Stealth Dash Cam recommendations.

darrude · June 4, 2018

Hi, we have just updated our Rx400h to a 2012 450h advance. Loving the step up in refinement.

I was going to put a dash cam in, having looked around the web the think ware F770 seems to be the best bet, but thought i'd ask the question here and see if there are any suggestions/recommendation. Main consideration for me is for a stealthy, set and forget system.

Thanks,

Darren.

Dewillia · June 4, 2018

They are all pretty much install and forget, they use continuous loop filming so the card always stores latest data.

rayaans · June 4, 2018

A119 for sure. Much cheaper and stealthier.

Thinkware are having a laugh charging £200+ for that thing

sorcerer · June 4, 2018

48 minutes ago, Dewillia said:

They are all pretty much install and forget

No they aren't. You can't leave something like a Nextbase 502G or a Transcend 200 in the car overnight or even just in a car park for the day, for fear of someone breaking in and stealing it as they are big and easily visible from outside.

Like Ray above, I have the A119S and that is very unobtrusive and is hardly visible from outside at all so I do leave it in permanently. As you can see, the lens just pokes out under the dotted rain sensor area:

Dewillia · June 4, 2018

56 minutes ago, sorcerer said:

No they aren't. You can't leave something like a Nextbase 502G or a Transcend 200 in the car overnight or even just in a car park for the day, for fear of someone breaking in and stealing it as they are big and easily visible from outside.

Like Ray above, I have the A119S and that is very unobtrusive and is hardly visible from outside at all so I do leave it in permanently. As you can see, the lens just pokes out under the dotted rain sensor area:

I was commenting on the install and forget not whether the thing will get nicked or not

sorcerer · June 4, 2018

29 minutes ago, Dewillia said:

I was commenting on the install and forget not whether the thing will get nicked or not

That's the point - you can't install and forget a good number of them!

The OP specifically said "stealthy, set and forget".

In operation they are all 'set and forget' but not all of them are stealthy.

darrude · June 4, 2018

thanks for the feedback and picture, nice neat install.

I was put off that one as I have a similar one (recommended on the IS forum)

but when I witnessed a Ford Edge not stop for a roundabout, pretty much jumping it, I thought, yay, finally an excuse to the download the footage, and it was missing. Since then I have started downloading bits to check and it seems to regularly drop footage, maybe only about 5%, so think i was unlucky not get the incident.

Have you ever checked yours? how well does it work.

many thanks,

Darren.

sorcerer · June 4, 2018

It seems to work very well. The video files it produces are good in both day and night conditions.

We got the car on 2nd February and I had the cam fitted about a week later (£57 inc VAT). Since then, I've taken the card out once a week and just chosen a couple of random files to check and all have been OK. Of course, I could just be missing any that haven't worked properly but I don't think so. I'm confident that it's all working as it should, so much so that I'll probably only check once a month now, maybe even once every couple of months.

Sod's Law says that when you need it, something may be wrong as in your example above with the Ford Edge, but I suppose that could happen with even the most expensive cameras. Because we can't see what it's doing or watch it while we drive, any camera has to be taken on faith and I'm happy that this is doing what it should, and doing it well.

rayaans · June 5, 2018

18 hours ago, darrude said:

thanks for the feedback and picture, nice neat install.

I was put off that one as I have a similar one (recommended on the IS forum)

but when I witnessed a Ford Edge not stop for a roundabout, pretty much jumping it, I thought, yay, finally an excuse to the download the footage, and it was missing. Since then I have started downloading bits to check and it seems to regularly drop footage, maybe only about 5%, so think i was unlucky not get the incident.

Have you ever checked yours? how well does it work.

many thanks,

Darren.

Works fine and doesn't miss footage especially not 5%. Perhaps an early version? They regularly come out with updates for the software on these. I wouldn't go for the ones that look the same but are cheaper - either spytec or viofo branded are the ones to get

Hadrian · June 5, 2018

How is it fixed to the screen ? Sticky pads can sometimes fail when they get hot. Although a spot of clear mastic would probably work ?

darrude · June 5, 2018

Well having done a bit of reading last night, it would seems the number 1 cause for dropped footage is a dodgy SD card, so I'll buy 2 when I order the dash cam. thanks for the recommendation, think I'll go for that. did you hard wire or just plus into the floor level charge point. I thinking of just going into that, it's how I wired the cheapo one on the 400h.

darrude · June 5, 2018

30 minutes ago, Hadrian said:

How is it fixed to the screen ? Sticky pads can sometimes fail when they get hot. Although a spot of clear mastic would probably work ?

Sticky pad, my IS one has been in for 3 years, no issues.

sorcerer · June 5, 2018

Yep, sticky pad and no issues so far.

This is the one I got and, because my back injury was playing up at the time I had it professionally installed at a local auto-electricians instead of doing it myself, cost £57 inc VAT.

rayaans · June 5, 2018

1 hour ago, darrude said:

Well having done a bit of reading last night, it would seems the number 1 cause for dropped footage is a dodgy SD card, so I'll buy 2 when I order the dash cam. thanks for the recommendation, think I'll go for that. did you hard wire or just plus into the floor level charge point. I thinking of just going into that, it's how I wired the cheapo one on the 400h.

Make sure you test it with something like h2testw. Lots of fakes about which drop footage and get corrupted easily.

I went for a Samsung 32gb one.

Also, the sticky pads should be OK if cleaning the screen well beforehand and attaching the holder without the dashcam attached, allowing it to stick properly for a few hours.

Odysseus · June 5, 2018

I'm looking at dash cams at the moment and was quoted £347 for a professionally fitted Thinkware F800 Pro.

I then called my insurance company and was informed that while there's a discount for having a dash cam, that cost would be outweighed by the admin charge to cover a 'policy change', so I'd have to give them £8.80.

The ROI might take a while...

J Henderson · June 5, 2018

5 hours ago, darrude said:

Well having done a bit of reading last night, it would seems the number 1 cause for dropped footage is a dodgy SD card, so I'll buy 2 when I order the dash cam.

Make sure they're not SanDisk ones.

sorcerer · June 5, 2018

48 minutes ago, Odysseus said:

I then called my insurance company and was informed that while there's a discount for having a dash cam

I personally wouldn't bother about any discount. Maybe I'm being cynical but what happens if you're involved in a crash and the camera happens to be faulty and missed the action? Having given you a discount on the basis of having a camera to catch any incidents, they may reduce the payout or perhaps even refuse the claim altogether because you haven't kept your part of the bargain.

OK, I'm wearing my tin-foil hat while I'm typing this but we all know that insurance is legalised robbery and they'll do anything to avoid paying out if they can get away with it.

rayaans · June 5, 2018

36 minutes ago, sorcerer said:

I personally wouldn't bother about any discount. Maybe I'm being cynical but what happens if you're involved in a crash and the camera happens to be faulty and missed the action? Having given you a discount on the basis of having a camera to catch any incidents, they may reduce the payout or perhaps even refuse the claim altogether because you haven't kept your part of the bargain.

OK, I'm wearing my tin-foil hat while I'm typing this but we all know that insurance is legalised robbery and they'll do anything to avoid paying out if they can get away with it.

When sorting my son's insurance out with Admiral, I asked about this

They gave a £25 discount for having the dashcam. However, they said that seen as though I told them I have a dashcam on that car, they would still ask for footage even if I didn't want the discount. Obviously, took the discount lol

They said payout won't be affected by a faulty dashcam as they make their own assessments anyway and dashcam's only provide evidence. Was told that you would have to pay the discount back though.

RobinGBrown · June 8, 2018

On 6/4/2018 at 12:52 PM, sorcerer said:

I have this exact setup with the A119S and I can thoroughly recommend it because it's super stealthy in the position above. Don't bother with a hardwire kit as wiring it in is easy enough too as the cable will slip in under the various bits of interior and is long enough to reach to the floor mounted socket in the middle.

Make sure to get the right 119 from Amazon/whoever as there are a few variants - get the GPS mount version:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VIOFO-A119S-Version-Capacitor-Recording/dp/B06Y2P7VB9/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1528448212&sr=8-2&keywords=A119s

I've also fitted a non-GPS 119 to my rear window as the price is sufficiently low that fitting two is better than finding a specialised front and rear camera

Thumbs up!

p.s. I can also attest to the stickiness and durability of the 3M sticky pad that comes with the camera - it was exposed to direct sunlight last summer in 30+ degrees heat while parked all week and hasn't budged a millimetre.

rayaans · June 8, 2018

I wouldnt bother with GPS - insurance companies will use it against you if you were happening to go 1mph over the speed limit.

jumbojake · June 10, 2018

I've got the thinkware F770 in my IS200d and cannot recommend it enough ... easy to fit (hardwire) and does the job really well, and you have to look really close to see it from the outside.

As soon as the warranty is up, I'll be fitting the same (or a newer model) to my wife's Rx450, but due to the windscreen setup,

rayaans · June 10, 2018

1 hour ago, jumbojake said:

I've got the thinkware F770 in my IS200d and cannot recommend it enough ... easy to fit (hardwire) and does the job really well, and you have to look really close to see it from the outside.

As soon as the warranty is up, I'll be fitting the same (or a newer model) to my wife's Rx450, but due to the windscreen setup,

Twice as good as the Viofo A119 according to the price though........ I doubt it

jumbojake · June 10, 2018

Depends what you want.

For me, front and rear view is essential, speed camera warning is excellent and the parking mode options are a must have for supermarket car parks... I think it's very good value, but depends what you need.

sorcerer · June 10, 2018

16 minutes ago, jumbojake said:

[...] and the parking mode options are a must have for supermarket car parks

It's your money and if you have enough of it to spend in that way then you have the right to do so and fair enough - but I really must take issue with the above.

It still only has front and back views - you could easily be hit from the side either by another car, a supermarket trolley, or even some ne'r-do-well smashing a side window to get something from inside and you would not see the culprit. You'd come back to scratches and/or dents and/or broken windows and be none the wiser as to who or what had caused it.

rayaans · June 11, 2018

The Viofo A129 has recently come out and it's a dual channel camera.

Don't see why you'd need GPS or speed camera alerts? The GPS can be used against you to work out speeds very accurately and if you're driving even 3-4mph over the speed limit according to the speedo it shouldn't matter anyway.