Been thinking of putting a dash camera in my Maxima.
Been researching on the internet and on Amazon.com and have found a lot of different units out there. I was looking for suggestions from real-world owners from the forum since I know that enthusiasts are pretty knowledgeable AND don't put junk into their cars.

The biggest challenge seems to be finding a dash cam that doesn't mount using a suction cup (used to hate it on GPS units because after awhile they would fall off the windshield). Obviously, I would also want a camera that performs well at night...

Thanks for any input!

 

Hey, I have decent experience in dash cameras. I owned two so far, but done lots of research prior to purchasing them.

My first camera, I paid over $500 and it was very bad. Here is full review.

My second camera is what I am using now, I got it for about $200. It was soo good that they actually raised the price. Here is my full review on this one.

 

Thanks for the links-- I think that this was one of the ones I was looking at on Amazon since it doesn't use a suction cup mount...

 

I use a mini 0801 and hard wired it in and used their supplied 3m mounts on the windshield. It has worked thru the hot and muggy summers and cooler winters and is still going strong. I have the newer 0806 on back order and thought I would move the 0801 to the rear window and use the newer features of the 0806 in the front. I highly recommend the 0801. Small, unobtrusive and it is very hard to see it from the outside (less risk of theft)

 

I have one of these in all of my cars - not bad for a budget camera. Small footprint with decent 1080p playback. Night video is average but overall I am pleased with it:

 

For reference, I think we should also standardize some wording to help others, as my definition of "average" may be different from another person's definition of "average".
I often encounter reviews that says something is good, or average or poor, and when I view the product/try it out for myself, my opinions differ.

Here is what I'll define for my review, and feel free to use your own definitions or add additional comments.

• WTF BAD:
  • Image is a collection of assorted pixels with no shapes or form.
  • When still or moving, self imposed objects may randomly appear in the assortment of multi-color pixels.
  • Gigantic objects such as whales, buildings, and possibly trucks can be identified.
• Poor:
  • Image is blurry, defined as license plates within 5 feet of the car bumper cannot be read.
  • When still or moving, images are a mess of pixels randomly.
  • Large objects such as cars and colors are still distinguishable.
  • Medium sized objects such as humans, color of hair, skin, and clothes may be too blurry to see or require a lot effort to determine
• Average:
  • Image is not blurry, license plates within 5 feet of the bumper can be read.
  • When things are still, images can be quickly viewed for information, however upon movement, things may become blurry again.
  • Medium sized objects such as humans, color of hair, skin, and clothes are distinguishable with some effort.
  • Small objects such as purses and backpacks may require effort to determine unique features.
• Good:
  • Image is mostly clear, license plates within 15 feet can be read without trouble.
  • When things are still, images are clear and can be quickly viewed for information. Upon movement, images may still be clear within 5 feet, however objects that are outside of 5 feet are blurry.
  • Medium sized objects such as humans, color of hair, skin, and clothes are distinguishable with little effort.
  • Small objects such as purses or backpacks require little effort to identify.
• Great:
  • Image is clear as if standing in person. license plates within 25 feet can be read without trouble.
  • Images when both still and moving are as viewing in person.
  • Tiny objects such as facial features are clear within 15feet.
• Perfect:
  • Does not exist really.

With that said, a product similar to what I bought:

Front camera
Daytime quality: Good
Nighttime quality: Average to Poor

Rear camera
Daytime quality: Average
Nighttime quality: Poor to WTF BAD

Review:
I'm at work, so I'll make it somewhat brief.
What I wanted was a dual lens camera, for accidents in front and front. I've seen enough Russian dash camera videos to be somewhat paranoid.
My requirements at the time were to be at least good quality in the daytime, and passable at night. My price requirements were that the camera must be under 100USD.

The unit itself is okay mostly. Somewhat sturdy plastic, and the swivel part does hold the camera lens at the desired angle, but feels flimsy at times. I am always gentle/careful with my products, so it has not broken yet.

Battery life on stock battery is horrid, 10 minutes at best. I've modified my unit and added a larger battery, and have not tested it again since.

Footage is as described in my definitions, so it's not a bad camera for what it does. I vaguely remember the price to be about 60-80USD.
Night vision leds are a joke. They are infra-red, but the front camera has a infra-red filter in it's lens I think, so that defeats the purpose...
Rear camera is... See definition for "WTF BAD"

Ownership: At least 1.5 years.

Tip 1: The remote it comes with is really useful.
Tip 2: Some words are misspelled in the various "meuns" (menus), but I expect most will understand what the option does.
Tip 3: There are actually two models one with a supposed night vision led rear camera, and one without. I was supposedly lucky enough to get the one with.
Tip 4: There are two models out there, one that supposedly has better software and outputs in MP4 while the supposedly worse one outputs in AVI. I supposedly got the better one.
Tip 4.5: I know I'm using the word supposedly a lot. Its on purpose. (Supposedly)

 

I have the Blackvue cam on my other rig. The clarity is superb in daytime, and night time video is good enough.

 

Thank you all for the suggestions.
There are so may cameras out there on the market which makes choosing one tough...

 

"I'm at work, so I'll make it somewhat brief."

When you have some time, hit us with some detail.

 

I've a that I bought from Amazon when it was a few cents shy of $40. I figured for that price of entry I couldn't go wrong, and I've been quite happy with it for day-time driving. Night-time driving in suburban areas leaves a lot to be desired.

I accidentally captured with the dash cam (a video which I've almost made $500 from, funny enough) to show the video quality. You may have to manually change quality to 1080p.

 

Shhhhhhh.

 

Itronics or Blackvue are the only two I like.

$80+ or higher