Not sure what to get.

[Bruce45]

I will drive my car mostly on the weekends. For the remainder of the week it will likely sit in an underground garage. Ideally I would like to have any incident recorded during this time. However, I'm assuming it would not be practical to have a parking mode buffered camera in this situation? Because it would run continuously for up to a week (maybe more) and I suppose this would be terrible for a the car battery. Isn't there a camera that runs a very low power motion sensor on only the camera battery? Then wakes up to full power to use the car battery only if recording is turned on?

Also, with a dual camera, is the rear camera useless if the rear window is tinted?

Thanks.

 

[Bruce45]

p.s. I'm willing to spend up to $300 for all the latest features minus the GPS option, since my car has a GPS infotainment system already.

 

[russ331]

If you're willing / able to visit your parked car every day or so, you could power a dashcam using 2 power banks, the second bank to swap with the first, & the first to then be recharged at home. Is your $300 budget in Canadian $?

 

[Dashmellow]

If you're willing / able to visit your parked car every day or two, you could power a dashcam using 2 power banks. Is your $300 budget in Canadian $?

That's an interesting proposal but I think it might require 4 power banks with the idea that when you visit the parked car you can swap the banks for freshly charged ones and take the others home for a recharge.

You can purchase excellent quality 20,000 mAh powerbanks with a decent warranty for 20 USD.

 

[Bruce45]

If you're willing / able to visit your parked car every day or so, you could power a dashcam using 2 power banks, the second bank to swap with the first, & the first to then be recharged at home. Is your $300 budget in Canadian $?

No I wouldn't want to visit the car everyday. So I suppose I would need a dash cam that can be turned off, but also has parking mode for when parked outside temporarily at a mall or something.

Yes CAD. Looks like everyone like Street Guardian a lot.

 

[russ331]

Yes CAD. Looks like everyone like Street Guardian a lot.

Assuming limited traffic movement in the underground garage, a pre-buffered motion detection dashcam would be my choice.

The SG range would be suitable, budget permitting, apart from the SG9665GC (not pre-buffered) ...

http://www.calgarydashcam.com/our-brands/street-guardian

 

[Bruce45]

Assuming limited traffic movement in the underground car park, a pre-buffered motion detection dashcam would be my choice.

The SG range would be suitable, budget permitting, apart from the SG9665GC (not pre-buffered) ...

http://www.calgarydashcam.com/our-brands/street-guardian

But wouldn't that pre-buffered cam be running continuously for over a week? I understand you can hardwire and prevent the car battery from draining, but still, wouldn't it be bad for car battery to be in constant use like that?

 

[Bruce45]

Are you talking about the SGZC12SG? It goes for $320 CAD. Not bad. But darn, I do like that wedge shaped one.

 

[Bruce45]

p.s. I haven't got the car yet, it's on pre-order.

 

[russ331]

But wouldn't that pre-buffered cam be running continuously for over a week? I understand you can hardwire and prevent the car battery from draining, but still, wouldn't it be bad for car battery to be in constant use like that?

Use a power bank*, not your car battery. Visit the car daily & swap power banks & memory cards each visit.

* e.g. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/B00X5RV14Y

 

[Bruce45]

Use a power bank, not your car battery. Visit the car daily & swap power banks & memory cards each visit.

As I said, I don't want to visit the car daily. I live in a high rise and I'm too lazy to visit it each day.

 

[russ331]

As I said, I don't want to visit the car daily. I live in a high rise and I'm too lazy to visit it each day.

Sorry, missed that point. In that case I can't think of a solution within your budget.

 

[Bruce45]

Sorry, missed that point. In that case I can't think of a solution within your budget.

Is there a solution outside of my budget? If so, what/

 

[jokiin]

If the car is always parked in the same location an external camera looking at the car is a better idea than an internal camera looking out if you have that option

 

[Bruce45]

If the car is always parked in the same location an external camera looking at the car is a better idea than an internal camera looking out if you have that option

Unfortunately not really, since it's a condo building garage. I think my solution is to forgo having the camera security when it is parked in the garage for a week's time and only use parking mode for when parked outside on errands, etc. So for me it would be useful to have a parking mode that needs to be activated by a button and does not come on automatically.

 

[Bruce45]

Why do these cameras with the same model # look so different?

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/B00TERYK5Q
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00SWKQIYC
Which is better?

 

[kamkar]

Same IQ but top one is more stealthy but dont have GPS

Not same SGZC12RC and SGZC12SG

 

[Bruce45]

Oops thanks, didn't notice the difference in last two letters.