Viofo Telephoto Dash Camera Add On

[kamkar]

well its been so long, even long since i had a zoom camera in the car, i have been without side cameras for a few years now and even longer for a zoom camera.
I think maybe my addiction are fading after all these years.

 

[Dashmellow]

well its been so long, even long since i had a zoom camera in the car, i have been without side cameras for a few years now and even longer for a zoom camera.
I think maybe my addiction are fading after all these years.

I know the feeling.

After 14 years I do fewer DIY projects, less experimentation and am far less likely to follow the opportunistic fanatics and influencers and their aroused disciples who fetishize and scrutinize every latest quirk and nuance of every product being fed to them by a hungry and highly competitive dash cam industry machine that is continuously flooding the zone with new offerings in favor of just having a good working, reliable set-up that quietly does its job in the background and is there when I need it.

 

[DT MI]

...just having a good working, reliable set-up that quietly does its job in the background and is there when I need it.

OMG!!! You just described the perfect dash cam.

 

[Dashmellow]

OMG!!! You just described the perfect dash cam.

The two Viofo A119 V3s I installed in my vehicle 4 1/2 years ago have been just that. Excellent performance on every score, 100% reliable set and forget.

I should have left well enough along but I felt the siren call to do an upgrade when offered an "offer you can't refuse" price and so I bought a Viofo A119 Mini 2. Unfortunately, I've been having nothing but trouble with it - unexpected poor image quality (soft focus) - hair trigger G-Sensor on the lowest setting - (I swear, if I just sneeze it locks the video compared to the V3 which has pitch perfect G-Senor sensitivity). There are other quirks too - the camera is constantly taking still photos I don't ask it to and the voice control sometimes works but often doesn't, plus I have to yell at it loudly enough that it can scare my passengers. Currently, I am working with Viofo support to resolve the primary problem which is the poor video quality and am waiting for an answer about whether they will replace the unit but for now they've gone silent since a week ago and have left me dangling. (Viofo has been very nice to deal with and I expect them to come through, but I'm kind of losing patience at this point as this has been going on a while.)

 

[safedrivesolutions]

@safedrivesolutions did you have a CPL fitted on your RTC300 when doing those daytime and night-time tests? A CPL is great for reducing reflections, and seeing through the windows of other cars, but can increase blur making it harder to capture plates.

Similarly, I wasn't sure if you had HDR enabled on the RTC300?

No CPL fitted. Yes HDR was on.

For those who want to keep telling me not to use HDR let me quote Viofo website

"HDR feature captures sharp and vivid scenes in extremely bright and dark areas."

 

[Karagandinez]

In fact, I do not see much of a need to read license plates, especially on oncoming traffic.
The only reason to read plates, in my opinion, is if you are involved in “hit and run" accident, otherwise all involved in accident stop and work on post-accident deal (at that point you can have the plate number).
"Hit and run" accident with oncoming vehicle is nearly impossible.
Even with relatively low speed, usually all vehicles involved come to full stop

You reason this way because neither you nor your friends have encountered this.
Ask the traffic police or the insurance company, if of course you have friends there, how many accidents they know of when
an oncoming driver knocked off a mirror, scratched the side of the car and disappeared in an unknown direction, especially at night.
And how many drivers were not found and the victims had to repair their cars at their own expense.


12 years ago my neighbor made fun of my dash cams. Why so many...
A few years after his wife’s car was driven off the road by an overtaking jeep during the day on a two-lane highway,
his cars were equipped with 2 two-channel video recorders so that filming was carried out in 4 directions.
The jeep was not found. The wife's car could not be restored. He received nothing from the insurance company.


While there was no camera with a telephoto lens, I still had the rear camera from the A229 Pro installed on the windshield
just to the right of the left pillar. What the rear camera captured could not be seen from the main camera. For example,
if an oncoming car moves 50-70 centimeters into your lane, this will not be visible on the video from the main camera,
but on the video from the rear camera it will be clearly visible...
To film what is happening behind the car, I always have a separate DVR installed.

 

[Vortex Radar]

I just got my telephoto installed this morning and am playing with settings and positioning now. My windshield is pretty full so it's nice that the telephoto needs so little of the windshield to actually see through, haha.

 

[Dashmellow]

My windshield is pretty full so it's nice that the telephoto needs so little of the windshield to actually see through, haha.

If you were at a bar, they wouldn't serve you any more because the bartender would say you were way over the limit! ! Drunk on dash cams!

Once again, a small cam that needs so little space on the windshield is why I think the appeal of a very small self contained single channel telephoto dash cam that could be added to an existing installation would have broad appeal and would also attract buyers who may not want to spend hundreds of dollars on a full A229 series system plus a telephoto.

For me this partially comes from my long history of using matchbox sized Mobius cameras with telephoto lenses, so I already know how it feels to deploy a small tele dash cam like that.

 

[Karagandinez]

I just got my telephoto installed this morning and am playing with settings and positioning now. My windshield is pretty full so it's nice that the telephoto needs so little of the windshield to actually see through, haha.

In the place where I currently have a telephoto lens installed, I installed the interior and rear cameras in turn. I compared which would have better video quality. So there were no problems at all with installing the interior and rear cameras, I installed it the first time, but I had to tinker with the telephoto lens. He is very sensitive to the slightest errors. I still haven't installed it the way I want.

 

[Dashmellow]

I still wish the RCT300 came with some wedges so you could aim the camera left or right a few degrees. Maybe if I had one to try I would feel different but based on all my previous telephoto experience I don't think so.

 

[Karagandinez]

Yes. This is missing from the kit.
I have several wedges that come with the furniture. They can be selected in different lengths and at different angles.

 

[Dashmellow]

Yes. This is missing from the kit.
I have several wedges that come with the furniture. They can be selected in different lengths and at different angles.

View attachment 73140

I've used those kind of wedges for all kinds of dash cam related projects over the years. The angle can be a bit of overkill for what I'm talking about here where we really only need about 2 degrees of angle adjustment - or maybe four.

You may remember that I mentioned in another thread the idea of supplying wedges for the RTC300. One wedge would turn the camera angle 2 degrees, the other 4 degrees. Both together would turn the camera 6 degrees right or left. A few degrees is all that is required and I found that 6 degrees was never necessary but it might be useful for some people. I recommended this idea when I was testing a pre-production mini 0906 (I think it may have been the 806) camera and Raymon Chan liked the suggestion and included such wedges when the camera shipped. If you have or can make thin wedges like this it should work.

From the instruction booklet.

 

[Vortex Radar]

100% on the wedges! It's hard to get it juuuuust right.

 

[Vortex Radar]

I'm looking through some sample footage from this morning and I'm seeing a surprising amount of blockiness / compression in the telephoto video, even at the max bitrate. It seems to be more evident when there's a lot of motion across the frame like when I'm driving through tree-filled backroads vs. driving on a more open highway. Looking at some oncoming plates, yeah even the telephoto is struggling. I'm adjusting its aim now to try and get it aimed a little more towards oncoming traffic. I'm testing it plugged into an A229 Plus at the moment so I still have the rear cam from the A229 Pro capturing from behind. I'm not sure if the telephoto would behave differently on the Plus vs the Pro.

 

[Karagandinez]

I'm not sure if the telephoto would behave differently on the Plus vs the Pro.

I don't know why, but they behave differently for me.
I’m not 100% sure whether the main camera or the installation of the telephoto affects it, since I haven’t fully checked everything yet.

 

[Vortex Radar]

I don't know why, but they behave differently for me.
I’m not 100% sure whether the main camera or the installation of the telephoto affects it, since I haven’t fully checked everything yet.

Would you mind elaborating on the differences you're seeing? I can swap rear/telephotos on the Plus and Pro while I test them together if you've been noticing differences between connected models.

 

[GPak]

@Dashmellow, @Karagandinez
Yes, life is much more than we can imagine, and “hit & run” collision with oncoming vehicle can happen, and yes luckily I did not experience one, but I think likelihood of that is not more than say “hit & run” by vehicle trying to pass you on parallel line or merging in to highway traffic from the right, never mind parking lot “hit & run” which happen to me quite a few times, scratched and dented sides due to someone does not care when opens the doors, or someone backing in to your car or crashing shopping cart in to your car, etc.

Just to clarify I am not against telephoto camera, I just don’t like implementation in to A229 Pro/Plus, when you have to trade good 2K rear camera for telephoto.
I consider introduction of 2K rear camera along with Starvis2 sensor as a “must” for the latest generation of DVRs.
That is the reason why I got A229 Plus for my wife in the first place, and why I got two Mini 2s in my Jeep (A229 Pro/Plus was not available at the time).

Here are my reasons why a good rear cam is important:

• In general - there could be cases when collision with oncoming vehicle happens in tight turn, when the plate of the car would not be visible for telephoto, or tight oncoming traffic when the car at fault could be blocked by another car in front of it, at the range where telephoto is best focused.

- In this case, a good rear camera may be able to capture the plate from behind (last hope).

• -Specifically in my case - there is no many narrow two line roads where I drive, except neighborhoods or parking lots, most of the roads are 4 line with some sort of dividers.
• -Specifically in my case – cars do not have front plates (almost half of the states do not have them) – so a good rear cam is the only hope to capture plate of oncoming car in case of accident after it passes you.

So, it is good to have an option to buy 2K telephoto camera, but it should not be a trade for 2K rear camera.
It should be a standalone option as many of you already mentioned, or may be in the future A229 will support 2K/4K+2K+2K, who knows.

 

[safedrivesolutions]

I still wish the RCT300 came with some wedges so you could aim the camera left or right a few degrees. Maybe if I had one to try I would feel different but based on all my previous telephoto experience I don't think so.

I would send you mine if you have an A229pro or plus to test with it?

 

[safedrivesolutions]

I'm looking through some sample footage from this morning and I'm seeing a surprising amount of blockiness / compression in the telephoto video, even at the max bitrate. It seems to be more evident when there's a lot of motion across the frame like when I'm driving through tree-filled backroads vs. driving on a more open highway. Looking at some oncoming plates, yeah even the telephoto is struggling. I'm adjusting its aim now to try and get it aimed a little more towards oncoming traffic. I'm testing it plugged into an A229 Plus at the moment so I still have the rear cam from the A229 Pro capturing from behind. I'm not sure if the telephoto would behave differently on the Plus vs the Pro.

Yeah sounds like what i was seeing.

 

[Panzer Platform]

I'm adjusting its aim now to try and get it aimed a little more towards oncoming traffic.

I struggled deciding how I was going to mount my (2) telephoto cameras, (front & rear).
I finally decided to mount them exactly in the middle at the top of the front & rear windows to split the difference.
I'm glad I did because I can still get oncoming cars, and cars to the right when I'm on the highway in the "center" lane.

As far as horizon line adjustment.
I first tried 50/50 and that did not work very well.
I took Viofo's (Alex's) Instructions and adjusted 60 road / 40 sky and it provided much better results.

I've been meaning to to adjust the telephoto on the front window to look out the back window to see how it would perform in applications like Miata, Porsche, Corvette, or other cars that do not have a rear window to mount a traditional "rear" camera.
One thing I'm not pleased with about my telephotos is they seem to be only "in focus" at 20 Meters.
Everything beyond 20 Meters is blurry.
I reported this to Viofo, and I was told it's just the way the lenses are optimized & adjusted.
I don't know anything about lenses in the first place, but my Sony Action Cam is in focus from 20cm to infinity.

Also getting the angle just right is why I use those standard 1/4 camera ball mounts to get all those wacky angles for interior, and left & right side cameras.
I just have to drill a 1/4 hole in the removable bottom plate under the 3M sticky pad.
It's more labor to drill the hole, but easier later on swapping cameras in / out instead of using a new adhesive each time.

I just got a new 43" 4K Samsung Monitor, and I'm chomping at the bit to gather some new test footage with the new updated firmwares.
I'm ashamed to admit but before I got this new 4K monitor I was using a 32" 720p monitor from 2010 to review all my dash cam footage. lol
I also reconfigured my camera set up slightly.