1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

4K dashcam

Discussion in 'Prime Accessories and Modifications' started by john1701a, Dec 28, 2018.

  1. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2004
    12,747
    5,243
    57
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I wanted a discreet & inexpensive 4K video camera for the car that would start & stop recording and loop automatically. It needed to handle low light situations well, in addition to tolerating extreme heat & cold.

    Turns out, not only is it a great device for capturing my drives, it also provides a nice Wi-Fi interface for convenient downloads of the saved files.

    rexing-dashcam_v1-gen3.jpg
    .

    This video is a sample taken from my very first drive after getting the new camera setup. It's a Rexing V1 gen 3. The quality of the final render turned out really nice.


     
    SFO, iplug, Mark57 and 3 others like this.
  2. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2008
    2,763
    2,250
    13
    Location:
    Chesterton, Indiana Another third world country.
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Looks good, what size card do you have in it?

    I installed one this summer and it is voice activated. I normally don't like voice activated stuff but with a short list of voice commands I can operate it without taking my eyes off the road.
     
  3. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2004
    12,747
    5,243
    57
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    It came with a 32 GB card... which gets gobbled up at a rate of 525 MB for each 3-minute segment at 4K resolution.

    That's roughly 3 hours of storage.
     
  4. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2018
    6,688
    6,375
    1
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    Awesome! I'm hanging a blackvue 4k unit in our c later today.

    Any chance you were able to tap power at the mirror mount location? I haven't worked out how to get into that safety computer box yet, though I'm certain ignition-switched power is available in it.
     
  5. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2004
    12,747
    5,243
    57
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Mine came with an extremely long cord (which includes a USB connection on its base). The path within the car is easy to tuck too. So, I'm just using the 12V by the middle armrest.
     
  6. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2008
    2,763
    2,250
    13
    Location:
    Chesterton, Indiana Another third world country.
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Power ports used to be hot back in the day when they were called cigarette lighters. Some of the dash cams have features to show GPS and motion while the car is parked but they need power all the time.
    Mine came with a long usb cable too and I ran it in behind the passengers seat and plugged it into the power port on the back of the center console. I never have rear seat passengers.
     
  7. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2018
    6,688
    6,375
    1
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    I thought about that. It would be nice to have eyes on the car for when we're away from it, but it's just not practical for us. The car is routinely left in a lot for 3-4 days at a time, and nobody makes a camera with a big enough battery to last that long.

    The camera I bought went the other way in their design- no battery at all. It's got a big capacitor to manage momentary blackouts and handle graceful media recording at car shutdown, but deliberately no battery that could become a fire risk in a hot car.

    Many people add a battery to enable recording while parked, but I think it's smart for the camera maker to separate that into another accessory.
     
  8. Rob43

    Rob43 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2014
    1,373
    1,044
    0
    Location:
    VA, BMW Race Car, BMW R1200R, BMW 330Ci, Ford F350
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    That's some of the best playback resolution I've seen..... congrats on your purchase.

    If you upgrade to another card, skip the U1 class 10 cards & buy a U3 class 10 card. It's also good to have a brand new spare card in the glove box because the constant "loop" recording seems to kill cards after awhile.


    Rob43
     
    padroo likes this.
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,470
    38,103
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    I see they have some rear view cameras as well. And of course you can't get the front/rear package in Canada.
     
  10. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2004
    12,747
    5,243
    57
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
  11. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2008
    2,763
    2,250
    13
    Location:
    Chesterton, Indiana Another third world country.
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Thanks, it does a great job at night and very impressive.
    Are you able to download footage with your phone?
     
  12. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2004
    12,747
    5,243
    57
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    The phone interface is fairly simplistic, but it works fine for Wi-Fi downloads.
     
  13. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2004
    12,747
    5,243
    57
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I got some daytime footage today, complete with some sun glare and a frame grab.

    It's a nice sampling to round out the test video to share...

     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  14. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2018
    6,688
    6,375
    1
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    Looks like the camera shifts around a bit. I can't tell if that's actual motion on its mount, or an artifact from a motion stabilization system or something else entirely.

    Either way it doesn't look like you needed to spend much time blurring out plates for privacy. Thanks for sharing!
     
  15. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2004
    12,747
    5,243
    57
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced

    Keep in mind that what you are viewing was has a bit-rate reduced from the original 25 Mbits/s rate to 12 to keep the filesize from being massive. Also, there will be losses due to your own computer's processing & streaming.

    The mount is rock solid, a clamp tightly connected to the mirror's stem. The camera uses digital stabilization, which isn't as good as the more expensive physical type. But for the price I paid ($130), that's rather impressive.

    As for privacy, you don't have to blur out anything seen in public unless you are somehow directly profiting from that specific material. In this case, that certainly doesn't apply.

    And... you're welcome. I try to empower others by sharing experiences.
     
    My first EV and Mendel Leisk like this.
  16. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2018
    6,688
    6,375
    1
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    I didn't get to installing our camera yet, but the new kitchen faucet works great, no drip. Sometimes Saturday projects go like that, right?

    I help push rectangular pictures through round wires for a living, got a fair idea of what you started with vs. what made it to my eyeballs over here. Have you experimented with cut-ins on the source footage?

    I'm about to do some test recordings and figure out the phone app and cloudy stuff for ours.
     
  17. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2004
    12,747
    5,243
    57
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Like you, I don't have that kind of time. My focus will shift back to using the more expensive 4K camera for the videos I share. Just having one always recording video and at the ready for decent photos is all I wanted.

    So, yes, at some point I'll experiment with the photo-capture options. Those should provide more clear images. I suspect it will be quite a nice feature for when we are driving through scenic parks.
     
  18. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,958
    8,836
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I checked Rexing site. It seems 4K resolution camera is available for single channel only,
    Products
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,470
    38,103
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Dash cam is something that catches my interest every so often, then I get cold feet. Guess I'm waiting for an auto manufacturer to at least pre-wire, have a system offered as an accessory. Might be a long wait. :oops:
     
  20. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,958
    8,836
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    If manufacture put the dash cam as an option, I would have to worry about data privacy, just like any other monitoring devices in modern vehicles.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.