Good dash cams?

[Cookiecrumbles222]

Hey, guys, I want to get a dash cam to record in case any incident might take place while I'm driving. I've been looking at a couple and they all range very drastically in price and I have no idea what I'm doing. all I want is one that will be good enough to capture the incident, license plates, and faces fairly clearly. IDC about any other features. my budget is $100 or less. a back cam would be nice as well but not necessary. if its around that price but a lot better don't be afraid to suggest it. Thanks for any help!

[Guest]

 

[Spotty]

Consider the weather where you live, and whether or not it's important for it to record when the car is off (ie. if your car is parked and bumped in to by someone else).

There are 2 types of cameras, one with a battery (lithium ion) and one with capacitors.
The battery cameras are good if you want it to record while the vehicle is off via motion sensor or G sensor (some cameras have this function), however the batteries do degrade over time and can suffer issues in hot environments - don't forget a car parked in the sun can easily reached 50C inside. Batteries can also under-perform in cold weather. Most of the really cheap chinese dash cams will use a battery.

 

The ones with capacitors don't suffer the same battery degradation, and are more reliable in adverse weather (extremely hot or cold climates). Only downside is they won't record if the car is off (don't hold enough charge) and they tend to be a little bit more expensive.

 

Been using my current camera now for a couple of years, so I'm pretty out of touch with what is decent these days. Just watch some youtube reviews of the cameras you're looking at and some example/test footage of the camera to see how it performs.

 

Avoid the cheap, unbranded Chinese stuff on eBay.

[Cookiecrumbles222]

1 minute ago, Spotty said:

Consider the weather where you live, and whether or not it's important for it to record when the car is off (ie. if your car is parked and bumped in to by someone else).

There are 2 types of cameras, one with a battery (lithium ion) and one with capacitors.
The battery cameras are good if you want it to record while the vehicle is off via motion sensor or G sensor (some cameras have this function), however the batteries do degrade over time and can suffer issues in hot environments - don't forget a car parked in the sun can easily reached 50C inside. Batteries can also under-perform in cold weather. Most of the really cheap chinese dash cams will use a battery.

 

The ones with capacitors don't suffer the same battery degradation, and are more reliable in adverse weather (extremely hot or cold climates). Only downside is they won't record if the car is off (don't hold enough charge) and they tend to be a little bit more expensive.

 

Been using my current camera now for a couple of years, so I'm pretty out of touch with what is decent these days. Just watch some youtube reviews of the cameras you're looking at and some example/test footage of the camera to see how it performs.

 

Avoid the cheap, unbranded Chinese stuff on eBay.

 

16 minutes ago, timl132 said:

 

Is this a good choice? https://www.amazon.com/Channel-Dashboard-Recorder-G-Sensor-Recording/dp/B01EX8ATKK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1538947583&sr=8-3&keywords=Blacksys+CH-100B

[SansVarnic]

I use Blackvue Dash cams and have found them to be very reliable.