Panorama IIs no Longer my favored Cam... GT680W is a much better value

That is all fine and good, but not just bad gps modules, but one out of two Cams gone bad... see this video at 0:14 seconds, you will see what looks like a wire hanging in front of
the lens, but the lens is perfectly clean:

Where did you buy the cameras from?
 
most recent is from a few days ago

the narrower field of view will offer advantages over a wider lens
Thanks for your help and suggestions. Can you tell me where to find this newest firmware that is only a few days old?
I have not found it in the forum. Thank you!
 
It looks like you bought the Panorama S GPS logger from us back in August. (but not the camera itself) You're still covered under warranty for GPS. You should talk to the seller you bought the S from for warranty coverage. (you must have imported it) That black dead area is a new one. Anyone shine any lasers at your lens or anything? Maybe a neighbor kid etc.
 
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I'm only summarizing what I have read here and what I know from my experience. Reliability is something that only time will show.

Yes, Reliability is one of the most important features for a successful product.
 
Where did the cameras come from? The firmware gets distributed by the seller responsible, it's not posted in the forum
1st cam, the one that is having problems was from the Ebay seller, just over a year ago.
Second from Pier28
 
1st cam, the one that is having problems was from the Ebay seller, just over a year ago.
Second from Pier28

over a year then I guess it's out of warranty, depends which eBay seller as some of the sellers that had them before were getting grey market product
 
GT680W and Pano S are both good value for money, however they are from different classes and can not be compared 100% side by side.
Any dashcam may have troubles, even 400-500usd ones. The ratio of RMA GT680W is much higher than Panorama. Built quality of Pano is higher, specs are higher, having supercaps puts its on a different level than GT680W. You can use Pano in extreme conditions and for parking mode, but GT680W can not be used in parking mode and have high risk of battery swelling on the hot sun ( there has been already few reports about this )
I do agree with you that GT680W has more natural colours, thats true, but dashcam is not about bringing natural colours, its about reading action on the road. Yes, Panorama EV value maybe too high, but you will see hidden details ( in shadow areas ) where other dashcam will have completely dark area. Sony Exmor at night will be better than AR0330.
Overall I agree with you, for 100usd GT680W is worth to buy, but if taking into consideration all extras that Panorama has, - we can not compare them, Panorama will beat gt680w at any time. The only thing in your case is bad luck with not working gps or some "hair" at leans, which is unfortunate situation and can happen to any product, so from this point of view I do understand your concerns.
 
dashcam is not about bringing natural colours, its about reading action on the road.
I remember some guy was not satisfied because the sky is grey and not blue like in reality. I told him almost the same thing, that we need details, good image in low light. Also I like to have the most natural colors, but as dashcam my priorities are other.
Maybe this thread should contains in the title „natural colors”, to be more accurate.

For the moment I think the biggest challenge is reading number plates when cars are moving, even during day.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
I remember some guy was not satisfied because the sky is grey and not blue like in reality. I told him almost the same thing, that we need details, good image in low light. Also I like to have the most natural colors, but as dashcam my priorities are other.
Maybe this thread should contains in the title „natural colors”, to be more accurate.

For the moment I think the biggest challenge is reading number plates when cars are moving, even during day.

enjoy,
Mtz
First, I never stated that the more naturals colors the GT680W produces is important for me. Like you, I need a higher level of Detail, specifically for reading License Plate #'s, since I bust North Carolina Cops for Speeding on my youtube channel. The GT680W provides slightly better detail than the Panorama IIs. But the detail of the GT is still not good enough. It only captures a passing license # in the best of circumstances; so I still relay on my Mobius for that specific task.

Hey! What a Wonderful Idea! Someone please convince Mobius to add GPS option, and a few other features, and we would then have... the Perfect Dash Cam
 
It looks like you bought the Panorama S GPS logger from us back in August. (but not the camera itself) You're still covered under warranty for GPS. You should talk to the seller you bought the S from for warranty coverage. (you must have imported it) That black dead area is a new one. Anyone shine any lasers at your lens or anything? Maybe a neighbor kid etc.
Thank you... you have always provided Superior Customer Support.

The Dash Cam bought from Ebay is the one that shows the lens defect. That was purchased more than a year ago, so I will write that one off. (literally, as a business expense). The unit I bought from you had the bad GPS logger.. then also with the successive replacements you sent to me. But you kept sending, without question, a new one until I had a working logger... and that was great on your part.

No one in the neighborhood with a laser that I know of. My guess is that it might be a piece of something that broke off inside and has stuck to the inside? I may try taking it apart to see... not like I'd be loosing anything it that fails.

Just wanted to remind you that as a Distributor, you have my highest respect.
 
It is pretty easy to get these apart - the hardest part I found was getting the glue off the lens and to do that I just warmed it up first and then when it was hot managed to get it free with a good twist (ensuring I was holding the base and not the PCB otherwise you can rip the holder off).

It should just unscrew and you can give it a good blow (hopefully it's not something between the layers of the lens) - just make sure to mark the lens and base first so you have a point of reference as these are an absolute ballache to focus compared to the GT680W or any camera with HDMI out :)

Worst case scenario is grab another lens unit such as a Mobius wide lens and that should at least make it work again :)

If not let me know as I'd be interested in buying it off you please to see how the IMX122 performs if you write it off?
 
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It is pretty easy to get these apart - the hardest part I found was getting the glue off the lens and to do that I just warmed it up first and then when it was hot managed to get it free with a good twist (ensuring I was holding the base and not the PCB otherwise you can rip the holder off).

It should just unscrew and you can give it a good blow (hopefully it's not something between the layers of the lens) - just make sure to mark the lens and base first so you have a point of reference as these are an absolute ballache to focus compared to the GT680W or any camera with HDMI out :)

Worst case scenario is grab another lens unit such as a Mobius wide lens and that should at least make it work again :)

If not let me know as I'd be interested in buying it off you please to see how the IMX122 performs if you write it off?
reverend; I'll take a quick look at it this weekend after I do the permanent install of the GTX. If I don't see anything obvious, I'll just send it to you, with best wishes. I'll let you know so that you can pm your address.
 
Thanks mate, I hope you'll get it sorted anyway but let's see :)
 
Any night time footage? Just curious how it looks at night.
 
GT680W and Pano S are both good value for money, however they are from different classes and can not be compared 100% side by side.
Any dashcam may have troubles, even 400-500usd ones. The ratio of RMA GT680W is much higher than Panorama. Built quality of Pano is higher, specs are higher, having supercaps puts its on a different level than GT680W. You can use Pano in extreme conditions and for parking mode, but GT680W can not be used in parking mode and have high risk of battery swelling on the hot sun ( there has been already few reports about this )
I do agree with you that GT680W has more natural colours, thats true, but dashcam is not about bringing natural colours, its about reading action on the road. Yes, Panorama EV value maybe too high, but you will see hidden details ( in shadow areas ) where other dashcam will have completely dark area. Sony Exmor at night will be better than AR0330.
Overall I agree with you, for 100usd GT680W is worth to buy, but if taking into consideration all extras that Panorama has, - we can not compare them, Panorama will beat gt680w at any time. The only thing in your case is bad luck with not working gps or some "hair" at leans, which is unfortunate situation and can happen to any product, so from this point of view I do understand your concerns.

I am genuinely shocked this is the best argument for justifying the high cost of a panorama and expected owners/manufactures to be able to present a much stronger case for the high cost of the product....

Using vlc enhancements and it seems the products quality of picture might just narrow a bit more...

surely there is more to the panorama than this !!!!
 
I chose to buy the Panoramas to replace my Blacksys cameras. The price was a bit higher than I wanted to pay but the reviews were more good than bad (colors) but I am not out to make a movie, just to capture the facts.

I can say that these cameras run for me day in and day out for at least for 12 hours a day, every day. I roast them in the summer and freeze them in the winter and they always work. Parking mode performance is very good. They are easy to use to the point that I just told my 10 year old twins to format the card for me while they were in the back seat and a minute later, they were done.

It's nice to have comparisons and to hear that something else works out better for you. I hope to get many years out of any dash cam that I buy.

I think we are all waiting to get the perfect license plate capture. The Panorama is not perfect but is better at it than my last two dashcam purchases.
 
The Panorama is not perfect but is better at it than my last two dashcam purchases.

I agree, Pano is not perfect, same way as most dashcam, but as you described earlier, - it is reliable work horse and "It does exactly what it says on the tin" ;)
 
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