Next Viofo Cam

jokiin said:
I'm not saying you shouldn't use your camera for hours at a time, just that the Ambarella chipset is less suitable for this type of use as they generate a lot of heat
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OK,I didnt say you said that,maybe I didnt understand you good.

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I think manufacturers could look into larger lenses. A larger lens will bring more light in and better sharpness. This will avoid needing the use of higher processing speed that increases memory usage and heat. With a good lens you get some great video at 1080p/30fps.
 
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Mozzie said:
I think manufacturers could look into larger lenses. A larger lens will bring more light in and better sharpness.
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Larger lens = larger price and larger cameras.
 
jokiin said:
good luck picking the difference between an f/1.6 and f/1.8 lens, there's a lot more to an end result than just numbers
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yes but every bit helps, my rear camera is only f1.8 and there is a better difference with the f1.6 aperture.
 
kamkar1 said:
You cant just take a brand and say that's the quality of cameras they make, SG also have their low budget camera the XS,
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Why not?

Street Guardian's 'Quality' is rated by their best Cam .. SG9665GC .. not their cheapest.
VicoVation's 'Quality' is rated by their best product .. OPIA2/MF3
VIOFO by their best .. A119/s

Their 'Brand' can't be rated more highly than the best Dash Cam they actually produce.. (assuming Dash Cams are all they make)
When they produce a better one .. 'Quality' and Rating goes up .. but not until then.

As for the Street Guardian's cheaper XS .. because their Top model is of Good Quality .. it is perfectly acceptable that when choosing their cheaper model .. that the 'Quality' will not be quite as good .. but you know because they make really good ones, that the cheaper one won't be garbage.

Of course, if a Company out sources a model to another Company .. the same 'Quality' is not guaranteed
 
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Yeah as long as people just dont think its a unilateral performance they will get across the range of cameras from a brand, the XS are no way near the performance of the GC

It is not so bad for people who bothered to read up on dashcams and understand why there are such differences on prices before buying one, but there have been several examples of people in here buying a good camera and still be disappointed with it as they had unrealistic expectations to it ( mostly low light performance )

So it would not surprise me if some one come in here, do a quick read and find well SG make good cameras and have a good reputation so i just snag up their cheapest model and be done with it.
And while the XS appear to be a fine little camera ( running perfect here ) then it just isent in the league with the GC, at least not in regard to low light IQ, but the build and reliability appear to be just as fine as any other SG product.
 
kamkar1 said:
So it would not surprise me if some one come in here, do a quick read and find well SG make good cameras and have a good reputation so i just snag up their cheapest model and be done with it.
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And if they did that - they have done well, and also get the excellent Customer support that goes with it.
Having said that - the XS is competing with the A119 and A119s models on $ cost It's a tough gig for the XS to win that one from the Video I've seen.
The A119/s is really competing with the SG9665GC .. not the cheaper models, imho.
 
kamkar1 said:
And while the XS appear to be a fine little camera ( running perfect here ) then it just isent in the league with the GC, at least not in regard to low light IQ, but the build and reliability appear to be just as fine as any other SG product.
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the gap will be narrowed soon
 
Mozzie said:
I think manufacturers could look into larger lenses. A larger lens will bring more light in and better sharpness. This will avoid needing the use of higher processing speed that increases memory usage and heat. With a good lens you get some great video at 1080p/30fps.
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Yeap I wouldn't mind the size increase. I would also like to see some AR coatings (FMC).

Good glass goes a long way
 
Mozzie said:
I think manufacturers could look into larger lenses. A larger lens will bring more light in and better sharpness. This will avoid needing the use of higher processing speed that increases memory usage and heat. With a good lens you get some great video at 1080p/30fps.
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You can't have a larger lens without a larger sensor to catch the larger image, and then cost rapidly goes out of control...
 
flip9 said:
Yeap I wouldn't mind the size increase....
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And that is why there is no such thing as a perfect dash cam - for me as small as possible is preferred.
 
jokiin said:
size and cost aren't the biggest inhibitors right now, hardware support is lacking
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And we all know how important offering the best 'support' is to jokiin and SGU. As with 1440p, 4K .. if it aint 100% .. it aint happening.
 
Nigel said:
You can't have a larger lens without a larger sensor to catch the larger image, and then cost rapidly goes out of control...
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Some cameras sold in China have big lens but poor quality, also for China market, prefer to make big lens version.
 
harsh said:
Lose the concentric rings and provide an option for a threaded mount. Could end up looking very discreet.
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I agree although the rings are most likely there to stop reflection, not purely for show. The ridges block the reflection you can get off the plastic from simply reflecting down the surface to the lens.

jokiin said:
good luck picking the difference between an f/1.6 and f/1.8 lens, there's a lot more to an end result than just numbers
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I agree and the wider the aperture you pick for low light, the less DOF and the less is visible sharply and thus readable during daylight. This alone has to be one of the biggest failings of dashcams vs ordinary cameras - the limitations of fixed aperture.

Another very important point is what matters is lens quality not physical size. Just compare the Ribcaged Hero 5's vs the non Ribcaged. The difference can be staggering yet the only real difference is the lens (glass) quality:

This gives some idea (needs to be watched at 1080P60 to see the differences which also show greater further on):


Hero 5 has a reputation for a decent standard lens but the difference is clear in my opinion when putting on higher grade glass.

Dashmellow said:
It doesn't work like that. The "M" is stationary on your screen and is not photographically captured.

As for the required detail to be captured, that depends on the situation. In my case I became interested in dash cams because of a criminal matter where I was being harassed and threatened by someone in a vehicle I once did some business with who broke a contract and wasn't happy that he got sued so he would do things like swerve his car at me. It is often not enough to identify a particular vehicle or even a license plate. In some situations you need to identify the person driving, or how many people are in the car or specific details of a particular vehicle such as a logo on the door. After four years of seeing many comments from people on DCT who don't think capturing the highest quality imagery possible is important using words such as "it's not a movie" it has become clear than none of the members making comments like that have ever actually been in a situation where they needed to use their dash cam footage in a serious legal or insurance matter where law enforcement officers, lawyers, prosecutors and insurance company representatives with vested interests are involved.
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I agree for 2 reasons:

1. You never know when you might want to use in car footage for a part of a home movie eg a going on holiday movie

2. Overall quality is very much related to the ability to read plates and see faces. The clearer and better resolved an image, the easier it becomes to read plates especially when the focus begins to drop off.

To that end, the better the quality of the glass in terms of:

1. Clarity

2. Low Distortion

3. Resolution

4. Aplantic quality (linked to / possibly same as 2 depending on your view) - (the lack of any distortion in the images towards the sides of the lens ie the image remains constant rights across the whole lens)

5. Achromatic quality (the ability to produce accurate colours with no fringing)

The better and clearer the image and the better the picture from both a movie and evidential standpoint. At least that's my opinion.
 
@viofo: I couldnt find any information on whether this camera has a g-sensor.
Considering it's basically standard i assumed it would have one. There is a big necessitiy for a g-sensor from a legal point of view for germany - dashcams are only allowed if they have the option to "film in case of an accident" and not all the time.
 
Dashcams are recording all time when they are connected to power source.G-sensor has nothing to do with it.
 
sone983 said:
Dashcams are recording all time when they are connected to power source.G-sensor has nothing to do with it.
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That's the whole point. In Germany DashCams are ONLY allowed if the have the option to record only in the case of an accident (hence g-sensor) and have loop functionality. If you were to drive around and film cars and people just for fun the material you creat would not hold up in court as evidence when it is filmed with a device that does not have a g-sensor.
 
@tilmaen - From what others have posted, it seems that dashcams are legal in most of Germany, but only for personal recording purposes with restrictions on what may be publicly shown. There is a forum topic on this here: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/using-dashcam-in-europe-legal.1797/
If you can verify that it must have a "G-sensor" or know of any other restrictions, please post them in that thread so everyone can remain legal with their dashcams :)

Phil
 
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