Well I bit the bullet today and ordered a dashcam for my car. I went with the Nextbase 402G Professional as recommended by 2 forum members, both of whom had them on the day at the forum meet and also posted videos. There's also some great reviews around for them too.
I guess I could've went for on at £25 - £30 or maybe a little more, but wanted assurances that it will do what it says on the tin, first time, every time. I see you can pay anywhere from £25 or so up to around £400 so I suppose it's fairly upper mid range generally speaking


Nextbase InCarCam™ 402G Professional - video recording for your journeys from inside your car

The Nextbase InCarCam™ 402G Professional captures every moment of a journey in 1080p High Definition quality video. The device has a 140 degree ultra wide angle 6G (6 layer sharp lenses) lens, complete with infra-red transmitters, to capture everything in the driver's field of vision, night and day. So even if an accident happens with a motorist changing lanes, you'll capture it all. The Nextbase InCarCam 402G is an essential independent witness on the road. It will automatically capture and save footage of an incident which can be vital to provide to your insurance company to prove a claim was not your fault. The InCarCam™ 402G can also be your witness to capture unsafe or unscrupulous drivers and make sure you are not left out of pocket with your insurer. Not only that, but in the unfortunate case of an accident the camera can be removed from the windshield and used as a normal camera for taking pictures outside the vehicle. The Nextbase 402G is also not just a video recorder and camera. With the inbuilt G force sensor you are able to prove that you swerved, braked and show the force of an impact. Furthermore with the inbuilt GPS you can log your journey on Google Maps™, prove your speed and show exactly where an incident occurred with full road names, which can be key to resolving an insurance claim quickly and easily.
Key Features

• Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) imaging
• 1080p High Definition video capture
• Crisp 2.7inch anti-glare widescreen LED display
• Ultra wide 140 degree lens viewing angle
• 3-axis G-Sensor impact protection
• Motion detection to start recording if vehicle is left parked and impacted
• Standalone camera mode for taking static pictures from outside the vehicle

Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) Imaging

Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) image capture works by taking multiple pictures at different exposures and cleverly merging them together to produce an image that is representative in both dark and bright areas of the picture. This means a superior quality and clarity of video can be captured even in very bright or gloomy conditions.
Crisp 2.7inch Widescreen Anti-Glare LED Display

Watch video playback and easily select settings and menu options on the large 2.7inch backlit anti-glare LED display.
1080p High Quality HD Video Recording

Your journey is captured in 1080p High Definition video so whether you're watching your video on the device or on your TV at home you'll not miss a thing.
Ultra Wide Camera Viewing Angle

Events don't always happens right in front of us. With the 6G 140 degree wide angle lens the Nextbase InCarCam™ 402G Professional will capture everything in a drivers field of vision. So if, for example, an accident happens whilst a driver is changing lanes in your periphery, you'll have captured exactly what happened.
Works Night and Day

The device is complete with 8 infra-red sensors so even if you're driving at night it will capture the best possible video.

I bought it from Halfords though, who were happy to price match and included a funky neoprene carrying case and an 8Gb SD mini card
I ordered a 32GB SD mini card though which is the one that I'll use, it should give around 5 hours of driving time before overwriting.

Really decent camera with 1080p, WDR (Wide Dynamic Range ) and G shock sensors too, great footage day or night and 30fps too.
Here's a few video's from members on the day, decent quality I thought.




I paid to get them to hardwire it into the car ( can't be doing with wires everywhere!! ) and it should be installed on Wednesday.
I'll take a few pics of the install and perhaps a video of it in action at some point too

 

Nice!

 

Nice and clear. Did you notice the black x350 in front of you, it has tail lights that flickered looking just like the exotic cars like the Bugatti Veryon. Any idea what mod he made to do that?

 

Thanks Andy


Yeah I noticed that, not my style, but noticeable for sure.
I can ask and advise....

 

Hi I think it's the way the camera records led lights when they are on

 

JimC64
If for nothing else, watching that video is for a Sunday afternoon.

What beautiful countryside. Someday I would love to take that same drive to see and visit the towns you went through and to enjoy again the wonderful countryside.


To see such well kept grounds---even between towns, and the clean well kept buildings and shops in the towns is beyond anything seen here in the States.


I know you must take these things as normal there, but it just stands out so much compared to what one see's here. It's just beautiful. If there, I would never leave.

Thank you for the ride.

 

Just checked with Simon and he says no mods!
I guess it must be the camera after all


Thanks Chuck, we do live in a beautiful country, although of course I'm more than a little biased...lol
That particular place is gorgeous, ( where all the retirees go, says it all really )

Its funny though as much as I love and am proud of my country, I have a hankering to visit the States and have a wander around, so many beautiful places and things to see, only problem is it'd take a while as it's jusssst a little bit bigger than Scotland...lol

 

Jim---I agree, it is somewhat bigger ;-), and you will need some time while here, but don't let that keep you from coming.


What I loved about being stationed in Europe (Germany) was that from where we were, we could be in many different country's with-in a few hours and each one was as beautiful as the next. But each one had a certain beauty of their own. I live in the Northern end of Florida and if we want to visit our daughter in Tenn., it's an eight hour drive with no stops..


I'm 80 and have still not seen anywhere near all of it. You could ask a travel agency to plan you a trip just to see some of the most impressive points of interest. That way, after 50 or 60 trips you might get to see most of the places east of the great Mississippi river, then on the next 50 or 60 trips you could work your way to the Grand Canyon. Ha-Ha. I guess the size is the reason for some of the unpleasant sights, but I know all in all it is still a Beautiful- Beautiful Country.


Thanks again for the great video. I'll watch it many-many times.

 

Hi Jim,

Pretty nice scenery, but not as much action as you see on Russian dash cams. I did notice that one video had the speed and location data displayed and the other did not. I take it that is a user selectable feature.

 

Thanks, yes the speed, vehicle registration and location are all user selectable features.

 

So, managed to get my dashcam installed today and pretty pleased with the results all in all.
I waited and chatted with the tech who was doing the install and advised where I wanted the camera installed etc. It was all fairly easy in all honesty with a hardwire kit supplied.
I chose as close to right behind the mirror as possible for less clutter and best view, seemed to work well, with only a small amount of wire showing from the headliner to the camera ( unavoidable )

Not the best pics, but see below.....interior and exterior shots




short video below, with a dirty screen of course ( SLAPHEAD)


https://www.dropbox.com/s/wczzc97433hk2rz/1.MOV?dl=0

 

The cabling was routed very carefully under the headlining above the mirror, then along and down the drivers side door pillar, down and into the fusebox in the drivers side footwell
Really clean install, no wires, no mess no issues.
Starts approx. 5 secs after the car is turned on and off again around 10 secs after the vehicle is switched off

 

Jim, why is it that you guys get all the fun places to go? OH! and BTW, you're driving on the wrong side of the road and all the traffic is going backwards, and the steering wheel is placed on the passenger side.... Just sayin' (grin)

 

We actually drive on the correct side of the road, as do the Australians, Japanese etc.


That is why our cars are RIGHT hand drive!


Where as the Americas, mainland Europe, Russia etc all drive on the opposite side of the road.


That is why your cars are WRONG hand drive!


LOL

 

The word "left" comes from the word "sinister"... Just a little tidbit... Wait, isn't the phase, "It's good to be BAD!" part of the current marketing? (grin)

 

Ok, so I managed to test my new dashcam on a run to Aberdeen and surrounding areas the other day.
See as short video of it in operation during daylight hours.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k4j3z93az6azo3r/15.MOV?dl=0

I also wanted to double check for myself operation in night time mode, so did a short run earlier for the purpose of checking and posting here, see link..
https://www.dropbox.com/s/egmjlw3x3jkiw9u/16.MOV?dl=0




Both met or exceeded my expectations, happy chappy

 

So for the LED question - the LEDs refresh at a different rate than the camera's rate of recording, so the camera catches the LEDs refreshing. If for example, the camera recorded at 30 frames/sec, and the LEDs refresh at 20 cycles/sec, that would show record as it shows in the video.

I had this happen whilst recording a parade lap I took at CoTA, behind a new Porsche. with my naked eye, I couldn't detect the refresh happening, but I could see the recording in my phone camera pick up the refresh cycle.

 

Well, 10 months down the line and still loving my Nextbase dashcam.....

Having said that, noticed a few issues just recently.
On turning on the ignition, the dashcam should fire up straight away.........I noticed just yesterday that it was more like 3-4 minutes before this happened. Also on powering down the car, the unit should switch off automatically. However, it turned off, then on again, then off, on and finally off once more??
Strange......

Visited Halfords and discussed, no problem they said. They would send it away to be repaired and or a new one to replace it. They gave me a brand new one in the interim period today until they could contact Nextbase to see what they wanted to do.
I got a call some 45 mins later from them just telling me to keep the new unit.

All good and great service
Jim