OK, seems every Russian has a dash cam. I think it would be fun to have one and good insurance. Looked on ebay and seems you cam get them for anywhere from $20-$400. There are obviously a ton of options. I can't seem to find any review of these things. You'd think a site like Gizmodo would do a review Anyway, I can't seem to find anyone telling me about the options of these cameras... maybe because their all made in china junk, but still I have some ideas on what would make a good dash cam and would like to know if any of the cameras on the market do these things.

It would be great if it was powered via battery and the battery was charged via the car (ciagarett ligher plug).
It would be nice if the camera would automaticly start if the car was started. Something like it starts recording when the key is turned on, could get this signal from the cigarette lighter. It would be great if it would record for a set number of minuest past loosing power form the cigarette ligher. that way if you turn your car off when getting pulled over you could still record the stop, or if there was an accedent that would cause power failure it would continue to record.
I like the idea of loop recording so I never have to worry about a full memory card, it could record over and over again until there was an accdent or something worth watching.
Video quality is less importand then what i've already talked about but obviously bertter quality is better. at least 720p.

Anyone seen anything like this?

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I know that a lot of Russians have been buying them, judging by the amount of ridiculous driving youtube videos have popped up recently.

I believe GoPro has most of the features you listed but not totally sure. I've thought about getting one myself but haven't had the money.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

GoPro's are $200. They can shoot for quite a while and they are HD.
Tyler and I have done the show with them and they never let us down.

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[GONE] - 1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel - 130k miles - Smoke Silver (702) over Mushroom leather (265) - Bladder blasting, coast-to-coast work machine.

All the video guys at work rave about the GoPros...

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

Can't beat 'em join 'em hey?

You can pick up little USB cameras for almost nothing these days - can't you just connect them to a mobile telephone?

The cost of out door security cameras has also dropped quite a lot recently. Many of these things are designed to hook up to a simple LINUX system with big storage. They even work in the dark - do the car versions of these cameras have knight rider night vision yet?

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I have a Flip Camera that I got really cheap. One of the networking companies, CISCO I think made them and then gave up on the market due to lack of profit margin. They are great little camera's, high quality, good support software. I think I gave $55 for mine brand new at the store. There are probably some still available new or could be had cheap off ebay or somewhere.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

You need a rear facing camera as well. If you happen to be unlucky enough to be rear ended by a cell phone yakking, texting tailgater, you will have PROOF that they were following too close. Today's licensed untrained drivers are a public health hazard, you need all the help you can get.

A friend sent me this link.
Has any one tried one of these?
They are cheap enough.

2.5 Traffic Recorder with Infrared LED Light VDV-30555 - TinyDeal

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

I have a GoPro that is about 3 yrs old. Use it on my helmet in whitewater. I like it. Never used it as a dashcam.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

GoPro is the camera to get.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

I am sure you are right.
The only thing is the GoPro is 7X the price!
Has it 7X the features?

__________________
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

I saw this one online the other day and it looked interesting:
[ COWON Auto Capsule AC1 ]

It looks vehicle-specific (rather than just being a general-purpose action-sports camera); e.g. it mounts discreetly behind the mirror, captures 15s before and after an impact even while the car is parked, automatically starts recording when the car is started, stuff like that. Looks like something you set up and forget about until you need the footage. They're available on eBay.

I've used neither this nor the GoPro so I can't really comment further or compare the two.

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1989 250TD Wagon 5-speed, 160,000mi ::: Dark gray metallic / black cloth
1984 190D-2.2 5-speed, 287,000mi ::: Silver-blue metallic / black MB-tex ::: SOLD

Only problem I can see is in states with aggressive wiretap laws. A few years back, a speeding motorcyclist, wearing a helmet-cam, got pulled over in Maryland. The arresting officer went nuts, but then his peformance hit U-tube. The state prosecuter charged the biker with felony wiretapping. The case was eventually dismissed, but I'm sure it wasn't a pleasent experience for the biker.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Public officials abusing their power is rarely going to be pleasant.

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Remember, Safety Third!
'99 E300 Turbodiesel, '82 300TD, 1996 12V Cummins Turbo, '94 Neoplan - Detroit 6V92TA