Viofo A329T (unboxing & first impressions) (Sony Starvis 2 IMX678, Wi-Fi 6/GPS, HDR, Novatek NT98530, 4K front + 2.5K telephoto + 2.5K rear, HDR all)

You will need to be careful what you order if you want it to work, the pre-packaged combinations of S, T and W make ordering simple!

Non issue. Simply write VIOFO via a Support Ticket about a custom package, that is what I do. Works great every time.
 
What is the A329 SW? Viofo is confusing the hell out of everyone. There is A329S and A329T (Telescopic).
Waterproof rear camera
 
If I was VIOFO I would just have the base front camera and just sell the each individual camera whether that be interior telephoto weatherproof or whatever seperately because people are hard to please it seems. So buy what you need individually and specifically.
 
Oh please, it does a great job at mitigating reflections on the windscreen.
Depends on the car, some don't have dashboard reflections, some have vertical windscreens which CPLs don't work on, but most cars benefit from a CPL on the front camera, because of dashboard reflections. The telephoto normally misses the dashboard reflections, so it is not essential, but it does remove reflections on other people's windscreens and off the road surface, which can sometimes be a benefit.
 
If I was VIOFO I would just have the base front camera and just sell the each individual camera whether that be interior telephoto weatherproof or whatever seperately because people are hard to please it seems. So buy what you need individually and specifically.

It depends on pricing. Often times it's cheaper to buy a package deal than cameras separately. I would probably offer the Front + Rear and sell the Waterproof or Telescopic as a separate item.
 
Do you use a CPL on the front, telephoto or both?
Personally, I use CPL filters on all windshield mounted cameras.
Screenshots from A229 Pro and RTC300 with installed CPL filters can be viewed at the link below:
 
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Maybe we should stick with A329S 1CH, 2CH and 3CH
If I was VIOFO I would just have the base front camera and just sell the each individual camera whether that be interior telephoto weatherproof or whatever seperately because people are hard to please it seems. So buy what you need individually and specifically.
1CH sales are poor.
Buying separately secondary cameras to add to the 1CH option available will make the package too expensive. The secondary cameras from Viofo sold as standalone are very expensive in my opinion, the best is to buy full package of 2 or 3CH or if you want some camera replaced to make a special request on their support.
Keep in mind that can be possible to not receive anything you want because of some incompatibility. Just an example which maybe is not real: you can not buy A329S with two interior cameras or with two telephoto lens.
I'm looking forward to trying a Viofo telephoto camera. After years of developing my own DIY efforts it will be refreshing to have one ready-made in the box.
Yeah, I know your DIY efforts but some guy from this forum acted like Viofo was stealing your work. They stole nothing, I remember that they replied in your thread with something like we are not interested to produce an 1080p telephoto camera. Personally, I read your thread after they launched the 2K camera because of that guy accusing. And I agreed with the decision of Viofo because at that time I knew the results of the 2K telephoto. Also I was not amazed by a 1080p telephoto. We should wait technology to improve and offer the 2K as secondary camera.
When somebody launched the idea of a telephoto on A229 Pro, that was a good reason to create a telephoto lens because of the 2K secondary camera. At that time some users tried to put pressure on Viofo to release the telephoto camera as 1080p instead of the interior camera of A229 Pro. Later we saw that it was the 2K is the best decision because only the 2K option could offer the best car license plates legibility from the... planet., right now. People with telephoto cameras from Viofo should be proud about this, not many people on the planet can have their results.

If Viofo would not resist to both pressures to use 1080p for telephoto instead of 2K, today we could not have the A329T because a 1080p telephoto on A229 Pro would not add any advantage compared to main 4K camera of A229 Pro. And we could read only frustrated people wasting money on the Full HD telephoto because they have the same results with the main camera.
So even some doesn't like their decision, it was a good one because we can all benefit from it. At the launch of the A229 Pro telephoto I made some youtube video where I proved the 2K is the way and not the Full HD and the difference is BIG.

And if some people will ask themselves if there was a least one prototype of 4K telephoto, I will say them that it existed at least one in 2024, it was tested but at least with that version of the lens used in the factory sample there was no visible advantage over the 2K Viofo telephoto camera. The difference between Full HD and 2K was very big, but between 2K and 4K telephoto was minimal. So I will not expect too soon a 4K telephoto camera. Of course, in my dreams I would love a great 4K telephoto combined with just a 2K front camera, but I will not expect such an option too soon. Of course, I can create my own 4K telephoto camera if I want, by replacing the lens on A329 but is almost impossible to find a good 4K telephoto lens.

TonyM, If you still have the DIY telephoto, maybe you can test both at least for fun.
The CPL is not normally needed on the telephoto for dash reflections from your own car, but it does mean that you can see through more windscreens to record mobile phone use. The Telephoto seems to record plates anyway.
My latest tests showed me that seems that I need CPL also on telephoto. Before, I was not sure about such a needing but with A329T I created a custom CPL and mounted it and seems to be better. But I need more tests to approve this or not, right now I can not give any strong advice. Keep this idea on stand-by.
 
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1CH sales are poor.
Buying separately secondary cameras to add to the 1CH option available will make the package too expensive. The secondary cameras from Viofo sold as standalone are very expensive in my opinion, the best is to buy full package of 2 or 3CH or if you want some camera replaced to make a special request on their support.
Keep in mind that can be possible to not receive anything you want because of some incompatibility. Just an example which maybe is not real: you can not buy A329S with two interior cameras or with two telephoto lens.

Yeah, I know your DIY efforts but some guy from this forum acted like Viofo was stealing your work. They stole nothing, I remember that they replied in your thread with something like we are not interested to produce an 1080p telephoto camera. Personally, I read your thread after they launched the 2K camera because of that guy accusing. And I agreed with the decision of Viofo because at that time I knew the results of the 2K telephoto. Also I was not amazed by a 1080p telephoto. We should wait technology to improve and offer the 2K as secondary camera.
When somebody launched the idea of a telephoto on A229 Pro, that was a good reason to create a telephoto lens because of the 2K secondary camera. At that time some idiots tried to put pressure on Viofo to release the telephoto camera as 1080p instead of the interior camera of A229 Pro. Later we saw that it was the 2K is the best decision because only the 2K option could offer the best car license plates legibility from the... planet., right now. People with telephoto cameras from Viofo should be proud about this, not many people on the planet can have their results.

If Viofo would not resist to both pressures to use 1080p for telephoto instead of 2K, today we could not have the A329T because a 1080p telephoto on A229 Pro would not add any advantage compared to main 4K camera of A229 Pro. And we could read only frustrated people wasting money on the Full HD telephoto because they have the same results with the main camera.
So even some doesn't like their decision, it was a good one because we can all benefit from it. At the launch of the A229 Pro telephoto I made some youtube video where I proved the 2K is the way and not the Full HD and the difference is BIG.

And if some people will ask themselves if there was a least one prototype of 4K telephoto, I will say them that it existed at least one in 2024, it was tested but at least with that version of the lens used in the factory sample there was no visible advantage over the 2K Viofo telephoto camera. The difference between Full HD and 2K was very big, but between 2K and 4K telephoto was minimal. So I will not expect too soon a 4K telephoto camera. Of course, in my dreams I would love a great 4K telephoto combined with just a 2K front camera, but I will not expect such an option too soon. Of course, I can create my own 4K telephoto camera if I want, by replacing the lens on A329 but is almost impossible to find a good 4K telephoto lens.

TonyM, If you still have the DIY telephoto, maybe you can test both at least for fun.

My latest tests showed me that seems that I need CPL also on telephoto. Before, I was not sure about such a needing but with A329T I created a custom CPL and mounted it and seems to be better. But I need more tests to approve this or not, right now I can not give any strong advice. Keep this idea on stand-by.
Interesting information and some very good reasoning there.

I have to agree about the CPL required on the telephoto too, when I first got the RTC300 it was summer here and there was too many reflections at the edges of the image in broad daylight. CPL mitigated this issue
 
When somebody launched the idea of a telephoto on A229 Pro, that was a good reason to create a telephoto lens because of the 2K secondary camera. At that time some idiots tried to put pressure on Viofo to release the telephoto camera as 1080p instead of the interior camera of A229 Pro. Later we saw that it was the 2K is the best decision because only the 2K option could offer the best car license plates legibility from the... planet., right now. People with telephoto cameras from Viofo should be proud about this, not many people on the planet can have their results.

You talk a little too much. And when you talk too much, I see that you use disrespectful words in between. This is not ethical behavior.

If one day the telephoto camera becomes 4K, will you consider yourself an idiot?

For the a229 pro, it was requested to have a telephoto on the inner camera, not because it is fhd, but to use the inner camera place in order not to lose the rear camera.
It seems that you cannot understand this..

Everyone is aware that cameras are first released to the market with high performance and over time, bit values decrease as heating problems occur.

I also conveyed that having a telephoto option instead of an inner camera would be more economical and useful in terms of not losing the rear camera.
In other words, in order not to lose one while choosing one.
In fact, I recently requested 4:3 resolution for the telephoto camera. Most people conveyed that it would be useless because the field of view is narrow and the focus area is limited. If there is a zoom effect in a certain range and in a certain area, whether it is 4k or 2k fhd will not have much effect in case of not being able to read the license plate.

If we look at it that way, why don't we want 8k..

You may not respect people's opinions, but you should be respectful to people.
 
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Yeah, I know your DIY efforts but some guy from this forum acted like Viofo was stealing your work.
I wasn't trying to dig up that old discussion. Just saying that I would like to try a manufacturer-made telephoto after various attempts at making my own.

I'm not interested in who said what & when, and whether anyone copied anyone else.

I only ever had FHD remote cameras to experiment with on a Viofo camera, so that's what I did. I also attempted telephoto conversions on 2.7K and 4K Mobius cameras. But none of these experiments will compare well to the RTC 300 or 400 because none of my telephoto cameras have a STARVIS 2 sensor.
 
Will there be a single firmware version for the A329S that is compatible with all the remote camera options and combinations?
 
For the a229 pro, it was requested to have a telephoto on the inner camera, not because it is fhd, but to use the inner camera place in order not to lose the rear camera.
It seems that you cannot understand this..
Again, it was a very good decision for Viofo to not listen such... people with a low level of understanding globally a product and thinking only about them.
If you are angry because I used the word idiots describing such people, maybe in your language sounds more aggressive than in my language and maybe this is why you are mad about this, but also this means you was one of them who was making such a poor request. It was not my intention to make you an idiot, but such a request is too poor to be taken into consideration by a reputable manufacturer.
Your request was selfish and not thinking to other people which could end buying a low quality product because some people like you are accepting to buy a low quality telephoto camera. If you want to make a telephoto camera on your interior camera just buy a telephoto lens and mount it.
I did the same, I made some tests, I compared to their factory sample of the 2K telephoto camera, I uploaded here a Youtube Video about this behavior and the Full HD on a telephoto camera could result in the worst product released by Viofo. Why? Because some people were selfish?

In other words, in order not to lose one while choosing one.
In other words, to lose the possibility to use an interior camera because you wanted a telephoto instead of it. And that telephoto paid from your money to bring the same details as the front camera of A229 Pro. So no advantage from the Full HD telephoto.
And then to come back into the forum and blame that the product is poor, that you spend about $110 on it and there is no advantage over the main 4K camera, that you can not see more license plates compared to the front camera. In that situation I will say that not the buyer is an idiot because he trusted the brand but the manufacturer is an idiot because released such a poor product.
But you are still keeping that your idea and your request is OK.

Now look at my signature. I hope you are not using a car windshield sun protector because you will become angry again.

And latest, to add more disappointment, I would not expect 4:3 on a telephoto. An useless resolution which is just adding more sky and more dashboard.
The car license plates are not flying on the sky, are not travelling on your dashboard. Telephoto was created for car license plates and it should be pointed at that area.
If you want to see the sky and also the dashboard at the same time, just keep 16:9 on the settings, the front camera will bring all of them, sky and dashboard, they are not needed in the image of the telephoto camera. Me, because I don't need a lot of sky and dashboard, I am using 21:9. This option is already here.

I think that only A119 V3 has such a 4:3 resolution but I expect that resolution was implemented because some people made such a request, but all other dashcams after Viofo A119 V3, don't have the 4:3 resolution. Why not? If it was really an useful aspect ratio I would see it in all Viofo products.
And do not think that I disagree with 4:3 because I just want it, but think that multiplexing it is already complicated, there were a lot of discussions about the multiplexing resolutions and the aspect ratios of it and the last thing Viofo will want is to complicate even more the multiplexing feature by adding an useless resolution to the telephoto camera and complicate even more the calculations for multiplexing.
For me is not a problem if a Viofo dashcam have the 4:3 resolution, I will not use it. The only poor thing about such a resolution is that you will find some ugly 4:3 youtube videos from a Viofo dashcam. Instead of a nice 16:9 or 2”:9 we can see the stupid 4:3 used in 1970. I laugh when I see 70Mai videos recorded as 4:3.

So... I wrote again much so again I was using bad words. I have no problem, I am not wasting my time only on you, there is some useful information for other people.
Don't like my posts, you have a forum choice to hide them.

I wasn't trying to dig up that old discussion.
I observed from more time ago that you are a really gentleman with a lot of patience and nice words and I always respected that. I can not be like you anymore, I was before, now I am more aggressive and I know this is not a good thing. But I am tired about some people and their requests and some of those request are cancelling a hard fight of some great ideas which will not be implemented because of them.
So I really appreciate that.

Will there be a single firmware version for the A329S that is compatible with all the remote camera options and combinations?
You should not be afraid of that because you can install any A329S/T firmware on any A329S/T model by just changing the firmware name. I think the most different firmware part is the interior camera because of its IR LEDs. I think the most safe firmware is A329T firmware so if you want to make some tests with different secondary cameras, maybe is better to use the A329T firmware if Viofo is not telling you to use another firmware.

Now if only there was a brightness sensor in the camera for HDR on/off instead of the time-based "Auto" HDR...
There was a lot of discussions about Auto HDR and were more ideas than the one with the brightness sensor. A brightness sensor is more easy to be added on a secondary camera which already has IR LEDs compared to the main camera. And also can be some false switching.
Another idea was to calculate the day of the year. Even more complicated than the sensor light.
Those discussions were more often the HDR during day was not so OK at that time as it is today.
To be in the safe area, Viofo should put the default values at winter time, something like 16PM to 8AM. In this way you will not have HDR enabled all day. When I am testing a camera I am using that values and then after some time I am changing them to something more correct.
 
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If I was VIOFO I would just have the base front camera and just sell the each individual camera whether that be interior telephoto weatherproof or whatever seperately because people are hard to please it seems. So buy what you need individually and specifically.
Yes, except for bundle sales, we also sell them individually on our official website.
 
Again, it was a very good decision for Viofo to not listen such... people with a low level of understanding globally a product and thinking only about them.
If you are angry because I used the word idiots describing such people, maybe in your language sounds more aggressive than in my language and maybe this is why you are mad about this, but also this means you was one of them who was making such a poor request. It was not my intention to make you an idiot, but such a request is too poor to be taken into consideration by a reputable manufacturer.
Your request was selfish and not thinking to other people which could end buying a low quality product because some people like you are accepting to buy a low quality telephoto camera. If you want to make a telephoto camera on your interior camera just buy a telephoto lens and mount it.
I did the same, I made some tests, I compared to their factory sample of the 2K telephoto camera, I uploaded here a Youtube Video about this behavior and the Full HD on a telephoto camera could result in the worst product released by Viofo. Why? Because some people were selfish?


In other words, to lose the possibility to use an interior camera because you wanted a telephoto instead of it. And that telephoto paid from your money to bring the same details as the front camera of A229 Pro. So no advantage from the Full HD telephoto.
And then to come back into the forum and blame that the product is poor, that you spend about $110 on it and there is no advantage over the main 4K camera, that you can not see more license plates compared to the front camera. In that situation I will say that not the buyer is an idiot because he trusted the brand but the manufacturer is an idiot because released such a poor product.
But you are still keeping that your idea and your request is OK.

Now look at my signature. I hope you are not using a car windshield sun protector because you will become angry again.

And latest, to add more disappointment, I would not expect 4:3 on a telephoto. An useless resolution which is just adding more sky and more dashboard.
The car license plates are not flying on the sky, are not travelling on your dashboard. Telephoto was created for car license plates and it should be pointed at that area.
If you want to see the sky and also the dashboard at the same time, just keep 16:9 on the settings, the front camera will bring all of them, sky and dashboard, they are not needed in the image of the telephoto camera. Me, because I don't need a lot of sky and dashboard, I am using 21:9. This option is already here.

I think that only A119 V3 has such a 4:3 resolution but I expect that resolution was implemented because some people made such a request, but all other dashcams after Viofo A119 V3, don't have the 4:3 resolution. Why not? If it was really an useful aspect ratio I would see it in all Viofo products.
And do not think that I disagree with 4:3 because I just want it, but think that multiplexing it is already complicated, there were a lot of discussions about the multiplexing resolutions and the aspect ratios of it and the last thing Viofo will want is to complicate even more the multiplexing feature by adding an useless resolution to the telephoto camera and complicate even more the calculations for multiplexing.
For me is not a problem if a Viofo dashcam have the 4:3 resolution, I will not use it. The only poor thing about such a resolution is that you will find some ugly 4:3 youtube videos from a Viofo dashcam. Instead of a nice 16:9 or 2”:9 we can see the stupid 4:3 used in 1970. I laugh when I see 70Mai videos recorded as 4:3.

So... I wrote again much so again I was using bad words. I have no problem, I am not wasting my time only on you, there is some useful information for other people.
Don't like my posts, you have a forum choice to hide them.


I observed from more time ago that you are a really gentleman with a lot of patience and nice words and I always respected that. I can not be like you anymore, I was before, now I am more aggressive and I know this is not a good thing. But I am tired about some people and their requests and some of those request are cancelling a hard fight of some great ideas which will not be implemented because of them.
So I really appreciate that.


You should not be afraid of that because you can install any A329S/T firmware on any A329S/T model by just changing the firmware name. I think the most different firmware part is the interior camera because of its IR LEDs. I think the most safe firmware is A329T firmware so if you want to make some tests with different secondary cameras, maybe is better to use the A329T firmware if Viofo is not telling you to use another firmware.


There was a lot of discussions about Auto HDR and were more ideas than the one with the brightness sensor. A brightness sensor is more easy to be added on a secondary camera which already has IR LEDs compared to the main camera. And also can be some false switching.
Another idea was to calculate the day of the year. Even more complicated than the sensor light.
Those discussions were more often the HDR during day was not so OK as today.
To be in the safe area, Viofo should put the default values at winter time, something like 16PM to 8AM. In this way you will not have HDR enabled all day. When I am testing a camera I am using that values and then after some time I am changing them to something more correct.
In order to see the indicator with 4:3 telephoto resolution, you need to place the camera close to the indicator. It is a bit difficult to see the indicator with a camera that is above and on the window.
I suggested this only so that I could include the low license plate of the vehicle in front of you in the video when you are stopped at a traffic light. Whether it is or not is out of my hands.
Ideas that should be completely user-centered. You may agree or disagree.
There are more important values in life than dash cams. Like being respectful.
You should not be arrogant in life.
Thinking you know everything tires you out.
Instead of focusing on other people's ideas and belittling their ideas, I suggest you come to your senses.
I see that you cannot comment properly and cannot form sentences without insulting.
Get well soon.
May Allah grant you a speedy recovery.
 
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In order to see the indicator with 4:3 telephoto resolution, you need to place the camera close to the indicator. It is a bit difficult to see the indicator with a camera that is above and on the window.
I suggested this only so that I could include the low license plate of the vehicle in front of you in the video when you are stopped at a traffic light. Whether it is or not is out of my hands.
Again, you have the main camera for the indicator. The telephoto camera is not created to work standalone in one direction, its image is doubled by another camera with a larger lens angle. The telephoto camera should be used only when the main camera is not capturing all needed details.
The only reason the telephoto camera was created is the car license plate legibility in some difficult situations. If you are obtaining more advantage from it like seeing the peoples faces in the car, that is a benefit.
The first best job regarding the legibility was made by the HDR; without HDR the Viofo telephoto camera maybe it would never be created because reading the car license at day was never a problem. I remember snapshots on this forum from many years ago, with Full HD dashcams at over 200 km/h and the car license plates were visible.
But at night, without HDR even the telephoto camera is useless in normal traffic situations.

Even TonyM wrote, not the quality of Sony Starvis is the reason of the telephoto creation on A229 Pro, but the ability of both Novatek and Sony to create dashcam DOL-HDR type videos. And after that, the 2K resolution. And this was a normal step from Viofo because they were the first in the world who implemented HDR on a dashcam and it should be normally by them to create the first great telephoto HDR camera.

If I was Viofo I would never offer the possibility to stop the HDR on the telephoto camera. If you want to turn it off because you think the colors are better with HDR off during day, turn it off only on main camera. The telephoto camera should be used only as a technical thing because it can not offer nice view like the main camera. So if it is a technical part, let it remain always technical and not let people with less knowledge to turn of its main advantage: the HDR.

May Allah grant you a speedy recovery.
My God is already doing his job very well, thanks God! Maybe God is sending me the good ideas and this means that my God is the best, no need antother one.
Today God confirmed to me that a new idea never imagined by anybody but sent by him to me and then passed to Viofo will be implemented in a future product if we will have the same luck. Some user from this forum always knows (from 7 years maybe?) what God is sending to me and he knows which Viofo implementations are from my God. That silent witness knows much more than any normal user of this forum. You will never know from me what is that new idea but only the silent user will know. And some other ideas already sent by my God and already active in dashcams.

For the history, because I already wrote it here, many years ago, the not-blinking LED and the beeping when no card inserted, was my God idea. Viofo was the first in the world with this implementation.
At that time I was tired by the dashcam LED always blinking on my eyes and in my opinion it is not normal a LED to blink in front on your eyes during driving. So God told me if I can ask Viofo to let the LED stay on continuously because he loves me and he didn't want my eyes to be damaged by some stupid blinking LED. Of course at that time some idiots were not satisfied by the not-disturbing LED.
 
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Now if only there was a brightness sensor in the camera for HDR on/off instead of the time-based "Auto" HDR...

That probably would be quite difficult to achieve given that street lights and xenon lights and/or Halogen lights from passing vehicles would be constantly triggering HDR to turn on and off.
 
That probably would be quite difficult to achieve given that street lights and xenon lights and/or Halogen lights from passing vehicles would be constantly triggering HDR to turn on and off.
If a camera is going to use a brightness sensor I think it should be ambient brightness, not scene brightness. So that means an upwards pointing sensor looking at the sky, rather than metering off the dashcam sensor. Something like the light sensor on a car dashboard.

If it's dark enough for a car's auto-headlights to activate, it's probably dark enough for HDR to be effective.
 
If a camera is going to use a brightness sensor I think it should be ambient brightness, not scene brightness. So that means an upwards pointing sensor looking at the sky, rather than metering off the dashcam sensor. Something like the light sensor on a car dashboard.

If it's dark enough for a car's auto-headlights to activate, it's probably dark enough for HDR to be effective.
It should be relatively straightforward as you say, because my cars in built screens on the instrument cluster and dashboard , change brightness automatically depending on the brightness of light in the car
 
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