button somewhere etc, but nothing shiny ... case needs to be discretely mountable.

Firmware
Written by themselves by capable programmers. They know their stuff and can fix anything within the hardware limits and provide frequent updates if necessary.

Lens
Good glass lens, tested, tried, known to be excellent. No scratches, no bad build etc. It has a ring to mount a CPL Filter.

Sensor
Superwide dynamic, catches a lot of detail. I'm not sure ou need more than 2-3 Megapixels. I want excellent video, FullHD ... for Fotos I use a decent camera, not the car cam. Use a quality sensor with little electronic noise, little influence on neighbour pixels. Not too many Megapixels on a small size sensor, that is only contraproductive. No dead pixels. No problems when the camera gets warm.

CPUs
At least capable of 30 FPS at FullHD. Ideally more up to much more for other uses than in car. Excellent 3D-DNR processing to minimize noise and enhance the picture. Picture should look natural during day, no bad exposure, no totally white skies and no oversaturated or undersaturated colors. Basically just excellent night and day images. I liked the V747W quite a bit there, the wide dynamics sensor is relly a must.

LCD
I don't need a huge LCD, the cam should remain small. Maybe just enough for a bit of menu use. Consider WiFi Mobile phone apps for setup etc. Small case is key, so maybe even without LCD.

Buttons
Apart from normal usage buttons, there should be an emergency erase/format, the "capture +- 30 Seconds now" buttom.

LEDs
No annoyingly bright LEDs ... if it's night, I do not want reflections of an LED in my movie and I don't want a bright LED to glare into my eyes. But of course provide LEDs for status.

Audible Noise
Camera emits zero noise, no hiss or anything.

Angle
Unsure what's idea here. Maybe use a lens with adjustable angle, if doable without quality loss

WiFi
The cam provides a sensible WiFi onnection. Ideally long range to use it as a security cam with mobile phone and for data transfer/setup. Maybe provide 5 GHz band to not interfer with other radio signals.

GPS
Builtin, no cable/external. Good Chipset like Sirf III etc, tested nd proven to work well on normal windshields

Parking mode
Required, I need to monitor expensive cars against abuse. Provide a good powercable for this with battery saver at a voltage level, that is not too low.

Windshield mount
Tiny. Most suction cups are hugs monstrous things, way to big. Also camera is easy to take off

Other things
Can handle 128+ GB microSD (or SD, if size of case allows)

Price
Here's the challenge: All of this at max. 250 USD
 
I would remove the LCD display from the above requests.

And I would add adjustable bitrate.

Let's make it an auction. I would pay $500 for this "ideal" dashcam :)

And I want 3 of them.
 
My dream camera would be one that I could just stick to the underside of my car roof via a magnet. It has 4 wide angle lens camera's, one for each direction. It's powered by a 20,000 mAh USB battery, also attached to the roof by a magnet. The 4 cameras may require an additional battery..no problem just stick both to the roof.
This would probably be out of sight for most thief's.
 
After reading some more ... I think I need an Ambarella A7L in my cam at least .... combined with a high range and fast-readout sensor, so it can do 60 FPS if needed. :)
 
The LCD display is just a very good selling point even the users will not use it or can't use it because hiding the camera in front of the rearview mirror.

The quick release must to have also the connectors inside it. Not to remove some stupid connector before releasing the camera.

The mount to be very very small and if possible to rotate also left-right. This can be possible without the ball system which can be too big.

Also I agree the idea of a camera elongated like a Contour+2. Just think if Itronics had the lens on one side.

Regarding GPS I think for a small camera the best option is to have the antenna mounted in the mount. We already lose some space with the mount so why not put it there? The quick release can contain the GPS or not.

Wi-Fi will be better to be as external dongle. User can buy another dongle, or invent some setup to increase the area coverage.

Angle must be NOT wider than 120 degrees. Wide angle is making small all objects in front of the camera and if you need something from a recording that will be the registration plate. A camera which will be on extreme side of the camera even if recorded by some wider lens you will never see the registration number because is parallel with your car.

Also we must not forget that the smallest possible camera is the one which contains only the lens module mounted on the windshield and of course with a very small mount system. Ideal is to have just 2mm border around the lens, nothing more. On the back of the camera lens of course we can have the mute button and the event button and maybe also the power button, all in a circle like the Mercedes sign.

Unfortunately, we, the users are not creating the cameras. The power and money are in another hands.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
some of your ideas will come I'm sure ;)

Mtz said:
Unfortunately, we, the users are not creating the cameras. The power and money are in another hands.

enjoy,
Mtz

there's always Kickstarter if you're keen
 
jokiin said:
there's always Kickstarter if you're keen
Great! ;)

enjoy,
Mtz
 
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