Dashcam Footage

I have 2 ... both Nextbase.

I have an old 5 series with polarising filter for the front - this has GPS enabled and speed is recorded as part of the  display stamp.
I have an old 112 series - no GPS - for the rear (I have a VW Transporter as a family car due to the large number of childern I have ... telly was broke for a while, but it's fixed now )

The rear one is perminently plugged in to the rear power socket and is on constant record - even overnight; the front one I just plug in when I start the car - I have  Nextbase DAB / Handsfree kit and I use both of them on a dual USB socket.

I was thinkig about hard-wiring, but there's like 8 different versions of the vehicle fusebox, and I don't want to put it on the wrong fuse.

We have a BlackVue front and rear.  Splashed out a bit more and got the little battery-come-capacitor that sits in the glove compartment, and keeps the cam on 24/7. 

I have a couple of Nextbase cameras, a few years old now, permanently wired into our 2 primary cars. You need an extra fitting kit, but it's definitely neater than using the cigarette lighter socket.

They are fit and forget. Turn on with the ignition, auto overwrite old files when the card is full and pretty much need no attention apart from sticking them back on the windscreen when the sucker gives out.

In over 30,000 miles I have only 2 noteworthy sequences, a National Express bus doing at least 80MPH in torrential rain, where everyone else, really every other driver on the motorway at that point was doing about 30mph due to appalling visibility and surface water. And another of crazy undertaking on the hard shoulder. I find the camera keeps me honest and squeaky clean which is no bad thing and it is extremely rare that I run into anything like a close miss or aggression with any other road user, maybe 2 incidents in the last 5 years. I'm pretty damned sure that if I am ever involved in a collision it won't be my fault and I'll have the footage to prove it.

Compared to the bicycle Fly 6 and now Fly 12, I get about 3 incidents a month of appalling driving which I feel puts me at risk.

I have a top end Nextbase, claims 4K video. Even in good daylight the noise reduction and/or optical quality reduces the detail in brickwork (for example) to mush, so it can't resolve anything like 4K. And the shutter speed is too slow - it is difficult to capture the number plate of an approaching car since the closing speed yields motion blur. At night, forget it.

Then you have to weigh up that it can just as easily be used in evidence against you. Plus it is a theft risk - moreover one which contains recordings of your home and work addresses, your family, and candid conversations.

Gadget show on 5 had a test a few weeks back. It'll be up on their version of iplayer.

I theeenk a Garmin one did well, but there was a cheap camera that worked really well but was crap in the dark  - so don't buy that if you're out after dark. 

Try using your mobile phone - no extra cost involved. Just download a free app like  AutoBoy Blackbox - others are available. The app puts data (speed / location etc) on the recording which is saved on your sd card in . Phone is usually easy to mount on the windscreen in a cheap mount without obstrcuting the drivers view, usb power cord charges as you go. 

Easy to hardwire assuming there is a fusebox in the cabin. Nextbase do a wiring kit - one end plugs into a suitable empty fuse slot, then tuck the wire under the edge of the cabin/ceiling trim up to desired spot on windscreen. Leave some slack in case. Job done. Oh, avoid obvious stuff like traipsing the wire across airbag exit zones.
Bear in mind your dashcam footage can be used in evidence against you.

Easiest thing is to go to Halfords and get them to supply and fit it for you. I managed to hard wire my dash cam myself, found a video on YouTube for my model of car - probably would have struggled without that.

Nextbase cameras are decent, if you don't need GPS and WiFi then get the 222, it's a lot cheaper.