Dashcam installed Today

[S60Chris]

Originally Posted by Torshen

Thanks very much, good to see one mounted in an XC90 for real.

Just on your recompression job, it looks like the bitrate's a little low, quite a lot of blocking on the 1080p stream on that YT vid. Depending on what codec it is (h.264?) you might want to up it to 25mbit/s or so.

Yep it's not as good as the original - I put it through iMovie to conceal the reg number and that knocked it down from 1440p to 1080p and compressed the quality somewhat, and then YouTube did it's thing.

A video straight from the camera into YouTube would look similar - theoretically slightly better - to/than this (this is a video from our other car with the previous model of the camera we have in the XC90) -

+ YouTube Video

[Quacker]

That looks awfully big and fairly down on the windscreen. Probably an optical illusion though.

This is one of several cheap Konig dash cams I have in use. This one is fitted to a Honda CRV. It is tiny and fitted up behind the mirror and hardly seen from the driver's seat. Picture quality is fine, but I rarely wish to remove the card to upload anyhow. I wired this myself and it was dead easy. It gets its power from the power socket just about in the same position that Volvo has it and, luckily, it switches off with the ignition. I've had the Goluk in the Volvo hard wired to a similarly switched power source, even though in this way it doesn't have an active motion sensor feature when the car is parked.
DSC05420.jpg

On my XC90 I have an even smaller but much cleverer camera which doesn't have a screen. It does have an app for my iPhone which allows reviews, plus it has the other expected dash cam features plus a remote button that I can press in order to save a section of video permanently. The cam is mounted way up the top of the screen with the glue pad actually under the headlining, while the black button is mounted in front of the gear lever not far from my knee. The button is wireless.
The lens is at the top of the screen pointing slightly down, which helps accurate or more consistent exposure [it generally doesn't point at the sun at any time]. It also has a 140 degree angle of view, which is a bit more than the Konig. This is it if you click this link. I have no pictures of it in the car just yet.

An important point to note when buying dash cams is that capacitors are longer lasting when subject to extreme heat than batteries. The cheap ones tend to have batteries that degrade with both time and heat and continual charging. Capacitors are immune to this but have only ever enough residual charge to finish a current file safely when cable power is lost. The better cams tend to have capacitors.

[BarryOnCaroline]

I installed a dashcam today, took no more than 15 minutes and the power lead is hidden all the way to the centre console power socket. A plastic spatula did he job to hide cable behind trim. Cam is positioned to the top left of the black cowl and is not visible from the driver's side but covers the front perspective both sides adequately.

I might wire the power plug direct into the wiring at a later time, but is not obtrusive as it is in the power socket.

[aab203]

Originally Posted by Quacker

On my XC90 I have an even smaller but much cleverer camera which doesn't have a screen. It does have an app for my iPhone which allows reviews, plus it has the other expected dash cam features plus a remote button that I can press in order to save a section of video permanently. The cam is mounted way up the top of the screen with the glue pad actually under the headlining, while the black button is mounted in front of the gear lever not far from my knee. The button is wireless.
The lens is at the top of the screen pointing slightly down, which helps accurate or more consistent exposure [it generally doesn't point at the sun at any time]. It also has a 140 degree angle of view, which is a bit more than the Konig. This is it if you click this link. I have no pictures of it in the car just yet

Thanks for the info - this looks quite nice (although would have preferred a black colour rather than grey). I much prefer the idea of a dashcam without a screen as it is more discreet.

Some questions:
1) What would you say the negatives are?
2) What's the night time quality like?
3) Did you hardwire it?
4) Where did you buy it from (do you have a link)?

Would be great to see some photos if you are able to

[S60Chris]

Originally Posted by Quacker

That looks awfully big and fairly down on the windscreen. Probably an optical illusion though.

This is one of several cheap Konig dash cams I have in use. This one is fitted to a Honda CRV. It is tiny and fitted up behind the mirror and hardly seen from the driver's seat. Picture quality is fine, but I rarely wish to remove the card to upload anyhow. I wired this myself and it was dead easy. It gets its power from the power socket just about in the same position that Volvo has it and, luckily, it switches off with the ignition. I've had the Goluk in the Volvo hard wired to a similarly switched power source, even though in this way it doesn't have an active motion sensor feature when the car is parked.
Attachment 102683

On my XC90 I have an even smaller but much cleverer camera which doesn't have a screen. It does have an app for my iPhone which allows reviews, plus it has the other expected dash cam features plus a remote button that I can press in order to save a section of video permanently. The cam is mounted way up the top of the screen with the glue pad actually under the headlining, while the black button is mounted in front of the gear lever not far from my knee. The button is wireless.
The lens is at the top of the screen pointing slightly down, which helps accurate or more consistent exposure [it generally doesn't point at the sun at any time]. It also has a 140 degree angle of view, which is a bit more than the Konig. This is it if you click this link. I have no pictures of it in the car just yet.

An important point to note when buying dash cams is that capacitors are longer lasting when subject to extreme heat than batteries. The cheap ones tend to have batteries that degrade with both time and heat and continual charging. Capacitors are immune to this but have only ever enough residual charge to finish a current file safely when cable power is lost. The better cams tend to have capacitors.

Looks a good camera. I went for the VicoVation as they consistently get rated the best video quality (https://dashboardcamerareviews.com/v...on-vico-opia2/) , but they are all much of a muchness really and all serve the same purpose. As you say, it's capacitor based for longevity. I've worked my way through a number of different dashcams - a number of Mini 0801 cameras, and some that I got sent to review such as the Conbrov range, the (very highly rated) DDPai M6 Plus (Good review here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OPrYBWCAYc) and a few more but I find the Vico's to be the most reliable. I like the look of yours though. Mine isn't too big - can't see it from the drivers seat.

[Quacker]

Originally Posted by aab203

Thanks for the info - this looks quite nice (although would have preferred a black colour rather than grey). I much prefer the idea of a dashcam without a screen as it is more discreet.

Some questions:
1) What would you say the negatives are?
2) What's the night time quality like?
3) Did you hardwire it?
4) Where did you buy it from (do you have a link)?

Would be great to see some photos if you are able to

I'll take some photos tomorrow.
No negatives as far as I know. After checking everything works I rarely watch Dashcam footage. The Goluk is particularly easy to check periodically using wifi. It comes complete with SD card. I bought it direct and it cost £5 to clear UK Customs. Paid the Chinese seller using PayPal. Took more time to get from London to West Wales than from China to London by airmail. Less than a week in total and fully tracked delivery.
I bought it with the hardwire kit which lowers voltage to 5v I think it is. Got the dealer to wire this one but it is dead easy to do using a piggy-back fuse which isn't supplied. A USB car charging socket is supplied, if you wish to use the car's 'lighter' socket instead.

[Quacker]

Here are a couple of quick snaps of my installation. They are very quick I'm afraid.

IMG_0500.jpg

IMG_0499.jpg

Nothing to see in the second one, because it is not to be seen from the driver's seat.

[Razer]

How are you guys wiring these in. having them professionally fitted or installing yourself? If yourself, how are you connecting the electrical supply?

[Lozza]

Originally Posted by Razer

How are you guys wiring these in. having them professionally fitted or installing yourself? If yourself, how are you connecting the electrical supply?

I've been using front and rear cameras from day one. Self fitted. Fuse taps in fuse box under glovebox/kick panel for front camera, fuse taps in fuse box in cargo area for rear camera.

[Baxlin]

S60Chris, you mentioned that the screen isn't visible from the driver's seat, the camera I put in Mrs Baxlin's Fabia is similarly placed. Is the screen on all the while the camera is recording? Ours is, and it very quickly became annoying for the passenger, as it is always in their line of sight through the windscreen. In the end, I taped over the screen with black insulating tape, just leaving a tiny gap to confirm the screen is on.

Malcolm