Not happy with f500LHD

[lkwan78]

I had bought one of these from amazon used for $60, but it was a fake.

After lots of reading from this site, I went ahead and bought a real one from ebay for estore009 for $99

It arrived in 11 days to Texas.

So far, I don't like the real one! It is running V6.8 T2L-KH

1) There is a big difference when comparing the overall screen brightness. The fake model is much brighter

2) Color on the fake model is better. The real one looks pale in color. I made sure both were set to the recommeded settings on the f500LHd page

3) I will need to record more video, but the 5 mins clip i took today was much darker than the fake unit.

4) The tilting lens on the fake model allows one to position where you want it. On the real model, there is a spring that forces it to either be vertical or at angle. No point in between.

I'm now really frustrated... I'd wish companies would make these things here in th USA, so i can test them first before buying!

 

[jokiin]

I'm now really frustrated... I'd wish companies would make these things here in th USA, so i can test them first before buying!

you probably still wouldn't be able to test them, would make returning it a lot easier though, I'm not a big fan of the DOD product, there are some better ones out there, finding them is the problem

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi lkwan78,

Can you post videos of the fake F500LHD and the real one so we can see the difference. For the recommended settings, you may need to play with them since these Chinese cameras can differ from manufacturer to manufacturer and batch to batch.

 

[jokiin]

Hi lkwan78,

since these Chinese cameras can differ from manufacturer to manufacturer and batch to batch.

I think this is often the most overlooked aspect, what might get posted as being accurate today is not tomorrow, even when purchased from the same seller, there's a great many sellers that don't have any real idea of what's inside what they're selling and put a lot of faith in their suppliers, some are honest, some are not, it's not an easy market for the consumer unfortunately

 

[Mtz]

If they want to stay in business they must to work. And a part of working is also the checking and testing the products are selling, not only packing a box and send it to the post. A real seller is more than that.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[jokiin]

If they want to stay in business they must to work. And a part of working is also the checking and testing the products are selling, not only packing a box and send it to the post. A real seller is more than that.

enjoy,
Mtz

I agree with what you're saying, to most it's a numbers game though, many of the online sellers in China don't keep product in stock and source as they sell, sort of like drop shipping but from local warehouses that many suppliers draw stock from, some just pull stock out of local electronics markets and have runners that go and collect stock all day, others run small shops and use online to supplement their sales (there's a big one of these places a few minutes from my office in Shenzhen that process a lot of sales every day), when they run out of stock they pull stock from their neighbours rather than losing the sale, some are micro managed by category managers that might look after one particular web location, Aliexpress, DHgate, eBay, Taobao etc, it's not uncommon for the people you deal with not to know a lot about whatever their selling and just rely on whatever info suppliers give them, sometimes you're lucky and it's accurate, other times not so lucky

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi jokiin,

Buying from China is a gamble but there are some vendors who have a much better track record than others. Buying from a proven vendor is your best bet of getting something decent.

 

[jokiin]

Hi jokiin,

Buying from China is a gamble but there are some vendors who have a much better track record than others. Buying from a proven vendor is your best bet of getting something decent.

I agree, some do it a lot better than others

 

[lkwan78]

Ok I change my intial assessment!

The real f500LHD cliarty is by far better! Bc of youtube compression, you might not be able to see the detail level. But with the real version you can see the branches in trees. With the fake model, you can barely make out large branches!

I did the same test with my i5 using isymdvr, I was surprise at the different bit rates!

i5 17.7/mbps
http://youtu.be/7mLdl7FeZGI

Real 8mbps
http://youtu.be/ikxN4z6rlH0

Fake 6/mpbs
http://youtu.be/QYKSrjiX22Q

I'm getting one of those fake olliclips for my i5 to see how it affects sharpness on a i5.

On my next test, the camera round up will be i5,f500LHD real, f500LHDfake, 047 DVR, and a CR500HD. My dashboard is going to be very full!

 

[shafferb0b1]

Been test driving my iPhone 5 with iSymDVR

In every appreicable way it blows the doors off our cheaper dashcams. Quality is much higher (see bitrates), fully encodes all GPs, Speed, Altitude, etc. It's even got its own little wireless server as well, great for grabbing the raw videos or the GPX (track) and SRT (subtitles) separately. You can load the GPX track into Google Earth, and it'll "replay" your entire drive! Also hooks directly into MapQuest and allows simultaneous navigation with Apple Maps. Cool stuff and it costs all of 3 bucks.

 

[midlander]

2) Color on the fake model is better. The real one looks pale in color. I made sure both were set to the recommeded settings on the f500LHd page

Where do I find the 'recommended settings on the F500LHD page' ?

 

[shafferb0b1]

Here's a cut and paste of the text:

Optimal Settings

For Recording Cycle: DURATION – OFF, RECYCLE Clip length:1/5/10/15 minutes, MOTION DET. – OFF, AUTO OFF – OFF

To improve the legibility of small details: SHARPNESS – HARD, CONTRAST – STANDARD

To display the date and time on video: STAMP – YES

To improve the quality of night shooting: SCENE – AUTO and EV -0,3. -1.0

To enable and automatically start recording when an external power supply: USB IN = YES.

To automatically turn off when disconnecting the external power supply: SHUTDOWN – choose from: 10s , 5 min, 15 min (10 seconds is recommended.)

To improve the overall picture and its easy clarification: LIGHT FREQ = 60 hertz


And a link directly to that excellent page http://dashcamtalk.com/dod-f500lhd/

 

[midlander]

If I could forward you a beer 'Shafferb0b1' I would. Thank you once again.