So what are the top quality dashcams out right now?

[jsan]

My wish has always been to be able to use a GroPro as dashcam. The quality is super impressive and it offers so may modes such as wide, narrow, linear and superview. Superview 60fps is awesome. I still haven't found a dashcam that can match the quality of an action cam. I know I'm in the minority who wants a cinema action camera quality out of a dashcam where as people who buy dashcam usually plug it in and forget about it until they need to view the footage.

I drive through mountains and lot and go on road trips often, so every now and then I export the dash cam video and make a hyperlaps of the drive. So I kind of have two usecases for it. I currently have the A129 and its a decent dashcam but I'm wondering if there are any out there that come close to Hero 9 Black's quality.

I wish there was a way to use GoPro as a dash come, just need to overcome the heat issue, looped recording and auto-on/off

 

[Dashmellow]

Perhaps the Viofo A129 Pro Duo Ultra 4K?

VIOFO A129 Pro Duo 4K - DashCamTalk

The VIOFO A129 Pro Duo 4K has the best 4K video quality to date. Does not perform the best at night and some owners have had issues.

dashcamtalk.com

 

[Nigel]

I wish there was a way to use GoPro as a dash come, just need to overcome the heat issue, looped recording and auto-on/off

Like Dashmellow suggests, the Viofo A129 Pro is well worth looking at, sorts the heat, looped, auto -on/off, doesn't run out of power, and most importantly has good exposure for driving. A Gopro will often expose for the sky and keep the foreground far too dark for driving movies, while the A129 Pro will set the exposure for the road. Sometimes that results in the sky being over exposed, so for movies turn the EV setting a little negative, the result will be better than a GoPro, especially with the optional CPL filter fitted.

If you want 60 fps @ 4K then you might choose the single channel version, the Duo 2 channel version is only 30 fps @ 4K or 60fps @ 2K, which is fine for accident footage, but for making movies the 60fps is nice. Or you can just unplug the rear camera when you want 60fps 4K.

My review:

Viofo A129 Pro Dual Dashcam - 4K Front + 1080 Rear

Viofo A129 Pro Dual Dashcam - 4K Front + 1080 Rear The dash camera we have been waiting for, a 4K version of our favorite A129 Duo that records real 4K at a decent bitrate, and works at night! There are a few people with early versions of this camera now, so here is a thread to post your videos...

dashcamtalk.com

 

[Nigel]

it offers so may modes such as wide, narrow, linear and superview.

You can get all those using a video editor, once you have recorded what the sensor saw, the GoPro isn't doing anything special.

Here is my Viofo A129 FHD in an edited wide screen cinema view:

 

[TonyM]

I wish there was a way to use GoPro as a dash come, just need to overcome the heat issue, looped recording and auto-on/off

Action cameras typically record high bitrate video for relatively short durations. There are a few that can be used as a dashcam.

You could look at the GitUp F1, possibly with the V1.6 modified firmware for improved video detail over the original FW.

The A129 Pro might be the better option with metering more suited to dashcam video.