Nextbase 312

ccowan06

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Hi all,

New to this forum so not sure where to put this, I've just made the jump and bought the Nextbase 312GW cam, having issues with the quality of the videos, I am unable to see any car number plates as they are just a blur, does anyone have any suggestions as to what i'm doing wrong? I've not adjusted any of the quality settings, so resolution is 1080p, exposure is 0. All reviews i've seen seem to say how brilliant the quality is, so i'm slightly confused! dashcam screenshot.png
 
Dash-top reflections, light conditions, motion blur, lens quality, sensor quality.
What you're seeing isn't unusual for dashcams, especially low-mid-spec ones.
Your expectations have been set too high.
 
Yeah but I've seen footage online of a lot better quality then that for this dashcam! Do people use video editors?

The main reason for the purchase is to actually have proof of what happens, but how can you prove it if the quality is that poor?
 
Hi @ccowan06

You're right, that doesn't look normal at all.

What brand and size SD card are you using and when was the last time it was formatted?
What version of firmware is on the camera?

In order to check what version of firmware you're using;
please stop the camera recording then press menu twice,
scroll down to "system info" or "version" then press OK,
a black screen should pop up with a long text with R.. at the end.
Please tell me what numbers are after the R.

There also a lot of dash board glare there too, we have released a product to combat this. Please see the link below.
http://www.halfords.com/technology/dash-cams/dash-cam-accessories/nextbase-reflection-free-lens
 
Return to retailer
 
I'm using a 16GB SanDisk microSDHC card, which was bought as new when I got my dashcam.

I also have the lens linked there on the dashcam already.

I will double check the firmware later, but I only bought it last week and I've not updated the firmware since getting the dashcam.
 
Do you mean you have the anti-glare lens on it?

It is in the wrong position then, please rotate it until the glare disappears. This could be causing the problem.

I'm here until 8pm so let me know firmware whenever you can later :)
 
IMG_6779.PNG I have rotated it several times, in the day time the dash reflection isn't there but the night I do get some. Here is a more recent picture after some more fiddling tonight.. you can still see the reflection of the dash and no way of reading the number plate. Daytime isn't much better.

The numbers after the R in the version are 02.5.
 
Personally I have always found the sandisk cards crap, but others have more luck, I am not familiar with your model cam but own 5 other nextbase piles of junk I refuse/won't use for varying problems, but must say my footage was always better than this, apart from when I forgot to remove the lens protective film ha ha,
It seems very bleached like some residue on screen or cam lens maybe worth a good clean of screen, try rubbing with toothpaste and damp rag area in front of cam on screen, toothpaste works wonders!!
 
It's basically brand new out of the box! Might have to take it back/get an exchange! Very odd!
 
It's basically brand new out of the box! Might have to take it back/get an exchange! Very odd!

As I've already said: I have owned a couple of dozen cams and I'm not seeing anything that surprises me.
If Photobucket hadn't change their policies I could show dozens of examples similar to yours from a wide range of cams.
Dashcam abilities and reliability are far less than many people initially expect. You can't expect blockbuster movie quality from tiny lenses in cameras costing £50-100.
What about uploading some clips to Youtube - daytime, evening, dusk, night? That would be easier to tell if there's a problem.
 
Hopefully you can see the attached screenshot capture below taken from my ex-Nextbase 402G a couple of years ago.
It shows how difficult it is for cams to capture the kind of details people hope to capture.
Image quality from a 402G should be at least equal if not considerably better than a 312G.
 

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Dash-top reflections, light conditions, motion blur, lens quality, sensor quality.
What you're seeing isn't unusual for dashcams, especially low-mid-spec ones.
Your expectations have been set too high.

What would you recommend then? If i was to take it back and re purchase one. I really want to be able to get good enough quality to see the number plate!
 
What would you recommend then? If i was to take it back and re purchase one. I really want to be able to get good enough quality to see the number plate!

Unfortunately current technology makes it difficult for any dash cam to reliably capture number plates.
If the NB312G otherwise suits your needs and seems reliable you may as well keep it.

Light conditions, weather conditions and dash-top reflections can considerably impair performance of any cam.
Poorer light and weather increase the required exposure time which leads to motion blur. The more an object moves across the sensor's field of view during the exposure time the more blur will be caused due to numerous pixels picking up the same image. I'll see if I can put up some screenshot captures later.
Dash-top reflections can be reduced in daytime by using a polarising filter over the lens but it will increase motion blur in poorer light or weather.
Cams with a narrow field of view have more chance of capturing details but they won't see what's happening to the front-sides of the vehicle and may not even see cars passing on sharp bends. However narrow fov cams tend not to be better than mid-spec so their performance can be poor at night.

The best you can hope to do is be able to prove that an accident wasn't your fault. If you manage to capture the number plate of the other vehicle consider it a lucky bonus. In some light conditions and some situations you may get good plate captures.
 
As promised: some screenshot captures from my wife's Mobius 1 (C2 lens) mounted in the rear of her car. From the pictures you posted earlier I suspect the NB312GW is using the same imaging sensor.
Images were taken on a dark, wet, winter evening on her commute home, with approximately one second between images (see time stamps).
In the first few pictures my wife is turning around the roundabout which causes the image of the car behind to move across the sensor and motion blur loses detail.
In the middle pictures the car is following my wife and the image of it remains mostly within the same few pixels on the sensor, allowing its plate to be read.
In the last few pictures the car following my wife starts turning and as it moves across the sensor's pixels, motion blur causes loss of detail again.
 

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