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

The light striking the sensor through a given lens remains the same- it's what happens when the pixels turn the light into data that changes things. Smaller pixel=less light capture which might fall below the data-generating threshold. Binning is the solution, but then you can't claim 4K resolution and binning has issues too. It seems to me that before the kinds of cams we're talking about can do 4K well they're first going to need a larger sensor which means a larger lens which means more size and cost.

The 4K dashcams we have now are hardly better than today's good 2k cams except in perfect conditions.

Phil
 
The light striking the sensor through a given lens remains the same- it's what happens when the pixels turn the light into data that changes things. Smaller pixel=less light capture which might fall below the data-generating threshold. Binning is the solution, but then you can't claim 4K resolution and binning has issues too. It seems to me that before the kinds of cams we're talking about can do 4K well they're first going to need a larger sensor which means a larger lens which means more size and cost.

The 4K dashcams we have now are hardly better than today's good 2k cams except in perfect conditions.

Phil

Which is why 4K cameras do fantastic during the daytime and suffer at night. Right now 2k or 1080P are the best bets until sensors are improved and costs can be kept semi reasonable.

I don't need a hollywood esque cinematic image. I just need sufficient proof an event occurred. I.E. Reading Plates and Capturing Vehicle / Vehicles involved. After that it's for lawyers or insurance companies to hammer out.
 
At night there is a little difference between FHD, 2K and 4K, but often there is more difference between different models than between resolutions.

When it is very dark, with no headlights, then 4K can fall into blackness when FHD doesn't, but for most people, the very small loss at night is far more than made up for by the 4x detail improvement in decent lighting, doesn't need to be full sunshine to get the extra detail either.

For most people 2K resolution is going to be enough to read plates, but 4K is still nice to have, especially if you want to capture drivers faces in recognisable detail so that they can't claim someone else was driving.
 
At night there is a little difference between FHD, 2K and 4K, but often there is more difference between different models than between resolutions.

When it is very dark, with no headlights, then 4K can fall into blackness when FHD doesn't, but for most people, the very small loss at night is far more than made up for by the 4x detail improvement in decent lighting, doesn't need to be full sunshine to get the extra detail either.

For most people 2K resolution is going to be enough to read plates, but 4K is still nice to have, especially if you want to capture drivers faces in recognisable detail so that they can't claim someone else was driving.

You cannot work in absolutes. People who drive at night would clearly want visibility from their dash cameras. So if you're only a daytime driver, 4k is fantastic. But if you venture out when its dark outside, 2k or 1080P are the go to cameras until sensors catch up with resolution.

Yes you are right about one thing. Light sensitivity is determined by hardware and sensors, meaning not all 4K, 2K, and 1080P cameras are made equal. You've got "Fake Upscaled 4K" and cheaper models which use inferior components. So when we're talking about resolution here, we're referring to quality products not bottom barrel items.
 
You cannot work in absolutes. People who drive at night would clearly want visibility from their dash cameras. So if you're only a daytime driver, 4k is fantastic. But if you venture out when its dark outside, 2k or 1080P are the go to cameras until sensors catch up with resolution.
When I tested 4K against 2K against FHD at 21:15 at night, the 4K gave the best detail and the least motion blur, only when it got properly dark did the 4K not win, and then the 2K won, the FHD never won.

 
When I tested 4K against 2K against FHD at 21:15 at night, the 4K gave the best detail and the least motion blur, only when it got properly dark did the 4K not win, and then the 2K won, the FHD never won.


:cautious: Apparently Dawn, Dusk, and Evening are not words that exist in British English :cautious:. Your video is not at night, but in one of those three previous words. Just like the UK never gets Warm and Overheating is a Myth, you also never see the sun go down. You do realize that in Summer Months, nights are longer. And in winter nights are shorter. So unless you live near the polar circles, where the sun doesn't completely set, then you have darkness at night. Your videos do not show night time footage.
 
Last edited:
Well for me low light, that could easy be in the middle of a sunny day this time of the year, drive on a highway where trees line it and some of them shade some of the road surface, and you can forget plate capture.
I even think with the popular brownstone here, drive in between 2 apartment buildings made with those, even if the sun are right and get down to the road between them you will still see problems.
Actually looking over my T3 footage yesterday i saw darkness filmed granted around sunset, but the problem was my front lens was aimed a bit too high.

Note time/date stamp

dark T3.jpg
dark T3 2.jpg
 
@kamkar1

The lens is probably pointed too high, but yes, the T3 produces a very dark low light image. Probably some filters involved in smoothing out the noise (my guess). However, I would try adjusting the lens some, as that is very dark with the sky being that light.

None the less, night time is a myth according to @Nigel
 
Yeah just freaked me that footage would be that dark there, when minutes later in downtown it do a much more realistic footage.
The light was plenty, i would have been able to drive a tack at a 1/4 mile with my long gun with the scope, or 80 M with my air driven air powered a little shorter and much smaller CAL gun.
 
The light was plenty, i would have been able to drive a tack at a 1/4 mile with my long gun with the scope, or 80 M with my air driven air powered a little shorter and much smaller CAL gun.

You lost me on this portion....Something is completely lost in translation.

None the less, try adjusting lens and see what happens.
 
well all the glass in a rifle scope tend to block out a lot of light, so used that to say there was still plenty light at the time of the video.

Yeah will of course adjust the lens, i think i might have touched in the last time i cleaaned the inside of my windscreen ( taking the T3 off its mount to do that )
 
well all the glass in a rifle scope tend to block out a lot of light, so used that to say there was still plenty light at the time of the video.

Yeah will of course adjust the lens, i think i might have touched in the last time i cleaaned the inside of my windscreen ( taking the T3 off its mount to do that )

Pretty much, I'm running the T3 (factory) not the melted / modded unit on a suction cup these days. It extends out the life and makes it usable at least. Where it can survive sitting in the sunlight for an hour or two without overheating. Modded one of course does better, but it is melted and the interior lens doesn't stay put due to the cogs breaking. Plus the case is warped.

Either way, I'll utilize this camera alongside my Viofo. It was free and even if it is half assed, its a secondary camera. At least when driving, the interior camera works for me. So that's a plus. Parking mode on the interior camera is good enough to run into a store or for errands. Not more than hr or 2. But again, that should be acceptable for 50-60% of my daily life. So will utilize the thing for "what it is".
 
General FYI: Grass had to be cut today. Parked car outside in sunlight. Outside temperature was 30C (86F). Car thermometer registered 43 (109) with sun beating on car when I started it up. I reviewed videos. The Stock T3 Interior camera ran from 12:54 to 13:12. So 1 Hr 18 Minutes when mounted on a suction cup. Thereafter the camera ran for another 9 minutes before I came out to the car and started it. Front and Rear camera were running at that point.

Not great. But generally long enough to run into the store or do errands. I am sure modified camera would do at least another 45 minutes on Suction Cup as the other test showed. Will run stock. But anyway this is a decent benchmark and is in line with prior test for Stock T3.
 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B088WN41YF
Good to know. Never trust "Vine Reviews" and be skeptical of Amazon. These purchased reviews may fool people in the short term, but it'll cost Zenfox their reputation. You can't bamboozle and lie to customers indefinitely. People are going to start noticing the overheating issue on their own.
 
I've been thinking a lot about how to solve the heat issue recently, and I started to wonder: you know how the rear camera is remote from the main unit? Why isn't the whole recording unit separate from *all* cameras? Have it in a separate box that is mounted under the dash, the main point of heat generation is away from the sun and also it could be larger (with a proper heat sink).


I've only seen a few cams with that design and it strikes me as odd that it is not more common considering how low profile it could get. And it makes a lot more sense when your main unit is basically a computer crunching a buttload of video data and generating a ton of heat.
 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B088WN41YF
Good to know. Never trust "Vine Reviews" and be skeptical of Amazon. These purchased reviews may fool people in the short term, but it'll cost Zenfox their reputation. You can't bamboozle and lie to customers indefinitely. People are going to start noticing the overheating issue on their own.

Don't trust any Amazon reviews. Usually Vine is done by people with no technical skill, there's nobody with a specialization in dashcams for example, any free samples are broadcast to a wide audience and anybody can take them. Even if they don't have a car.

Some people get them just to resell. Rinse, repeat. It's like the fake "Verified Purchase" reviews done by 3rd party sellers through PayPal except these ones have a little "Vine" disclosure (making them legal) and they also have Amazon's blessing.
 
Don't trust any Amazon reviews. Usually Vine is done by people with no technical skill, there's nobody with a specialization in dashcams for example, any free samples are broadcast to a wide audience and anybody can take them. Even if they don't have a car.

Some people get them just to resell. Rinse, repeat. It's like the fake "Verified Purchase" reviews done by 3rd party sellers through PayPal except these ones have a little "Vine" disclosure (making them legal) and they also have Amazon's blessing.

Ya exactly. Vine is a joke. Vine reviewers are looking for their next product plug and free product. So won't give a true, honest, and fair review. I'm not a shill and nor do I mince words. Zenfox wasn't happy with me, and then the rest of us, because we didn't give him those feel good reviews. My money is as hard earned and tight as the next guy. I won't recommend a product to someone that doesn't live up to its advertised claims.

Love me, hate me, I'm not here to bring a smiling face and rip others off so I can get another sample down the road.
 
Ya exactly. Vine is a joke. Vine reviewers are looking for their next product plug and free product. So won't give a true, honest, and fair review. I'm not a shill and nor do I mince words. Zenfox wasn't happy with me, and then the rest of us, because we didn't give him those feel good reviews. My money is as hard earned and tight as the next guy. I won't recommend a product to someone that doesn't live up to its advertised claims.

Love me, hate me, I'm not here to bring a smiling face and rip others off so I can get another sample down the road.
So far they have shown to be are a rip-off company from many stand points. Some family members have asked about the camera system as well as a couple of friends of mine. You can guess what my answer is after they inquire about it (not a positive one for sure). And the sad part is, the market is flooded wit similar garbage.
 
I've been thinking a lot about how to solve the heat issue recently, and I started to wonder: you know how the rear camera is remote from the main unit? Why isn't the whole recording unit separate from *all* cameras? Have it in a separate box that is mounted under the dash, the main point of heat generation is away from the sun and also it could be larger (with a proper heat sink).


I've only seen a few cams with that design and it strikes me as odd that it is not more common considering how low profile it could get. And it makes a lot more sense when your main unit is basically a computer crunching a buttload of video data and generating a ton of heat.
Systems like that exist but for so e reason there is not a big market for it, One could be a higher cost. That could actually solve several issues as you have pointed out, particularly the heat issue. The possibilities are endless
 
The cameras with the main unit remote from the cameras are new, though i got the first of those systems for testing over a year ago.
I really like that approach even if installing it actually are different ( you wouldn't expect that from just 1-2 more wires, and a main unit that go somewhere else than the windscreen.

I would never buy a sysstem like the B2W i have also tested and the T3, they are simply too not stealthy, i still dont have my cabin mirror in the car, cuz if i put it in where i have put the T3 it would more or less only film the head of people in the car and the backside of the mirror ( maybe blind itself at night with IR LED's hitting mirror plastic )
Viofos approach of offering a cabin camera with IR LED's for their A129 duo are much better, a little camera unit like that i could put all over my windscreen or as i would in my car on the stalk of the mirror ( roof mounted mirror )
 
Back
Top