apintofmild
Members
Although my driving is small potatoes compared to your average sales rep or taxi, I do about double the UK annual average. By my reckoning that makes me twice as likely to be involved in (or witness) a motoring incident (or not, for various reasons, but you get my drift).
Given my liking of all things gadget, I decided a dash cam might be interesting to play with. I do wonder if they're a double edged sword though: It may provide crucial evidence to help apportion blame, but what if I'm at fault? In the absence of any other witnesses, could a third party demand the footage to use against me...?
Before settling on the camera I chose (see later) I did a bit of research. Prices range upward from about £10 quid. There is quite a variation in physical size (often determined by screen size), viewing angle and resolution.
Here's my two penneth:
Personally I wanted a discrete install, so small physical size was crucial. I don't want to advertise the camera's presence as I don't want any hassle from anyone fearing their civil liberties are being infringed by being recorded. Nor do I want some comedian nicking it because it's prominently on display. Plus I really don't like things in my eyeline. Stickers, fluffy dice, phone mounts etc -anything other that the tax disc (now a parking permit) is a definite no no.
Looking at what's out there, viewing angles can be as little as 72 degrees. 118, 120, 140 are other common numbers. A few have 160 degrees, mine claims to have 170 degrees. Commercial vehicles have cameras all over the place with every angle covered. I'm just having the one (for now) so the more it can 'see' the better.
Some cameras offer 'infra red illumination'. I haven't seen the results so can't really judge, but I imagine half a dozen LEDs are going to be pretty weak at best. At worst I think they'll reflect back off the inside of the windscreen and obliterate the picture. To that end IR ***ist was off the menu.
As far as I'm concerned any built in screen is basically a viewfinder. I'd take a small body (with small screen) over a physically larger device with bigger screen. If I need to review any of the recordings it'll be by computer after the fact.
Some of the low end cameras record as little as 640 x 480 pixels. There won't be much in the way of detail there. Mine does up to a massive 2560x1080 which I'd argue is a bit excessive. I don't own a screen with that many horizontal pixels on which to view it! That said a large image viewed small will (almost) always look better than a small image viewed large.
Given my liking of all things gadget, I decided a dash cam might be interesting to play with. I do wonder if they're a double edged sword though: It may provide crucial evidence to help apportion blame, but what if I'm at fault? In the absence of any other witnesses, could a third party demand the footage to use against me...?
Before settling on the camera I chose (see later) I did a bit of research. Prices range upward from about £10 quid. There is quite a variation in physical size (often determined by screen size), viewing angle and resolution.
Here's my two penneth:
Personally I wanted a discrete install, so small physical size was crucial. I don't want to advertise the camera's presence as I don't want any hassle from anyone fearing their civil liberties are being infringed by being recorded. Nor do I want some comedian nicking it because it's prominently on display. Plus I really don't like things in my eyeline. Stickers, fluffy dice, phone mounts etc -anything other that the tax disc (now a parking permit) is a definite no no.
Looking at what's out there, viewing angles can be as little as 72 degrees. 118, 120, 140 are other common numbers. A few have 160 degrees, mine claims to have 170 degrees. Commercial vehicles have cameras all over the place with every angle covered. I'm just having the one (for now) so the more it can 'see' the better.
Some cameras offer 'infra red illumination'. I haven't seen the results so can't really judge, but I imagine half a dozen LEDs are going to be pretty weak at best. At worst I think they'll reflect back off the inside of the windscreen and obliterate the picture. To that end IR ***ist was off the menu.
As far as I'm concerned any built in screen is basically a viewfinder. I'd take a small body (with small screen) over a physically larger device with bigger screen. If I need to review any of the recordings it'll be by computer after the fact.
Some of the low end cameras record as little as 640 x 480 pixels. There won't be much in the way of detail there. Mine does up to a massive 2560x1080 which I'd argue is a bit excessive. I don't own a screen with that many horizontal pixels on which to view it! That said a large image viewed small will (almost) always look better than a small image viewed large.
). Removing these four screws allows easy removal of the ***embly.
