Which one to chose ?

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Choice777

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Hi. I'm looking at a few cameras and i dont have all the info on their specs. I've had a few dash cams, but all were chinese ebay ones, 1st 480p dual lens wiht flipdown screen, 2nd 1080p single lens, and last one that finally pissed me off cause it recorded 2 or 3 files of zero bits just cause if you take the card out and put it in anoter camera to read it, a 808 #28 keychain one, then the dash cam failed to properly recognize the card and didn't give any message. it started recording fine after trying to play the clips of zero bit etc etc.
NOW ...i'm ready for 1080p freedom ! Of the non chinese variaty. The chinese cant design electronics to save their lives.
Knowing that between 1/2.7'' and 1/3'' is quite a difference and wifi is nice...i've been looking at youtube all day so:
I've identified the HP F800X f1.9 1/2.7'' sensor wifi+gps
Transcend drivepro 220 faster f1.8 lens but don't know sensor size....again wifi and gps
Polaroid e272s is only f2.0 but good 1/2.7'' sensor with gps but no wifi.
And then the chineseish bunch below maybe dod and panorama but don't trust chinese design ...
dod ls460w is an unknown brand, claims f1.6 don't trust, claims exmor sensor, unknown size, no wifi, and .mov from their website has more graininess than starwars.
Also Panorama 2s is sorta chineseish ? don't know ..again claims all the whistles and stuff like Sony IMX322 which is sadly only 1/3'' and f on lens unknown. No wifi..
Also just saw the mini 0805 (or 0806 same price on amazon), good night video on youtube, quite average ratings on amazon and the name eprance like eprank i dunno, not trustworty, good number plates at night, unknown f on lens, unknown sensor size, no wifi.

I just want dash cam that has the best night number plate quality + wifi, gps maybe maybe not.

edit: also just got a sj5000+ from amazon, it's going back for refund asap..the f2.8 or whatever lens is stupidly bad but the thing has a ''car dvr'' mode in the menu lol, at night it's like a 30 pound 720p chinese dash cam despite filming in 1080p 60fps, the camera gets insanely hot like the li-ion battery itself is about 50-60 degrees C, and the wifi button doesn't switch between on/off when recording, and the camera jams 80-90% of the fm frequency. Stupid chinese junk.
 
dashcamsihate.jpg Well chinese stuff...let me make a pic of all the models from ebay.
Here's the hit and run that the 2nd cam that didnt see the number plate.
At least it recorded my prius and the twats vauxhall/opel Vectra speeding away while turning the lights off.
 
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Many of the most popular dashcams are made in China. In fact, most of the electronic stuff sold in the US these days is made there. I think you may have been using some of the super-cheap cams which would still be cr@p no matter where they were made. Youtube reformats the videos and many cams actually produce better pics than you see on there so that's not always a good indicator of anything either. Few dashcams do number plates well at night and the cam isn't always at fault- it can't control reflections or the angle which light strikes it at. Plus many cameras are faked and sold as genuine while inside cheaper components are used. A few of those are decent for the discounted price; most are not.

You would do well to check out the forums here regarding cameras you think you'd like as most have been reviewed by knowledgeable people with pics to prove what they say is inside (and posts from other people who have found the same). That's a far cry from the generally unknowlegable reviews you find on sales listings. I've seen many of the cams you mentioned here. Arm yourself with the knowledge amassed here and you'll avoid the pitfalls you've encountered before and you will learn where to set your expectations so you aren't disappointed by reality.

Phil
 
I know they're all made in China but i'm hoping HP/Polaroid/Transcend their actual circuits aren't designed in China, only soldered there...one single wrong resistor/capapcitor of wrong value or in the wrong place and the whole thing is junk.
 
everything you've bought previously is junk

the Polaroid is also a Chinese designed camera, just badge engineering, it's reasonable, not the best, not the worst
 
Quality is somewhat a function of price, you will not get what you do not pay for. There are many good electronics designers in China as well as the rest of the world, and ditto for companies who build good products. The opposite occurs too, so location means nothing.

If you are going to place unreasonable limitations on the advice you're asking for then do not expect to get good advice. Better to approach things with an open mind then you will get better results.

Phil
 
My list is kind of like HP F800X cause of f1.9 lens and largeish 1/2.7'' cmos and good yooutube number plates
2nd a tie between 50% Drivepro 220 again good lens f but unknow cmos size and good youtube number plates and 25% Dod ls460w and 25% Panorama2s. (both 25% cams seem good online with reviews but the youtube vids seem a bit random some very good some not bad just not first class) but i'm not sure after the sj5000+ fiasco.
3rd maybe mini 0805/06....again way too chineseish ...but maybe given the very good youtube number plates at night...al number plates matter at night for me ...


hmm maybe ...http://jamiej7.wix.com/anpr-on-raspberry-pi
 
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the HP is a straight Chinese design also

The Transcend is basic but video performance is decent

DOD good spec but can suffer heat related focus shift

Panorama is a proven performer, S model is basic but solid, Korean market version is different to export version though
 
Wouldn't HP as in hewlett packard design this camera's circuit board in the US with a US engineer? Same for Transcend ?
Also this panorama ..which one cause thei're liek 1, 2, 2s, IIs, etc.. ?
 
Choice777 said:
Wouldn't HP as in hewlett packard design this camera's circuit board in the US with a US engineer? Same for Transcend ?
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no, this is a Chinese camera, someone has licensed the use of their name and put it on a Chinese camera, I know the factory that makes it

Transcend I think is a Taiwan design, again they don't make it themselves, from all reports it seems like it does ok
 
And then there's vicovation marcus 4...dont say cmos size on their website and lens is just f2.0 i think ?!?....that dod sl460w has the fastest lens at f1.6..then again if i knew which camera actually utilises its senssor the best way, aka good firmware with high bitrate, then it wouldn't be a problem to mount some second hand fast cannon lens from ebay.

So vicovation 4, dod ls460w, mini 0805, panorama 2s drivepro 220, or hp f800x...there's some lukas LK 7700 or 9700.....again quite obscure...
 
Marcus 4 is meant to be decent, have never tried it myself but reports are pretty positive

Don't get too hung up on lens spec, DOD say f/1.6 we use near identical hardware on one of ours with f/2.0 and we have better low light performance than they do

Firmware is tuned to the lens used, swapping out the lens sounds great in theory but you're better off just buying a camera with a decent lens instead of trying to fix someone else's mistakes and hoping it works, plenty of times it doesn't

Where things are designed or manufactured has little relevance, junk can be sourced from anywhere
 
there has to be one that has the best night clarity...as an interesting LOL that sj5000+ had less detail than my galaxy note 3 lol, both at 1080p 60 fps...ok maybe note 3's autofocus helps, but i tried all sort of objects at various distances...why do chinese manufacturers think that 600 element lenses are better...the more glass the less light goes through also bitrates below 10.000 on some high end dash cams..com on...apparently there's this xiaomi yi action cam that can be tweaked with a firmware file to record at 24 mbps bitrate.
 
Off to sleep...i'll probably be dreaming dash cams after the 12 hours of amazon and youtube video hunting.
 
Is there any Samsung, LG, Phillips, Sony, Braun, Panasonic, Toshiba, Canon, or similar big brand dash cam ? Heck... I'll even lower myself and buy apple if they had one...
 
Choice777 said:
Is there any Samsung, LG, Phillips, Sony, Braun, Panasonic, Toshiba, Canon, or similar big brand dash cam ?
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no, to be quite honest even if they did make one right now they'd still have a lot to learn, even GoPro is a great product it still makes for a lousy dashcam, doing it well is a lot more involved than it might seem, to date you've only have very poor quality cameras so not the best starting experience, to be fair though most of what you've mentioned so far would still be a massive step up
 
I see "this dilemma" like this:

Don't underestimate / undervalue Chinese people ( @Made in China ). There are different levels of "Made in China". I am still tempted to buy the latest Dual-SIM Huawei mobile phone after 1000-ds of hours reading different forums. For sure Chinese people can make a high-end products and Huawei is not the only example. Majority of well known branded electronics, designer clothing etc. comes these days from @Made in China.

About Dashcam brand names:

I think Dashcams are unique market, where brand names reputation does not apply to final outcome. If Canon / Nikon are good in photography, Sony / Panasonic in video recording industry, - it doesn't mean if "today" they release dashcam it will be up to today standards to compete with other less known brand names. As @jokiin mentioned: they'd still have a lot to learn, despite they have a good brand name behind them.
 
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