Shall I buy the viofo a119v3

[dteal]

Nobody checks sharpness of focus on moving objects for very good reasons which have already been explained here. Not Nikon, not Canon, not any of the professional grade video cams. That is always the first step and of all testing also the easiest to do.

The easiest way for most people to do this is to park perpendicular to a large brick wall at a distance of 15m or more with the sun behind you being equal all across the wall. The high contrast between brick and mortar and the very straight lines will make any image distortion or lack of clarity very evident across the entire FOV of the cam.

If you're not willing to take the approaches being recommended to you, then nobody can help you in any way. It's not like it's hard to do but you must try- we can't do it for you.

Phil

"If you're not willing to take the approaches being recommended to you, then nobody can help you in any way"
My opening question was " Anyone else having poor image problems with the A119 V3???"
So I was expecting a wealth of experience of instances of poor image quality, as after that is what I was asking.

I was asking for possible causes, not asking for a testing procedure as I am quite capable of devising my own testing procedures for any cause I was to investigate.

To your credit you offered the 'left field of view issue', one that I actually was aware of. Unfortunately the rest of the replies were all about the car speed being too high and light level too low, both of which I dismissed as I have pulled great images off my A119S at more than double the speed of the cars in this instance, and that the lighting was not low although people have obviously mistaken the lack of washed out highlights (due to exposure at -0.3ev) as evidence of low light while ignoring the blue sky. Ironically none of them actually knew what the car speed was, nor the light level.

So instead of offering other suggested causes of poor image, people instead for some reason wanted to insist I carry out "their prescribed testing procedure" and submit the results to them for perusal, presumably in the hope of proving my dismissal of speed and low light as being wrong and them being correct, or they would take their bat and ball..

 

[Nigel]

I was asking for possible causes,

1. It is winter.
2. The sky has lots of thick clouds in it; there may be a little blue sky, but not in the direction of the sun.
3. The shadows are hard to see - indicating low light level.
4. You are driving under trees with thick leaves blocking light from the direction of the sun.
5. The time is well gone midday, not sure how long the day length is there at this time of year, but light levels will be well below midday levels.
6. The issue looks like motion blur.

Maybe everyone except you is wrong, but you don't have another explanation otherwise you wouldn't be asking for possible causes, so I suggest you do a quick check on some stationary footage just to check who is correct, if you are correct then given more evidence we will consider alternative causes, if everyone else is correct then you have your answer - there is motion blur when driving under evergreen trees on a day with thick clouds in the middle of winter.

 

[jokiin]

I was asking for possible causes, not asking for a testing procedure as I am quite capable of devising my own testing procedures for any cause I was to investigate.

you have the advantage of watching all the video, everyone else here is basing their feedback on two screenshots, that's why you'll get requests to do things like park in front a brick wall so people can see whether the focus is uniform across the lens or not

 

[gse]

@dteal

Unfortunately, this problem arises to understand, you are offered options, but you stubbornly do not want to check.
Can you post part of the daytime video? the sun from behind.
It is necessary to understand if there is a reflection on the dashboard.
Example:

 

[Tommyhawkes]

Hi @Tony lovelock,

Have to agree mate on the 422! Had for a similar length of time that you have and its been rubbish. All the same problems you've faced, poor charge holding from the off-set, crappy connection issues, crashing and gaps in recording. Be interested to know what the A119 V3 was like if you purchased it?

 

[Binky]

By obvious necessity, dashcams need a wide, universal focus range. Which they mostly do. From a couple meters to infinity. Viofo and most others do just this. And with no user adjustment. Just looked a bunch of utubes. Dont usually do this. Viofo, especially with GPS, stands out head and shoulders amongst the field. In every measure. One comment. for near traffic action, and best view of traffic lights, can we not all aim the field to put the horizon 40% up from the bottom of frame ?

 

[smiley1081]

One comment. for near traffic action, and best view of traffic lights, can we not all aim the field to put the horizon 40% up from the bottom of frame ?

Erm... Well. you can tilt the lens up and down, doesn't that solve your problem?

 

[Velvetfoot]

One comment. for near traffic action, and best view of traffic lights, can we not all aim the field to put the horizon 40% up from the bottom of frame ?

60% sky? Too much sky.

 

[Kremmen]

I've found that even horizontal does show more sky than I'd like and in certain conditions does cause the sensor to darken the footage. As a result I angle mine down slightly which seems to do the trick

 

[Binky]

I don't care to look at too much sky either, its a bit of accommodation to catch high traffic lights.

 

[Tony lovelock]

Hi @Tony lovelock,

Have to agree mate on the 422! Had for a similar length of time that you have and its been rubbish. All the same problems you've faced, poor charge holding from the off-set, crappy connection issues, crashing and gaps in recording. Be interested to know what the A119 V3 was like if you purchased it?

Hi, unfortunately I haven't purchased the viofo a119 v3 yet as still battling on with my nextbase 422gw lol. Looking on the MycroCam website (UK based) as you can buy the dash cam and polarising lens for £112ish where as amazon bit dearer

 

[SawMaster]

I don't care to look at too much sky either, its a bit of accommodation to catch high traffic lights.

Yep, some of us have to deal with those. My primary cam is aimed to just catch them which gives me about 40% sky and 60% below horizon, and I find that near perfect for keeping the auto-exposure levels looking good. If I could, I'd go a bit lower but I need those signals to be in view.

Phil

 

[Tony lovelock]

What's the polarising filter like when adjusted correctly when driving in low sun light? I have the polarising filter on my Nextbase 422gw & it is awful in low sunlight if you try to watch back clips... Even when the windscreen/windshield is clean inside & out

 

[Kremmen]

The CPL comes pre-adjusted so no need to do the white sheet on dash trick. Just remember that the long slot edge goes at the top

Mine is fine, as expected, as any camera pointed directly into sunlight isn't going to be anywhere near as good as the other way round

 

[Kremmen]

Managed to dig out a recent screenshot heading into the sun:

 

[Tony lovelock]

Looks good, I'm too embarrassed to upload a screen shot from my nextbase 422gw with low sun glare lol

 

[Kremmen]

I had a Nextbase 412 and I was offered a free 422 on release to review. Having seen the specs (battery and ball joint) I declined and glad I did. I started with a A119 V2 and got a V3 shortly after release.

Never regretted it and this latest HD @ 60fps is proving superb. Sample shot in normal conditions, very sharp:

 

[alocke]

The CPL comes pre-adjusted so no need to do the white sheet on dash trick. Just remember that the long slot edge goes at the top

Why does the long slot edge of CPL go at the top? To stop it potentially falling out from the bottom?

 

[Kremmen]

The advice about CPL orientation has been posted quite a few times previously. I'm just passing on the info.

Found one post, from a knowledgeable member that reckons it's to stop the lens falling out on a hot day.

Perform a search in the A119 forum using 'filter long slot'

 

[Tony lovelock]

Oh so it doesn't stick onto the existing lens like the nextbase ones then