There was a thread a while ago about them but I figure tech changes so fast there's probably better stuff out now.

Does anyone use a dash cam?
What brand is it?
How good is it?

I generally don't do much driving but the route to / from work can be rather packed and the chances of some numpty following too close is rather high and while my car is more than capable of stopping really damn fast, regular cars aren't blessed with such luxuries as functioning brakes. (looking at you spook)

I used to use my gopro on a mount that I made and while it worked awesomely, there was nothing automatic about it so I had to keep taking it out to charge it, wipe the memory card, etc. Also there's no rear facing indicators on my model so I don't always know if it's stopped recording without either taking it down, or getting out of the car.

I'd be interested in automatic start / stop as soon as the power's on rather than it just start after an accident occurs. Good low light visibility would be great, I don't really think any sort of speed overlay would matter because my morning commute never gets above an average moving speed of 50km/h (and yes that includes highway driving.) but I suppose it might come in handy should I ever get pinned by a speed trap or something.

Would prefer a retail shop because I'm old and can't be f***ed plugging my deets into every random internet site to buy s*** from so they can sell it to advertising agencies.

I was coming around a round about and this d******* almost came on too early and hit my rear quater, next thing i see is the flash from his phone going off as he is taking pics of my car. A front/rear dash cam would help if anything had happened, luckily nothing did.

I use Safety Vision or Kustom Signals DVR units. The best thing I like about these units is ability to have pre and post recording options. For example the cheap ICV units are recording at all times. The units I use I can set for 30seconds pre and 30seconds post recording, set to a panic or alert trigger. So when something happens I flick the switch and it gets the last 30 seconds before I deemed the situation worthy of recording. Very handy.

I have a Kustom G3 for sale but its too bloody exy for the everyday driver.

The trigger does not have to be a "switch" the switch can be the GPS setting in the back end software, set to start recording at a certain speed or even a accelerometer setting to detect crashes, sudden braking or you can select all options mentioned together. Up to 8 triggers can be set plus ignition.

http://www.safetyvision.com/media/files/product/1ce785da/SVR-4100.pdf

If you are in an event that takes over 30 seconds pre and post event, then you have just had an accident on an ice covered plain or you have been hit and pushed along by a 2km long freight train.... So for your auto recording, there are lots of other brands out there which offer this, mostly on Ebay.

This unit below is popular with Crime Watch vehicles, taxis and truckies that I have seen in QLD, you need power on recording with auto overwrite.

ICV on Ebay with Auto Start

^^ takes a "TF" card, wtf is a TF card? google seems to tell me it's just a microsd card?

Scroll down further to what it includes. MicroSD is correct.

I have one.

I have been using a dash cam for about 3 years now. they are awesome. Had a taxi cross into my lan and hit me, tried to blame on me.. guess what Cam caught everything.

The ones I have had all plug into cigarette lighter for power and turn on when power goes to them (car turns on) and power off when the car is off.

you can also use these same camera by charging them outside the car and then put them in the car and they will record until the battery runs out.

All the ones I have had (2) use a micro SD card, would recommend you get a high speed one like a class 10. anything less like a class 4 and the recording isn't as smooth.

I am currently using One of these they are ok but would like to upgrade to a 1080p one at some point, also the rear cam will not pick up rego numbers and is very grainy.

after having one for so long I would never go with out one. has got me out of trouble a few times, fact is people are liars and unless you can prove otherwise insurance companies will drag out payments for as long as they can.

I'm keen for this as well, I've been in situations where I thought f*** I wish I got that on video.

The Kustom G3 is too full on, but I'm looking for something simpler but with same quality. Any suggestions?

There is a Brissy bloke with his own Brisbane on road footage channel.

my biggest issue is I don't want to go buy something online, get it, find out that it's either broken or not as good as the ad lead me to believe and then have to deal with the s*** of trying to return it because "oh hey well it's not broken, noreturn4u". Plust I don't have a paypal account anyway.

Do any retail stores actually have them where I could go and at least look to see how big they are, how they mount on, etc? I saw on the news there was a stand full of them at some truck show, wish I'd gone to that :(

Also I drive more than one car so being easily removed would be a bonus so one of those under seat DVR's with separate cameras would be awesome but not very practical :(

I am currently using One of these they are ok but would like to upgrade to a 1080p one at some point, also the rear cam will not pick up rego numbers and is very grainy.

Do you really need numberplates on the rear though? I mean if someone hits you then drives off, in theory you'd see them on the front cam after they try to get around you? How well does it work at night? I wouldn't mind one that's good at night too.

lol, who would grab onto a car? Maybe I should get a rear facing camera as well, seeing as there's basically a big handle attached to the back of my car (wing)

also do you need any stickers or warnings saying blah blah blah i'm recording s***, don't like it stay out of the field of view etc?

Don't want to buy online? No probs, walk into Jaycar and check their units out.
Jaycar ICV with GPS

Why do I fear that we're headed toward a life where you pretty much have to have cameras in your car if you want insurance coverage to determine liability?

Check out Techmoan's channel on youtube, he does awesome in-depth reviews. He also sounds exactly like James May.

Because I have better things to do than waste my time?

Blackvue Cam's dont like the heat, don't leave them inside a hot car all day, the small battery ruin themselves, so when you turn the car off, the camera turns off instantly corrupting the last file. I've sent two back under warranty. you'll also see daytime video get washed out with a haze, this is the cmos sensor failing.

however, they are fantastically packaged, small and discrete, and good software

I used to use my gopro on a mount that I made and while it worked awesomely, there was nothing automatic about it so I had to keep taking it out to charge it, wipe the memory card, etc. Also there's no rear facing indicators on my model so I don't always know if it's stopped recording without either taking it down, or getting out of the car.

Re Charging - get skeleton/frame case/mount & plug gopro into cigarette lighter for charging.

Re Wiping Memory Card - In my Hero3, there is an option to record over old files when memory gets full. Only take GoPro out if there is an incident worth keeping.

Re Recording - for my Hero3 (when mounted on windscreen), I don't remember how but I could always tell if it was recording. Might be flashing light on side of camera or reflection of flashing light off windscreen? Also another few ways way to tell if it's recording or not, get an LCD screen for it, an App for iOS, Android or WinPhone, or get a GoPro Wifi remote.

My previous Hero2 mounted in 350Z:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e21/joekool1983/IMG2_4517-2.jpg

Geeze that BlackVue dash cams are pricey...

Are those Russians made out of adamantium or something? WTF? This should reason enough for any country not to go to war with Russia lol.

Ok so I'm still looking, those vicovation ones look pretty decent and all the results I can find on youtube seem to be in russian so I guess it must be the most popular one over there.

To anyone that's used these things as evidence: Does having GPS really make that much of a difference? I imagine it might help in a defence against certain situations but overall how important is it to have?

I'm leaning heavily towards the latest and greatest gopro though, here's why:
Overwrites old files (according to martz, if it doesn't I will hate you forever :p)
Already have a low profile mount (makes it a b**** to remove from the car but at least I can tuck it up out of the way)
I already know these things handle shock, vibration, temperature and all kinds of abuse from how I've treated my current one (I had it mounted on my savage flux (if you don't know what that is, watch this
Good quality video. To me, this one is the most important thing. There's no point having gps time stamped data with 5 million degree viewing angle and a transelating dinglator when you're watching 240p video.
They also seem to be good at not losing video files. I had a cheaper action camera that would constantly corrupt the files when it lost power or took a hit (also on the flux) but the gopro gave no f**** about how hard I crashed into things, it just stared me down and screamed COME AT ME BRO. (I hope the new ones are as good as the original).

I know I said that I must have auto start but the new gopros have a wifi remote which mirrors the on camera screen, this allows me to tape the remote to the dash or whatever and just press it when I get in or out. No d***ing about with reaching over to start the camera half way through a journey if I forget. A remote is an acceptable replacement for auto start / stop for now.

They may not have some of the features of some dash cams like motion detect or whatever but I don't plan on leaving it in the car anyway. Let's face it, crime in Aus seems to be climbing rapidly and I have no doubt that someone would smash their way into my car just to steal a $30 dash cam so either way I go I won't be leaving it in the car.

I really do like one of the techmoan guys reviews but searching for it reveals nothing so I guess it's not quite released yet (he said they were having software issues)

To anyone that's used these things as evidence: Does having GPS really make that much of a difference? I imagine it might help in a defence against certain situations but overall how important is it to have?

the few times I have had to use it, the video is enough without GPS coordinates, as far as speed calculation goes, its not hard, you take a point on the video, then measure 100m then see how long it took you to do 100m that will give you speed.

I really can't see a need for GPS overlay unless you are driving out bush where its difficult to tell one road from another.. even then I think the need is very limited.

Overwrites old files (according to martz, if it doesn't I will hate you forever :p)

oh s*** did I say that?!??! umm, ummm, oooh found it (phew!), ok check page 35 of below link and see if that's what you're after.

http://cbcdn2.gp-static.com/uploads/product_manual/file/50/HERO3_UM_Black_ENG_REVD_WEB.pdf

Also before you commit, try to find some examples of night time footage, I just browsed through some recordings of mine and I am far from impressed, very dark, grainy and difficult to see anything.. It might just be my settings but I would look into it more before spending your $$$.

records well in a basketball stadium though :P
http://youtu.be/mL3jhm64vhU

That was my very basketball noob cousin pulling a flukey shot from his arse :)

Quite amazing though, the camera was screwed onto a tripod using a gopro tripod mount, I just left it there and was controlling everything from my phone, even watching video footage streaming live to my phone.. blew me away!! f*****g technology, it's f*****g awesome!!!