Second dashcam setup. Yay or nay?

[The_Observer]

Hey all,

For the purposes that Tesla Cam/Sentry mode does, it's been doing well for me for the past year of owning this car.

However, I do have a Blackvue DR490-2CH new in a box that I got for a good deal with, I gave it some thoughts on installing it on my car. Some of the people have reported missing footages in the case of an accident, which is something I don't want.

What do you all think? Good idea, or too redundant and that Tesla cam would be good enough?

 

[ehacke]

I thought about it for awhile, but couldn't really justify the extra effort for the install, risk of damaging something while doing it, and messiness of extra cables and cameras.

All of that to duplicate existing functionality for a pretty rare edge case. Didn't seem worth it.

 

[sduck]

I installed a blackvue 750 (I think, can't remember exact model) back before these cars had dashcam functionality. It's still there, and still working great, and I usually consider it as my main dashcam as it works so much better than the tesla system.

 

[Blue Express]

Hey all,

For the purposes that Tesla Cam/Sentry mode does, it's been doing well for me for the past year of owning this car.

However, I do have a Blackvue DR490-2CH new in a box that I got for a good deal with, I gave it some thoughts on installing it on my car. Some of the people have reported missing footages in the case of an accident, which is something I don't want.

What do you all think? Good idea, or too redundant and that Tesla cam would be good enough?

I have a 2nd Car Cam installed in my M3 given I am not too satisfied with the Tesla cam image quality.

 

[SoCal Cal]

I thought about it for awhile, but couldn't really justify the extra effort for the install, risk of damaging something while doing it, and messiness of extra cables and cameras.

All of that to duplicate existing functionality for a pretty rare edge case. Didn't seem worth it.

FYI, there have been a few instances of accidents where TeslaCam did NOT record the actual incident (my own experience included), so better to have redundancy, especially if you already have the cam. Ultimately your decision, though.

 

[240W]

installed a cheapo aukey amazon dashcam (works fine, i've had this on my other cars)

why did i install it?

because this was before teslacam was introduced, lol.

 

[enixneo]

I used a dash cam on my previous car so when I sold the car and bought a Tesla I moved the dash cam into the Tesla. Is it necessary? Probably not. But three reasons for me 1) I already had it so it was no effort or cost.

I have a 2nd Car Cam installed in my M3 given I am not too satisfied with the Tesla cam image quality.

2) Tesla cameras are great but as Blue said, my dedicated dash cam can definitely record at higher resolution and bitrate than the Tesla cams.

FYI, there have been a few instances of accidents where TeslaCam did NOT record the actual incident (my own experience included), so better to have redundancy, especially if you already have the cam. Ultimately your decision, though.

And 3) Like SoCal mentioned, there's moments where TeslaCam doesn't capture an incident. When TeslaCam runs into a problem it sends a silent notification under a hazard symbol in the top right of the screen. This is easy to miss and there's no way to know how long TeslaCam hasn't been recording. But my dedicated dash cam makes a constant audible sound if there's any error recording.

 

[ehacke]

I guess to elaborate on what I said earlier, my real sticking point is less the money or features than it is the appearance of extra cameras and wires in the car. Really bugs me for some reason.

If I could get a higher quality dashcam, with the Blackvue-like features, but was basically stealthed as much as possible so it was barely noticable, then I'd probably do it. And I'd pay twice what the nice Blackvue costs for that if I could also hard-wire it without triggering warnings.

But I just can't bring myself to make the interior of my beautiful minimalist car look like I'm driving a taxi or Uber or something with cameras and wires everywhere.

 

[KenC]

Of course, Tesla's solution is still "beta". There's no gps or speed overlay on the images.

I spent $100 on a dual-cam VAVA solution. Works great.

 

[android04]

I guess to elaborate on what I said earlier, my real sticking point is less the money or features than it is the appearance of extra cameras and wires in the car. Really bugs me for some reason.

If I could get a higher quality dashcam, with the Blackvue-like features, but was basically stealthed as much as possible so it was barely noticable, then I'd probably do it. And I'd pay twice what the nice Blackvue costs for that if I could also hard-wire it without triggering warnings.

But I just can't bring myself to make the interior of my beautiful minimalist car look like I'm driving a taxi or Uber or something with cameras and wires everywhere.

I have a dual Blackvue camera setup since before there was a TeslaCam/Sentry Mode and have left it as a backup. It records 24/7 because I wired it into the map/hazards lights harness that always has power. This circuit is monitored by the car for power consumption and recharging the 12v battery. In 2.5 years and 53k miles I haven't had issues with it nor with my 12v battery. And the front Blackvue is stealthily mounted out of my sight behind the rearview mirror with a Blendmount made specifically for it. The cable running to the rear cam is easy to hide just by tucking it under trim along the B-pillar, lower doorwell trim, and behind the rear side bolsters and deck.

 

[ranova]

I have TWO sets of the DR-750S-2ch setup to capture the front, rear, and sides of my car. This was a good thing since sentry mode has been really messing up the last few updates

 

[ehacke]

I have a dual Blackvue camera setup since before there was a TeslaCam/Sentry Mode and have left it as a backup. It records 24/7 because I wired it into the map/hazards lights harness that always has power. This circuit is monitored by the car for power consumption and recharging the 12v battery. In 2.5 years and 53k miles I haven't had issues with it nor with my 12v battery. And the front Blackvue is stealthily mounted out of my sight behind the rearview mirror with a Blendmount made specifically for it. The cable running to the rear cam is easy to hide just by tucking it under trim along the B-pillar, lower doorwell trim, and behind the rear side bolsters and deck.

That is the cleanest install I've seen. Usually the front one is to the side and it looks dumb IMO. Making me rethink my choices.

Thought I had already purchased every possible accessory for this car, but now maybe I need to get a dashcam.

 

[The_Observer]

I have a dual Blackvue camera setup since before there was a TeslaCam/Sentry Mode and have left it as a backup. It records 24/7 because I wired it into the map/hazards lights harness that always has power. This circuit is monitored by the car for power consumption and recharging the 12v battery. In 2.5 years and 53k miles I haven't had issues with it nor with my 12v battery. And the front Blackvue is stealthily mounted out of my sight behind the rearview mirror with a Blendmount made specifically for it. The cable running to the rear cam is easy to hide just by tucking it under trim along the B-pillar, lower doorwell trim, and behind the rear side bolsters and deck.

Very clean setup. But damn, $130 just for the mount alone...

 

[ehacke]

To give you even more reason to install a dashcam, apparently it's quite common that teslacam will stop writing to usb during a collision.

https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/kg14i9/dashcam_shut_off_during_accident/

I think I'll be getting a blackvue this spring.

 

[SoCal Cal]

Very clean setup. But damn, $130 just for the mount alone...

Mine was pretty much installed the same way. I ordered a mount from France which was cheaper, but it was mostly 3d-printed. It worked.

To give you even more reason to install a dashcam, apparently it's quite common that teslacam will stop writing to usb during a collision.

https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/kg14i9/dashcam_shut_off_during_accident/

I think I'll be getting a blackvue this spring.

My BlackVue died after 13 months, and they wanted $150 to repair/replace. Ended up getting a $100 dash cam off Amazon which has a higher resolution, but not nearly as stealthy. The aesthetics aren't that important to me.

 

[arie21014]

I decided not to install my trusty dashcam in the new Tesla, and just using the internal camera systems. If you want to have a dashcam, feel free to shoot me a message, I am selling mine.
Thinkware F750 Dashcam Front & Rear

 

[The_Observer]

Mine was pretty much installed the same way. I ordered a mount from France which was cheaper, but it was mostly 3d-printed. It worked.

Where did you find the mount? Any links to the product?

 

[vletnguyen]

I too installed blackvue 750s (?) dual channel on my 3 before tesla's oem version came out. I still have it plugged in. I did not think the blend mount was worth the money so I used the double side tape to the glass. I hard wired it for 24/7 same as in my model S. It's a nice back up in case the tesla one craps out or vice versa.

pro tip: get an endurance sd card, it'll last longer. I had to replace sd card for the S already but its been running 24/7 since mid-late 2016. Got my money's worth.

 

[android04]

Where did you find the mount? Any links to the product?

Mine was pretty much installed the same way. I ordered a mount from France which was cheaper, but it was mostly 3d-printed. It worked.

I originally bought that same 3D printed Blackvue mount from EDR-Auto in France for 43.25€ but the Blendmount is more solid and I felt it was worth the price to upgrade it. Here's a link to it Mirror Mount Universal Blackvue Slim DR650GW-S-750S-900S - EDR-AUTO

@The_Observer if you want my EDR-AUTO mount you can have it for $30 shipped. I would just have to make sure that all the parts are there. I also used to have side-by-side pictures and installed pictures of the EDR-AUTO mount and Blendmount. Let me see if I can find them (might have deleted them).

 

[holmgang]

the built in dashcam quality isnt that good. its blurry and the color are bad..and its muy horrible' at night.

i wouldnt go through the trouble of installing a redundant set, but if youve got it, why not