

This offers a useful view out the rear of the car in case of a rear end accident) These camera can be quite expensive and many people have turned to buying 2 individual cameras and having 1 front and 1 rear as it can be cheaper depending on what you buy. The second style of camera has the standard front facing camera but also a rear mounted camera, usually attached by a length of cable that allows it to be placed on the vehicles rear window. These can be useful for clearing yourself of accusations of using a mobile while driving but usually don’t offer much of a view out the back of the car. There are a few different styles of these cameras around, the First being a unit with a forward facing camera that has a secondary camera that records the vehicle cabin. Coverage – Front facing only or Front and Rear camera.

Aim for a quality brand with a 2 year warranty if in budget. We usually suggest if you are buying a camera that you should always go for something decent with a good warranty, We have many people buy a cheaper ebay / no name model and 3 months down the track wan’t to buy a higher end model because they weren’t happy with the cheap one they bought. We constantly have people telling us how their cheap camera wasn’t recording when something happened. Be aware that cheap and cheerful is not always a good idea when it comes to a camera. Set yourself a limit for spending and shop around. Straight off the bat this is going to determine what you will end up with, Cameras can be had for anywhere between $50 all the way up to $500+ depending on features. If you intend on leaving a camera recording in parking mode on hot days you may need to consider a hardwire kit with a temperature cut off. Leaving a child or animal in a closed vehicle can have deadly consequences and that same temperature can be enough to damage a camera in the right conditions. Dash cams have a safe operating temperature, and this temperature can be exceeded on hot days in a parked vehicle. Some cameras support “Parking mode” which means the camera will record if the camera detects motion / bump while parked, Parking mode is not as simple as plug and play and requires a more in depth installation as well as a few things you need to be aware of.Īs we mentioned above, Most vehicles only provide power to the 12v socket when the engine is running, so in order to record while the vehicle is parked you will need to have the camera hardwired, Hardwire kits are designed to provide power to the dash cam while also preventing the camera from draining your battery too much, Some models of hardwire kits also have other safety features such as temperature cut offs and timers.Īnother consideration that needs to be made is the climate. Many people wish for their cameras to record while their vehicle is parked and they are away from it. Eventually they will fail with extended use. It is important to note that like a video tape, memory cards have a limited amount of times they can be recorded over and are considered a consumable item. There is no need to manually delete files, however we do recommend formatting the memory cards after each time you use them in a Computer or every 1-2 months to keep them in good order.
Best dash cam 1080p#
The average recording time of a 32GB memory card in a camera recording at 1080P HD will be roughly 4-5 hours, this means you will always have the last 4-5 hours of footage on the memory card at all times. Once the memory card is totally full, the camera will automatically delete the oldest video and start again from the beginning. Cameras record in blocks of videos (Commonly 1, 3 or 5 minutes) this means that if you do a 30 minute drive and your camera records in 5 minute blocks you will have 6 X 5 minute videos. The larger the memory card the more footage your camera will store. Recordingĭash cameras record to removable memory cards, in most cases a Micro SD card, these cards are available in sizes up to 512gb, however not all cameras support such large capacities. If your vehicles 12v socket is always powered you may need to have the camera hardwired for your vehicle so it doesn’t record 24/7 or drain the vehicles battery. For most vehicles on the market the 12v socket is powered when the engine is turned on, however some vehicles leave the socket powered at all times so it is important to check. As standard, the camera will plug into your vehicles 12v Socket and will automatically turn on and record when this socket gets power and turn off when the socket loses power. Choosing A Dash Cam: How does a Dash Cam work? PowerĪ dash cam is a small digital video recorder that attaches to your vehicles windscreen.
