No idea and need help please!

[DavieP1406]

Hey guys, I'm sorry if this has been covered before. I'm from the UK - seemingly I live on a street where there are lots of crimes currently plus I want to protect my car when parked and while driving. Can you help? I'd like to cover the front and rear of my car. Than you so much. David.

 

[Ukraine Visitor]

If I were you I would click on the "Best Dash Cams of 2021" and "Comparison Tool" tabs to get an idea of what's available that will cover your listed needs , i.e., parking mode and 2-channel dashcam systems. You will be the best judge of your own needs and the solution that would best work for you. Then, once you have narrowed your choices down to 2 or 3 dashcams, you could come back here and ask any specific questions you might still have. I think that will work best.

 

[SawMaster]

Welcome to DCT @DavieP1406

Lots of junk out there, but also several good 2-channel cams. But before we jump into "which one?" you need to consider whether someone seeing your cam might just break in to steal it. Some cams 'hide' better than others but to a thief looking for cams it's something to consider. Another thing to think about is that dashcams need powering while parked, and a small car battery or one in poor condition may only get you a few hours parking protection. There are ways to address this but costs then rise. The main consideration to start with is your budget; what's the most you can invest here? Knowing that and which car you have will make recommendations far easier.

There's a good cam choice out there for almost everyone

Phil

 

[DAP]

Don't limit your choices to two channel systems. In many situations two separate cameras are better than a single dual channel system. Especially in redundancy.

 

[SawMaster]

When I first got into dashcams few 2-channel versions were made and the very few good ones were expensive. Now good reliable 2-channel cams are affordable, and there are several good ones. You can still do 2 singles; some people still do. Both ways have drawbacks and benefits, but for parking mode using the car battery, a 2-channel cam will use less power and thus run longer.

Phil

 

[Ukraine Visitor]

Don't limit your choices to two channel systems. In many situations two separate cameras are better than a single dual channel system. Especially in redundancy.

Two separate single cameras are better than a single dual channel system ONLY in redundancy, and not in anything else and ONLY if you don't care about filming the rear of your vehicle.
When you have get a dual cam system, it's almost always because you intend to set them up front/rear. In this case, (which, again, is almost always the case) two separate single cameras are NOT better than a single dual channel system if you have them both pointing in the same direction, which would be the only case where redundancy would exist. By definition, for redundancy to exist the 2 single separate cams would have to be pointing in the same direction, which makes the proposition that "two separate single cameras are better than a single dual channel system...especially in redundancy" self-contradictory. At best, with 2 separate cameras you get redundancy but only at the expense of losing 50% of your FOV (the rear). That doesn't sound to me to be "better than a single dual channel system" at all.

 

[Mozzie]

Separate cams minimise a single point of failure. I have this front/rear setup in one of my cars. Keep in mind that dual cameras will use up more power if using a parking mode setup. Not an issue for me as I have a larger battery in this vehicle. Probably cheaper and less power with a dual cam.

 

[Ukraine Visitor]

Separate cams minimise a single point of failure. I have this front/rear setup in one of my cars. Keep in mind that dual cameras will use up more power if using a parking mode setup. Not an issue for me as I have a larger battery in this vehicle. Probably cheaper and less power with a dual cam.

Daily 1-hr RTs to/from work fully recharges 2 power banks letting a dual cam setup run another 24+ hrs nonstop and rendering power and PM unnecessary concerns. I works for me but YMMV.

 

[HonestReview]

Hey guys, I'm sorry if this has been covered before. I'm from the UK - seemingly I live on a street where there are lots of crimes currently plus I want to protect my car when parked and while driving. Can you help? I'd like to cover the front and rear of my car. Than you so much. David.

You're in the UK. It never gets really hot. I'd recommend a Viofo A139 3 Channel Camera with hardwired parking mode. This would allow for real time recording of Front + Rear + Interior while parked using your car's battery. If you need extended periods of recording (days at a time) then you'll need to invest in a battery park. But if you're more interested in overnight, you should be fine to hardwire to fuse box so long as you drive your car regularly and the battery is in good health.

Not a lot of choices on 3 channel market. The Gnet-On-3 doesn't do live recording. Only Motion Detection with Buffered parking mode and impact detection. The Blackvue Dr-750X 3 channel is the same.

Only alternative to the Viofo A139 is the Viofo T-130, but I believe the A139 has a better image than the T130. Although the T-130 is more discrete. People who tested that camera can comment more on the T130

 

[Kremmen]

Double edged sword here.

If they break into your car they'll likely steal the cam anyway and take any footage with them.

Only if you can park close, a house CCTV as a backup is worth considering.

 

[HonestReview]

Double edged sword here.

If they break into your car they'll likely steal the cam anyway and take any footage with them.

Only if you can park close, a house CCTV as a backup is worth considering.

I had some stupid kids break into my other vehicle. It only had a front + Rear cam unfortunately. Nothing of value was in it, but they didn't even bother the cameras (most valuable thing in the car) or even notice. So I would say a criminal may not pay much attention, especially at night.

I caught their face somewhat (was obscured). Turned over to police. Not enough to identify with just my footage, but if they captured these kids doing it, you could 100% match them up to the image.

 

[DAP]

Two separate single cameras are better than a single dual channel system ONLY in redundancy, and not in anything else and ONLY if you don't care about filming the rear of your vehicle.
When you have get a dual cam system, it's almost always because you intend to set them up front/rear. In this case, (which, again, is almost always the case) two separate single cameras are NOT better than a single dual channel system if you have them both pointing in the same direction, which would be the only case where redundancy would exist. By definition, for redundancy to exist the 2 single separate cams would have to be pointing in the same direction, which makes the proposition that "two separate single cameras are better than a single dual channel system...especially in redundancy" self-contradictory. At best, with 2 separate cameras you get redundancy but only at the expense of losing 50% of your FOV (the rear). That doesn't sound to me to be "better than a single dual channel system" at all.

Redundancy is a rather important thing. If you have a single dual channel system, you are writing twice as much to the memory card, so it will last half as long. When it fails, you will lose both front & back & audio all at once. A two camera system will lose front or back but not audio if one camera fails. Since the cameras are complete independent systems it is extremely unlikely they will both die simultaneously. With my two A129 pro's, I get 4K video front and back. I believe the A129 pro duo limits the rear camera to 1080p. So there are advantages beyond just Redundancy with two cameras.
In some cases a single multi-channel system might be the right choice, but for me it definitely was not.

 

[HonestReview]

Redundancy is a rather important thing. If you have a single dual channel system, you are writing twice as much to the memory card, so it will last half as long. When it fails, you will lose both front & back & audio all at once. A two camera system will lose front or back but not audio if one camera fails. Since the cameras are complete independent systems it is extremely unlikely they will both die simultaneously. With my two A129 pro's, I get 4K video front and back. I believe the A129 pro duo limits the rear camera to 1080p. So there are advantages beyond just Redundancy with two cameras.
In some cases a single multi-channel system might be the right choice, but for me it definitely was not.

Except with two individual cameras, versus a dual channel Front + Rear, you're reliant on that back camera not messing up. Few people are going to be hopping in back and checking that camera often. Whereas, on a single dual channel, you'll know if the video feed isn't working. Either on the display or by enabling the wifi and checking both feeds are working periodically.

Redundancy is more like running 2 x 2 dual channel setups in unison. Not 2x individual cameras. I run a Viofo A129 Duo (Front + Rear) and a Viofo A139 3 channel (Front + Rear + Interior). One on each side of the rearview mirror.

 

[kamkar]

Filming inside is only really needed if you do uber or other form of ride share duties.
If you live in a place where cars only have 1 plate, you will be better off with a front + rear camera, as that rear camera will be your only chance of capturing a plate on a on coming car with just 1 plate in the back.
HD,,, Yes you want 1080p at least, there are also 1440p cameras now and of course 4K ( also some fake 4K which extrapolate 4K from data from a smaller resolution sensor )
Today most cameras work well at night time / low light, but in those conditions capture of little details such as license plates are often right out the window, or take a very specific set of circumstances, where very low speed are the prime ingredient.
The sensors in play today are ( 1080p ) Sony IMX 291 - IMX 307 -IMX 427, for the 1440p cameras the IMX 335 seem to be the most popular sensor, and for the 4K cameras the IMX 415 seem very popular.

Be careful not to focus too much on plate capture, it can easy be done, but just as easy you can miss one too, take comfort in what the camera do 100 % day or night is logging your own driving in relation to roadside / lane markings / intersection colors ASO, which in most cases should be fine fending off the most claims against you.
But true the hit and run scenario, there you would want a plate capture, but it is not guaranteed at all, if you can you are best off seeing the plate yourself call it out for the microphone to record.

It is a good idea to turn off a car in case of a event, at least a major one, though than it is more a thing to do for people coming to the rescue, i think many new cars also do this automatic these days.
But you are right in keeping power on in case of a minor event as things can get hazardous in the aftermath, and if you can get the other part lying to you or maybe police, you will be able i assume to nail them on insurance fraud too / lying to a police officer.
So always let people dig their own grave if possible, and dont tell about your dashcams, at least here in Denmark you are not obliged to share anything with anyone at the site of a event, here i would just hand over footage to my insurance, and then it is their job to detect and prosecute any insurance fraud ASO, where of course you might be asked to give evidence supported by your video.
That is "also" why you pay what you do for your insurance.

Dashcams can go into parking guard mode with the key off, but here the options are often motion detect - time lapse ( no sound ) or low bitrate regular footage ( which i prefer )
The parking guard can be powered by your car battery or a dedicated dashcam power cell which is a extra cost.
no matter what solution you use here, you will need the proper hard wire kit for the camera you have, this will have a low voltage cut off so in parking guard your camera can not totally deplete your car battery, it is not recommended to use below 12.2 volts as cut off ( 50% depleted car battery )
Also you of course have to drive / recharge what you have lost of power during parking guard, so you can not use parking guard for 23.5 hours a day and just drive 30 minutes daily, that will not add up even if a car battery charge much faster than a dashcam discharge the battery.
Personally i use parking guard for just 1 hour on a timer in the cameras i have, this cover all my shopping and at home i have CCTV from my 2 floor apartment on my car parked in the back yard.
This is better as the CCTV have IR light to aid in total darkness, parking guard at night in the back yard would be useless to me as it is simply too dark for the camera to see anything.

When you read about dashcam power sources internal, these are very little ones and they are only there to finalize the last recording in case of a major event where power is cut abruptly, and as i said above some new cars will cut battery power at the battery or very close to it, and in that case i think only EMG flashing light will work.
In case of a minor event i would just turn off my motor but have the key in ACC so the cameras would still record ( my cheap bottom of the barrel Suzuki car do for sure not have any automated power cut off )
you should be looking at dashcams with capacitors for internal power source, the battery ones tend to have the battery die sooner or later, capacitors stand a better chance of surviving low / high temperatures which lipo batteries dont really like much.