Viofo A139 3-Channel Camera Test

Mtrev

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Thank you @viofo for sending me the A139 to test.

The first thing noticeable with this camera compared to the recent Viofo cameras is the new design and lens placement. Viofo have done away with the screen. For me I liked this idea as I don’t really want a screen 90% of the time, when I do I can turn on the wifi and use the iphone app. I find the wifi app to be a very quick way of accessing the footage stored and videos download very fast. Additionally it is good for positioning the cameras especially the rear camera as you can take the phone into the back with you rather than needing to look round at a small screen in the front.

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Having the lens to one side means the camera lends itself more to being fitted to the right side rather than the left if fitting tight to the mirror area. Removing from the mount the camera slides to the right which again lends itself to right hand fitment.

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The use of the coax cables for the 2nd and 3rd cameras is very good where routing is concerned and allows for them to be installed neatly in looms much easier than having a USB plug on the end. The kit has a 1 metre cable for the interior camera which has a 90-degree connection on one end, as the interior camera is likely to be more intrusive in the cabin, the 90-degree connection means the cable can stay tight to the camera. For the rear camera a 6 metre cable is provided and both ends of this are straight, due to this and the small size of the connections they are much easier to route in wiring looms or through grommets for hatchback boots.
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My kit didn’t come with a hard wire kit or CPL filter so I can’t comment on them although I think the CPL would be very useful on my car as a lot of the dash reflections are seen on the windscreen so hopefully I can get hold of one at some point.
 
I was interested to see how the camera would work in my BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe as the front and rear screens are at quite sharp angles.

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In my car I chose to fit it to the right of the mirror mounting so it is partially obscured by the dark area of the screen. I have fitted it as close to the headlining as I could without putting pressure on the cables.

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The camera is easy enough to dismount and the card can easily be accessed with it in place. Due to the cameras adjustment only being vertical this means the camera points slightly to the right with the curve of the windscreen.

For the rear camera I had a play around with the location, testing it either side of the 3rd stop lamp at the top of the screen, rear view is restricted by the screen angle so this allowed the most view of the road. I opted for the left hand side of the car (viewed from the back) because this allowed the mount to be as central as possible making the camera straighter but meant that I didn’t need to use the rotate option (currently this flips rather than rotates meaning the video output shows everything on the wrong side and reg plates are backwards). With the camera located here it sits between the glass and the boot trim so its not seen from outside or inside.

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For the interior camera if I had stuck it to the top of the windscreen it would have been largely obstructed by the headlining and mirror casing, I possibly could have stuck it to the plastic cover above the mirror to reduce this issue. I decided I might want to play about with this so I bought a cheap mount set which I have stuck it to, this mount has a ball fitment so I can move the camera around or even rotate it, it came with a suction mount and an adhesive mount so currently I have used the suction mount. As you can see in the pictures this has brought the camera away from the windscreen and past the mirror so as to allow a better view of the interior rather than it being obstructed.

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Look like the A139 fit well in your car, even if you are forced to offset a little due to design choices in your car model
 
Look like the A139 fit well in your car, even if you are forced to offset a little due to design choices in your car model
Yes it does fit quite well, due to the camera locations the dash and rear shelf can be seen quite a lot but that is not a fault of the camera.
I will upload some video comparisons.
 
Can we see a video quality comparison between the Viofo A139 and that BMW dashcam? :unsure:
 
Testing with all 3 cameras. High Bitrate setting.

WDR On

WDR Off
 
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Can we see a video quality comparison between the Viofo A139 and that BMW dashcam? :unsure:
I can probably do one but it would be like comparing an Iphone to a 7210 :LOL:
 
All 3 Cameras comparing High Bitrate and Low Bitrate. WDR Off.

WDR Off Low Bitrate

WDR Off High Bitrate
 
I can probably do one but it would be like comparing an Iphone to a 7210 :LOL:
Just do a simultaneous frame grab from them so that we can all have a laugh... :geek:

And it would be informative for other people thinking of buying a BMW dashcam and thinking it must be at least decent...
 
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Just do a simultaneous frame grab from them so that we can all have a laugh... :geek:

And it would be informative for other people thinking of buying a BMW dashcam and thinking it must be at least decent...
I'll get one sorted. In fairness its the MK1 version and they do a newer sleeker one now but even that has been around a while, luckily this one was in the car when i bought it. I wouldn't buy it myself.
 
The only thing BMW on that camera are probably the 3 letters :)
But i have been amazed some times what actual brands would put their otherwise good name on :eek:
 
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Just do a simultaneous frame grab from them so that we can all have a laugh... :geek:

And it would be informative for other people thinking of buying a BMW dashcam and thinking it must be at least decent...

 
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Testing with all 3 cameras. High Bitrate setting.

WDR On

WDR Off
I can see a small improvement in both dark shadow and bright highlight areas with WDR ON compared to OFF.

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Looks like you could do with a CPL on that front camera! My dash is reflective too, so I'll be adding one to my A139 as soon as possible
 
I can see a small improvement in both dark shadow and bright highlight areas with WDR ON compared to OFF.

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Looks like you could do with a CPL on that front camera! My dash is reflective too, so I'll be adding one to my A139 as soon as possible
Yes there does seem to be a slight difference between them doesnt there. There was 7 minutes between them in time plus obviously the cloud position could have an impact too. I did another run with the same settings as the WDR off but later on when it was brighter still, that is posted with the low bitrate as comparison as they were done one after the other, given the time between i didnt think it would be a fair test to compare the low with the high from 40 minutes prior.


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It was just an observation since you posted both videos, but it's really hard to tell much difference when driving. The best way to test WDR ON/OFF is in a stationary car, looking at a scene with constant lighting.

WDR seems to be useful for the interior camera which has to deal with high contrast between the inside & outside of the car, and it's good to see that the metering is centred on the interior as it should be. Your videos maintain good exposure when driving in and out of shadows.
 
It was just an observation since you posted both videos, but it's really hard to tell much difference when driving. The best way to test WDR ON/OFF is in a stationary car, looking at a scene with constant lighting.

WDR seems to be useful for the interior camera which has to deal with high contrast between the inside & outside of the car, and it's good to see that the metering is centred on the interior as it should be. Your videos maintain good exposure when driving in and out of shadows.
Yes it did cope really well going in and out of the shade as the sun was very bright and head on at some points, that’s why I wanted to do both directions as well to show a good range.
Ended up taking me over an hour and did about 30 miles, wife was wondering where I had vanished to

oh and from earlier, yes I think a cpl would be very beneficial in my case so hopefully I can source one when they’re available.
 
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Ended up taking me over an hour and did about 30 miles, wife was wondering where I had vanished to
I can relate to that! I often go out for a test drive and come back later than expected :)
 
I think you could mount the A139 main camera a little more up so it can be less visible from outside.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
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