Newbie: Need small battery operated dashcam

[Busybee100]

Hi I've only had my car two days and some idiot has reversed into the front of it and driven off while it was parked. So I need a dashcam asap. I am mostly concerned about it being keyed or idiots reversing into it. The longest journeys I take are about 2 hrs but its mostly short trips. So I am looking for a small dashcam which could be run by batteries. I am not keen to get it hardwired if possible. I don't have a huge widescreen so I was thinking of sacrificing the lcd screen to have a smaller camera. I dont know if that is wise. I am quite happy for it to be visible (perhaps I'm being stupid?) as I want it to be a deterrent. I also need night vision and motion sensor when it is parked. I am struggling to find one that is battery operated although I've seen some mentions online of people fitting batteries to the sunvisor. Any advice or recommendations very welcome as I am new to all this.

 

[snacksthecat]

I'm not sure about battery operated cameras but I wanted to provide a distinction that might be helpful.

Most dashcams don't have to be hardwired at all. Hardwiring is just to make everything more seamless and hidden in the vehicle. Most dashcamera's come with a cord to plug into the cigarette lighter for power.

 

[Busybee100]

Thanks snacksthecat. I am not keen on the idea of the wire trailing (or being taped) around the dashboard to the cigarette lighter. Also I got the impression that if they are plugged into the car then they stop recording when the engine is off but I could be mistaken?

 

[russ331]

I am not keen on the idea of the wire trailing...

Welcome to DCT. It's easy to mount the cam adjacent to the rear view mirror, then hide the power cable behind the rooflining, A-pillar trim & lower dash trim, emerging by the accessory socket. Takes around 10 minutes to route the cable.

When parked, you can plug the cable into a USB power bank if, probably, the accessory socket is not powered when the ignition is off.

 

[jokiin]

you won't get what you want from a battery operated product, will need to be hard wired to do properly unless you want to be constantly fiddling with wires