# Do you Dash Cam?



## DashCamBros (May 4, 2016)

Hello UberPeople Forum,

To all of the forum members, please allow me to make a brief introduction. My name is Kenton, and I am the co-founder of DashCam Bros, an online retailer of reliable and high quality dash cameras, located in the United States. Our main goals are to provide drivers like yourself with dash cams and related resources to protect yourselves from false accusations/claims and other precarious situations where dash cam footage would be beneficial.

As a US small business, we are looking to fill a service gap in the dash cam retailer market. We may not always be able to compete on price with some overseas vendors, but we strongly believe we compensate for that with our US-based and customer oriented sales and support teams (friendly and responsive shipping, returns, exchanges, technical support all from within the United States). We also offer free shipping on all dash cams, a hassle free return policy and product warranties on all products (allowing you to work directly with us to replace the product in the event of a defect, removing the need to deal with overseas manufacturers).

We're more than happy to answer any dash cam related questions and to walk anyone through purchasing the right dash cam. Please feel free to use us as a knowledgeable resource regarding anything dash cam related  We'll be browsing around the forums to share our knowledge and help out where we can. You can visit our website here: www.dashcambros.com where you'll also find resources such as how to guides.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions whatsoever, please feel free to reach out to me via PM or email ([email protected]).

For those who are interested - we recently did an introduction to our most popular high quality dash cam for TNC drivers who wish to have exceptional interior recording at night time - https://dashcambros.com/pages/the-best-dash-cam-for-uber-lyft-taxi-tnc-drivers-dr650gw-2ch-ir

UberPeople Forum Discount - "*UBERPEOPLE16*" - *$10 off any dash cam priced over $200*, and two free "Warning - Audio and Video Recording May Be In Progress" stickers with your dash cam purchase.


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## Undermensch (Oct 21, 2015)

I checked out your site, it looks decent.

I think you're trying to add value above and beyond what one would get buying these cameras from other vendors. If so, I commend that, but I think you've got a little way to go. I would certainly appreciate it if you did go that extra distance and I might even buy a new camera if you did.

I looked into the BlackVue camera, but I have a couple of problems:


Camera Page
https://dashcambros.com/collections...ared-rear-camera-gps-wifi?variant=16497717507

Nighttime recording with infrared
The example recording in the garage isn't believable... But I really want to believe it. I had to add an external Sima SL-100IR light to get enough infrared to record the back row like shown in the video. Could you do any additional field test of this camera model, ideally in a car with tinted rear windows and not on city streets with lights, and post a video of that?
If this camera really has enough onboard IR light to record the backseat that crisply I'd be amazed.

Lacking Pictures of the cable to connect the two pieces
All the photos appear to be stock photos without any picture or video of how the two pieces have to be connected. I want to know if they include a 6" cable for having the devices right next to each other as well as a 15' cable for people who want to mount the rearview camera elsewhere.
It doesn't appear that the two pieces can be attached to one another and mounted to the car as one unit. It would be nice if there were photos confirming that.
Essentially, if you had an unboxing video it'd be perfect. Show everthing that's included.
Ok, just noticed you do mention an optional cable to be used when mounting the two pieces near each other, but the shortest length is 1.5'?!?
https://dashcambros.com/products/bl...50lw-2ch-secondary-camera?variant=16663829443

I would think a 6" cable would be ideal


Lacking pictures of how the memory card is ejected / inserted
I haven't found a single picture of where the memory card is inserted and your site seems to be lacking these as well
If you had photos and/or video of this it'd be more useful

Wireless connectivity usefulness confirmation
I have a Transcend DrivePro 520 camera that also has WiFi and an iPhone app to watch the videos
The only issue is... if you access the WiFi feature the app chokes within about 15 seconds and the camera has to be forced to power off and back on for it to work again. So, it's pretty much 100% useless.
I'd like to see a video confirming that this feature actually works to review more than a few seconds of video in the field.

Memory Card Sizes Supported
SDHC supports up to 32 GB cards
SDXC goes beyond 32 GB up to 2 TB
The BlackVue vendor page says they support up to 64 GB, which indicates that they support SDXC so there should be no reason for it to be arbitrarily limited at 64 GB... it should work all the way up to 2 TB unless they've done something strange.
Your site allows ordering the camera with a 128 GB card and says that sizes up to 128 GB are supported
So which is it? A) 64 GB (vendor claim), B) 128 GB (your claim), or C) 2 TB (max supported by SDXC)?
If you could confirm that this camera works fine with a 256 GB card then I'd probably buy one. I'm so tired of having to swap the cards several times a day. 128 GB is close to the size I want but I want 256 GB so that I can do one Friday / Saturday night on a card with no swaps.

If you could address the above I think you'll get a lot of interest. For some reason, all of these cameras have very little info available online... you could be the one source that has all the details correct with enough info / evidence to build confidence that you have those details correct.


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## DashCamBros (May 4, 2016)

Hi Undermensch,

Thank you for the detailed response and for checking out our site! Our goal here is really like you said to differentiate from other vendors by adding value and focusing on customer service. Please see below for answers to your questions/comments:


Nighttime recording with infrared





The video above is the one in question - I can confirm that the video quality on the infrared enabled rear camera is that impressive. If you watch the video again, between 0:00 and 0:36, the video recording is in a slightly lit garage with the garage door open. From 0:36 to 0:47 the garage door shuts, but is still internally lit. From 0:49 to 1:02 is where the camera really shines - the lights are shut off and the recording is in complete darkness, and as you can see, the back seats of the vehicle are still completely illuminated from the camera's infrared bulbs. From 1:03 onward, it shows the infrared camera in more common setting (on a semi-lit street, at night), which is probably the more common scenario TNC drivers will drive in. The video quality in the extreme range of complete darkness to well light conditions shows the capabilities of the infrared enabled camera. I've also attached a picture below to highlight this difference. The capability of the IR enabled camera really sets it apart from other dash cams that claim to have a IR light (although low quality) or do not have an IR light at all. If the same recording scenario were to be repeated with the regular BlackVue DR650-2CH *non infrared *version, the result would be much poorer video quality in the dark.












Lacking Pictures of the cable to connect the two pieces
Here is an image that I just uploaded showing all parts of the camera that come in the box. Thank you for the suggestion, this picture should help give more insight as to what comes with the camera.








Also here is an unboxing video of the 650 regular version. It comes with the same exact items, except the rear camera would come in the infrared version.





The camera comes with a 20' cable for those who wish to mount the rear camera at the rear of the vehicle. Those who wish to mount both cameras up front have the option to purchase a separate 1.5' cable separately. As of now 1.5' is the shortest cable offered by BlackVue, but from our experience and customer experiences, this length cable has been highly favored and seems to offer a more flexible range of mounting positions of both cameras in the front (rear camera placed at very top of windshield, or below main camera) than a shorter 6 inch cable would allow, while still requiring minimum hiding of cables. I can inquire from BlackVue about their plans to manufacture shorter cables. If you do use the 20' cable, majority of the cable can be hidden by lining it around the windshield under the trim.
The two cameras *cannot *be attached to each other and mounted as one unit.



Lacking pictures of how the memory card is ejected/inserted









If you look at the picture above, the left side of that camera has the two ports where you plug into, and under that removable side cover plate is where you insert/remove the SD card. It is easily inserted and ejected by just pushing in the SD card until you feel a click.
This is what it looks like with the side plate removed












Wireless connectivity usefulness confirmation
Sorry to hear about the WiFi/app problem on the Transcend. It seems like the Transcend crashes within 15 seconds every time, rendering it completely useless. Fortunately for the BlackVue, the WiFi and Android/iOS app are fully functional. You can download videos, view footage, view live stream, change camera settings all from your smart phone when connected to the dash cam's wifi (must be within 10 meters). We have many customers who use this feature daily. However, please note that although it is fully functional, it is not 100% perfect (as with almost every app on the Apple or Google store app market). The minor flaw is that the app does sometimes, but very rarely does crash. This is not a common occurrence, so your app/wifi capabilities are not rendered useless like it seems with the Transcend. Aside from this rare crash in the app, it fully functions allowing access to all the features mentioned above freely and for as long as you want. BlackVue is very dedicated to consistently updating their firmware/app to make the experience more streamlined and smooth, so we expect this issue to be cleared up soon.
Please see this video for a demo of the app and its features, which shows that the app does indeed work







Memory Card Sizes Supported
The camera supports up to 128 GB. BlackVue ships these dash cams from their warehouses outfitted with up to a 128 GB BlackVue memory cards, so their vendor site must be incorrect. Our customers who use the 128 GB model have no problems. However, I do not believe the camera is compatible with anything greater than 128 GB (just like how my Samsung Galaxy phone only supports up to 128 GB only). With 128 GB on the BlackVue DR650 IR, you should be able to record between 24 HRs on the highest quality setting possible to 56 hours on the lowest setting possible before looping. If you decide to record on a higher setting, but not the highest, you should be able to record between 32 and 44 hours. Please see this link for a better idea of the recording times (note the chart is only showing up to 64 GB, so double it for 128 GB recording times).










I hope this information was helpful and cleared up some of your reservations . If you have more questions/concerns, feel free to let me know on this thread, or PM me or email me at [email protected]. Thank you for all the points you raised here, I have made some edits to the product page and article so hopefully this clarifies the information.

I welcome anyone to chime in, or ask any questions they may have. As Undermensch mentioned, it is sometimes hard to find information on these cameras, so I am more than happy to share what I know, and find out answers to questions I may not know off the top of my head. And if you already use the BlackVue DR650GW-2CH or BlackVue DR650GW-2CH-IR, please chime in and tell us how you like it! Its always better to more honest feedback from others


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## Undermensch (Oct 21, 2015)

Thanks for all the extra info!

The unboxing photo is very helpful. I had forgotten to ask about the power cord being included because I had never seen a photo of it on all the sites where I've seen the camera. All the talk about fuse extenders and such made it sound like it had to be hard wired instead of using an accessory outlet.

Here are a couple of follow-up questions:

Micro SD Card
I see you have to remove that plate to get the card out, that's why I couldn't see where the card was before because no one ever showed a picture of that plate being removed 
Does the camera operate with the plate off? I assume it does, but I'd like to confirm that. I'd leave it off because I wouldn't want to have to unplug the other camera and power cord just to change the memory card.
Upon watching the review video you linked to, it seems that the plate swivels but can't be removed? Is that correct?

Personally, I archive the footage when the card is close to full. I'm more worried about needing to prove something didn't happen than to show what happened in an accident; you can't know in advance which parts of the video to save to prove nothing happened, thus I archive.

Determining Card Full State
Does the app have a quick way to check how full the card is?

IR lights at night
These don't photograph well...
But have you seen the IR lights at night?
Can you confirm that they are either completely invisible to the eye in the dark or do they emit a slight red glow like the lights on the Transcend DrivePro 520 and the Sima SL-100IR?

Thanks!


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## DashCamBros (May 4, 2016)

Power cord
The camera can indeed be powered by your cigarette outlet (the camera comes with the cigarette outlet plug). It can also be hardwired.



Micro SD Card
The purpose of the side cover is to prevent dirt/dust from getting into the SD card slot. However, the side cover can be removed entirely if you wish.


The camera does in fact operate with the side plate taken off or unswiveled in an open position.
If you decide to leave the side cover on, you *dont have to* remove both the power plug and coaxial cable to get to the SD card. You only need to remove the power cable to remove the plate enough to remove the SD card. As a general tip, the camera should be off anyway when removing the SD card.


Determining Card Full State
Unforunately this feature is not currently supported in the app . To do this, I think you'll have to do some general timing planning.



IR lights at night
The lights do emitt a faint glow at night.


Hope this was helpful  Keep the questions coming!!


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## tradedate (Nov 30, 2015)

Here's what I would like to see, but I don't think it exists.

A stand alone Garmin type GPS unit, with a capable front and rear dual camera built in, and the option to connect a rear view camera so that we could see what's behind us on screen when driving in reverse. 

Of course the unit would have to provide great night vision, option to activate/de-activate sound recording, SD card, bluetooth, and all the other bells and whistles.


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## Redtop (Oct 20, 2015)

I called Dashcam Brothers. Spoke with Kenton. He was helpful and knowledgable. Maybe there's something cheaper out there on Amazon but wading into uncharted territory, if I buy one I'll probably buy from them because I know I'll get useful support.

One small other thing occurs to me. If you have someone in your household who uses your car regularly and you're not 100% sure they aren't going somewhere they shouldn't the GPS recording feature could be helpful. It's not real-time. If your child says he's going to bible study and in fact goes to his friend's house, you won't know until he gets home and you access the data.


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## I_Like_Spam (May 10, 2015)

I couldn't see using a dash cam when I was driving a cab.

I can certainly understand people's concern for security and that. But I wouldn't like the fact that a dash cam would cause a lot of people to clam up- not just those engaged in questionable occupations like pimpery, but those who might be using the cab to go meet up with someone else's wife, go to a gay joint, or other activities which they might be questioned about and they don't want any evidence.

As a driver, what was said in the cab stayed there, the passengers had confidence in that. I always wanted to be a priest and show empathy for people's confessions, but considering the fact I was neither a Roman Catholic nor celibate, that was out of the question. Driving Yellow Cab was the closest I could come.


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## Undermensch (Oct 21, 2015)

I_Like_Spam said:


> I couldn't see using a dash cam when I was driving a cab.
> 
> I can certainly understand people's concern for security and that. But I wouldn't like the fact that a dash cam would cause a lot of people to clam up- not just those engaged in questionable occupations like pimpery, but those who might be using the cab to go meet up with someone else's wife, go to a gay joint, or other activities which they might be questioned about and they don't want any evidence.
> 
> As a driver, what was said in the cab stayed there, the passengers had confidence in that. I always wanted to be a priest and show empathy for people's confessions, but considering the fact I was neither a Roman Catholic nor celibate, that was out of the question. Driving Yellow Cab was the closest I could come.


I thought the same thing. However, only 1% of riders have asked me about it (3 out of 300+ rides since I got it).

Nobody talked about anything too outrageous before or after the camera, in my case.


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## DashCamBros (May 4, 2016)

tradedate said:


> Here's what I would like to see, but I don't think it exists.
> 
> A stand alone Garmin type GPS unit, with a capable front and rear dual camera built in, and the option to connect a rear view camera so that we could see what's behind us on screen when driving in reverse.
> 
> Of course the unit would have to provide great night vision, option to activate/de-activate sound recording, SD card, bluetooth, and all the other bells and whistles.


We do currently have units with a screen that can pull up rear camera footage - the BlackVue DR750. You can check it out on our site, but the downside is that it doesnt have Infrared recording. But it has all the other bells and whistles you want.

As for the standalone GPS part, I'm not sure I undwrstand what you mean. You want it to be a gps navigation system with dash cams built in? If so, the technology unfortunately is not that far yet. Maybe one day !! But if you just want your dash cam to be able to show your gps coordinates, then thats already possible.


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## DashCamBros (May 4, 2016)

Redtop said:


> I called Dashcam Brothers. Spoke with Kenton. He was helpful and knowledgable. Maybe there's something cheaper out there on Amazon but wading into uncharted territory, if I buy one I'll probably buy from them because I know I'll get useful support.
> 
> One small other thing occurs to me. If you have someone in your household who uses your car regularly and you're not 100% sure they aren't going somewhere they shouldn't the GPS recording feature could be helpful. It's not real-time. If your child says he's going to bible study and in fact goes to his friend's house, you won't know until he gets home and you access the data.


It was a pleasure speaking with you today. Feel free to call back if you have anymore questions.


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## DashCamBros (May 4, 2016)

I_Like_Spam said:


> I couldn't see using a dash cam when I was driving a cab.
> 
> I can certainly understand people's concern for security and that. But I wouldn't like the fact that a dash cam would cause a lot of people to clam up- not just those engaged in questionable occupations like pimpery, but those who might be using the cab to go meet up with someone else's wife, go to a gay joint, or other activities which they might be questioned about and they don't want any evidence.
> 
> As a driver, what was said in the cab stayed there, the passengers had confidence in that. I always wanted to be a priest and show empathy for people's confessions, but considering the fact I was neither a Roman Catholic nor celibate, that was out of the question. Driving Yellow Cab was the closest I could come.


Thay's pretty funny, and I bet a pretty cool part of the job. When you drove a cab, were there partitions between the back and front seats?


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## I_Like_Spam (May 10, 2015)

DashCamBros said:


> Thay's pretty funny, and I bet a pretty cool part of the job. When you drove a cab, were there partitions between the back and front seats?


No partitions , not for Pittsburgh Yellow Cab. Some travelers asked about that, as they did and do have them in a lot of towns.

I told the travelers (usually young guys at a convention or tourists or ball game/concert goers) that I didn't want them. I wanted to be able to reach back and grab a passenger that tried to sneak off without paying.


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## DashCamBros (May 4, 2016)

I_Like_Spam said:


> No partitions , not for Pittsburgh Yellow Cab. Some travelers asked about that, as they did and do have them in a lot of towns.
> 
> I told the travelers (usually young guys at a convention or tourists or ball game/concert goers) that I didn't want them. I wanted to be able to reach back and grab a passenger that tried to sneak off without paying.


That's halarious - no fear. Where I'm from, all cabs have them (probably for the better)


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## LAS0023 (Mar 19, 2016)

Any stealth cams that only record the interior?


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## Fireguy50 (Nov 23, 2015)

I_Like_Spam said:


> I couldn't see using a dash cam when I was driving a cab.
> 
> I can certainly understand people's concern for security and that. But I wouldn't like the fact that a dash cam would cause a lot of people to clam up- not just those engaged in questionable occupations like pimpery, but those who might be using the cab to go meet up with someone else's wife, go to a gay joint, or other activities which they might be questioned about and they don't want any evidence.
> 
> As a driver, what was said in the cab stayed there, the passengers had confidence in that. I always wanted to be a priest and show empathy for people's confessions, but considering the fact I was neither a Roman Catholic nor celibate, that was out of the question. Driving Yellow Cab was the closest I could come.


Nobody notices my camera unless I mention it. It either blends in with the rearview mirror, or people aren't looking for it.


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## DashCamBros (May 4, 2016)

LAS0023 said:


> Any stealth cams that only record the interior?


Definitely! The BlackVue DR3500 for an entry level dash cam that records the interior. If you want to go a step higher and have more features such as wifi (so you can live stream, view footage and download videos all from your phone) and built in GPS, then you can check out the BlackVue DR650GW-1CH. Both these dash cams can also be rotated 360 degrees to record internally or externally whenever you please. They can also record up to 30 hours depending on which memory card and video settings you choose.

These cameras however are not infrared enabled. I have heard of some including this type of light (SimaSL-100IR Infrared LED Light) to make recording at night alot better quality.

Please let me know if you have any questions!


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## Alisha Chinoy (May 24, 2016)

Here it is I am also saw Garmin Dash Cam™ 10. It so reliable and easy to use HD driving recording camera.

*Now talk about some of its features:-*

HD standalone driving recorder with 2.3-inch LCD display.
Snapshot feature allows you to take still images, even remove from vehicle, to capture collision damage.
Integrated microphone records the sounds inside your vehicle.
Incident Detection (G-Sensor) automatically saves footage of collisions and incidents.
This is an easy-to-use high-definition driving recorder with 2.3-inch LCD display. It records both audio and video, and allows you to set the date and time to pinpoint when events occurred. Mount the camera to your windshield and record your drive in 1080p, 720p or WVGA. Dash Cam records in a continuous loop, using the included 4 GB microSD™ card. To add more memory, add a larger microSD card (accepts up to 32 GB, sold separately. Class 10 required). Play back the footage on the LCD display or review later on your computer.

The camera has a wide-angle lens that captures the entire road. Its integrated microphone gives you the option of recording audio inside the vehicle.

According to me people should buy this amazing and ultimate device.


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## DashCamBros (May 4, 2016)

Alisha Chinoy said:


> Here it is I am also saw Garmin Dash Cam™ 10. It so reliable and easy to use HD driving recording camera.
> 
> *Now talk about some of its features:-*
> 
> ...


We actually used to sell the Garmin Dash Cam 10, and it was popular. However, Garmin has come out with the Garmin Dash Cam 20, which is the updated model of the Garmin Dash 10. You can check it out here.

https://dashcambros.com/collections...gle-lens-dashcam-with-gps?variant=19135593347


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## DashCamBros (May 4, 2016)

I invite anyone to ask questions they may have!!


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