Please help, I need a cam to record interior/front w/audio for history trip in a few days

[patrip]

I am traveling to do family history and need a dash cam that records interior and front video with audio. For the sole purpose of ensuring the conversations in the car are recorded and the locations we visit are recorded (streets, cemeteries, etc). I purchased the Garmin Tandem only to discover it records in 1 minute clips (and the audio doesn't record-glitchy). I have just a couple of days to locate a new dash cam before I head out on the trip. I appreciate any and all recommendations.
Need:
interior/front video that is continuous (not in 1 minute clips)
interior audio
display screen that can be turned off (state I am traveling to has a law against a display showing video -at least that is how I read their law)
dash cam has to be transportable as it will be used in a rental car

thank you in advance!

 

[Dashmellow]

I would suggest the Viofo A139 (three channel) It will provide a high quality image front, rear and interior, plus good quality audio.

Be advised the dash cams are optimized to do "loop" recordings of 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes and sometimes 10 minutes. They generally do not record full time video for hours on end because you would end up with enormous, unwieldy files sizes. Loop recordings can be stitched together in post to make a full length video.

When the memory card becomes full, the camera starts recording over old files. If you want to preserve all of your videos you will need multiple large capacity cards and devise a scheme to save your files peridoically to a safe media as the memory cards become full.

 

[kamkar]

Welcome to the forum patrip.

you can time how long you can record with a camera by the files on the full memory card, by looking at time/date stamps of the video files ( most easy if you do one long session, maybe at home powering the system with a wall USB charger )
You can then set a countdown alarm on your phone to pull over and DL footage to a laptop, or swap memory card.

The suggested A139 do not have a screen, so you need to connect to it with wifi to set it up ( mostly setting your time zone +/- daylight savings - selecting image quality / bitrate which should always be the best one - select file size, most popular are 3 minutes i think )
But generally the LCD screens can turn of automatic in seconds,,,, and so they should.

The A139 however are not that portable as it rely on the 3 cameras to be glued in place, actually there are very few cameras nowadays that use a suction cup.
So you should maybe look at one of the 2 in 1 systems where the cabin camera are part of the front camera / main unit, the downside to these are you often have to mount it in a less decidable location ( low on the windscreen ) so the cabin camera are not just filming the "back" side of your mirror.
In general the best place for dashcams are top / middle of windscreen, though that are not often possible due to sensors on the windscreen, in that case you have to offset a little to one side.
I recommend you loosely power up the camera so you can see on screen or live preview on phone where the most optimal place are so you dont have too many things in view,,,,, the wide angle lenses do meaan that you cant just offset to right next to a sensor housing, you have to be a little off it or it will be in the footage.

You can always use a suction cup adapter for glue on systems, and then glue to that instead of the windscreen and so have a removable system.

Many little files are no problem, you can import a drive made up of 273 three minute files into any video editor, then drag all those tiles to the timeline and when dropped there they should be in cronilogical order by the file names. Then you can output them all as one seamless long video if you desire so, i recommend to split up onto 10 - 15 minute long segments.
you probably want to speed up some segments of the drive anyway, as no one want to sit thru your XX hour long drive at 1:1 speed.
I like to speed up so 1 hour of actual time last 10 minutes or so, this is still fine for winding open big roads, you can then edit interesting parts to be at normal speed.

Example of speed up drive video, here with additional information overlaid.

 

[patrip]

Welcome to the forum patrip.

you can time how long you can record with a camera by the files on the full memory card, by looking at time/date stamps of the video files ( most easy if you do one long session, maybe at home powering the system with a wall USB charger )
You can then set a countdown alarm on your phone to pull over and DL footage to a laptop, or swap memory card.

The suggested A139 do not have a screen, so you need to connect to it with wifi to set it up ( mostly setting your time zone +/- daylight savings - selecting image quality / bitrate which should always be the best one - select file size, most popular are 3 minutes i think )
But generally the LCD screens can turn of automatic in seconds,,,, and so they should.

The A139 however are not that portable as it rely on the 3 cameras to be glued in place, actually there are very few cameras nowadays that use a suction cup.
So you should maybe look at one of the 2 in 1 systems where the cabin camera are part of the front camera / main unit, the downside to these are you often have to mount it in a less decidable location ( low on the windscreen ) so the cabin camera are not just filming the "back" side of your mirror.
In general the best place for dashcams are top / middle of windscreen, though that are not often possible due to sensors on the windscreen, in that case you have to offset a little to one side.
I recommend you loosely power up the camera so you can see on screen or live preview on phone where the most optimal place are so you dont have too many things in view,,,,, the wide angle lenses do meaan that you cant just offset to right next to a sensor housing, you have to be a little off it or it will be in the footage.

You can always use a suction cup adapter for glue on systems, and then glue to that instead of the windscreen and so have a removable system.

Many little files are no problem, you can import a drive made up of 273 three minute files into any video editor, then drag all those tiles to the timeline and when dropped there they should be in cronilogical order by the file names. Then you can output them all as one seamless long video if you desire so, i recommend to split up onto 10 - 15 minute long segments.
you probably want to speed up some segments of the drive anyway, as no one want to sit thru your XX hour long drive at 1:1 speed.
I like to speed up so 1 hour of actual time last 10 minutes or so, this is still fine for winding open big roads, you can then edit interesting parts to be at normal speed.

Example of speed up drive video, here with additional information overlaid.

Thank you for your very thorough reply.

 

[SawMaster]

Welcome to DCT @patrip
As important as the cam is the card; not just any card will work reliably with dashcams. With my A139 I've had no problems with the Sandisk Extreme or the Samsung EVO Plus, both in 128GB size. Fake cards abound so I suggest you get the Samsung from Amazon being sure that it's being fulfilled by and shipped ny Amazon, and not coming from a different seller as so far nobody has gotten a fake this way. Get at least 2 cards and swap them before over-writing occurs so you don't lose precious footage. I'd also suggest that if you can, save to your PC and to a free online storage site like Goofle Drive or Mega NZ as a backup in case something happens to your computer. File size is your choice; nothing is lost in the transition between files but for convenience and reliability I'd go with 3 or 5 minute files.

The A139 app is easy to use and comprehensive but some settings apply to only parking mode, or only parking mode so be sure you're in the right place when setting up the cam. The default settings are good but driving-oriented. You'll probably want parking modes turned off for this use but after you return home you might want to use that. Very good cam, very good value- you'll be pleased with the results.

Phil

 

[kamkar]

I forgot to say the viofo camera come with a 5 x 5 inch static sticker, this is a static semi transparent plastic film you can put on the windscreen, and then stick the camera to that, it is super easy to remove but are 1 time use.
Also it will probably not work on the dotted area of the windscreen, and at least in my car i mount cameras on that so only the lens peek out below the dots, this make up for a very stealthy install.

The 2 in 1 cameras i mention, i cant really use cuz i would have to either mount it very low on the windscreen or offset to either side for the interior camera to not film the back side of the mirror.
And it is illegal to have stuff right in the middle of the windscreen, you cant even have a small crucifix dangling from the mirror.
But with my layout i can have 4 cameras side by side in front of the mirror, and barely be able to see any of them from the driver seat, but my car is also a "old" ( 2012 ) car, very cheap bottom of the barrel model, but in regard to dashcam installing it is damn near ideal.
Not least if you are testing cameras and often have 4 - 5 - 6 of them on the windscreen.

The static sticker, you can easy cut up into 4 pieces, the sheet in itself are way too large to use in one piece.

In general i dont care much for interior cameras, even if it in a pinch could be used to prove that "NO i was not on my phone while driving like all the other phone junkies" If i was a ride share driver that would be a whole other matter, but ride share services are illegal in Denmark.
I do like rear cameras, and i have been rear ended though back then the rear camera failed and did not record, but also was not needed as phone junkie took the fall as he should, still would have been nice to have on tape.

I have side cameras too, but this should not be considered by any sane person, unless he / she have severe problems with vandalism or other nasty stuff, for general use it is absolutely not needed.

A 2 in 1 system you might want to consider is the Blueskysea B2W, i tested this when it first launched and it work just fine.
As a bonus the 2 barrel shaped lens housings are on the bottom of the unit, and they can both be swiveled to the sides, though they do not have a full 360 degree travel then the left one ( front camera ) can be turned to cover driver side door, and the right one ( interior camera ) can be turned to cover the right side door.

The only downside i found was its 2 in one design, so in the months i tested it in the car i took off my mirror so i was still able to have it up high on my windscreen.