Need opinion on CR500 video please

[jokiin]

The video is ok but I was comparing it to a sample video jokiin posted the other day. It was crystal clear and I can't seem to replicate it with the CR500.
It's a PITA moving the mount for trial and error. I took it off once and it took me about 10 minutes. Snapped an old debit card too!
I think it's the angle of my windscreen, there's no way I can get it closer to the windscreen without using a suction mount that is obtrusive.

I guess there could be some environmental influences from the vehicle itself, for the record the video I supplied is straight from the cam, no processing, no fiddling with the settings (actually night mode is on which does lighten the daytime picture up a little) but all settings are at their defaults, mounted on the standard included windscreen mount and shot through the windscreen of my 20 year old Mazda which is not particularly pristine My thoughts on this is that any sample video I provide should be the same quality as what any end user can achieve, I know there are some sample videos from Korean manufacturers that are shot at a higher bitrate than what the camera they supply to consumers does, in my mind that's a dirty tactic

on the subject of the night mode impact during the day here's a screenshot during the day

http://www.jokiin.com/images/screenshot.jpg

here's the same file run through a post processing software filter

http://www.jokiin.com/images/screenshot_protune.jpg

if you look at the two pics back to back you can see how it is possible to get the colors a bit more dynamic, leaving the night mode on during the day does wash the picture out a little, I'm looking at adding a scheduling function to the firmware though so that the day time use is not affected by the night mode option, still something we're working on at this stage

 

[hometechnc]

James; don't know if you are still checking these replies, but I'm right there with you Brother!

Just bought two of the cr-500hd's w/ gps and cpl filters, to the tune of over $850.
Not happy with either one, but just returned the worst of the two. After posting numerous videos from the two, the distributor ( KMPH Laser Pro in Canada) finally agreed to exchange one of them. (I'm supposed to be grateful?), I wanted to return both of them for a full refund, but that obviously is not going to happen!

I have a K6000 that cost me $40 is almost as good as the FineVu's. It records at a bitrate of 18mbps, but has a native resolution of only 640x480.

So... for anyone thinking about buying the FineVu's... Forget about it! buy a K6000 to get by and wait for something more advanced; something with at least a 1.6 aperture, 15-20 mbps, 1080p native recording, GPS and a choice of lens angles (like 140-170, for better clarity. Well, we can only hope...

 

[jamesbcd]

Hey man,

Unfortunately, I sold my CR500 on these forums. Whist the build quality was pretty good, I found that my Lukas read plates a lot better so opted for that..
Sorry to hear you are having problems with your seller... Have you tried getting a replacement on both units?

 

[FSC830]

Well, and I am the one who bought the CR500 from jamesbcd .

The daylight videos are really impressive, if light is fading or during night the video is not as pretty as I expected. License plates can not be read in the most cases due to the reflections. I did not use the CPL until yet and also I need to clean my windshield .

But: what I have seen in the first days of using the CR500: it seems to be very important where do you mount it. At first I (ab)used a suction cup from an old cell phone and the cam was about 30(!) cm off the glass.
Videos have been really good, but half of the video was the dashboard.
Then I remount it after disassembling and modifying the holder so that the CR500 can be fixed more closer to the glass, but now videos seems to be less sharpen than before, license plates can hardly be read even with best light conditions.
Unfortunately the cup does not hold on the blackdotted area of the glass, and I was not willing to put it more down to avoid an obstacle in my sight.
Actually I used the 3M tape and fixed it behind the mirror. It is not aligned to the best viewing angle right now, but video quality is still very good at daytime.
Also when it is raining video quality will decrease significantly, more or less to the same level as night videos (depends to strength of rain).
So video quality seems to depend on 1) light (wheater) conditions and 2) mount point/angle. You need to figure out which mountpoint/angle delivers the best result. Use a large monitor (at least 7" if possible) for monitoring the live video.

Anyhow, compared to my dual lense cam (i1000/F70 clone) the night videos are much much better, even if you cant read the license plates in most circumstances. This belongs to areas with low light (city area) or without light (overland roads) as well.

Regards