I know nting about these, but was wondering if you guys know if this is a good brand and a good deal.

https://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-falcon ... treatment3

Never heard of the brand, but the specs are niiiiice.

That looks pretty awesome! Now how can we use this already solidly established technology to record remotely, as in when your car is parked and you're not in it?

Vulture posted:

That looks pretty awesome! Now how can we use this already solidly established technology to record remotely, as in when your car is parked and you're not in it?

Duct tape a cell phone to it and write some code.

So what, now I have to buy two (sorry, four) iPhones and learn how to write code? That's just asking for somebody to break in to my car.

Last edited by Vulture on Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:46 pm.

Vulture posted:

So what, now I have to buy two (sorry, four) iPhones and learn how to write code?

Yes.

I run one of these, and am quite happy with it.

dv posted:

Never heard of the brand, but the specs are niiiiice.

The problem with Dash cams are there aren't really any real brands in that market. wasteful; I'd pay top dollar for a good name brand camera, especially if I could mount it behind the rearview and tap it in to power directly (instead of batteries/cig lighter).

Conner posted:

dv posted:

Never heard of the brand, but the specs are niiiiice.

The problem with Dash cams are there aren't really any real brands in that market. wasteful; I'd pay top dollar for a good name brand camera, especially if I could mount it behind the rearview and tap it in to power directly (instead of batteries/cig lighter).

You could get a Garmin combination dashcam/GPS.

theedgeofoblivious posted:

Conner posted:

dv posted:

Never heard of the brand, but the specs are niiiiice.

The problem with Dash cams are there aren't really any real brands in that market. wasteful; I'd pay top dollar for a good name brand camera, especially if I could mount it behind the rearview and tap it in to power directly (instead of batteries/cig lighter).

You could get a Garmin combination dashcam/GPS.

Except that it's triple the cost and doesn't mount to your rearview mirror.

My response was to point out that there are some name brand companies producing dashcams.

My response was not to address the benefits or drawbacks of the dashcam in the original post or offer an alternative specifically to it.

If you do want reviews specifically about this dashcam, it looks like it gets four stars from most people on Amazon.

I usually red the reviews, especially the bad ones, but i also like to ask around and see if anyone i know knows about a product.

I wish I had this thing already. I would have loved to have shared video of the DB stereotypical BMW driver that cut off two cars in front of me only to almost cause an accident and then threaten to kill somebody after stopping his car in the middle of an intersection. It's slightly exciting to think we are so close to all cars having this function by default and therefore so much footage being available of so many random things that need to be seen.

chimp with a cam

nuf said

theedgeofoblivious posted:

Conner posted:

dv posted:

Never heard of the brand, but the specs are niiiiice.

The problem with Dash cams are there aren't really any real brands in that market. wasteful; I'd pay top dollar for a good name brand camera, especially if I could mount it behind the rearview and tap it in to power directly (instead of batteries/cig lighter).

You could get a Garmin combination dashcam/GPS.

That's more of a GPS that happens to have a camera, not a real dashcam. I like the effort though.

Here it is very common for people to have a dash cam built into the rearview mirror. I've seen rearview mirrors with the cam built in for sale at Costco.

I didn't end up getting that one, but Amazon has quite a few.

I would get some advice from a Russian.

I don't know if justine has gotten a dash cam, but for anyone interested in such the BoingBoing store has this deal for a camera that is mounted via a suction cup inside your windshield for $25, off from a price elsewhere of $95.

It explicitly lists compatibility with "Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 / Mac OS X 10.3.6 or later" so I am uncertain if later versions of Windows can be supported.

Do note that this is a time-limited sale expiring in "1 day" so it may not longer be valid after 10/29 and "Ships To Continental US / Expected Delivery: Nov 8 - Nov 11".

I didn't, but i found my iPhone does a great job while i'm driving.

I was recently thinking that 360º cameras would be ideal for this instead of front and back cameras.

sean posted:

I run one of these, and am quite happy with it.

Here's my setup installed, if anyone was curious.

Front camera, over and behind the rear view mirror. Each camera is about the size of a postage stamp, and can be adjusted left/right and up/down on a sort of ball mount arrangement:


Rear camera, installed in the rear hatch, facing out the rear window:



Both cameras feed to a DVR unit that's smaller than a deck of playing cards. It uses a MicroSD for storage.


All video is in 1080p, 30fps. Low light performance is fantastic, as well.
Here's a sample video I pulled off a while ago. Keep in mind that YouTube's compression smurfs it up a bit:

I've always wanted to do a setup like that Sean (clean, routed cabling), but can't be bothered given how little I drive now. Very nice!

I did all the cable routing in a couple of hours. The biggest pain in the ass was getting the rear camera wire from the hatch to the body.

Last edited by sean on Fri Nov 04, 2016 3:33 am.

Vulture posted:

I was recently thinking that 360º cameras would be ideal for this instead of front and back cameras.

If it's anything like the 360s we have at work, it won't catch near what you want it to. The ones at work rotate slowly.

justine posted:

Vulture posted:

I was recently thinking that 360º cameras would be ideal for this instead of front and back cameras.

If it's anything like the 360s we have at work, it won't catch near what you want it to. The ones at work rotate slowly.

What I mean by 360º is what they are calling VR sometimes, the camera captures everything at all times without having to rotate, and you can swipe in any direction on playback to view a certain angle like going back in time and looking at some thing new each time. I realize now that you'd need a rear mounted camera to be closer to the road instead of just being positioned at the dashboard looking back into the interior.

Gotcha.

DEyncourt posted:

I don't know if justine has gotten a dash cam, but for anyone interested in such the BoingBoing store has this deal for a camera that is mounted via a suction cup inside your windshield for $25, off from a price elsewhere of $95.

It explicitly lists compatibility with "Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 / Mac OS X 10.3.6 or later" so I am uncertain if later versions of Windows can be supported.

Do note that this is a time-limited sale expiring in "1 day" so it may not longer be valid after 10/29 and "Ships To Continental US / Expected Delivery: Nov 8 - Nov 11".

Y'know, I got one of these. It's on sale at BoingBoing.net again BUT don't bother: complete waste.

The instruction sheet is almost laughably badly translated. Here is one part:

Quote:

1. On / off function:
Power on: short press "power button" press;
Shutdown: boot, long press 3S "power button" Shutdown;
Other: Insert car charger will automatically boot, unplug the car charger off at set-up time, or an appropriate time off.

On the diagram which labels the buttons, there is a button labelled "1. On key" but another labelled "6. Power key" which is the actual power button which does follow the instructions above (but would you have guessed that based on that label of "1" in those instructions?).

While I was able to puzzle through MOST of this camera's functions with very little help from the instruction sheet, the controls are so bad that I simply cannot rely upon this camera. I had been thinking that I might install one of these into my mother's car but this would be impossible for her to use being nearly so for me.

Sorry for mentioning this here.

Haha! Ok, i'd give up if i got those instructions!

Two things:

First: Sean: You did not come to a complete stop at that stop sign.

Second: Why do people want dash cams? I know that motorcycle enthusiasts will set up cameras to record particular rides, like if they're in pretty area or on a crazy twisty-turny road. Other than for stuff like that, I don't get it. What's the appeal?

Mustapha Mond posted:

Two things:

First: Sean: You did not come to a complete stop at that stop sign.

Second: Why do people want dash cams? I know that motorcycle enthusiasts will set up cameras to record particular rides, like if they're in pretty area or on a crazy twisty-turny road. Other than for stuff like that, I don't get it. What's the appeal?

If you get in an accident you can have undeniable proof it wasn't your fault. Could also be useful if the police say you did something that you didn't.

cheap insurance against insurance fraud. you can get one for about $25.
https://www.walmart.com/search/search-n ... =price_low

Also, Christmas gifts!

DukeofNuke posted:

cheap insurance against insurance fraud. you can get one for about $25.
https://www.walmart.com/search/search-n ... =price_low

But you can't put that on youtube and go viral so you become rich and famous!

Gotta start somewhere!

Mustapha Mond posted:

Sean: You did not come to a complete stop at that stop sign.

STOP = Short Tap On Pedal.

sean posted:

Mustapha Mond posted:

Sean: You did not come to a complete stop at that stop sign.

STOP = Short Tap On Pedal.

That's pretty funny. I've actually never heard that before.

Conner posted:

Mustapha Mond posted:

Two things:

First: Sean: You did not come to a complete stop at that stop sign.

Second: Why do people want dash cams? I know that motorcycle enthusiasts will set up cameras to record particular rides, like if they're in pretty area or on a crazy twisty-turny road. Other than for stuff like that, I don't get it. What's the appeal?

If you get in an accident you can have undeniable proof it wasn't your fault. Could also be useful if the police say you did something that you didn't.

So, it's kinda of a "paranoia" thing (for lack of a better term)?

That's too bad. I mean, it makes sense, but I was hoping people were doing something cool with them, like . . . well, I dunno—but something.

Mustapha Mond posted:

Conner posted:

Mustapha Mond posted:

Two things:

First: Sean: You did not come to a complete stop at that stop sign.

Second: Why do people want dash cams? I know that motorcycle enthusiasts will set up cameras to record particular rides, like if they're in pretty area or on a crazy twisty-turny road. Other than for stuff like that, I don't get it. What's the appeal?

If you get in an accident you can have undeniable proof it wasn't your fault. Could also be useful if the police say you did something that you didn't.

So, it's kinda of a "paranoia" thing (for lack of a better term)?

That's too bad. I mean, it makes sense, but I was hoping people were doing something cool with them, like . . . well, I dunno—but something.

I've seen some pretty cool stuff while driving - wildlife, etc. - that made me with I had a dashcam. But now that I have one, it's been... boring.