Dash cam

09 Ultra · 12-17-2021, 03:52 PM

After reading a recent post, it made me think a dash cam might be a good idea. Does anyone have any recommendations of a particular model?

IOS 3 · 12-17-2021, 04:10 PM

Here is my reply from a different thread, same subject. I didn't know how to link to that thread, so this is a copy / paste:

"We just purchased the Garmin RV 785 as a replacement to a failed Garmin RV 770. The new one has a built in dash cam which I like. Full disclosure, the RV rides so rough that the camera video is jittery - but more than adequate to capture an event with enough detail to matter. As others have said, the Garmin RV units have specific features for RV routing (I think it's just big rig routing with tweaks, but I don't know that for sure...). This unit also has built in traffic, which is interesting but not important in my opinion. I'm a Garmin fan, so there may be other options that I wouldn't know anything about. Never considered anything except Garmin. PM me if you want more detail on the unit etc..."

deckape · 12-17-2021, 04:37 PM

Get one . Does not have to be the best. We have a garmin from Walmart for about $50.00 . Records over and over . Easy setup. Showed everything that happined in my accident.

bigb · 12-17-2021, 04:49 PM

I like the ones where you can download the video right to your phone. Before that is was either watch on PC with special viewing software or watch on tiny monitor screen on camera with no way to save or send video to law enforcement or ins co. A lot of folks were talking good about the Rover R2-4K so I ordered one and have been happy with it.
Technology changes so fast no sense in overthinking it and buying a really expensive one, in a couple years it will still be older tech.

09 Ultra · 12-17-2021, 08:54 PM

Thank you for the input. The all in one with the GPS might be a good way to go.

thompwil · 12-18-2021, 04:26 AM

We got a Garmin Dash Cam 46. It mounts directly to the windshield so the video is solid and steady, no jitters. I have it mounted center just above the windshield wipers and it’s unnoticeable. I like that it integrates with the RV890 GPS and the Garmin Drive app on the phone. The app supports multiple dash cams so I’ll be getting at least one more for the rear. I’m happy with it

l1v3fr33ord1 · 12-18-2021, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IOS 3

Here is my reply from a different thread, same subject. I didn't know how to link to that thread, so this is a copy / paste:

On each post, in the upper-right corner, there is a post number (for this post, it will read "#7"). Depending on your browser, you can hover over that number and select "Copy Link." Then, add some text such as "link here" to your new post. Select that text, then click on the Earth-with-chainlink icon in the editing tools bar. Paste the link you copied there, then click OK or Save or whatever the button is. This will turn that selected text into a link.

You can do the same with an entire thread, except instead of copying the post number copy the link from the top of your browser window.

If that's not clear enough, I can try again to explain.

l1v3fr33ord1 · 12-18-2021, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 09 Ultra

Thank you for the input. The all in one with the GPS might be a good way to go.

Some folks have found that putting the GPS where you can see/use it makes the dash cam too far from the windshield. You may want to consider separate units.

Here is a link to a search of iRV2 posts with the phrase "dash cam" in them.

BobC · 12-18-2021, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deckape

Get one . Does not have to be the best. We have a garmin from Walmart for about $50.00 . Records over and over . Easy setup. Showed everything that happined in my accident.

Can you provide a link? I don't see a Garmin dash cam from Walmart for less than $109.

deckape · 12-18-2021, 02:49 PM

My mistake .. It's a apeman c420 dashcam $42.17

spierce617 · 12-19-2021, 07:56 PM

Here is what I would recommend for a dash cam. I have 2 of these and they work great. The last on I bought from Amazon for 100.00 on sale.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074JT3698...roduct_details

Here is a link to another forum that I posted about this dash cam also.
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f53/litt...ad-562546.html

Nmdoug · 12-22-2021, 11:16 PM

You do not need to spend a lot of money on one but you do want to have one. I had mine only two weeks when a guy did a suden u-turn in front of me. After his wife made a clsim that I had run a stop sign and hit her I sent the the video of the crash to my insurance. They could see the whole incident and that a guy was driving and the only one in the car and that there was not an intersection anywhere in sight. They told to go ahead and get it fixed at no cost to me whatever. The $35 camera paid for it's self many, many times over. All my vehicles have a camera......

AJMike · 12-23-2021, 07:00 AM

When I started looking for a dash cam my first thoughts were that I wanted something with a small footprint so as to not cover a lot of space on the windshield and something that could record long enough so that I would not be over-writing part of the trip. I wanted to be sure that I had the entire trip recorded just in case I needed it when I got back home.

In my case I bought a Rexing dash cam. It is very small, supports up to a 256GB micro card, offers a lot of different recording formats and has worked well for us.

One thing that I did find is that you might want to have a hard attachment to the windshield rather than one of those suction cup attachments. When I first bought the Rexing I used a suction cup mechanism to position it and found that the recording had a tendency to jump around as the arm holding the device moved when we hit a rough road or separators on concrete roads. I replaced it with the 2 sided tape attachment and have not had that problem since.

Here is the Rexing I bought. It is only a front facing camera since we have no rear window in our RV, but they also make front and rear camera models.

I was happy enough with it that I bought one (a two camera model) for our car.

cruizerEd · 12-23-2021, 07:37 AM

I have one. The compression is horrendous. If you try to make out any details the compression has thrown it out. It might be 4K sensor but all the data is thrown out.

I wish I could recommend one but I would focus on getting one where you can read plates etc.

bigb · 12-23-2021, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by btrrus

I have one. The compression is horrendous. If you try to make out any details the compression has thrown it out. It might be 4K sensor but all the data is thrown out.

I wish I could recommend one but I would focus on getting one where you can read plates etc.

Can you explain further? I find the video on mine to be very good, no issues at all. What is the quality of your card? A high quality brand class 10 U3 rated card is necessary.
As far as license plate capture on a moving vehicle you'll need to spend way more money than an ordinary dash cam costs, license plate cameras have special software that locates numbers and cost $$$$. Best solution if possible is to read it out loud with the dash cam set to record audio.

cruizerEd · 12-23-2021, 08:35 AM

Here is my amazon review

AJMike · 12-23-2021, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by btrrus

I have one. The compression is horrendous. If you try to make out any details the compression has thrown it out. It might be 4K sensor but all the data is thrown out.

I wish I could recommend one but I would focus on getting one where you can read plates etc.

Of course you have some control over the visible details since you can set the recording resolution. It is true that there is a great deal of compression in the video or you would not be able to record hours of it on a micro card, but if you select a higher resolution you have much more detail, although for a shorter time.

I have mine set to record at 1440P (2560 x 1440) and there is a great deal of detail visible, but one of the questions you need to ask yourself is what would be the purpose of the dash cam. For me it is to record what happened in case of an accident and capturing of license plates is secondary. Still, at that resolution I have done screen captures and been able to see license plate numbers provided the vehicles are not too far away.

As always, I think it is a balance of what functionality you want and what you want to spend.

AJMike · 12-23-2021, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by btrrus

Here is my amazon review

What resolution are you recording at?

CharlesMoore · 12-23-2021, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 09 Ultra

After reading a recent post, it made me think a dash cam might be a good idea. Does anyone have any recommendations of a particular model?

IMHO - Point to research: We bought a good looking dash cam before we left for the road this Fall. I was so happy when it came in that I immediately opened the box and tried to install it on our 02 Journey vertical windscreen. No joy! The hardware supplied would not allow this and still get the field of view I needed ( it would not go down enough as the lens hit the windshield before the field of view was correct).

I then went to my toad and tried to mount it on the Journey - same problem won't mount to a vertical and get the field of view needed. I sent the new one back. The Garmin 785 mentioned is a good option. Our current Garmin 6" does shake like crazy but we put a foam dampened and it is just ok now,

cruizerEd · 12-23-2021, 10:10 AM

1080P like it says in the review.