I have a Silent Witness dash cam, hard wired with the camera next to the rear view mirror. I had to but a 32G SD card to extend the recording time. The only problem is I cannot seem to find out how to interogate it in case of trouble. There apparently is a special software application that needs to be downloaded to access the camera footage, but my software on my laptop won't touch it. Hoping the SD card solves that problem. It is small and neat and the picture quality is great on the tiny screen. I would not recommend it though. It seems much too complicated and not user friendly for my liking. Too late now.

Cheers Concrete

Hi

I use a dashcam in my works van and in my car.

If your accessory socket turns off when you turn off your ignition, you could just use that for your power supply.

I've hard wired mine to my car fuse box using a piggyback connector. I've piggybacked off of the rear wiper fuse. Don't piggyback off a safety critical fuse (IE don't connect to: airbags, abs or traction control etc)!

The way a dashcam works is it saves a lot of short video clips. Typically it will save a 3 minute clip followed by another 3 minute clip etc. When you turn off you ignition, the power supply to the dashcam is cut. The camera then uses the power from the super capacitor(s) or the rechargeable battery (in the dashcam) to save the final clip.

I would make sure that you get a dashcam which has SUPER CAPACITORS(S) fitted and NOT a rechargeable battery.

The problem with dashcams which use rechargeable batteries, is that over time being kept in a hot car with the sun belting through the windscreen (when parked), is that the rechargeable batteries fail preventing the final clip from being saved without corrupting the file.

The final clip is the most important one to save, as if your involved in an accident you turn your engine off quickly before you get out the car. The accident should be on the final clip. If that clip doesn't save, the dashcam is pointless.

You will need a micro sd card (might be an extra cost). Typically a 32 GB card will last for 4 hours, before the oldest 3 min clips start getting overwritten with the newest ones. Dash cams can be picky about which micro sd cards they like. Check with your supplier about which cards to use. There are many fake micro sd cards around (which dash cams won't work with). The safest place to get a genuine card from is direct from Amazon. Not through a Amazon market place seller or fullfilled by Amazon, but Direct from Amazon.

I use a Street Guardian SG9665GC in my car and a street Guardian SG9665XS in my works van. Street Guardian and their distributors are good people to deal with and are most helpful in case of problems.

It's worth looking and posting on the Dash Cam Talk forum as well these people are most helpful too.

dashcamtalk.com/forum/

Edited by FiestaOwner on 27/10/2017 at 18:22

Hi Sunny,

There are some good reviews on youtube that may be helpful, particularly this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYIzu7SOyUyDPwMgUSspRYw

Whilst his reviews are US / North America focused they cover some of the major models that are available here too.

The key things to look for seem to be:

- Find a camera that uses super capacitors not batteries as batteries are more prone to warping and failure in high and low heat conditions.

- Ensure there are good alerts for errors (SD card issues etc) as otherwise you may miss the important shot. Audio & Screen errors are best.

- Check if it has a parking mode and how long incident to record time takes, lots of accidents happen whilst parked.

Not sure if your budget is per camera or in total, if per camera then the viofo comes highly recommended by that guy, and is available with / without GPS on amazon for around £90.

If it's in total then the Yi camera is probably your best bet, though I worry about that camera as it looks a lot like a GoPro and might be a target for a window smash and grab.

I use one of the cheap £20 Chinese models myself and it records and loop records everything just fine - however it doesn't have a good parking mode and when I got back from holiday the other week it had completely drained the battery! Despite not even being on...

Mine is wired into the fusebox, but your mileage may vary as different vehicle models etc... initially I managed to wire it around the airbags round the sides of the car and it was discrete enough.

There seems to be a lot of 'branded' makes that all look pretty similar (generic Chinese cams, shipped over here and 'branded' by a local entrepreneur and shipped off to be fulfilled by Amazon). I'd be quite wary of Amazon reviews as they have a massive issue with fake reviews at the moment.

With regards to SD cards make sure you get a class 10, that guy from youtube has a useful video on them too. 32GB should be sufficient.

Definitely worth doing though, had a dash cam for 2 years now, multiple close accidents (most not involving me), deers, rabbits, badgers (I work way out in the sticks) etc. Only has to be one time to pay itself 100 times over.

Hope this helped and if you have any questions let me know.

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I work for scrapcarcomparison.co.uk but views are my own :)