Steer me in the right direction.

[Zachary Adams]

So I've been researching dash cameras for the last few weeks because I can really see the advantages of owning one and the old adage that goes" the more you know, the less you think you know" is definitely coming true. The way I've always envisioned one of these working is that while on and in the car the footage is constantly looping so you never run out of memory, this is very common from what I'm finding out. The problem I'm seeing is that if I only have an hour of total memory and 2 events of interest happen more than an hour apart there is no way of saving both events. Is there a camera that will save a video file of of an event of interest and then keep looping while still having that file saved? Or would my best option be to get the largest memory card I can find and just hope my journeys take less time than the total amount of memory I have?
What I've always thought happened with dash cameras is that it's constantly looping, something of interest happens, I push a button and it saves the previous 5 minutes (5 minutes as an example) and then keeps recording until I tell it to stop. Then after I've told it to stop it saves that video file and keeps looping over the remaining memory? Am I crazy for thinking there is a product in existence that does this or am I just crazy?

 

[jokiin]

A larger card is always preferable, you're not quite understanding how they work though, event files can be saved whenever they happen and the rest of the memory will still be used to loop record as usual

 

[Nigel]

Another option is to have a spare card with you, then if there is something that you need to make sure is never erased you can swap cards and feel safe. I prefer to have a card which will cover the entire journey but obviously cost is an issue.

 

[Zachary Adams]

A larger card is always preferable, you're not quite understanding how they work though, event files can be saved whenever they happen and the rest of the memory will still be used to loop record as usual

I see, I'm definitely still learning. Do all/most cameras do this? I watched a fairly in depth video about a "Mini 0803" and how I understood what he explained is that it's always looping but he never explained a "Save" feature, at least not one that I caught, so I was assuming that if you weren't able to stop and get to a computer (or replace the memory card) by the time the footage was looped over it would be lost.
What if, for instance, I was pulled over by the police and I wanted to have previous footage of why I was pulled over as well as our conversation in the car and after that, still keep the remaining memory looping? Would that be possible?

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Yes once an automatically (or manually) triggered event happens the file is either locked with a flag or moved into a separate folder until it's moved later or card is formatted. (depending which model camera) You can view all the locked flagged protected files easily via
http://www.registratorviewer.com/index_en.html

 

[Nigel]

For the 0803, 0805, 0806 you can press the bottom button to lock the currently recording file (last 5 minutes or whatever it is set to), you can also stop and look at the files in playback mode and lock any you want to keep. Once locked they will not be overwritten unless you unlock them or reformat the card. The camera will use the remaining space on the card to loop around.

 

[russ331]

If you press the button to lock a file, it's possible the incident you wanted to keep is on the previous file that ended a second or two before you pressed the button, and may be overwritten before you check the memory card. Mobius does it better...

a. If the current running file is less than 1 minute old, it locks the previous file and the current file.

b. If the current running file will be closed in less than 1 minute, it locks the current file and the next file.

c. If the current running file has recorded over 1 minute and will be closed after 1 more minute, only the current file is locked.

 

[Zachary Adams]

If you press the button to lock a file, it's possible the incident you wanted to keep is on the previous file that ended a second or two before you pressed the button, and may be overwritten before you check the memory card. Mobius does it better...

a. If the current running file is less than 1 minute old, it locks the previous file and the current file.

b. If the current running file will be closed in less than 1 minute, it locks the current file and the next file.

c. If the current running file has recorded over 1 minute and will be closed after 1 more minute, only the current file is locked.

View attachment 10030

That sounds just about exactly what I'm looking for.
Thank you all so much

 

[Nigel]

Mobius does it better...

I think they all do something similar - if the current file is more than half way through then also lock the next otherwise also lock the previous or something similar, but it's hard to explain and nobody knows exactly what rules they actually use so it is normally described as "lock the current file" even though it is actually more complex.

 

[jokiin]

I think they all do something similar .

Actually the Mobius method is unique and quite clever really, the majority lock current file only, some lock current and previous, that's about as advanced as many of them get

Some of the Korean models take a different approach and lock a predetermined amount before and after the event, 10 seconds before plus 10 seconds after or similar

 

[Zachary Adams]

So I'm looking at getting the Mobius I just can't figure out one thing. If I have it in my car and it is on loop mode, which button would I push to make it save that video file or files? I know this has to be quite simple but I cannot find the answer anywhere.

 

[Nigel]

Actually the Mobius method is unique and quite clever really, the majority lock current file only, some lock current and previous, that's about as advanced as many of them get

Well I know the Mini series locks more than just the current file and that it is not as simple as just the current and previous.

 

[jokiin]

Well I know the Mini series locks more than just the current file and that it is not as simple as just the current and previous.

Ambarella is most often either just current, or current and previous, some are more advanced but the mini series is a little bit restricted by the hardware design so limited in what they can do as a result

 

[Nigel]

Ambarella is most often either just current, or current and previous, some are more advanced but the mini series is a little bit restricted by the hardware design so limited in what they can do as a result

Just current would be stupid as there is a good chance it wont contain what you want, especially if you have it set to 1 minute files - if something happened 10 seconds before you press the button then there would be a 1 in 6 chance of not locking it and it's more likely to take you 30 seconds to press the button which increases the chance of missing it to 50%!

 

[jokiin]

You're right, plenty that do this still though

 

[russ331]

So I'm looking at getting the Mobius I just can't figure out one thing. If I have it in my car and it is on loop mode, which button would I push to make it save that video file or files? I know this has to be quite simple but I cannot find the answer anywhere.

The M button ... M = Mode.

 

[kamkar]

So thats the way the mobius do it nice as that fit perfect with my opinion on how event recordings should be handled.

I just hate the way my lukas do it ( save 10 second prebuffer + 30 seconds after button press, or so never really used it )

IMO mobius way is the benchmark for event recordings.

 

[MoneyT8]

Does the mobius have g-sensor and gps? If not how would one go about recording when car is in is not on? I've been looking to getting the Mobius it's so compact and it can be used for other purposes so you're getting best bang for your buck, however am concerned that it's getting outdated. Thanks in advance.

 

[reverend]

No the Mobius doesn't have a G Sensor or GPS - it's just a pure camera.

For recording when the car isn't on you'd just use a hardwire kit - something like this:

http://lukasstore.com/new-lukas-lk-290-12-24vt-multi-b-type-power-safety-device-94.html

Then just connect a decent quality USB adaptor like the Scosche USBC242M and a USB cable to that. I use exactly that combination for my USB cameras.

There are direct USB hardwire kits available but they don't have such good cutoff options available as say the Lukas plus the Mobius is quite sensitive to the quality of the power feed. A lot of the cheap kits just cutoff at say 11.8 or 11.6V which is too low for some cars, especially in winter.