useless as an accident dashcam ( only 30 seconds protected on button push )

[Aftrbrnr]

As Nextbase support pointed out, probably the most useful thing you can do is use the myNextbase Connect App to download the clip you want to your phone via the camera's wifi function, which you should probably do as soon as possible after the incident. After tinkering around with my 522GW, I noticed another thing you could do is through the playback function, you can manually "protect" clips of your choice, even the standard 1 to 3 minute clips the camera produces. I see this as the same as other cams that save the whole clip through a button press or g-sensor, though no where as convenient especially since you have to stop recording to get to the playback function.

That being said, I do find it odd to remove the ability to save entire clips with a button press for the second gen models given this is a very common, if not almost universal feature on most dash cams. I think I speak for some users on here, but I can't see how difficult it would be to re-implement the feature given its commonality on these devices along with how this was possible on Nextbase's first-gen cameras. As Paul said, it is a possibility Nextbase won't ever do this, but for me, it seems like it would be a relatively simple change to the firmware rather than something complex such as re-engineering the camera's hardware.

One thing I do wonder is what happened with the G-sensor in dundeelad's incident, which no one has pointed out so far. I found even setting the sensitivity on low I still get too many automatically protected clips being produced from bumps in the road. The t-bone impact IMO should have produced enough force to create a protected clip at that moment without them having to voluntarily push the protect button. I could see the possibility they turned off the g-sensor function, but could it have also failed?

 

[M8TJT]

As Nextbase support pointed out, probably the most useful thing you can do is use the myNextbase Connect App to download the clip you want to your phone via the camera's wifi function, which you should probably do as soon as possible after the incident.

The very best thing you can do is remove the card from the camera straight away and put in you spare. You do have a spare in the car for just such an occasion, don't you? Doing that precludes any chance of the file being deleted or otherwise screwed about with. Then make a backup of the card on your computer.

 

[IAmATeaf]

Shouldn’t you switch the cam off first? I would have thought that simply removing the card might corrupt the actual file that is of interest?

 

[M8TJT]

What a good idea. I am far to stupid to think of something as mundane as that. But I do have a spare card in my car.

Seriously though. Yes of course switching off would be a pretty good idea that I forgot to mention.

 

[jokiin]

Seriously though. Yes of course switching off would be a pretty good idea that I forgot to mention.

obvious to most of us but unfortunately there are people that grew up receiving participation awards so you do need to spell things out to avoid problems

 

[Aftrbrnr]

The very best thing you can do is remove the card from the camera straight away and put in you spare. You do have a spare in the car for just such an occasion, don't you? Doing that precludes any chance of the file being deleted or otherwise screwed about with. Then make a backup of the card on your computer.

While I agree this is the most fool proof method to prevent loss of data, in all honesty I have never heard of anyone carrying around a spare memory card for their dash cam for that purpose, and I know a few cammers. I do feel it is mildly cumbersome and not quite as convenient as either pressing a save button or letting the g-sensor do it for you - which if the camera is properly designed the data should not be overwritten. Plus, using a write protect function means you don't have to go and spend money on another memory card, which Nextbase cams seem to be finicky with regards to the card quality.*

*As an aside, I see a few people swear by Nextbase's own memory cards and feel they give the least problems especially if using a second camera like the rear or interior cam modules. Here in Canada though, the sole Nextbase retailer, Best Buy, does not carry any of Nextbase's memory cards, with the exception of the 32GB one that comes with the carrying case accessory. Heck, there does not appear to be any retailer in North America, even online ones, that carries Nextbase's larger card sizes such as the 128GB version. Halford's doesn't ship outside of the UK, let alone across the Atlantic ocean so they are ruled out. The best I can do is order from Amazon UK, but for some reason they can't ship the card to Canada, so I have to get it sent to an address in the US where a local courier business can retrieve it. This costs additional fees on top of getting it shipped from the UK, and makes it more expensive then it really should be had there been regional retailers that carried those cards.

 

[jokiin]

While I agree this is the most fool proof method to prevent loss of data, in all honesty I have never heard of anyone carrying around a spare memory card for their dash cam for that purpose

multiple mentions on the forums here from people that keep spare cards in the car

 

[M8TJT]

Probably about as cumbersome as making back ups of your the on your computer/phone/tablet and then banging on about loosing priceless (to you) photos etc.?
I would hardly call carrying a micro SD card, even if it were in a full size SD carrier to avoid losing the card, cumbersome. And far less 'cumbersome' and time consuming than using

the myNextbase Connect App to download the clip you want to your phone via the camera's wifi function, which you should probably do as soon as possible after the incident.

It's called data protection (in the literal meaning of the words) and continuity of 'filming'.
Having said all that with a certain amount of tongue in cheek, (but you know it makes sense), I agree that pressing a button or the G sensor should work as we expect them to.

 

[beasty54]

I only joined these forums a few days ago but there definitely seems to be more bias towards the manufacturers instead of it being somewhere to get help and maybe rant a little about issues with cameras. I get that the OP maybe didn't quite go about things the right way but i too am noting that my new NextBase dash cam really isn't that great and they seem to struggle to do things that a £20 cam from Amazon can do. I've now accepted mines not great, i'm noting ALL its short falls and i'm unlikely to buy another next base cam in the future.

In the case of the OP, i have to agree that it's ridiculous the cam doesn't protect the files either side of the file that's been protected by a push of the button. These devices are supposed to be able to help in the event of an accident and, should said accident be quite a frightening experience, it's unlikely your first thought will be "right i must remove the SD card from my camera"
One of the other comments on here was "different camera, different chipset" What's that got to do with anything? We're not talking about buffers etc, we're talking about some simple coding that says "If protect button is pressed, also protect the file before and after" It's really not that difficult and for the price these things are, i'd expect next base to put a bit more effort into making them stand out from a £20 cheapie from Amazon.

"As Nextbase support pointed out, probably the most useful thing you can do is use the myNextbase Connect App to download the clip you want to your phone via the camera's wifi function "

Have you tried downloading a clip using this "fast WiFi" ... Fast!!!! By the time you've finished downloading a single file over WiFi, your phone battery will be dead, the dash cams battery will be dead, and the dash cam will have probably drained your car battery too!

 

[Yeti]

The very best thing you can do is remove the card from the camera straight away and put in you spare. You do have a spare in the car for just such an occasion, don't you? Doing that precludes any chance of the file being deleted or otherwise screwed about with. Then make a backup of the card on your computer.

That's only any good if you actually crash....

the window this "feature" gives means you have to push the incident button DURING the incident - rather than concentrating on dealing with what's happening.

By contrast, I recorded an incident on a Tesco petrol station mirror dashcam, in which someone cut me up twice and then brake checked me. Footage was given to the local police, and he might be finished his ban soon. If this had happened with this nextbase, by the time I had got myself clear of the maniac concerned, the window would have closed, the footage could have been lost by the time I could go through it all, and this bloke would have been free to act the same way to someone else.

 

[Paul Iddon]

That's only any good if you actually crash....

the window this "feature" gives means you have to push the incident button DURING the incident - rather than concentrating on dealing with what's happening.

By contrast, I recorded an incident on a Tesco petrol station mirror dashcam, in which someone cut me up twice and then brake checked me. Footage was given to the local police, and he might be finished his ban soon. If this had happened with this nextbase, by the time I had got myself clear of the maniac concerned, the window would have closed, the footage could have been lost by the time I could go through it all, and this bloke would have been free to act the same way to someone else.

Does this Tesco cam have a button to press to save an incident?

 

[Yeti]

Does this Tesco cam have a button to press to save an incident?

Yes.

 

[IAmATeaf]

Surely it’s up to you to decide if saving the clip is important or not, appreciate the protection button but even with a 32gb card you’d get around 4 hours on a standard HD dashcam, so the clip can be pulled and saved within that time?

 

[Paul Iddon]

Yes.

Must be a discontinued model. I can't find one.

 

[SawMaster]

Surely it’s up to you to decide if saving the clip is important or not, appreciate the protection button but even with a 32gb card you’d get around 4 hours on a standard HD dashcam, so the clip can be pulled and saved within that time?

If it's important you take extra measures to protect it- that goes for everything, not just dashcam footage. I once ran a different cam on a 4GB card just to see what happened, and even that tiny card held 20 minutes of recording so yes you will have time to do more than just hoping a button push is enough.

Phil

 

[Yeti]

There's a lot of idiots on here who seem to think you only need footage when you actually crash and come to a stop...

Must be a discontinued model. I can't find one.

The mirror one, that they sold in the petrol stations - not in the store. It's cheap chinese junk, but still works better than a £150 Nextbase. If it wasn't for the vibration and distortion on the mirror, and the massive file sizes, I wouldn't have changed it.

 

[Paul Iddon]

There's a lot of idiots on here who seem to think you only need footage when you actually crash and come to a stop...



The mirror one, that they sold in the petrol stations - not in the store. It's cheap chinese junk, but still works better than a £150 Nextbase. If it wasn't for the vibration and distortion on the mirror, and the massive file sizes, I wouldn't have changed it.

So massive vibration and distortion? Obviously not as good as the NB which doesn't have massive vibration and distortion.

 

[M8TJT]

Just why are you calling me an idiot Yeti. I suggested that you removed the SD card as soon as possible after an incident, not necessarily a crash, and insert your spare. Any footage that you want will be towards the end of the recordings and will have been preserved from being overwritten. What's idiotic about that?

 

[Nextbase Support]

That's only any good if you actually crash....

the window this "feature" gives means you have to push the incident button DURING the incident - rather than concentrating on dealing with what's happening.

By contrast, I recorded an incident on a Tesco petrol station mirror dashcam, in which someone cut me up twice and then brake checked me. Footage was given to the local police, and he might be finished his ban soon. If this had happened with this nextbase, by the time I had got myself clear of the maniac concerned, the window would have closed, the footage could have been lost by the time I could go through it all, and this bloke would have been free to act the same way to someone else.

Hi Yeti,

Thank you for your comments. I understand that you have a gripe with your Nextbase Dash Cam's Protected Files mode, however this is a forum for sharing information and knowledge and I'd appreciate you being courteous to other forum members and refraining from being insulting .

Regarding the Protected Files, I understand that sometimes it's only after an event has occurred that you want to save the footage. You can do this using any of the methods below:
1) Making sure you're using a suitable size SD card. With a 522GW we'd recommend a minimum 32GB SD card which would still provide multiple hours worth of recording. This way, even after an incident and the drive home (on average), the files will still be on the SD card.
2) Parking somewhere safe and turning the engine off. Using the MyNextbase Connect app to your phone, you can select the footage (as it's not a Protected clip) and download it directly to your phone. You can then share it to various places from there.
3) Keeping a second SD card to use as a back up if you record an event that you want to keep. Swapping the SD cards is a fool proof method to prevent footage from being lost.
4) Using the Protect function on the Dash Cam itself to manually go through the recordings and protect the necessary files. You do not need a paired mobile to do this and it's an easy process to guarantee savings of recordings.

If there's anything else I can do to help, please don't hesitate to get in contact.

Regards,
Millie- Nextbase

 

[ChristopherTurvey]

Hi there, new to this 522dashcam and new to this thread, maybe no the best place but ill ask anyway.

First day using my dashcam and I just got home and pulled my SD card after a school run, quick 20 mins each way.

what I have on my memory card is 464 items. Most of the clips are only a few seconds and many are duplicates. Can anybody tell me whats going on? Or what I need to do to have longer clips where I wouldnt need to splice together from tons of clips to make a long enough clip to chow a few minutes of footage?

Thanks in advance