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For the uninitiated this is a special camera thats fitted to the winscreen and continually videos your journey as seen out of the window. They are becoming increasingly popular in the uk and are very common in the USA where law suits are more prevalant.
they cost from £80 - £350 depending on the facilities etc as far as i can see.
I just wonder if anyone actually has one and what they think of it. What model etc.
I can see this becoming quite a popular "must have" in years to come as there are quite an number of advantages in having one.
Typically they will record up to 36hrs of video but this will depend on the quality or the video and the stability of the mount. Some have in built GPS to show the recording vehicles speed.
I have had that many people nearly force me off the road cutting in too fast, pulling out or side roads forcing me to brake, walking out in front of me etc over the years that if the worst ever happened this would give a good defense assuming i wasnt really in the wrong or course.
They will of course also record and accidents in view that were not of my doing and so be good evidence for the police etc
I have "played" with a video camera mounted in the van and the car ...but I only spent a tiny amount of money to experiment.
Approx £15 bought me one of these from 7 day shop <<
It's not going to be up to the standard/spec and ease of use of your £80 - £350 ones but it is amazingly good value.
The controls are a little confusing but I have had lots of fun using this little camera. heck out the video at my link to see what a reviewer thinks.
Mike
Edit ...just noticed that the 7day shop is out of stock...that is because the little cam is so popular ... they will no doubt get some more ...I had to wait a day or two for them to come back into stock when I bought mine
Last edited by spykal on Mon Nov 28, 2011 9:25 am; edited 1 time in total ______________________________________________________________ When confronted by a problem, you can solve it easily by reducing it to the question, "How would the Lone Ranger have handled this?"
We use one. It records in short 2 minute sequences and loops so when it fills the card it starts overwriting from the begining. With a 4gb card this happens every two hours.
The higher priced ones have better definition and record speed date and time. Some also link to gps data and can pin point where you were using Google maps.
I've used a mini one in the past when out on the motorbike, but it was a bit fiddly because the controls were so small and there was no internal play back facility so you could only view via the computer.
I do often set it up in the van as a security camera and set it on noise activated.
I thought it might be a good idea to video our drives around Skye, after the first 5 minutes it became very boring.
The video system I think the OP might mean is the type fitted to trucks and buses to record events immediately before a incident.
Thats right kev the main reason i was thinking about them was for safety/security/legal issues.
I was reading a review on amazon that a chap did who (before he had one) had a lorry back into him from a car park. the driver apparently said something like "dont worry its my fault our firm will sort it out"
When the bloke got back home the firm that the lorry driver worked for got a bit upset and blamed him. The reviewer bought the unit becuase he wished he had had video evidence at the time.
I use one and sell them. I sell them for around £189 and they record through your front window and for a little extra your back window or into the rear seats. The video quality is great at this price and the unit has a GPS element that allows your video to run along side a Google map! They work in the dark too. There is a sound input if you want it. I find mine works well. There are loads out there but you do tend to get what you pay for. One taxi company I am dealing with had a driver attacked and their previous system was so poor that you couldn't tell if it was a man or woman.
I was at a meeting of intelligence ad Serious Crime officers a few weeks ago and 'Crash for Cash' events were high on the agenda.
The above being said, while the numbers are going up it's still quite unlikely to happen to you. If it does though your covered I guess.
'X-driven' 90 degree lens to the front / 'X-driven' 150 degree lens to the rear - about £250 a unit and plug into cigarete lighter socket (although have subsequetly hard wired mine to the ignition)
5 frames every second - links to GPS when playing back - either suction pad or sticky pad fixing to screen - writes to 'ordinary' SD card - auto record of 20 seconds to pre-settable triggers (harsh braking etc)
At 'normal' resolution - I get about 8 hours journey time before over-write
I keep a couple of spare SD cards in the car - change the card to avoid over-writing if I suspect an incident might arise
Has already paid for itself in disproving my location in an 'over zealous' prosecution - still waiting (fortunately) for another driver's insurers to try and wrongly claim it was my fault !! - there that has tempted fate
Am that impressed with the concept - splashed out on a commercial system for the m/home complete with infra-red cameras
"A picture is worth a thousand words" - when it comes to describing who 'attacked' the motorhome or the occupants
Just remember to spend a few minutes regularly checking that everything still works / records properly - don't wait until you need it to find that the unit's last recording was over 12 months ago !!
Don't wait until AFTER the event to decide that you should have made the investment !!
I bought a time lapse camera from Maplins for £35.
It records single frame pics at between 1sec and 5 sec intervals. Plugs into the cigar lighter and is about the size of 20 cigs.
Ray.
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