New Dash Cam Recommendations for Work Van?

Unicorn

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I am in the market for a couple of new cams for my work van. At the moment I have a Transcend Drivepro 200 mounted beside the rear-view mirror, and a Mobius mounted near the rear window looking backwards. I’ve had this setup for a couple of years now and it works fine, but is in need of being upgraded because my needs have changed. The main drawback of the Transcend is that it only supports 32GB SD cards, which at full resolution only translates to approximately 4-5 hours of footage. It’s also quite a conspicuous looking camera with its huge chrome bezel. The Mobius camera which I run in the back has a 64GB card and records for more than twice that at 1080p, and I have a 128GB card that I can put in it when I am using it as an action camera too.

I recently started running my cameras in parking mode using a Power Magic Pro, because I have sustained a few dents and scratches whilst parked, which have been costly to repair. It may only be a work van, but it's no builders van; it's my pride and joy, I have put a lot of work into in over the past few years and I always strive to keep it in pristine condition. I am a detailing enthusiast so scratches, scores and dents annoy me a lot more than most!

I have onboard WiFi and would like to upgrade the dashboard camera to a cloud connected unit, preferably one without an onboard screen and a phone app to change the settings. The BlackVue 750S looked like a good choice, but I would prefer a unit which runs on 5V since I have the vehicle wired with USB cables and run them off a 12v USB hub at the moment. I have also read some reports that BlackVue’s customer service is not very good, but I don’t know if there is any merit to that or if those reports are just one-offs.

The Mobius is fine in the rear at the moment, but I will soon be replacing my glazed rear doors with solid ones, which will obviously mean that I don’t have anywhere to mount a rear-facing camera. This is a huge problem for me because I have already been reversed into once in the time that I’ve owned this van, and was also ran into by a motorcyclist whilst driving. Both times the culprit drove off – thankfully my forward-facing camera caught the plate of the motorcyclist who ran into me and rode off, but the incident that happened whilst I was parked resulted in a trip to the body shop to have my rear doors straightened and resprayed.

Are there any models which can have the sensor remote mounted externally like a wedge-type reversing camera and are water resistant? That would be ideal, I could mount it under the license plate light holder.
I’ll add some photos to this thread later - sorry for the long post, hope someone can suggest some suitable upgrades for me!

In summary:

Front camera requirements:
  • Must accept minimum of 64GB MicroSD card for parking mode recording, preferably 128GB support
  • Preferably 5V input via USB cable so existing cable can be used
  • Must have good low light recording capability, I drive a lot in the evening and at night
  • Preference for no screen and WiFi/cloud connectivity
  • Less conspicuous than the Transcend DP200

Rear camera requirements:
  • 64GB minimum for parking mode, preferably 128GB support
  • Same low light capability as front camera
  • Remote mountable, externally (due to windowless rear doors on van)
  • I'm less worried about using existing wiring for this as the doors are being changed anyway
 
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Thanks for the warm welcome! I will read some of the topics he has participated in/started and see if I get any ideas.
 
Welcome to DCT my fellow work-vanner :D

The outside water-resistant cam will be a problem as there are only a few suitable ones. One solution would be the Street Guardian SGZC12RC- it's a good cam, out of production but still available, and it has an optional waterproof rear cam. There were a few of the waterproof ones available new a couple months ago. @jokin or @niko might know if any are still left. Motorcycle cams would also work- it seems the Innov C5 is currently the best of that lot. I can't find it now but I recall seeing another one being offered on a new cam model- possibly the Mini0906 but I could have that wrong. Blackvue may have a waterproof rear cam option. These are all 2-ch cams so recording times would be about half using your current cards. In the future SG plans for a dual-remote cam which will in time have a waterproof cam option- no timeline on that one yet.

External cams are prone to damage, rain and road grime on the lens, and vandalism. And you have to get the wires to them so wear and exposure there can be troublesome too. Commercial truck cam systems are made but are very expensive . Unless you're willing to do some serious DIY I know of no good solutions for solid rear door vans :(

If you can DIY and your van has the space, you could possibly get a remote cam inside the 3rd brake-light area and use a modified lens with a clear section glued in for the cam to see trough. Something similar was once done with a van's tail-light housing and lens with no extra holes drilled in the van. That install was almost 100% stealth from the outside. If you're willing to drill the door face then DIY is easy :rolleyes:

My 26YO 'builder's van' is also an element of my pride. It was in VGC++ when I got it and would still rate as high but a fender took some damage when a tire came apart on the turnpike. I still have about 40 more hours of hand rubbing the original paint so that it looks show-room shiny again. When I pull up customers automatically know that I'm the kind of person who will put forth the effort to get the best possible results for them without wasting their money. My van sets me apart from the rest so I care for it accordingly :cool:

Hope I've been of some assistance!

Phil
 
Welcome to DCT my fellow work-vanner :D

The outside water-resistant cam will be a problem as there are only a few suitable ones. One solution would be the Street Guardian SGZC12RC- it's a good cam, out of production but still available, and it has an optional waterproof rear cam. There were a few of the waterproof ones available new a couple months ago. @jokin or @niko might know if any are still left.

probably not a lot left still, we will have other waterproof cams out early next year and a few models of camera that will support them so this will be an easier option to cater to once that happens
 
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