Zenfox T3 Triple channel dash cams free test invitation, limited quantity

[HonestReview]

Yes, and it is not "108P" on the rear either!
Native resolution is QHD + FHD + FHD.

You know what I meant.....Typo....108P vs. 1080P was typo.

Yes, would be interesting to see.

The A129 can be a bit too bright at night, a brighter image results in more motion blur and over exposed plates when they are in the headlights. Looking a bit dark is not necessarily a bad thing.

Make sure you review dark night time footage at night when you can see the darker parts of the image on your monitor. Unless you have an exceptionally bright HDR monitor, watching night time video when the sun is out will always give a poor result.

So yes there's a trade off. Being able to see something at night being over bright or nothing at all. I'd rather see over bright because at least I can capture a car if it hits me, even if the license plates are not always readable. The T3 just sees pitch black. Even with WDR on.

 

[HonestReview]

Car Parked in a Dark area at Night. Both cameras in parking mode.

Viofo Image is first. T3 is Second. I even had WDR enabled on the T3.

 

[Jeremy Wong]

Car Parked in a Dark area at Night. Both cameras in parking mode.

Viofo Image is first. T3 is Second. I even had WDR enabled on the T3.

View attachment 52188


View attachment 52189

I think Zenfox will improve the image quality in the next firmware like other dashcam makers.

 

[HonestReview]

More Images: Viofo images are first two from Rear Camera. My back glass is 20% tint. Meaning 80% light is blocked. Viofo does far better job. You can see the detail of the freeway / highway on the right hand side. The T3 images are much darker

VIOFO IMAGES







T3 IMAGES OF SAME AREA

 

[Nigel]

Car Parked in a Dark area at Night. Both cameras in parking mode.

Yes, it has its limits! But if a car comes along and causes a collision, it will probably have its lights on and then the T3 will have the best image, even in those images, the T3 has the best detail in the bright house window.

So we are only worried about people creeping around at night without torches?

You know what I meant.....Typo....108P vs. 1080P was typo.

Of course.

 

[HonestReview]

I think Zenfox will improve the image quality in the next firmware like other dashcam makers.

The image settings definitely need some adjustment.

 

[HonestReview]

Yes, it has its limits! But if a car comes along and causes a collision, it will probably have its lights on and then the T3 will have the best image, even in those images, the T3 has the best detail in the bright house window.

So we are only worried about people creeping around at night without torches?

What is your problem? I have posted a valid concern and you're being a wanker. Image quality at night is clearly poorer in the T3 and needs adjustment. I'm not worried about anyone doing anything to my car. However, the whole point of Beta Testing is to make comparisons. You can clearly see the Viofo's image is far superior to the T3. Even if the image from the Viofo is more grainy.

The point of a Dash Camera is to capture events. If someone were to vandalize a car at night, the Viofo will capture the action and the T3 will see Dark Shadows......

Of course.

Enough said.

 

[HonestReview]

For the live view issue, it seems to happen on the latest IOS version, it will work after disabled the 4G network, need do further checking.

Also Android. Seems the live image will remain black and not return after going into settings or viewing files.4 Random bug.

 

[HonestReview]

I thought the T3 maximum resolution is 2560×1440? The video quality might not be so good if it is downscaled to 2K.

You are right - Updated Post. https://www.zenfox.com/en/dash-cams...nterior-1080p-rear-wi-fi-gps-dash-camera.html

I googled 2K real quickly this morning and instead should have looked at Zenfox's website. 2K comes in two variations. Zenfox uses the 2560 x 1440.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2K_resolution - Wiki says 2048 x 1080

Tom's Hardware states below:

2K	2560 x 1440 (typical monitor resolution); 2048 x 1080 (official cinema resolution)

 

[kuoh]

I know you asked someone else, but this has occurred to me as well. In my case, the file date and time matched the stamp in the video through the entire 20 minute drive and was about 2 days in the future. The speed appeared to be correct, but the date and time never corrected during the drive. On the following day, the camera updated the date and time correctly about 5 seconds into the video, but the file name remained the same incorrect date/time from when the camera turned on.

KuoH

Do you mind checking the file property date-time is the same as file name date time?

 

[kuoh]

I may have missed it, but did you try adjusting the EV settings? Each camera can be configured separately.

KuoH

I'll get some screenshots over to ZenFox when I get time....But I'm definitely not impressed with the ZenFox's night capability at current settings.

 

[kamkar]

No as it is it is not keeping up with the likes of IMX 291 that's for sure, i must admit my hopes on that matter was probably also a bit inflated too.

I have not looked at the specs for the IMX 335 and compare it to the 291, but if the sensor are same size, then of course to make room for more pixels they have to be smaller.
It might be more fair to compare to current 4K systems instead.

 

[Nigel]

No as it is it is not keeping up with the likes of IMX 291 that's for sure, i must admit my hopes on that matter was probably also a bit inflated too.

I have not looked at the specs for the IMX 335 and compare it to the 291, but if the sensor are same size, then of course to make room for more pixels they have to be smaller.
It might be more fair to compare to current 4K systems instead.

The IMX335 will not go as dark as the IMX291, but you have to turn your headlights off before the IMX291 really has an advantage.
Neither of them will work for video in the dark if there is no lighting.

 

[kamkar]

I am fine with it, out on the dark highways it have no problem seeing the edge of the road and middle markings, and really that is all i need out there.
In the town even my home town of Randers, that are low in ambient light i think it do just fine too.

I am a expert in having too high expectations, i think its the main factor of me more or less going thru life as a bachelor, i expect too much of people and i get let down and i have a hard time dealing with that cuz i dont feel i ask too much of people, or at least i dont ask more than i am willing to give myself.

 

[HonestReview]

I may have missed it, but did you try adjusting the EV settings? Each camera can be configured separately.

KuoH

I made no changes to the EV settings in order to allow for an equal comparison between the two cameras. I did try to give the T3 an edge by enabling WDR which didn't really help. The Viofo didn't have WDR enabled, but if it did, the image would have picked up far more than the T3.

I'm trying to make Apple to Apple comparisons here. Which my test clearly shows the T3 generates a much darker image meaning either the sensors the T3 uses don't capture low light situations well or the image settings and brightness need tweaked.

FYI: I expected some degradation of the image during night captures going from 1080p --> 2K due to smaller pixel sizes capturing less light, but I was shocked at the results.

I can test upping the EV later tonight when I go somewhere to see if the image at least picks up more.

 

[HonestReview]

I am fine with it, out on the dark highways it have no problem seeing the edge of the road and middle markings, and really that is all i need out there.
In the town even my home town of Randers, that are low in ambient light i think it do just fine too.

I am a expert in having too high expectations, i think its the main factor of me more or less going thru life as a bachelor, i expect too much of people and i get let down and i have a hard time dealing with that cuz i dont feel i ask too much of people, or at least i dont ask more than i am willing to give myself.

Grainy Proof is far better than no proof. If someone keyed your car at night, showing the police a grainy image of the person is far better than having pitch black and no proof. So my concern here is that the T3 is generating a much darker image even though I have the T3 set to Maximum Bitrate.

 

[EGS]

Surprise surprise...
I drove to the grocery store this morning and now reviewing all that footage. I found no corrupted files but the rear camera stopped recording and later on the interior stopped recording as well, leaving the front camera recording only. So no, samsung evo cards are not exempt from the issue. Card was formatted in the camera to FAT32

 

[HonestReview]

Surprise surprise...
I drove to the grocery store this morning and now reviewing all that footage. I found no corrupted files but the rear camera stopped recording and later on the interior stopped recording as well, leaving the front camera recording only. So no, samsung evo cards are not exempt from the issue. Card was formatted in the camera to FAT32

I'm going to start driving around more over coming days and watch my setup. Wondering if this could be a firmware or a power issue. I'm hardwired and using a Sandisk High Endurance 256GB. I'll drive over next few days and see if I notice any gaps or inconsistencies.

 

[EGS]

Test with 3 minutes on loop record for parking mode failed, too. The last rear file recorded was 1 minute 16 seconds. The interior cam continued recording as mentioned in prior test, until it too ceased. Leaving only the front.

Either the HK3 isn't compatible or the cameras are overheating. Whenever I touch the T3 after noticing these failures, the SD card and camera are scolding hot. So can't really say which is the cause.

I'll test parking mode with just front and interior camera. See what happens.

Remember, I don't use the hardwire kit and we are experiencing very similar issues, so I would rule that one out.

 

[kamkar]

Funny thing my camera dont feel that hot, i will have to see if i can remember to borrow my friends temperature gun and do some measurements.
But by the sound of it yours seem to be much hotter than mine, i have only noticed the memory card being rather hot when i eject it, TBH probably hotter than any other memory card i have ejected.
At least the first few times i did i was thinking " OMG that's hot" and i cant recall having had that feeling with other cameras.