Car dashboard cameras ?

A

Anonymous4Runner

New member
Today, I was involved in an altercation that could have taken a turn for the worst. Thankfully, things were resolved by the time the police came. I was wondering if anyone else here currently have cameras running in their 4R's. I have a '04 4Runner, and I'm interested in installing two cameras; one in the front & back. However, I'm having a hard time looking through search results here on T4R.org as well as google where there aren't enough reviews to help me make my decision.


Instead of placing the camera on the dashboard, I was wondering if it was possible to attach the camera to the ceiling where it can be easily concealed or hidden well to a point where they can't really tell I have a camera inside the vehicle. I currently have tint on my windshield, but I would still like to retain the stealth aspect of the camera by avoiding the placement in plain sight. I also want to install another camera on the ceiling facing the back window as well. Let me know if you have camera(s) and how do you feel about the investment! (Don't shy away from sharing pictures w/ us, too if you can as well as mentioning the brand name too!)

Thank you all & have a great evening everybody. Time to sip on some crown royal & watch hockey!! GO CAPS
 
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I would check what the laws are around that. I know its a rather grey area and I think it might not be admisable in court or some weird thing. I vaugely remember this kind of answer when I asked about it to a friend of mine long ago.
 
BlackWorksInc said:
I would check what the laws are around that. I know its a rather grey area and I think it might not be admisable in court or some weird thing. I vaugely remember this kind of answer when I asked about it to a friend of mine long ago.
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Why would camera footage from a civilian not be admissible in court, while that from a police officer would be? I would think a lawyer might be able to answer that question for you.
 
shadow247 said:
Why would camera footage from a civilian not be admissible in court, while that from a police officer would be? I would think a lawyer might be able to answer that question for you.
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I just vaugely remember being told something along the lines of privacy acts or some carp like that. I could be 100% wrong which is fine, as I said I'm not sure about it which is why I would double check.
 
Thank you for commenting on my thread. I do have a family friend who is a reputable lawyer here in Fairfax / Virginia Beach. I will be consulting with him before I make any purchases, but I'm interested in looking at some brands for the time being. I am fairly certain it is not illegal, but it can't hurt to ask a lawyer.

Bumping up the thread
 
I'd like the cameras to be activated upon me starting the vehicle so it can capture the whole thing if an incident should take place while I am on the road.

Btw, sexy 4R! I have a white 4R too
 
I have a dash board camera. I love it. I got it as a gift and I must say I am very impressed with it. The video is very stable while hitting bumps. It hasn't captured anything important yet, I did upload a video I thought was funny, the police driving the wrong way on the interstate. I got it for a similar reason as you. A company van cut me off, brake checked me, tried running me off the road, and wanted me to pull over so the two guys inside can jump me. I took off without getting the name of the company, but will never have to worry about that again with my SmartCam HD dash cam. Here is the aforementioned video: There happens to be another Nautical Blue 4th gen in front of me :biggrin2:
 
Anonymous4Runner said:
I'd like the cameras to be activated upon me starting the vehicle so it can capture the whole thing if an incident should take place while I am on the road.

Btw, sexy 4R! I have a white 4R too
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My concern with this would be storage, that's a lot of video to store. If I were doing this would be some small camera like the review cameras people use to backup, just facing forward and the other to the rear. The forward facing camera can be attached to the front bumper or the rearview mirror (facing forward). I would also look into getting a "Car Computer" to store the data (video) if I couldn't find a way to get the video straight to a hard-drive.

-MJ
 
I posted a question some time back regarding car DVRs, and this reminds me I need to get it.

You can search both eBay and amazon for the variety of options. There are also apps that turn your phone into a car DVR. Some have two cameras (front and back. Some have GPS. Most accept sufficient memory cards for quite a bit if storage. They also typically overwrite the oldest file to allow you to persevere the most recent file if you get into an accident etc.

Im going to have a look again. I was in a collision with a political aide that totaled my last 4Runner. Had there not been witnesses, that person would have gotten away with a hit and run.

Edit: there are some good youtube demos.
 
mjohns2 said:
My concern with this would be storage, that's a lot of video to store. If I were doing this would be some small camera like the review cameras people use to backup, just facing forward and the other to the rear. The forward facing camera can be attached to the front bumper or the rearview mirror (facing forward). I would also look into getting a "Car Computer" to store the data (video) if I couldn't find a way to get the video straight to a hard-drive.

-MJ
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This is a good point, depending on the file type, resolution, quality you'll be needing a fair amount of space. I personally would go with a sturdy shock proof HD enclosure and get a 1TB drive (they're not to expensive these days) maybe a second one as back-up.
 
My camera in particular came with a 16 GB memory card. I put a 32 GB one in. It overwrites the oldest file when needed and you are able to protect a file from being deleted/overwritten if you choose.
 
mjohns2 said:
My concern with this would be storage, that's a lot of video to store. If I were doing this would be some small camera like the review cameras people use to backup, just facing forward and the other to the rear. The forward facing camera can be attached to the front bumper or the rearview mirror (facing forward). I would also look into getting a "Car Computer" to store the data (video) if I couldn't find a way to get the video straight to a hard-drive.

-MJ
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Very understandable. I might be able to ask one of my buddies who works at an audio shop to look into this, but I doubt he wil be able to take on a project like this. I would rather not use cheap cameras that comes with the HU or whatever...I don't know, I'd feel much more content having external cameras operating while not depending on anything else rather than operating through HU.


NJShadow, can you take a picture of your camera's placement please? I still have to figure out how to mount the back camera as well. I don't care too much for 1 TB storage space but then I have no idea how much space it takes up, lets say 15 minutes of driving so I should probably consider getting a 1TB. I'm interested in your camera, but the issue is that I noticed it didn't really clearly show the plates. Granted not all cameras are HD, but I would not mind spending a little extra money for the HD quality if needed because I would love to vigorously go after whoever hit me knowing I have proof of them appearing on camera as well as the license plates showing on my camera. You just never know...they can always deny saying, yeah I have the same truck but who is to say it's my 4R that ran into yours? Where are the license plates pictures?


I'm also going to have a holster installed inside the 4R as well. I still have to figure out which locations are illegal & legal because I want to install one inside center compartment space, but I'm tempted to install one underneath the steering wheel. I'm also looking into buying a mini gunlocker where I can bolt it to the floor & leave my gun in there locked away. Although this may be an unsafe decision, but what are the odds of your vehicle being carjacked while you're inside a business that prohibits guns from being brought in, whether they're loaded or not? I would definitely not leave it in my truck at the airport longterm parking for days, though. I'd only leave it in there for hours at the most, not days.
 
first you don't really need to worry about storage space on dashcams, most of them will just overwrite the oldest file.

They usually have an option for how long each video file is, something like 2 min, 5 min, 15 min.

dashcams come in a variety of shapes and sizes. some look like a radar detector, other models are actually a rear view mirror with the camera on the back (facing out). Nice thing about the mirror cam is it doesn't look out of place.

They can record audio. The mic is in the car. I'm not a lawyer so check with one before you start recording conversations without each parties consent. That is the only real legal issue I can think of.

I don't believe there is a state that would make it illegal to record video with a dash cam

Night video files that I've seen aren't very good. The ones I've seen can make it possible to see the color of the traffic light etc but not good enough to read a license plate.

Search youtube. they have a bunch of videos of accidents, fraud, and reviews/unboxing different models.

Don't assume you can't afford one. you can get a setup for for about $43. Is that a great one? no. Can you spend more and get better quality? yes

hope that helps

PS if you have it connected to power they go on when the car is on, they go off a few seconds after you turn the car off. Some units have a batter similar to cell phone batts. those units can be put in "motion detection mode" and will record motion when the car is off as long as the battery has charge. I wouldn't expect that battery to last very long.
 
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Everyone knows police record for their safety and for false accusations made from the driver.

Now for civilians it's against the law to record anyone whether audio or video without their prior knowledge and consent. Courts will throw that out.
 
madeinhb said:
Everyone knows police record for their safety and for false accusations made from the driver.

Now for civilians it's against the law to record anyone whether audio or video without their prior knowledge and consent. Courts will throw that out.
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Did you know it is legal to record the interaction with the police officer (audio and video) if you get pulled over? If not, you do now. It is absolutely legal and although the officer may tell you you HAVE to shut the camera off, you DON'T. Of course, they may ask you to shut it off but you don't have to, it is your right.
 
Not 100% positive but it may be legal to record police officers in some states and not legal in others.

As for photographing or recording civilians, I'm pretty sure in most places it is 100% legal as long as you are in a public space and the person has no reason to expect privacy (ie. bathroom)
 
madeinhb said:
Now for civilians it's against the law to record anyone whether audio or video without their prior knowledge and consent. Courts will throw that out.
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Just curious what your source is? Are you a lawyer? Did you get this from a lawyer? I'm not saying you are wrong or right, but the only place I've ever read that it's illegal is on internet message boards.
 
coconutpete said:
Just curious what your source is? Are you a lawyer? Did you get this from a lawyer? I'm not saying you are wrong or right, but the only place I've ever read that it's illegal is on internet message boards.
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See this is what I was told also, but I never actually looked into it so I have no clue how true it is... :/
 
I have read up on "Street Photography" a little bit and from what I have read, you are allowed to photograph anyone that is in a public space, as long as there is no expectation of privacy as mentioned previously. Look at Paparazzi, they photograph people in public for a living, the only time they get in trouble is when they cross the line into taking pictures of people on private property. One thing you cannot do is use a persons image for monetary gain without their consent. everything else is fair game.

oh and you can't use someones image in a defamatory way. Basically, don't be an ass and you're golden.
 
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