Thinkware F750 2CH or hold on for a....

[Dee_82]

2 separate Mini 807s.

or perhaps wait for something else to come out in the near future.


Hi Guys, I'm looking to get a cam and the F750 ticks many boxes, apart from sub 60fps, sub 15Mbps bit rate and its a little larger than id like. The question is, is it worth waiting longer. Obviously I could wait forever but this is no good, id be waiting until the day I die if that were the case but equally I don't want to get this then next week its a waste of money, would like to get a good 3 weeks out of it first!

anyhow, appreciate any thoughts before I go ahead and place an order

thanks for your time.

 

[russ331]

Do you value buffered parking mode, that will record the moments leading up an impact, rather than just the aftermath a few seconds after the impact? How about Dual Save that saves video to memory card & internal memory, to help ensure no loss of data in an impact? Do you want quality components that confer an increased prospect of reliability & durability? If yes then choose F750.

 

[Dee_82]

what you say makes perfect sense an is the main reasons I'm opting to run with the F750, esp because I can get the 2 cameras, an sd card and the hardwire kit for 200, which is actually likely to be cheaper than 2 mini 807s, 2 cards and 2 hardwire kits. I just wonder how much better would 60fps and 15Mbps be on the 807, if its night and day than I might want to forget the advantages the 750 has, but if its only a slight or barely perceptible difference then id rather stick with quality.

I'm definitely leaning towards the 750, fingers on the button so to speak! Decisions decisions!

 

[russ331]

If you're hardwiring, the inbuilt BDP of the F750 is useful. At night, it's Sony Exmor sensor indicates potential for good low-light performance.

 

[Dee_82]

Cleaver use of language there "indicates potential" I'm not expecting the world when it comes to night, with the lenses we have on these things its already at a disadvantage, the fact it can record anything is a huge positive. Think I'm going to go for the F750. The price is too good to ignore, most other retailers are selling this at £50 more than they are and that's without the hardwire kit and with a bit of luck ill be able to dump its ROM and modify it to bump its bitrate up a bit

 

[bronze84]

Where are you buying it from just out of interest?

 

[russ331]

Cleaver use of language there "indicates potential"

It's just that I've yet to see a simultaneously shot video comparison of the F750 with a benchmark camera like the Panorama X2.

 

[reverend]

If someone wants to send me an F750 I'd do a side by side - to be honest I've still not seen anything that matches the X2 on video quality yet though. I need to fit this G5WA this weekend and see how that looks and in all honesty I expect the video quality of that to be similar to the F750 during the daytime - night is anyones guess but as they both run at more than likely the same bitrate, have similar Sony Exmor sensors and use the same Ambarella A7 chip there will be some similarities (although also potential differences depending on whether either is tweaked).

I know Dome have had the hardware ready but have been tweaking the software for six months on the G5WA.

 

[Dee_82]

Its on that clove website already linked too, I was chatting to them today and they seemed confidant that it was going to be in stock any day now, I also got it in writing that it had the hardwire kit with it. Ill get some photos up and a video or two and detail my finding on modifying the firmware once its arrived.

 

[niko]

Thinkware F750 ticks most of "my boxes", except very long boot-up and low bit-rate. I also haven't yet seen raw video footage from night pitch-black and driving in streets with poor lighting. It doesnt mean if dashcam has Sony Exmor CMOS that it is good at night, not at all. F550 for example had very-very dark video at night, however with proper firmware IQ tune up the sensitivity at night can be achieved much better.

 

[bronze84]

I'll get some pitch black raw clips done Niko. As for start up time. It starts recording about as quickly as a K1S. The only thing that can take a while is for the GPS to lock on, but it starts recording regardless

 

[niko]

I'll get some pitch black raw clips done Niko. As for start up time. It starts recording about as quickly as a K1S. The only thing that can take a while is for the GPS to lock on, but it starts recording regardless

What is cold boor start-up time till it starts recording ?

 

[bronze84]

It takes around 20 secs. Here's a quick video...

https://mega.co.nz/#!X4MwzRjI!C-1RDUUXZrsm3dm4T0aEuuhjBScOBuWB1sNhAQP1TDs

You can see the green GPS light starts flashing but it starts recording before it has a lock

 

[niko]

It takes around 20 secs. Here's a quick video...

https://mega.co.nz/#!X4MwzRjI!C-1RDUUXZrsm3dm4T0aEuuhjBScOBuWB1sNhAQP1TDs

You can see the green GPS light starts flashing but it starts recording before it has a lock

It's a very big improvement over F550.

 

[kamkar]

"indicates potential"

Even the best CMOS chip can perform bad if not paired with a well supported and well exploited chipset, so it is a most valid statement

There are those that just slap 2 tings together not utilizing the full potential of both components, or dont plan on doing that and just fix the really bad flaws that might pop up.