Trying to find any dual-channel with parking mode on a budget

[Bubbleawsome]

Hey guys, I've been researching dashcams for a while, and I can't seem to find anything that fits. I'm trying to find a dual channel camera system with parking mode (here's the hard part) under $150. $150 really is the max I can spend on this, and less would be better.

I would say single channel is fine, but my school only allows you to pull into a parking space, and gives out violations for backing in, so only a front facing camera wouldn't be much use. I'm also open to a mixed solution, like buying two cheaper cameras and just having the rear one operate in parking mode.

If it just can not work out I'm considering the Lukas LK-7900 ARA if I can find a good deal on one, the A119, or the Mini 0805. I do live in a place where it gets quite warm (115f/46c) and I drive a black car so temperatures may be an issue.

Thanks guys, and I wish you all a merry Christmas!

EDIT: I did find a dual camera solution that is currently on sale. Anyone seen this before?

 

[jokiin]

. I do live in a place where it gets quite warm (115f/46c) and I drive a black car so temperatures may be an issue.

this is going to be a challenge for any camera if you want to have it running while you're parked

 

[WA3PNT]

EDIT: I did find a dual camera solution that is currently on sale. Anyone seen this before?

Reading the myriad of one star reviews will answer your question as to whether this is a good buy.

RodeoGeorge

 

[kamkar]

The camera you link to is just VGA on the rear camera and in that case you might as well just go for a 1 channel camera.

If you live in a warm place of the US ( aint they all in some metaphoric way ) then running a camera while parked will be really hard on the camera, so its not recommended to use in the really hot parts of the year.

Or if you do at least park underground or inside something to get out of the direct sun.

The temperatures you mention will make the inside of a car like a furnace, so you might be near numbers where its almost not advised to just let the camera sit and do nothing.

We have Texans and a few Florida guys too that do fine with good cameras in the heat, but thats just parked with the camera off, if they was to try and record while parked i am sure those cameras would cook them self to death in a short period of time.

Heat related focus shift is a problem seen often, even with higher end cameras, so if i was you i would go for a local sourced camera so if you need it you will not have any griefs if you have to RMA the camera.

And you will also need to look for cameras with capacitors for emergency power and not lipo batteries as those will be a fire hazard in those kind of temperatures.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Reading the myriad of one star reviews will answer your question as to whether this is a good buy.

RodeoGeorge

A fair number seemed to be good too, but I guess it is better to be safe than sorry. A normal A119 may be what I get then. I don't think I'll benefit from the new A119S.

this is going to be a challenge for any camera if you want to have it running while you're parked

I think normally the max is around 104, but it does get warm. I may just go for a camera without parking features.

@above (sorry, you posted while I was making this post on mobile) I live in Alabama, warm part of the US in more than one way lol. I plan to go for a capacitor for sure. The only camera on the recommended list with a temperature range greater than the A119 is the Lukas LK-7900, but it's pricing may not be workable


Are there any cameras that will activate for a short amount of time/take a few pictures on impact with the G sensor? Otherwise, more recommendations for a $150 dashcam?

 

[kamkar]

Most dashcams can be triggered by the G-sensor to make a event recording, often saved in a folder on the memory card thats read only, so the file is safe in case card fill up and start to recycle the oldest recordings.
The same is the case with motion triggered or manual triggered events.

But the stumbling block for many cameras is that they dont have prebuffer recording, and thats a must have for parking guard as you will have 5 - 10 seconds of footage before the trigger event, and if you dont have that then you might risk that what ever triggered the event recording is "long" gone by the time the camera start to record.

Myself i dont use parking guard in any form, but if i felt the need for it i would just power one or more of my cameras with a USB power bank and then let them record all the time like they do when i am driving too.
Off course this cant be used for parking any longer than your memory card can hold due to the loop recording when card is full.
And you have to spot any vandalisen to your car as you get back to it, otherwise you might risk the regular recording beeing deleted on your way home. ( depending on card size time of parking/ time of vandalisem, and offcourse how long you drive before you notice something have happened with your car.

When i got my first dashcam i did try and use G-sensor while driving, but first i had to find usable custom values for the 3 axis and then enter those into the camera, cuz even at low sensitivity the G-sensor triggered my Lukas LK-7500 to record all the time.

In the end i figured why bother if i always record anyway, and if something happen then i can just stop the camera before X hours and the footage will still be there ( little event ) or in case of a major event just stop camera right then and there as car will probably never be driving again.

The glue on cameras are no worry the sticky pad is easy to get off the windscreen, but off course if you have some tint there it will be a issue.

There are a few cameras that use the option of 1 FPS footage for parking guard, but i cant remember which ones it is.
I think its a bit silly anyway, its not like your memory card fill up in no time, and its also not like a 64 Gb card is a big expense.

For saving stuff for my youtube uploads i just make a mental note of when and where in my drive, i could also press the manual event button, but then you have to do that right away, and thats hard to do / manage in time.

I think the rule of thumb is you have about 8 hour of recordings on a 64Gb card, so with one of those you have a drive a lot after a event before the camera reach that file for auto delete to make room for new stuff.

I use 64 Gb and 128 Gb cards in my cameras ( 5 )

 

[WA3PNT]

IMHO, if a Dashcam with Parking Mode (or Motion Recording as in the case of the A119 family) doesn't buffer the recordings they are going to miss the event that activated the recording.

@Bubbleawsome you should take a look at the Thinkware F50. If hardwired it will meet most of your requirements, and has buffered Parking Mode. I have two of them, and live in Arizona where temperatures are definitely an issue. They have a high temp shutdown that protects the cam if excessive temps are experienced.

RodeoGeorge

 

[SawMaster]

FWIW I run a cap-equipped Mobius 24/7 always recording and it survived upstate SC's hottest days last summer just fine. We had high 90's F many days this year which is a bit lower than usual, but overall it was the hottest summer on record. This is definitely abusing the poor little cam and going well beyond it's specs but it never let me down I've experienced heat-related issues with other cap-equipped cams in normal use in the past, and with a battery dying in the Mobius after only 6-8 weeks of this heat. I leave a window very slightly opened when I park my light-colored van in the full sun to let some of the heat escape but even when I forgot the Mobius kept going. It doesn't pre-buffer so motion detect and G-sensor activation is delayed too much to be useful and that's why I record 24/7 instead. With a 64GB card that's almost 9 hours of protection and enough for my needs. Add a cheap G1W-HC up front and you should be able to come in at budget or a bit over after buying 2 decent cards and a PS w/cable and a mount for Mobius. Another option would be a single Mobius up front rotated to face rearward when you park at school. Street Guardian is about to release a 2-channel cam which would prove to be a good choice but it will probably be over your budget target.

There just aren't any really good 2-channel cams in this price range and probably never will be- you don't get what you don't pay for

Phil

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Alright, so it looks like 2 channel isn't possible, but as a last try are there any single channel cams that are expandable to dual channel later on?

 

[kamkar]

Sadly on, but modular design is something i have asked for several times, but it seem like the technology is not there yet.

Would be so awesome if you could just add modules on a daisy chain for more cameras - alarm and what not of goodies you could think off.
But this would off course have to be camera models with a main unit(s) you can hide and cameras on a wire you can plug into that main unit.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Fair enough. Looks like I'll be going single channel for now and then upgrade eventually.

 

[kamkar]

Yeah, take fate in any camera is better than no camera, and to be honest i think most disputes can be settled with just the one front camera.
The one camera might not see and record everything, but what it see 100% off is what you are doing, and if you do nothing wrong or illegal, then blame for whatever must fall on someone else.

And you never know soon you will be a addict like so many of us with a handful of cameras in the car and more coming

 

[Bubbleawsome]

And you never know soon you will be a addict like so many of us with a handful of cameras in the car and more coming

True

Still figuring out what I'm going to do. Also considering a A119 in front and a battery A118 in the rear. If I could hardwire it in I would just see how long it lasts. It's cool here right now anyway, and once this school year is over parking backwards will not be an issue any more.

 

[kamkar]

I have used the cheap little mobius for a rear camera, it work fine in daytime and in night time no camera really work back there as there is no headlights to aid in seeing stuff.
Off course if you go into a town at night you can also see some things on the rear camera, but then car headlights can be a little problematic too.

But front or rear and high end camera or not at night all cameras struggle with details at speed, but as long as they can capture the correct color of the intersection as i pass thru it i am happy.
Other than that there is little night footage in my youtube uploads due to the lack of detail.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Is that rear cam the mobius? It looks incredibly clear for the price.

 

[kamkar]

No thats actually the Joovuu X camera, the mobius in this recording is the out of focus left camera ( i been messing with lenses and not focused the lens properly then )
The mobius offcourse also have nice crisp daytime footage when the owner have not been screwing things up you can find plenty of footage from mobius cameras on youtube.
The Joovuu x camera is same form factor but it is 10 % larger, so also a small camera, and it have wifi for settings and aiming where as on the mobius you have to do settings on computer using the GUI interface software, or you can do settings too as i understand it with a android phone and a OTG cable.

The footage from the right side is from the discontinued Innovv C3 camera

Front footage BTW is also a Joovuu X camera on this occasion, but otherwise i have my SG9665GC there as my main camera.
When this was recorded i had 6 cameras in my car and two of them x cameras in the windscreen flanking the SG camera ( i am a tester for Joovuu too )

Sadly youtube have raped the footage from all cameras, its just a fact of things when they recompress 20 mbit footage to 5 mbit footage on their servers.
Thats why its always best to judge cameras by raw footage you download to your computer.

The OV sensor used in the x camera is also used in a range of other dashcams, it is 4 mpix so it can do the little higher resolutions and 1080/60 FPS

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Well I've ordered the A119 with a GPS mount for ~$82 from gearbest. Pretty good deal imo. I'm going to wait for anything concerning a rear cam until I get a new car as one I'm looking at has an automatic rear sunshade that may block a camera.

Thanks for the help guys!