do track days? this could be of use...

[Copey]

granted, this wont be of great quality, but if you do a few track days and want to get some vids but don't want to fork out a load for a cam, then this may be the answer

www.maplin.co.uk/720p-journey-recorder-625685

EDIT:

cheaper on ebay, thanks to trouble2010

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HD-Journey-Recorder-720p-With-Colour-Screen-Record-Your-Journey-/170963551645?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item27ce38c59d&clk_rvr_id=433361852482

[trouble]

Few quid cheaper on ebay. Worth running one all the time out on the road to be honest.

[trouble]

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HD-Journey-Recorder-720p-With-Colour-Screen-Record-Your-Journey-/170963551645?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item27ce38c59d

[Copey]

well spotted, gotta be worth £30!

[Battles]

Grabbed one, had a few "gawd, that was close" moments recently so you never know...

[tardis]

Was looking at getting one of these for day to day driving, some of our drivers have bought them to put in their lorries at work and while not quite as good as BTCC in car coverage they could be very useful and I can't see it being long before insurance companies start to insist on them for high risk drivers etc..

[dave21478]

I have been looking into these for a while and I have one concern - you have to manually push a button to "record" an incident and prevent it being over-written. If you have just plowed into a bus stop full of nuns, orphans and kittehs, would you have the presence of mind to do so? or if you have just had a proper smash, would you be physically capable? It would be a bit of a bummer for the evidence that proves your innocence to get overwritten by a close-up of the hedge as the camera mindlessly keeps recording.
They are available with g-force sensors that will automatically save an incident if the g-forve peaks over a certain level which seems like a better idea, but the price goes up accordingly - closer to £100.

[tardis]

The type the drivers have at work are plugged into the cig lighter/accessory socket so start recording when the ignition is switched on and stop 10seconds after the ignition is switched off. So I presume as long as you remember to switch the motor off after a smash you should be ok. Then remember to whip the SD card out before you drive (if possible) home.

[nomad]

Thanks for posting this - I looked into these a couple of years ago but price then was £££'s
Like all tech stuff, newer ones have more features and cost less

some features I noticed on the dedicated units
auto start (no need to push buttons)
auto stop after a shock or crash
"panic" button to save the last several minutes
auto over-write of oldest footage so recording never fills up, it just loops around

A few of the bikers use a cheap camcorder with a bullet-cam, some very good results if you pick up a cheap used setup
Some ideas here
www.dogcamsport.co.uk/

[Clamity]

I've got this one fitted and wired into a feed off the ignition switch:

Ebay item 400331798962

On the whole it works as you'd expect:

• Igntion on, it starts recording.
  
• Igntion off, it runs on for a presettable time (e.g. 10 minutes) off it's internal battery.
  
• Records sound too.
  
• Has the option of a loop, so only the most recent 20 minutes of driving.
  
• Optionally pauses if the picture is stationary saving card space.
  
• Run-on recordings are stored in separate files from the driving recordings (handy if you get pulled over and want the conversation recorded for example).
  
• Each time you start the vehicle it starts a new file and deletes the oldest one to make space.
  
• Puts the date and time in the corner of the picture.
  

My main gripes are:

• The IR LEDs are pointless. They only illuminate a spot in the centre of the picture.
  
• You can pull the files over USB, so if you mount it somewhere hard to reach you can leave a USB cable plugged in and pull the recordings with a laptop. The trouble is, you have to push a button on the camera to get it into USB mode.
  
• The picture quality isn't really HD. It's super grainy in low light/IR mode.
  
• The microphone isn't all that sensitive.
  
• Sometimes the files can get corrupted, but VLC has always managed to play them.
  

On the whole, probably worth the £12.36 though and as it's still a current design the bugs will probably get ironed out in the coming months.

[nomad]

Just found a place doing modern stuff at what look like decent prices, may be an option instead of Ebay
Looks like they have a sale on for another couple of days...
www.lightinthebox.com/c/car-dvr_4922
Suspect you might have to add your own SD card to their units

basic but cheap, auto-start & overwrite old files etc.
www.lightinthebox.com/Night-Vision-Car-DVR--Car-Black-Box-with-2-5-Inch-Display-Motion-Detection-CMOS-Sensor_p199306.html

neat idea from £44 but not sure if auto-power on etc.
www.lightinthebox.com/1280x480-3-5-inch-display-car-dvr-with-tv-out-night-vision-loop-recording_p337460.html
www.lightinthebox.com/2-7-inch-120-degree-wide-angle-view-car-dvr-support-led-night-vision-with-built-in-microphone_p491797.html


I was looking for home CCTV but getting tempted to add one of these to the order

[omega]

don't forget the customs duty to add to the price

[Battles]

Dec 31, 2012 22:28:39 GMT Copey said:

EDIT:

cheaper on ebay, thanks to trouble2010

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HD-Journey-Recorder-720p-With-Colour-Screen-Record-Your-Journey-/170963551645?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item27ce38c59d&clk_rvr_id=433361852482

That posh built into the mirror number looks dead cool but, down in the bargain basement, my ebay cheapo arrived today.

It's the Maplin one, probably one of the B-grade customer returms they offer for a discount. Fully charged, too.




I've had a bit of a play with it but haven't yet worked out where I can upload the video to so that I can share it. Very happy with the quality and the functionality.

Some of the instructions are badly translated Chin-glish but it turns out I'm not so stoopid as I look and I now have it running in HD all of the time, making little five minute videos.

I only have an 8GB card so I've not yet filled it and tested the overwrite. The instructions suggest it will overwrite the oldest video, I'll report back when I get to that stage.

[montythemole]

I picked up one of the cheap 'bullet' ones, that looks like a small torch a year or so ago for track days etc. Main issue was at the time it was expensive to get one with a viewfinder so you had to hope it was pointed the right way and footage was good. Suited our track car as it's a seven-esque one with no roof etc so likely to get wet etc.

Stuck this video together of a mate's stag event, don't bother watching it all but if you flick through shows the sort of quality you get with these. Definitely good enough quality for most uses.

[Battles]

Jan 8, 2013 12:36:50 GMT montythemole said:

I picked up one of the cheap 'bullet' ones, that looks like a small torch a year or so ago for track days etc.

I've got a GoPro and one of the cheaper versions of the DogCam bullet style cameras, the Maplin/eBay one is nothing like as good but then they're nothing like the same price.

The quality and performance of the Maplin/eBay one is very similar to the ultra cheap 808-series keyring cameras you see on eBay but it's in a better form factor. The built in screen means there's a decent menu, which was always the let down on the 808s.