Dash Cams

I've got a Garmin NuviCam a combined GPS and DashCam. It has an 8 gig card in it but I think it'll take up to 32.

1 minute of video takes up about 60mb data space so calculate that out, I think its a lot of minutes!!!!

I have 3 Blackvue dash cams and while not the cheapest they are HD and the newer ones are wifi enabled allow you to watch on a smartphone.
The easiest way to download is pull the micro sd card and stick it in a PC Depending on the capacity of the card it could record up to 9 hours at full HD.
Mine have GPS and show date and speed and in the supplied viewer can show in Google maps.
We downloaded every night when in the USA but there is only so much bitumen you can watch without being bored out of your mind. Off road may be more interesting.
A DR 450 HD (Non Wifi) with the optional GPS is a good model
I bought mine here
https://dashcamsaustralia.com.au/shop/dashcams/blackvue/blackvue-dr450-1ch/
I use 3M duallock tape to fix them to the windscreen as it is easily pulled apart so you can use the camera in different cars.
Look on this site for RELIABLE reviews of dashcams www.dashcamtalk.com
If you do a search on the form there are a few threads with photos in recent times

Begs q plan to do any 3rd party POV (point of view) water crossing over sand dunes or my favorite watching 4wd run over the camera along track ?

If the answer is yes then maybe consider a sports cam as they can be used for both applications -read some of the better ones

dashcam I have a navman Mivue something gives GPS and speed reading which at times may cause you bit of trouble if it says you were speeding by a km or two -depends on the smart arse lawyer.

Usually lasts for up to a week using 32mb card but then if you were to drive for full12 hrs probably loop around and wipe previous footage -the downside is when i take still photos it doesn't give speed or gps co-ordinates.

sports cam have a unit similar to a gopro (HD 1080P) uses same attachments and has wifi feature so I can remotely operate it from safe distance and turn off on to save card memory and battery - essential for motorsport footage

You really don't want one that creates a huge 8 hour video. Thats terribly inefficient and slows the system to a crawl.
The better cams save the footage in chunks typically 3-7 minutes in length. Any longer and the time to constantly write the file means you need a much bigger unit.
Plenty of software out there to stitch the segments together should you really wish do so.

If you want an action cam then buy on of those. Quite a different animal.

Gaz,
this site offers a very good review of dash cams. It doesn't pull any punches and prints any faults with the products. It also tells you where to purchase different cameras so you don't get caught out by fake copies.

I use one that is very basic and it has been faultless. It is at the bottom end of the spectrum price wise. It doesn't have a battery but uses capacitors instead. I get around 8 hours of video with the sd card I fitted, before it starts to over right the oldest 3 minute segments, can't remember but there I think there were 3 time periods you could choose from.

If something interesting happens I just note the time so I can find that part of the video easily. Just remember you have to format the sd card before use.

Anyway the site will give you all the specs for each camera.

Here is the site.Dash cam talk

Most including the Blackvue cameras include a viewer which enables you to look at your videos later on a PC or laptop or if Wifi enabled on a smartphone or tablet
In the Blackvue viewer it plays the 3 minute sequences in order seamlessly.

If you want to edit and make a video out of them there is software to do it I use Wondershare Video Converter
The 3 min sequences overlap so you dont miss anything as the camera buffers the feed and starts next one off a few secs before the prev one finishes.
Remember the camera only sees what you are actually looking at yourself.
If you want "out of the car looking in" video you need an action cam or a good smart phone.
I had literally hundreds of hours taken overseas and they were boring as bats**t mainly. I only kept some that the camera caught in interesting places. Rest of the time used a video camera and wife had a still camera.


Why do you mention "when towing" as the camera only looks out the front unless like me you have one in the rear as well and if towing you would be better with a rear vision camera perhaps

I got a Street Guardian from these guys. http://www.dashcamownersaus.com.au/street-guardian-sg9665gc-v3-128gb It has good clear video and I don't have to mess with it at all, so I suppose that makes it a good thing. The unit is reasonably small and fits up behind the mirror. It also has a small screen so you can play back on the side of the road. Bluetooth to a phone would be a better, but isn't an option on these though.

I set it so that it records everything in 1.5min blocks and runs 24/7. It only records when driving and when it senses movement when parked, it also has a remote GPS antenna which makes the unit smaller, but then you need to put a GPS antenna somewhere else on the screen. I put it in the top left corner and I don't even notice it now.

It makes a good fly on the wall too. I forgot to unplug it and it did a really good job of spying on the mechanics when I had a service last week. You can tell if your pride and joy copped a hiding on its road test.

Apparently it will record 16 hrs on the 128gb card, a 256 is also an option.

I leave it mounted and can 'pop' the card out the side and load it into the reader and plug it into the laptop. Downloading takes a while, but I have a program called Registrator Viewer that allows you to play back the 300 x 1.5min files and easily group them into trips and save that in 1 file, or cut small clips out and save that. It also hooks to google maps and shows where you were when the clip was taken.

If I lost this one, I'd get another. It works well.