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YauKwan
Member
going to piggy back on this thread. How big of an SD card do you have with your dashcam. I have a 64g in the blackview and found its only really about 24 hours of video.
Xenoilphobe
Well-Known Member
I use a 128 gb card in my OEM looking Tesla dashcam:
Amazon.com: Topfit Customized Car Dash Cam, Mini Driving Recorder,Rear View Mirror Camera for Tesla Model s (Black): Car Electronics
Here is the product on Amazon:
Amazon.com: Azdome GS63H 2.4" LCD screen 4K 150 Wide Angle Novatek 96660 WiFi DVR Recorder Dash Cam Car Camera Dashboard G-sensor GPS tracker Full HD 1920x1080P (Black): Electronics
There are also a few other videos on YouTube. Looks pretty good from what I'm seeing. Hard to beat $69.99.
Typically you get what you pay for and at first glance I would expect that a $69 4K camera would have a lower image quality and suffer more in low light than a $250 1080P camera. There is a lot more that goes into image quality than just the number of pixels.
But that said, it still would be interesting to see a side by side comparison.
But that said, it still would be interesting to see a side by side comparison.
cgiGuy
Active Member
Never a good sign when you can't find an actual website for the company. YouTube channel says their homepage is
www.azdome.hk but that doesn't exist.. at least at the moment.
www.azdome.hk but that doesn't exist.. at least at the moment.
YouTube videos can be hard because they can be highly compressed and usually aren't a good representation of what the actual vidoe quality looks like. However, unless the company is doing some unscrupulous image enhancement the quality shouldn't be any worse than what the YouTube video shows.
I don't know if there are other YouTube videos for this camera, I just watched the one you linked above, but I would definitely want to see it's performance at night before I purchased one. As I said before, low light is another area where cheaper cameras tend to suffer.
In Questions and Answers section on Amazon listing, the seller states Battery life is 15-20 minutes. May be one can connect the charging port to permanent power supply to overcome the shortcoming.
Anyone have experience with this vendor? I swore off car accessories that contain batteries, after a previous dash cam in my Audi nearly caused the car to catch fire due to the battery failing. I came back to the car and it was just starting to fill with smoke. the dashcam casing came apart and there was a swollen battery inside.
BlackVue has a wonky interface and is so slow over WiFi. Also it is prone to freezing up.
I like the idea of 4k.
Love this Amazon review:
"(6) It shows the speed you are driving. . . again, another awesome feature (especially if you get pulled over for speeding)."
........unless of course......you were actually speeding.
I like the idea of 4k.
Love this Amazon review:
"(6) It shows the speed you are driving. . . again, another awesome feature (especially if you get pulled over for speeding)."
........unless of course......you were actually speeding.
Don't get too excited about a $70 4K video camera.
The Chinese factories have been churning out cheap 'action' and dashboard cameras for years, by buying up obsolete and end of life sensors and chipsets and making something from them which appears to compete with the very latest technology but which is actually not very good.
This camera does not have a 4k sensor. It has a smaller one which they then upscale in firmware so that when you play back the file it will be reported as being 4k, or they are pulling the wool over your eyes by claiming that a 4M sensor can deliver 4k video. It can't.
In fact, I just checked this particular camera and the sensor in it is HALF the size of the sensor required for 4k video, so they are exaggerating the specification by 200%.
Apart from that, the build quality and reliability is likely to be awful for that price. It probably costs about $10 to make if it's selling for $70.
Please don't be fooled by this cheap rubbish. I've been in this industry for years and I have shelves full of cameras like this I've tested and never touched again. If you can afford to throw away $70 then by all means go for it and let us know your findings, but don't be fooled by ads on Amazon and Ebay.
The Chinese factories have been churning out cheap 'action' and dashboard cameras for years, by buying up obsolete and end of life sensors and chipsets and making something from them which appears to compete with the very latest technology but which is actually not very good.
This camera does not have a 4k sensor. It has a smaller one which they then upscale in firmware so that when you play back the file it will be reported as being 4k, or they are pulling the wool over your eyes by claiming that a 4M sensor can deliver 4k video. It can't.
In fact, I just checked this particular camera and the sensor in it is HALF the size of the sensor required for 4k video, so they are exaggerating the specification by 200%.
Apart from that, the build quality and reliability is likely to be awful for that price. It probably costs about $10 to make if it's selling for $70.
Please don't be fooled by this cheap rubbish. I've been in this industry for years and I have shelves full of cameras like this I've tested and never touched again. If you can afford to throw away $70 then by all means go for it and let us know your findings, but don't be fooled by ads on Amazon and Ebay.
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BrokerDon
Active Member
What are your dashcam recommendations at different price points? $100 $200 $300 $400
Sorry, I don't have any particular recommendations. Someone above said they had issues with Blackvue and that's a well established brand with a track record, so if they are still having problems you can maybe appreciate why I don't want to back any of them.
I don't use a dedicated dash cam as I've got my own kit I can adapt to that type of use, but it's not user-friendly or cheap enough for most casual users.
My main advice would be to look around various car-related forums and try and get a feel for which brands seem to have a good reputation amongst the paying customers before believing the claims made on selling/review sites where 'experts' have maybe been given some free product in return for a positive review.
I don't use a dedicated dash cam as I've got my own kit I can adapt to that type of use, but it's not user-friendly or cheap enough for most casual users.
My main advice would be to look around various car-related forums and try and get a feel for which brands seem to have a good reputation amongst the paying customers before believing the claims made on selling/review sites where 'experts' have maybe been given some free product in return for a positive review.
Price isn't everything.
TeslaTap found that a much cheaper camera than the BlackVue provided significantly better video quality:
https://teslatap.com/articles/ultimate-2017-tesla-dashcam-guide/
There are some user reviews and even user videos available on YouTube for this particular product. They could all be paid shills, but I doubt it.
I may pick one up and report back here with my findings. But, again, the video quality on YouTube speaks for itself imo.
BlackVue, though an established brand, really needs to upgrade their quality. 1080p was decent yesterday, but becoming more and more obsolete with each passing day.
I agree price isn't everything. 'Quality' and 'Value for Money' are both very subjective.
All I'm trying to point out is that things are not all they seem in the world of consumer electronics and especially video cameras.
An amusing example of this is that the Viofo camera in that very review you posted the link to uses the exact same sensor as the supposedly '4k' Azdome camera. It's a better sensor that the Blackvue's, so you would expect raw image quality to be better than the Blackvue, but it's not a 4k sensor.
However, the actual image quality, the perceived image quality and the value for money of any dash cam depends on lots of factors such as lens quality, image processing employed, feature set and how well they're marketed.
The only sure way to be sure is test them and decide which one's best for you. Reviews are useful but can be biased or based on a small sample size.
All I'm trying to point out is that things are not all they seem in the world of consumer electronics and especially video cameras.
An amusing example of this is that the Viofo camera in that very review you posted the link to uses the exact same sensor as the supposedly '4k' Azdome camera. It's a better sensor that the Blackvue's, so you would expect raw image quality to be better than the Blackvue, but it's not a 4k sensor.
However, the actual image quality, the perceived image quality and the value for money of any dash cam depends on lots of factors such as lens quality, image processing employed, feature set and how well they're marketed.
The only sure way to be sure is test them and decide which one's best for you. Reviews are useful but can be biased or based on a small sample size.
Dr. Smoke
My former name was Edmond. Before that, Quantum`.
A year ago I installed two Opia2's, with 1440p, 160°, and I added circular polarized filters and GPS. Everyone was/is in the Blackvue craze though and wouldn't listen.
Two of these will run an ICE battery down fairly quickly, but they don't phase Tesla; I run them full-time. The data-rate is too high for (economic) wifi, but image quality is excellent if you know how to adjust a CPL filter. If you mount the camera behind glass and have sunny days, you need a CPL filter. (Don't get a dark one; I recommend Vivitar))
Be aware that if you cause an accident, the video in any dashcam can be used against you. But if you film someone else's accident you can sell it to the innocent party.
The acid test of any dashcam is night filming. Don't buy it without evidence of night quality.
Do your own research.
Two of these will run an ICE battery down fairly quickly, but they don't phase Tesla; I run them full-time. The data-rate is too high for (economic) wifi, but image quality is excellent if you know how to adjust a CPL filter. If you mount the camera behind glass and have sunny days, you need a CPL filter. (Don't get a dark one; I recommend Vivitar))
Be aware that if you cause an accident, the video in any dashcam can be used against you. But if you film someone else's accident you can sell it to the innocent party.
The acid test of any dashcam is night filming. Don't buy it without evidence of night quality.
Do your own research.
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