New 522GW Owner - But Have I Made The Wrong Choice?

The Voice

New Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2020
Messages
2
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2
Location
Epsom
Country
United Kingdom
Dash Cam
Nextbase 522GW
Hi All,

First time dash cam owner, and first time poster. Stumbled across this forum while trying to figure out whether or not I bought a dud.

Saw a deal for a Nextbase 522GW + 128GB memory card online at Curry's so pulled the trigger as I've recently bought a new car, and want to make sure I'm as protected as possible while out on the road (or parked). After hard-wiring the dash cam myself because my local Halfords wouldn't help me out (suddenly, they don't hard-wire cameras that weren't bought from them, even thought their website says they do?) it was time to take it for a spin. Most online reviews recommended running it on 1080p @ 60fps, so that's what I did. Aforementioned reviews also swore by the image quality being of the best in class but, to be honest, as someone who's an amateur photographer, the amount of video noise from all of the footage was simply appalling! I expect 1080p to be high enough resolution for things to be crystal clear, but most of it is grainy. Lines of cars, buildings, etc, seem slightly distorted - as an avid gamer, it's the same as having anti-aliasing turned off. Unimpressed, I switched to 1440p @ 30fps. Higher resolution so more happening on screen, but only a slight improvement on the amount of grain, and the jagged edges remain. As there aren't many options to counter the grain (ISO, aperture, etc), I'm at a loss as the only thing left I can adjust is the exposure. My only other idea is that the SD card isn't quick enough to write all that info (for 1080p or 1440p) - even though it claims it's ideal for the former.

Any suggestions? All the reviews I checked online said it was an amazing camera, Nextbase is a reputable brand, and test footage from independent buyers also looked super sharp and clear, so is it possible I have myself a dud?
 
I used to be a Nextbase user, 402, 412, 380, but after realising that I wasn't getting the quality footage I wanted I also did some research and came up with a different answer. My research pointed me away from any dashcam mounted on a balljoint. And you're right, a fast card is essential. My Samsung Evo Plus has been problem free for years.

I'm perfectly happy with what I have now.
 
I'll be jumping ship soon, just waiting for the right deal to come along...
 
Welcome to DCT @The Voice :)
I think you do have to realize that almost all the reviews are going to come from average people who know little of photography and what can be done with cameras. And too you should realize that with dashcams, the goal is not so much "Hollywood" grade video, but capturing small details like plate numbers as best can be done, even if that degrades other less-needed parts of the pictures ;) With these rather cheap simple cams you're not going to get both. As far as adjustments, most of us use 30FPS as the best compromise between low-light performance and adequate daylight vids. 60FPS can be better in best conditions, but conditions change as we drive so the FPS is by necessity a compromise. 1440P should net you some nice, crisp details; 4K cams are just getting sorted out so 1440P is about as high as you can go reliably ATM. There are cams which do well at 1440P 30FPS. The 522 may not be one of those...

In their latest series of cams, Nextbase failed to address the two biggest complaints of their previous cams: wobbly mounts and poor LiPo battery life. There was a time when nothing better could be had- that time has passed. Even cheap cams have solid mounts now, and almost all of the good cams have went to using super-caps instead of a LiPo battery for reliability and longevity reasons. Just those two points alone mean that Nextbase isn't the 'top tier' kind of cam they claim to be :eek: They're staying alive based on their previous reputation, and the list of people who were once happy with their cams but regret 'upgrading' to the newer ones just keeps growing bigger :cautious: There are more problems than this short list which have been reported but not resolved. And their once-good customer service and firmware updates have also slipped :(

Sorry that you have found these things out the hard way, but you're not alone. They were a good company with good cams not so long ago, but very few experienced dashcam owners will recommend them anymore, and that includes me.

Phil
 
Cheers for all the replies!

Right, so it seems that the issue is not really with the unit I've purchased, but rather with where the brand is at the moment. Even at the "cheap" price of £140 I'm pretty disappointed that something designed for the sole purpose of capturing accurate footage while driving can't even do that at the same level as models from other manufacturers at half the price! It baffles me, though, as before making any purchases I spent a bit of time on YouTube to "justify" getting a dash cam - lots of UK dash cam footage videos! The number on brand people seem to use is Nextbase, and I was really impressed with the quality. Though, in hindsight, most of those clips were probably edited in post before being uploaded.

It turns out the SD card in the bundle (and it's also a recommended purchase) isn't even suitable for the camera - it writes too slow, and isn't reliable for dash cam usage (this comes from the manufacturer of the card, SanDisk). So, sticking with SanDisk (I use them in my mirrorless cameras and found them more than suitable) I've forked out a bit more for one of their Max Endurance offerings, designed specifically for dash cams, and other surveillance equipment.

I'll give it another week, but if I'm still not satisfied, I'll be making a trip to Currys.
 
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