Which if the new cameras

[Mark65]

Hi All,
Any recommendations for the Viofo line, I've been shunted twice in 6 months, this time by a young girl who may have been on her phone, I have a budget of £300 for front and rear. I was going to get one a while back but didn't get round to it so I thought now would be a good time, I will look at some videos, I think it was the 229 2k I looked at, any advice would be welcome, thanks
Mark

 

[Nigel]

this time by a young girl who may have been on her phone,

Any of the Viofo Starvis 2 dashcams will work well, the A229 dashcams have the advantage of 2K rear, so a little easier to see that phone.
A rear CPL would also be good for seeing the phone, which is an issue with the current rear cameras.

May be worth considering a single channel for the rear, both Mini and VS1 will have CPL filters available and will give better bitrate at the rear than the 2 channel dashcams.

Having said that, it shouldn't be necessary to prove that the driver was on the phone in order to claim the insurance, but only you can decide what you want.

 

[Mark65]

thanks

 

[Mark65]

Hi Nigel, Im trying to find the bitrate, The mini looks good but it means to lots of wiring in the qashqai, that's next, I thought the 4k 139 on the front and the 119 mini 2 on the rear but 2 119 2 would be ok, does the 229 loose a lot on the single installation as I thought that was 2k front and rear. I get really p... off these days especially on the M6 smart (lol) motorway I have to use for work, people up my arse and cutting me up, cameras for my SV will be next.
Thanks for your advice

 

[Nigel]

The A139 Pro (4K) in single channel setup does just under 60 Mb/s, with an excellent image quality, the A119 Mini 2 is around 34 Mb/s, which for 2K, with half the pixels of 4K, is also excellent.

The A229 cameras are all 2K rear, the Plus is 2K front, the Pro is 4K front. Both work fine in 2 channel mode. The original A229 Duo does not have a Starvis 2 image sensor, so is outdated. Without the Starvis 2 HDR, it is dramatically worse at reading number plates at night.

If you want to keep it cheap then an A229 Plus is a sensible choice, if you want best then A229 Pro, and if you want ultimate, a Mini 2 at the back is worth considering.

... these days especially on the M6 smart (lol) motorway I have to use for work, people up my arse and cutting me up, cameras for my SV will be next.

I haven't ever had the experience of any smart motorway, I will leave them to you!

What I will say is that 2K cameras are great for accidents, but if you want to report bad driving to the police then 4K has a significant advantage in that it can see further so collects significantly more evidence. Also, as I said before, if you want to capture people using their phones then a CPL to remove the reflections off their windscreens is a significant benefit, front and rear, as is 4K. If you don't intend to report people to the police, then 4K and CPLs are not really necessary.

The mini looks good but it means to lots of wiring in the qashqai,

The Mini has one cable, it is a power cable instead of a front to back video cable, but if you have suitable power in the back of your vehicle then it can be easier to install. If you want to use parking mode at the back then you will need to bring power from the fusebox, extending the 12V cables, and use an extra hardwire kit, although you can use the same fuse taps.

 

[Mark65]

Thank you for the advice Nigel, it will be one of the latter 2, I have side airbags so i ned to work out the cable run to the back along the floor edges under the trim, so I can piggy back the same fuse if use 2 minis?.
I looked at power banks but they were very expensive.

 

[kamkar]

you can not power a camera in the rear with a USB cable from way up in the front, doing that years ago lost me footage of getting rear ended.
So i tapped into a fuse and put tree 12 V sockets in the back.
Some new cars might have a 12 V plug in the rear but it might be on all the time so you can power your cooler while you get on with your picnic.

For tabbing into a fuse for several cameras, that is NP, i have pulled up to 9 cameras on the same hard wire fuse tab with a 5 A fuse for the dashcam side, and it is just a 10 A circuit i am tapped into.

 

[Mark65]

It looks like the A229 pro is the choice, it works out around £70 cheaper than 2No. mini 2 and is more straight forward to install. the only difference is the 2No. mini 2 can run at 60fps, is that a big difference in the real world. Unless someone has a wiring diagram for the 2x mini 2 to wire into fuse board , I would go with power bank but they are very expensive here in the uk as are the 119 2 £140 each Viofi. £160 each Amazon.

Mark

 

[Nigel]

the only difference is the 2No. mini 2 can run at 60fps, is that a big difference in the real world.

For accident recording, it is no advantage, unless you are on a race track!
If you want to make a smooth driving movie, then 60fps is an advantage.

as are the 119 2 £130 each

£94:

A119 MINI 2 Best-In-Class 2K HDR Image Quality, Sony STARVIS 2 Sensor 5MP IMX675, 2K 60FPS 5GHz Wi-Fi GPS Dashcam with Novatek 9

2K HDR dashcam A119 Mini 2, using Sony’s latest STARVIS 2 IMX675 sensor and boasting a range of impressive features, which greatly enhances low-illuminance performance and ability to capture clear license plates. A119 Mini 2 is the newly upgraded version of our A119 Mini dashcam, making leaps...

viofo.com

I would go with power bank but

I would expect the 2x Mini 2 to use more power than 1x A229 Pro 2 channel, thus have shorter parking mode record time, although I haven't checked the figures.

 

[Mark65]

Nigel, your a star I went to the Viofi site uk

Sony Starvis 2 Dashcams | Viofo UK

Step into the world of cutting-edge automotive technology with our new Sony Starvis 2 Dashcams. Designed to redefine your driving experience, these dashcams combine advanced features and exceptional performance to ensure your safety on the road like never before. Crystal Clear Vision: The Sony...

viofouk.co.uk

 

[Mark65]

Im assuming we in the uk will be hit with import dutys and taxes which will kill the savings?, the site says Singapore?

 

[Nigel]

Im assuming we in the uk will be hit with import dutys and taxes which will kill the savings?, the site says Singapore?

A single Mini 2 is below the £135 tax threshold, and under post Brexit rules, VAT is paid by the sender below that threshold, so if you order one at a time then there should be no issue.

Above that threshold, you become responsible for paying tax and VAT, and as long as you use the slow post then it will be left completely to you, or at least that is the experience of everybody in the thread that discusses it...

The Viofo store on Amazon UK is the easiest for sending things back if there is a problem, but Viofo is pretty good.

Viofi site uk

That is a distributer, not owned by Viofo.

the site says Singapore?

Viofo is in Shenzhen, not sure where Singapore comes from, but post out of China normally either travels via Hong Kong or Singapore.

 

[Mark65]

Hi, Still torn on this, I don't mind either way 2x1 or 1x2, I understand the redundancy and that is a good idea, I may be able to run either cable behind the headliner (looking into that one), its how to wire two individual cameras as I would like to use the low bit parking mode if my battery will do it, also the rear single will have the battery discharge control in the head liner all close to the rear shark fin aerial, also I would need to extend the wiring as I'm not sure 4m will do it yet, its the connection at the fuse box I'm not sure off.
I'm also working the risk of the A229 pro for import costs even the Viofo say they can put a lower cost on the package, however the saving on two single can get me a 256 card in each, does anyone have any wiring images or diagrams using 2 singles, other than that I have a usb in my cubby hole I plug my android auto phone in and I think there's a cigarette' lighter connection in there as well.

Thanks again.

Scrap that came across a post, crimp both power leads and connect to a 5 amp fuse?

 

[Mark65]

Hi, just a quick question, are the A229 plus cameras reliable, I found the Viofo store on Amazon and a A229 plus was £195 bare unit (£174 china) so seems a good price but Im wondering would 2x a229 single units might be better?.

Thanks
Mark

 

[kamkar]

£135 tax threshold

OMG that is like 12 GBP in Denmark,,,,,, " the man " getting his cut.

 

[Mark65]

Hi, yes its Amazon Prime membership price hence very close to ordering from china which is fine, I meant is there a real difference in to single or a combined unit reliability?. And its next day delivery easy to return if faulty.

 

[Nigel]

OMG that is like 12 GBP in Denmark,,,,,, " the man " getting his cut.

Used to be about 15 GBP until Brexit. Since then, we don't have to follow EU rules

 

[Nigel]

I meant is there a real difference in to single or a combined unit reliability?. And its next day delivery easy to return if faulty.

Not really, but the memory card reliability does improve significantly with single channel operation, and of course with two memory cards you would have some redundancy. You can actually save some, maybe all, of the extra cost by choosing a cheaper memory card, although for heavy use I would still recommend the Viofo cards for long term reliability.

Personally, I am happy using a 2 channel dashcam and spending a little extra for a good memory card, the A229 Plus 2 channel is going to be pretty reliable when used with a good memory card, but you need to decide for yourself, your priorities are different to mine.

Hi, just a quick question, are the A229 plus cameras reliable, I found the Viofo store on Amazon and a A229 plus was £195 bare unit (£174 china) so seems a good price but Im wondering would 2x a229 single units might be better?.

The A229 Plus is still fairly new, but we have not been seeing many problems, and Viofo have been pretty good with new models in the past. They quite often need a firmware update, but hardware issues are rare.

That price difference is really the cost of the VAT, which you ought to be paying, and I am not going to advise you to break the law. Given there is not much difference, I would be tempted by the Viofo Amazon store, you get easy returns and good support from Viofo. Other people seem very happy to order direct from Viofo.com, and don't appear to have serious problems.

 

[Nigel]

Scrap that came across a post, crimp both power leads and connect to a 5 amp fuse?

If you have two hardwire kits then yes, the wires from both kits can be crimped to the same fuse tap, there is normally plenty of room to fit the two wires in. 5 amp fuse is more than enough.