# Who has a dash cam?



## LSherratt (Dec 27, 2011)

How many of you have a dash cam? I've just purchased my first one, A118C and I've hard wired it in so it's all nice and tidy. I had been thinking about getting one for ages but after hearing about 2 incidents recently where garage mechanics have abused customers cars, it pushed me to get one.


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

I've had my Transcend 200 a few years now. Not caught anything exciting, but they're a good thing to have.


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## robertdon777 (Nov 3, 2005)

Yes after the Mrs was involved in a crash for cash scam.

Scumbags....get one that would be my advice now.


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

Got ThinkWare F750's (front and rear camera's) fitted in our two cars. Piece of mind really


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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

Anyone hard wired a camera in an Audi A4 please.
How easy/hard is it to do??
Thanks
Dave


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## DLGWRX02 (Apr 6, 2010)

I have the Nextbase 402g professional


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## DLGWRX02 (Apr 6, 2010)

camerashy said:


> Anyone hard wired a camera in an Audi A4 please.
> How easy/hard is it to do??
> Thanks
> Dave


I did in my s4 cabriolet, it's quite simple as I used to be an audio installer so I knew what I was looking for in regards to power supply etc. If your not confident then any audio shop or garage can do it. 1 hour max.


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## griffin1907 (Mar 4, 2006)

I've recently brought a Mini0805. Good bit of kit, not caught anything yet but had a few close shaves with red light jumpers - both cars & cyclists.


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## baxlin (Oct 8, 2007)

Have them in the Lexus, the Fabia, even have one in the JZR!


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Never in my life needed one, don't feel the need to have one. 

I think too often drivers drive far worse then they have a camera. Drivers also try to engineer incidents for the benefit of the camera and YouTube hits.

They do serve a purpose used correctly, but far too many people don't.


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## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

nope

dont want to see how bad my mrs driving is when im not in the car


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

Nah dont have one and havent really needed one

Like Kerr I think they're more of a "name and shame" sort of device to generate youtube hits and if you hit someone from behind it'll probably be used against you


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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

Beancounter said:


> Got ThinkWare F750's (front and rear camera's) fitted in our two cars. Piece of mind really


Just seen the Youtube video on the review for this camera and looks very impressive where did you buy yours from please and is it hard wired DIY or auto electrician
Thanks
Dave


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

camerashy said:


> Just seen the Youtube video on the review for this camera and looks very impressive where did you buy yours from please and is it hard wired DIY or auto electrician
> Thanks
> Dave


Bought one off Amazon (paid £265 including the hardwire kit) and one off a fellow forum member on RRSport.co.uk (paid £190 including the hardwire kit), both brand new, just right place, right time.

In our GL we had an auto electrician do it yesterday as I have no idea how to hard wire things, cost £60 which I didn't think was too bad.
In our BM I've not hard wired it yet (though I have hidden the wiring) so that will be off to the same auto leccy guy next week.


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## LSherratt (Dec 27, 2011)

The hardwiring is really easy, plenty of guides on YouTube. Also Halfords will do it for £30 which sounds a good price (not sure if that includes the price of a hardwire kit which is anywhere between £4-20).


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## ffrs1444 (Jun 7, 2008)

Kerr said:


> Never in my life needed one, don't feel the need to have one.
> 
> I think too often drivers drive far worse then they have a camera. Drivers also try to engineer incidents for the benefit of the camera and YouTube hits.
> 
> They do serve a purpose used correctly, but far too many people don't.


Are you good at remember registration plates , I got smashed of the road and he managed to drive away leaving me in a tree and I didn't have no witness and police didnt care , back then I wished I had a cam


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## Car Key (Mar 20, 2007)

I don’t have one. No real desire to have a record of me driving here and there. Might change at some point, if I’m on the receiving end of some kind of traffic incident. However, last summer, whilst my car was parked in a public place, unattended, some scrote keyed my drivers door. Now I’d have loved to have caught them on cam, in the act, leading to a conviction. So a cam that switches on, whilst car is unattended in public, I would definitely consider. Really needs 360 degree field of view. I know Richo do a 360 cam, £199 last time I checked. Would imagine, with such a wide angle lens, picture detail is compromised, the further away a subject is. So maybe a cam with 2 x 180 or 3 x 120 lenses would be better. You end up with 2-3 streams of video, but as I indicated, footage will only be reviewed after such rare (hopefully) incidents, and maybe those 2-3 streams can be viewed at once with a split screen.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

ffrs1444 said:


> Are you good at remember registration plates , I got smashed of the road and he managed to drive away leaving me in a tree and I didn't have no witness and police didnt care , back then I wished I had a cam


I think I'd be more likely to assaulted or stabbed in the street than rammed off the road. I've never felt the need for a body camera either.

You must have really bad officer if a serious offence is dismissed like that.


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## Rebel007 (May 7, 2013)

I have one in my vehicle also another in the wife's car, had them for the last 2-3 years and only looked at the footage half a dozen times at most, to be honest I would rather have one and not need it than not have one when I did need it for some reason!

By the way mine does have an impact sensor so any impact (sensitivity adjustable) turns the camera's on and starts recording for either 15,30 seconds or one minute it has twin cameras and gives a reasonable picture certainly enough to see a registration number or identify a person during daylight or twilight hour's.

In the real dark I don't suppose the results would be quite so good but since the car is usually tucked away in a garage then it isn't a major issue.

One point I will make. my dashcam isn't hard wired and that was a mistake! I took the car in for service on one occasion the dashcam was disconnected and removed from the screen whilst at the dealership it was actually put in the foot well on the passenger side when I arrived to collect the car, my car mileage seemed to increase by over 40 miles (unfortunately I didn't have that written anywhere either) and the petrol gauge was also a lot lower./

I challenged the dealership but got nowhere, so in my opinion hard wiring is imperative I couldn't prove anything was done, but nevertheless I know in my own mind somebody drove my car without permission and there is no way a test drive needed to be in excess of 40 miles!

PS My car is only a 3.0 litre Mercedes SLK not as exotic as many cars on this site but it is my car and I don't expect my trust to be abused or my petrol used either, for a number of weeks I was half expecting a speeding ticket or something but I did have mileage and time vehicle collected noted on my Invoice just in case.


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

Sorry, did I read people are paying to have them fitted?. Really?. Buy an add a fuse, they take about 11 seconds to fit.
I've had the same one in 3 cars, it cost about 1.99 delivered from Ebay.


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

With zero technical skills and a few £k's worth of car, spending less than the cost of a night out is week worth it for me 

To be fair, the BM has the battery in boot so means trim removal etc, plus shielding for the DAB, not just as simple as adding a piggy back fuse, especially when installing a rear camera too. 

Each to their own though, if you have the skills then silly not to use them, but I don't


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## robertdon777 (Nov 3, 2005)

Kerr said:


> Never in my life needed one, don't feel the need to have one.
> 
> I think too often drivers drive far worse then they have a camera. Drivers also try to engineer incidents for the benefit of the camera and YouTube hits.
> 
> They do serve a purpose used correctly, but far too many people don't.


I was probably in this camp, until the scum that caused a deliberate crash with my Mrs.

We still can't get them to pay up, we had to fork out our excess etc, no doubt insurance increase this year too. If it had of been on camera...would of been sorted by now.

Our insurance has backed us because of the other drivers history for it but their insurance are not accepting the blame.

For lone female drivers they are essential.


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## LSherratt (Dec 27, 2011)

PugIain said:


> Sorry, did I read people are paying to have them fitted?. Really?. Buy an add a fuse, they take about 11 seconds to fit.
> I've had the same one in 3 cars, it cost about 1.99 delivered from Ebay.


That's what I've done;

Add a fuse with a 5A fuse = £2
12v to 5v converter with USB attachment = £2
2m USB to mini USB = £2


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

robertdon777 said:


> I was probably in this camp, until the scum that caused a deliberate crash with my Mrs.
> 
> We still can't get them to pay up, we had to fork out our excess etc, no doubt insurance increase this year too. If it had of been on camera...would of been sorted by now.
> 
> ...


You do live in one of the hotspots for this kind of behaviour, which does make a bit of difference.

I do agree that they are good used in the right way, my problem is the that there is far, far too many people using them just to be right annoying people, or making incidents happen that wouldn't have otherwise.

YouTube is awash with clips, and most of them are absolute rubbish. People making zero incidents into near misses, or sometimes accidents. I see far too many people using them for aggressive reasons rather than proof post accident.

The other issue is too many people see them as another safety net. Rather than trying to avoid being in an accident as much as they can, they feel if there is an accident they'll be ok as they have a camera. It puts people into a false sense of security and in the wrong frame of mind.

Then there's all the shaming. Incidents happen quite a lot on the road and a lot of clips are posted to shame. The camera car edits the videos to suit, yet quite often you can see a whole host of errors in their driving, or often mitigating reasons for why they get involved in all these incidents.

People don't grasp that they find themselves in the middle of so many incidents is usually because of their own driving.

There's so many cars now got cameras, and so many ready to clype for the smallest of reasons. It's getting beyond stupid.

Without a doubt on the very rare occasions a dashcam is worth its weight in gold, however I feel they are creating far more issues than they really solve.


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## Caledoniandream (Oct 9, 2009)

Have cameras in all my vehicles, never looked at the footage.
Check once a month if the setting are alright and the picture is correct.
Have Trancend 200 in all, ( with the chrome ring blackened ) 

I see it more like a seatbelt or an airbag, nonsense as long as you don't need it, but very convenient if you are involved in an accident. 
Where other people use them for, it's their problem, I use them for protecting my people and my stuff.
It's like a cctv for the car, I don't look at the cctv footage of my house ever, but would something happen it's nice to know it's there.


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## Techgeek (Jun 7, 2007)

Caledoniandream said:


> Have cameras in all my vehicles, never looked at the footage.
> Check once a month if the setting are alright and the picture is correct.
> Have Trancend 200 in all, ( with the chrome ring blackened )
> 
> ...


If you need to use either your car or house cctv after an event you might be disappointed, hard drives and sd cards are guaranteed to fail at some point, and if you aren't doing at least monthly playback tests you might not notice corrupt storage until it's too late.


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

I don't have one but my wife does, it makes her feel better so that's all that matters to me (her employer paid for it) , it doesn't make her a worse driver and neither does she post any videos on the internet either, I judge people on what they do and not what others may or may not do, after all look at all the people who use their mobile to take videos/pictures of incidents instead of helping, it doesn't mean all mobile owners are bad.


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## empsburna (Apr 5, 2006)

Kerr said:


> You do live in one of the hotspots for this kind of behaviour, which does make a bit of difference.


After driving in and out of Birmingham at rush hour for many years (in fact, at any time of day or night) you will fear for your life at least twice per journey.

You cannot begin to imagine the stupidity of some other road (and pavement) users to the point where no matter how far you look ahead for danger you will be shocked and amazed every time you make the trip.

I am tempted to install a second front facing camera as a backup.

I prefer driving in Central London at rush hour.


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## bradleymarky (Nov 29, 2013)

I have an Eprance in my car but cant leave it on show in my area. I always plug it in no matter how far i go but the wife doesnt bother...


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## Arvi (Apr 11, 2007)

I purchased the Transcend 220 at Christmas after experiencing quite a lot of idiotic driving over the previous year. I also had someone bump into my car and drive off whilst it was parked up once, and had I had the cam at that point I may have been able to trace the driver.

I think it makes me drive sensibly as well as I know I am being recorded. My car was being serviced a couple of weeks ago and it was also nice to see the mechanics taking care when carrying out the work.

If it saves me going through one disputed insurance claim its worth its weight in gold.

Hardwired to the fusebox myself using a Nextbase kit which is compatible with the Transcend power socket which was as difficult as actually changing a fuse. It comes with a magnet loop to shield it from any interference and runs fine alongside my Parrot kit.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/1316...ICEP3.0.0-L&ff14=122&viphx=1&ops=true&ff13=80

It comes with Lane Guidance and distance alert which is a handy feature as well as the parking mode using its own power pack to record for a period after turning your car off.

I'm not sure if its a deterrent to amateur thieves thieves as well who may think twice about breaking into your car if they see they may be recorded, or if it invites a smashed window to steal the cam but either way I leave it in and with privacy glass in my car its not blaringly obvious that it is there.

Finally it helps me retain evidence of any conversations had with the wife that I can keep for future reference in case of "I never said that" scenarios.


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## empsburna (Apr 5, 2006)

Arvi said:


> Finally it helps me retain evidence of any conversations had with the wife that I can keep for future reference in case of "I never said that" scenarios.


Bloody good idea.


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## mikethefish (Feb 4, 2011)

I watched a car in Plymouth completely turn over on someone's dashcam so can be very useful for legal proceedings etc !!!!!


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

I indeed have a dashcam. Tend to use it for the longer journeys rather than the day to day stuff although I should get in a habit of doing that as well. 

To be honest with the appalling driving standards and dishonesty of people I think they're becoming more and more essential. 

Just today I was crawling along in traffic and a cyclist (minus lights at 8am on a dull day) comes down the middle of the road at a very busy junction. A car is being let out by another driver as it's almost stationary traffic. The cyclist comes through the cars at some pace and brakes for this car that's turning right. All the while the cyclist is shaking his head an making a fuss. He's the one filtering through somewhat precariously and put himself in a dodgy situation but would no doubt be blaming everyone else if something happens. 

So I'll be keeping mine switched on and I recommend anyone to get one themselves.


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## jag1 (Jan 24, 2010)

Have a mini 0805 very good playback and discreet behind the mirror I have it plugged in to lighter socket on console.


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## Webarno (Jul 17, 2014)

I've just picked up a Transcend 200 and it seems good quality for the price. 
Question though, does everyone leave theirs plugged in 24/7 and if so, any negative effect on the car battery?


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## 7and911 (Mar 2, 2014)

Just looking at it from a different view

http://www.sussex.police.uk/whats-happening/latest/news-stories/2016/01/22/jailed-selsey-motorcyclist-who-filmed-his-own-dangerous-driving


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

Webarno said:


> I've just picked up a Transcend 200 and it seems good quality for the price.
> Question though, does everyone leave theirs plugged in 24/7 and if so, any negative effect on the car battery?


Mine in the car wired in permanently. It stays powered for about a minute after locking up, then goes off. I've had no problems over the years with this.


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## chunkytfg (Feb 1, 2009)

7and911 said:


> Just looking at it from a different view
> 
> http://www.sussex.police.uk/whats-happening/latest/news-stories/2016/01/22/jailed-selsey-motorcyclist-who-filmed-his-own-dangerous-driving


150 clips on the memory card! Thats just irresponsible leaving that much footage on your card. secondly that clip showed a lot of bad riding but a surprising amount of clips of him doing what would be considered perfectly normal safe moves on a motorcycle.


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## Natalie (Jan 19, 2011)

Webarno said:


> I've just picked up a Transcend 200 and it seems good quality for the price.
> Question though, does everyone leave theirs plugged in 24/7 and if so, any negative effect on the car battery?


I had mine hardwired, haven't noticed any battery drain issues.


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

Natalie said:


> I had mine hardwired, haven't noticed any battery drain issues.


The ThnkWare F750 has a voltage meter and will switch off below a set level, or can be set to go off after a set time limit, thus protecting the battery when used in park mode.

I believe the Blackvue does similar, but you need additional hardware, 'Pro magic' I think to benefit from that feature.


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

chunkytfg said:


> 150 clips on the memory card! Thats just irresponsible leaving that much footage on your card. secondly that clip showed a lot of bad riding but a surprising amount of clips of him doing what would be considered perfectly normal safe moves on a motorcycle.


Thing is if you're going to have moments where you ride/drive like a tool, why have a camera on? Making a movie of your crime is not too wise!

When I have mine on in the car I can honestly say it keeps me in check. Not that I'm some reckless nutter otherwise but I'm aware it's recording my mistakes as well.


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## baxlin (Oct 8, 2007)

Apart from the JZR, which I fit and plug in each time because of lack of security, mine are hard wired to an accessory position controlled fuse, so no battery drain issues. All wiring is hidden behind trim, as I hate trailing wires!!!

I chose cameras that would sit behind the rear view mirror, so easy to check/access for aiming etc, and wont distract the driver.

I also chose not to have GPS, just on screen date/time recording.


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