Dash camera in a car

Matt27[lt]

Has anyone have or tested a video camera mounted in the car? To take video in front of the car. I want to order one, but cannot decide which one. I was looking at the GoPro HD Hero at 299 dol. but was told that for this kind of money I can get a camera which also show car speed, date and time, maybe even GPS coordinates. Something like a police cam.

Trifidw

You are thinking about the Roadhawk that will also log GPS data. I recently made this decision (I drive a very low car where people keep on pulling out in front of me) and went for the GoPro. The video quality is much better and the GPS data can't be used against you if you were for example speeding.


Also keep in mind, the Roadhawk will turn itself on and off with ignition if powered by the correct feed and will overwrite the video data automatically. Whereas the GoPro is battery powered and you will need to manually delete the video once it fills up the SD card.

danielaB

I agree, Roadhawk is a good one. Having a dash camera or video in your car is an advantage. You can record the events and locations you had passed and can never lose direction. Another thing, if you got an accident, you have a record who has the fault to cause an accident.

Povilas

What would be the main purpose of that camera? If only use as "black box", then yes - Roadhawk is perfect, but if you want to document your travel, then quality of it is not good enough. Resolution only 640x480 and CMOS sensor isn't very good. In this case I would vote for GoPro HD Hero or maybe take something from Toshiba Camileo recorders + windshield camera mount (~20$).

Devilsbane

Trifidw wrote: »

The video quality is much better and the GPS data can't be used against you if you were for example speeding.

Why couldn't it be? If you choose to fight say a ticket in court, the prosecution could easily subpoena the information and then use it against you.

exampasser

Devilsbane wrote: »

Why couldn't it be? If you choose to fight say a ticket in court, the prosecution could easily subpoena the information and then use it against you.

I think what he meant was that camera brand that he suggested (GoPro) doesn't record GPS data that could be used against you in court in comparison to the Roadhawk

Trifidw

exampasser wrote: »

I think what he meant was that camera brand that he suggested (GoPro) doesn't record GPS data that could be used against you in court in comparison to the Roadhawk

One of my concerns was the police could seize the evidence and build a case against you for something other than what they originally intended based on the evidence captured by a Roadhawk. Having just video data they would be unable to see the speed. This was something I kept in mind based one of the reason I bought a video recorder was to keep a record of 'spirited' drives along with to capture an accident if it were to happen.

Matt27[lt]

Ok, I took a look at Roadhawk camera, but was not happy with a video sample. Low resoliuton and only 19 fps. I could see the lag in the video And the price is more then GoPro HD Hero which has a better quality. I guess in Roadhawk you have to pay for GPS and a software. Don't need that.At first I thought about using camera only as a black box, but now thinking about using as a simple video recorder too. In this case Toshiba Camileo or similar is perfect. Thanks for advices