"Security" dash camera

frikovc

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Hi guys, I want to buy a dash camera who will serve in following scenarios:
- car is parked and someone hits them with another car
- car is parked and someone hits them when opening his car door
- car is parked and someone breaks (my) car window
- car is in motion and some incident occurs which should be recorder

In first three requirements, camera should take a photo or record a video of a guilty guy.

Because of first three requirements, camera should also be discreet (not easy noticeable), should have g-sensor and should be connected to car battery. My budget is 100 € top.

What do you suggest?
 
What you are looking for will require 4 cameras (front, rear, right, left). It will take either 4 single channel cameras or 2 dual channel cameras with buffered parking mode. I don't think it can be done within your budget.
 
My car will be parked in front of block (always with front facing to the road lane) or in garage house. I believe when someone hits the car, it should be caught in camera's wide angle.
Btw: will break of a glass / car door bump trigger the g-sensor?

Additional info: car is driven few kilometers every few days. Will this kind of commuting be enough for camera who is connected to car battery? How about if I use two cameras?
 
Budget is the issue here.
 
How high budget should I set? Give some recommendations please.
 
Depends how many sides you want to monitor? Front, rear, left / right side?
One dashcam can cover only 1 side.
 
Let's start with one camera first :)
 
My car will be parked in front of block (always with front facing to the road lane) or in garage house. I believe when someone hits the car, it should be caught in camera's wide angle.
Btw: will break of a glass / car door bump trigger the g-sensor?

Additional info: car is driven few kilometers every few days. Will this kind of commuting be enough for camera who is connected to car battery? How about if I use two cameras?
It sounds like the bulk of your requirements center around when the vehicle is parked. Maybe you should consider a forward facing dashcam for your driving needs and an external security camera to monitor the vehicle when parked. @kamkar1 has done this and it seems to be working well for him. Maybe he will comment on his thoughts and ideas that might work for you.
 
External security camera is not an option, since I'm not allowed to mount it (I live in a community block). Also, I have no guarantee for the same parking spot.
Other suggestions are welcome.

PS: till recently car was multiple-risk insured (including vandalism or park-hits). Since car isn't that new anymore and this kind of insurance isn't cheap, I'm considering alternatives (e.g. dashcam).
 
you're talking about €500 worth of cameras so the insurance saving would want to be significant
 
I would look in to Thinkware F50, but glass can be broken and car scratched the way g-sensor will not trigger, so you need to look into good motion detection,however monion detection can be triggered by many false movements (lights, trees,rain drops, birds etc ). Then you need to think of always ON recording full frame (30Fps), or 1 Fps recording dashcams.
If you go with full 30Fps 1080p then bear in mind 32Gb card can record about 4.5h.

There are not many good dashcams out there based on Supercaps which have 1Fps parking recording and are within your budget.

Mobius might be closest choice I guess. Maybe other forum members can remember other good dashcams within your specs and budget.
 
Another factor to consider when searching for a solution is the time you drive versus the time you're parked. Even a camera with good parking mode, motion detection, and G-sensor will not be able to run for multiple days on the car battery without risking not having the car start.
 
External security camera is not an option, since I'm not allowed to mount it (I live in a community block). Also, I have no guarantee for the same parking spot.....
If you have a view of where you park there are cameras you could mount in a window. Not much use though if you don't have the proper view. :(
 
I have just been testing a IMX 291 based dashcamera in my window sill filming the street below.

Now i dident expect much, but its actually pretty good considering it is shooting color footage at 60 FPS ( not sure if it frame double at this stage )
But its actually not bad, got me thinking if i could get a 5" LCD monitor with HDMI in, and how well such a dashcam could be "bolted" onto my airrifle scope with another lens to film thru the scope as i shoot aiming on the screen.

Itching to know how well it would handle IR light as seen thru a lot of glass ( camera lens and rifle scope ) but i actually think it would work just fine.

Ill upload a clip tomorrow, but now i really have to hit the sack as time have slipped again, and i have to get up soon,,,, and i am in no way tired at the moment.

Okay changed my mind :) please note all other cameras of mine more or less just capture darkness filming out that window, there is just 1 street light for illumination.
And not least its a very dirty window.


I live in a 2 floor apartment and my IP camera on the balcony door are also not allowed, but i don't care.
Its also illegal for me to record from the camera and post it online, and still i don't care as i had 2 cars vandalized after i moved here.
Where my car is parked its totally black no light at all, so what you see are IR light from my camera.

 
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+1 on the Thinkware F50, many folks report good results with it. The Goluck T3 might be another choice, or a cap-equipped Mobius doing full-time recording with a 64GB or larger card ;)

Something to consider is that all a dashcam can do is possibly ID a particular car; it's less likely to positively ID it's driver, and there's much less chances of both in low-light conditions. Your cam can capture everything clearly to getting nothing useful at all and anything in between. It might be an uninsured car or a stolen car which causes the damage and that may not get your car repaired. The only assurances of getting damage repairs is full-coverage insurance :( Raising the deductible can make that more affordable, especially with older cars. In some places having a dashcam can get you lower insurance rates but AFAIK no US insurers have begun doing that yet :mad:

A dashcam is still a good idea as it might assist in getting bad drivers off the road and it might help your insurance company get paid for the claim you file, thus helping keep rates low. It will help protect you while driving which is it's main purpose :cool: but it's not going to be the best solution for parking coverage.

Phil
 
Today you can get really small cameras, unlike my huge football sized camera, so will be easy to hide either inside window filming out, or maybe on balcony.

IMG_20170406_170821[1]_big_thumb.jpg
 
First of all thank you all for the responses and suggestions! :)

1. Regarding the budget, Thinkware F50, Goluk T3 and Mobius are fine with me. But although they are not attention callers, they still lack the stealth / discreet factor. Are there any instructions how to hide a cam into car's interior?

2. Also, is it possible to easily switch the mode they operate in? For example: when driving, g-sensor sensitivity is low, recording is set to full-mode (30fps). When parked, g-sensor sensitivity is high, recording is set to parking mode (1 frame per second).

3. What is your opinion about rear mirror cameras and interior type camera (I don't how to call it othervise):
rear miror camera
interior type camera
Those types of dashcams are interested to me because they are not so easy notices, either outside or inside the vehicle.

4. What is usual life expectancy of dashcams (e.g. F50/Goluk/Mobius)?
 
There have been a few people moving out and in here, the new people seem to like to park close to my car even if there are other more sensible places elsewhere in the back yard.
I assume it is the people wanting to leech in on my IP camera, but i have bad news for them, i am zoomed in so close you can only see my car in the footage, i have to do that as it would otherwise be impossible to make a identification.

There are some people i have read in here that have run a mobius for years on end, so the main concern should be the life of the memory card.

Problem is the mobius while not useless at all, it is not the best low light performer, for that you really have to go for the new cameras with the Sony starvis sensors in like the ones using the IMX 291.
Buying mobius you off course also have to buy from a approved seller, there are horrible cheap mobius copies out there.
 
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