in car cameras

[Chip Pan Dan]

these are becoming very popular and can help cover your ass if your ever involved in a accident. im going to get one for the civic.
this is the one my mates got in his disco, sits behind the rear view mirror and its hardly noticeable.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/720P-HD-mini- ... 5d43fb43d2

but what are your thoughts on these?

theres plenty of videos on utube of people doing stupid things on the road.

[TurboDan]

Sweet then we can all watch how you actually manage to roll cars over!

[Chip Pan Dan]

would of been handy for that.

rip smoke grey cav </3

[Cavalier342]

Not a bad idea to be honest. Too many ignorant people here who have no basic concept of what driving is about.... I can see a lot of arguments coming up regarding privacy issues, or cctv licences being needed and such.... But to catch muppets driving like muppets is always good.

[Robsey]

I already use a camera in the front windscreen of the Cav,
due to the number of numpties that try to play dodgems on the motorways
(M60, M62, M56 and M53).

Be aware though that they are very thirsty for memory.
I have a 2 Gb card in mine that gives 16 files, each with 3 minutes of footage before it becomes full, and then starts over-writing the earliest files.

Video quality is quite good, but not good enough to clearly display a number plate at the "official" distance from the car in-front of you on the motorway.

Also - do consider that the camera will only be useful for insurance claim and blame if it is pointing in the correct direction.
So as such you may also want one looking out of the rear window incase someone nudges you from behind.

[ilovedmymantas]

I already use a camera in the front windscreen of the Cav,
due to the number of numpties that try to play dodgems on the motorways
(M60, M62, M56 and M53).

Be aware though that they are very thirsty for memory.
I have a 2 Gb card in mine that gives 16 files, each with 3 minutes of footage before it becomes full, and then starts over-writing the earliest files.

Video quality is quite good, but not good enough to clearly display a number plate at the "official" distance from the car in-front of you on the motorway.

Also - do consider that the camera will only be useful for insurance claim and blame if it is pointing in the correct direction.
So as such you may also want one looking out of the rear window incase someone nudges you from behind.

Likewise, I've been using a camera for a couple of years now, albeit only on longer trips. I should really use it locally too. My first cam was this :. I thought it was good, although number plates were pixelated unless I was about 6ft away, traffic lights and cars with led bulbs strobed like a disco.
Now I use one like this that's 1080p :. Much better! Now it's only Volvo lights that strobe.
Here's a grab from a video .
I swap between 2 16Gb cards that can be used to full or set at 1/3/5 minutes before over-writing, as above. A 16Gb card gives 2hrs+ at 1080p full HD
Re: official distance. Since a lot of my experience comes from pre-digital 35mm photography i'll use that as a base. These cameras are pre-set to wide angle.(28mm in old school terms). 50-55mm is standard eyesight so if you want to compare you have to do it with 2x zoom. (unfortunately digital).
Here's my rough guide:
Do your research. 1080p full HD is now cheap, Ignore sellers claiming 1280p-it's not a real format.
Buy class 10 cards, they're the best for video and cheap to buy online.
Most sellers say to position behind rear-view mirror as I'm doing but thinking about it this seems to be pretty poor. It doesn't show what you see. e.g. (from experience) van overtakes you and camper in front of you, uphill, blind summit. You see approaching car come over the hill, near miss, the camera sees the camper in front of you. I think behind your sun-visor is probably a better place, at least until we can buy bionic implants online
A rear-facing camera is also a good idea.

[Hayward691]

I been using a cam for a while... Have a 32gb card on low quality film it's good for 5/6 hours... Caught so many twats it's unreal!!! Good for people on the phone too..
A stuck mine out the rear window... Had a guy tear up to my rear bumper, spot the camera and dropped back at least 4 car lengths and stayed there... Lol

[VauxhallGirl]

the scariest videos on YouTube seem to come from Russia. I am never driving out there!

[Cavalier342]

Russian videos amuse me Having grown up there, I haven't ever recalled seeing anything like that. But it doesn't surprise me! It is the type of place where most rural police officers can be bribed with a bottle of vodka...

[humbucker]

Most in-car cameras are banned at race circuits because of insufficient mounts (not robustly attached (think suction cups)) but this has just been approved at most UK race circuits:

http://www.headrestmount.co.uk/

[Terry]

I've got one for when i'm in the wagon. No point in the car as i'm usually the bell end racing off

Whenever i've had the camera in my truck nothing ever happens, The one day I leave it at home and I get cut up half dozen times

[Hayward691]

I had my massive fujifilm camera hanging from my windscreen when I went down pod... Got a funny look but nothing said...

Got my dash cam hard wired now... Fitting one in the back soon