Using a car camera has many benefits. At the top of that list is the fact that it helps if there is ever a crash or vandalism incident with your car. A car camera provides irrefutable evidence of what happened which helps ensure that the correct decision is made on insurance claims. It also helps insurance companies to process claims quicker which means you can move on quicker. So if having a car camera is good for your car it must be good for temporary cars too.
That is true. If you drive a car for work that you do not own or if you hire cars regularly a car camera can be just as beneficial to you as it is when you own the car. It is also beneficial when driving abroad.
In fact hiring a car and driving while on holiday is something that more people are doing. It is inexpensive and it appeals to our desires for exploration and independence. But statistics have shown that you are twice as likely to be in a car accident while driving in mainland Europe as you are when you are driving in the UK. If you are in Greece or Portugal your chances of being in an accident are three times higher.
It is bad being in an accident when you are close to home but it is even worse when you are far away. You will have less people to help and support you and you may have difficulties with the language. This makes a stressful situation even worse as you try to deal with other people involved in the accident, car hire companies, insurance companies and the police.
In all of these situations a car camera can help. Video images transcend language barriers and will back up your viewpoint in a way that is impossible to argue with. They can help you if you are in an incident in a hire car in the UK too and also if you are driving a car for work that you do not own. The video camera footage deals with all of these tricky situations ensuring you are not out of pocket or out of a job.
Car Cameras Suitable for Temporary Cars
The most important thing to consider when buying a car camera that you plan to use in a car that is not your own is the way that it is fixed. Most cameras are fixed to your car on the windscreen. One method of fixing is through adhesive mounts which is solid and durable. The trouble is these are also semi-permanent so are not suitable for things like hire cars or temporary work cars.
The other type of car camera fixing that is available is suction pads. The whole purpose of suction pads is to make the camera portable which is beneficial for security purposes, i.e. you can remove the camera and place it somewhere out-of-sight when your car is parked. Portability is also beneficial for using the camera on hire cars or temporary work vehicles so suction pads are the best option.
When you get into the car you simply fix the camera to the windscreen using the suction pads and then remove it when you are finished with the car. View our full range of suction mounted dash cams.
Other Benefits
A car camera is beneficial when things go wrong but there are other things that they are useful for, particularly if you are driving a hire car for pleasure. This is because car cameras are a way for you to capture your trip. Of course mile-upon-mile of motorway driving is not interesting but once you get onto the scenic routes your car camera can become a method of recording what you see while at the same time offering you protection.
You just have to remember to download to a computer any video that you want before it is deleted. Car cameras typically record to SD cards in chunks. Once the card is full it goes back to the oldest chunk and wipes it before starting to record again. This is called loop recording and means you do not have to worry about storage space. You do have to worry about the videos that you want to keep though. That means you will need to bring a laptop or something similar to download your videos before they are deleted.
Suction mounts make car cameras portable which means they are suitable for all driving situations in all countries. Before you go on your next trip or take the keys of another work car make sure you get one.
VicoVation Dashcams - Now available at Car Camera Shop
We’re excited to have added a new range of cameras from VicoVation to our website this week after seeing interest in them grow in recent months.
The VicoVation WF1 offers a unique design which definitely makes it stand out in the dashcam crowd! But it’s style with function, as the design helps with heat dissipation and offers easy access to the event record button, making it easy to reach if you spot anything interesting on the roads and want to refer back to it later. This file will then be locked and protected from being overwritten by the loop recording function – for more information on this read our Key Features of Car Cameras page.
We’re looking forward to testing out the PushCam App service that the VicoVation WF1 offers which enables you to automatically upload eventful footage to the cloud via your smartphone, making it easy to access later on. It’s great to see manufacturers thinking about ways of making accessing video files easier.
The VicoVation Marcus1 and VicoVation Marcus3 dashcams both offer HD recording, with the Marcus3 delivery EXTREME HD recording – their words, not ours! – and capturing impressive 1296p footage. They also use the latest technology to improve their ability to record in low-light situations, which can be crucial if you have an accident at night.
VicoVation also show that they’re safety concious by including lane departure warning systems (LDWS) and front collision warning systems (FCWS) in their dashcams*. By building in additional features such as these, dashcams are able to help prevent accidents as well as recording them.
We’re always looking for new dashcams to add to our website to ensure we’re able to offer the very best selection to our customers. If you’re looking for a particular camera but can’t find it on Car Camera Shop, feel free to drop us a line on sales@carcamerashop.co.ukto see if we’re considering adding it or whether there’s a reason we haven’t!
UPDATE: Due to the number of requests we’re getting for the Mini 0803, and the fact that we’ve been testing it for some time now and understand it better, we’ve made it available on our site. It’s clear that the manufacturers are listening to the dashcam community and they appear keen to make firmware improvements as soon as possible. These should rectify some of the issues that we’re currently experiencing with the Mini 0803. That said, even in its current state, the Mini 0803 performs well and has the potential to offer exceptional image quality, especially in low-light situations, once the firmware has been refined to make the most of the hardware available.
We’re huge fans of the Mini 0801 here at Car Camera Shop, along with thousands of other dashcam users all over the world, and so we were excited to receive samples of the newly release Mini 0803, for testing. As with all newly launched cameras, we like to put them through their paces before making them available for sale, as we feel that they need to deliver a certain level of quality before we feel that they’re fit for our customers.
After a week of rigorous testing, we’ve decided to hold back on making the Mini 0803 available on our site as we feel that there are some teething problems that we need to understand in more detail before we’re able to offer the appropriate level of support where this camera is concerned. We’re speaking to the manufacturer directly and gathering information from other users in a bid to understand the camera, its current limitations and to establish a timeline for any improvements. There has already been one firmware update since it’s launch (at time of writing) so we hope to see more shortly.
As an example, we don’t feel that the Mini 0803 currently delivers as good an image quality as the Mini 0801, despite it recording in 1296p, rather than 1080p. We’ve run side-by-side tests and, as you can see from the footage below, the Mini 0801 offers a sharper, more detailed image and the Mini 0803 suffers from a soft-focus effect, particularly when pausing the video, making registration plates difficult to read. While is appears that the 0803’s wide dynamic range (WDR) does enable to camera to capture marginally lighter videos at night, albeit with a yellow hue, again the important detail is lacking.
There also seems to be some minor bugs in the firmware effecting the audio recording and some other menu options, and the instructions provided don’t include many of the new features, including it’s lane depature warning system, which will leave our customers struggling to use their camera without support.
Rest assured that we’re keen to make the Mini 0803 available as soon as possible but hope that you can understand the rationale behind our decision. For the sake of delaying it’s availability for a short time, we can ensure that our customers receive a product that meets their expectations and that we can support them fully with.
If you have any questions regarding the Mini 0803, please feel free to contact us here.
Given its multi-award winning status, we were excited to receive the Mi-Witness HD for review recently. In recent times this popular dashcam has been awarded a lofty 5-star rating by the Sunday Times and scooped ‘Product of the Year’ at the Vehicle Electronics Professional awards, so we’re were especially keen to see how it performed.
Key Features
Full HD quality video (1280 x 720) at 30fps.
120° wide angle lens with a 2MP CMOS sensor.
GPS maps for speed and location tracking.
G-shock sensor to detect sudden and severe movement.
Parking mode for protection when parked.
Photo mode.
Wifi enabled to connect to a mobile app (via optional Wifi dongle).
Adjustable adhesive windscreen mount.
MicroSD cards up to 32GB. 8GB card supplied.
Combine all that with our fondness for front and rear dashcam set-ups and we were delighted to receive the Mi-Witness Driver Special bundle to take a look at. As well as the main Mi-Witness HD camera unit, this package also includes a neat little rear camera along with some other goodies including a wifi dongle, a hardwire kit and a smart little protective case.
Upon opening the package, we were pleasantly pleased with the main, front-facing camera. Largely black, to help it remain inconspicuous when installed, it finds a good balance between simplicity and functionality. With just one main button on the left-hand edge (looking from a drivers point-of-view), which also acts as a light so you can tell how the camera is working, the camera doesn’t invite interaction, and nor should it. The Mi-Witness is designed to be set-up, installed and forgotten about unless absolutely necessary.
Elsewhere on the camera, there are two small indicator lights that tell you if the camera has power and whether the GPS signal has locked in. Just above these is a USB port hidden beneath a sturdy rubber cover which is where the wifi dongle is attached. By offering wifi functionality as an optional extra, the Mi-Witness HD becomes a package that can be tailored to an individuals needs. The USB slot will apparently also be used for other functions in the future which may offer even more customisation options.
Around the camera are ventilation holes to let heat escape and on the right-hand end, there are two sockets for the power cable and the rear-camera cable to plugged into, along with a slot for the Micro SD card, again covered by a rubber guard, to stop and unwanted dirt getting in. Overall, the camera feels like it’s built with quality in mind.
Installation was a breeze with just two cables to worry about. The first was the power cable which I could easily run along a well-worn route in my car due to installing cameras quite frequently. However, the cable is easily tucked behind trim and under carpets so an expert-looking installation is easily achieved in any car. The second, longer cable, connects the front and rear cameras so needs to run the full length of the car. Yet again, this was easily hidden, apart from a small connector a metre or so away from the rear camera which needed some creative thinking! However, this connector could also be useful should the rear camera need to be disconnected, without having to remove the whole wiring system.
Both cameras stick to their respective windscreens with adhesive pads and held firmly in place. Each allows for up and down adjustments so it’s important to align them straight in the first place. This is one of the benefits of the Mi-Witness’s smartphone app. By plugging in the wifi dongle, the camera can connect to your iOS or Android device and stream live images via the free apps that are available to download. While this particular benefit may only be useful during installation, the apps also allow you to manage the cameras settings and view your recorded footage. This can be very useful if you’re involved in an accident and wish to review the footage at the scene.
Upon turning the camera on, it burst into life with a cheery voice message and a flash of red light from the main button. At night I found this light to be a bit too bright as it flashes while recording but it can be turned off. From then on the camera would record faultlessly each time, switching between the normal ‘continuous’ mode and it’s ‘parking’ mode as required. It would also detect ‘events’ using it’s internal g-sensor and store these video files away for safe keeping.
One unique feature to the Mi-Witness is that you can allocate space on the memory card for use with each particular type of video file that the camera can record; normal, event, parking and manual, which are videos that you trigger yourself by pressing the button on the camera if you spot an incident in front of you. While this feature might be slightly too advanced for every user, it does mean you can adjust the way that the camera stores data, allowing you to put heavier emphasis on capturing specific types of videos. Leave your car parked for long periods? Then increase the amount of parking files that it can hold before overwriting itself. Don’t feel the need to manually record? Then reduce this portion to give space to the other videos.
Footage can be viewed on the Mi-Viewer software, which I think is one of the better pieces of dashcam software that I’ve used. It’s well designed and very intuitive, but I do use a lot of these programs so maybe I’m just more used to them! All of the relevant information is laid out in a way that makes it easy to see and a range of icons let you navigate through the various tools available to you. I particularly like the ‘zoom’ tool which lets you hover your mouse pointer over a particular area of your video and you see a smaller zoomed in picture, helping you to make out finer detail, such as number plates. It’s also easy to view the footage from the rear camera, either on it’s own, or alongside the front camera video in a slightly smaller window.
The Mi-Witness HD records in 720p, which isn’t the highest specification available in a dashcam, but it still delivers good image quality. The footage portrays a clear view of the activity around you and, while the finer detail isn’t always easy to make out, it would enable you to establish the cause of any incidents you were involved in. In the age of ultra high-definition, it’s easy to forget the purpose of dashcams and get obsessed with being able to see every tiny detail, rather than just being able to establish a timeline of events leading up to an accident, which the Mi-Witness enables you to do.
So, in summary, it’s easy to see why the Mi-Witness HD has received such recognition in recent times. With excellent build quality and a host of accessories available for it, the Mi-Witness HD is an outstanding choice, whatever your specific dashcam requirements are. Mi-Witness are engaged with their customers via their online forum and, along with the community of users that they’ve built up, offer a level of support that other manufacturers would do well to emulate. While the camera’s image quality has room for improvement in comparison with some other dashcams, it is a highly capable unit.
Last month saw Swiftcover become the first mainstream insurer to offer a discount to their customers that install a dashcam. While their 10% discount might only equate to around £30 off their average policy value, it’s great to see a new company recognise the benefits that dashcams offer.
As discussed in their latest blog, Adrian Flux have been offering a discount for around two years and were one of the first UK insurers to do so. Due to the specialised nature of the cover they provide, the savings made can often cover the cost of the dashcam in the first year alone!
Footage captured by car cameras helps insurers to apportion responsibility for an accident much quicker than occasions when video evidence isn’t readily available. Often these cases simply end up with responsibility being shared 50/50 between both parties, as neither will accept blame and the evidence in inconclusive. Understandably, the communications involved in this take a significant amount of time, resource and therefore, money. By eliminating, or vastly reducing this process, insurers are able to save money and it’s great to see them passing these savings on to drivers.
Be sure to keep an eye on our Cheaper Car Insurance page for details of all insurance companies that are offering dashcam discounts. We hope that we’ll be able to add many more companies to it in the future.
Demand for car cameras is increasing as more drivers, motorbike riders and cyclists learn about the options that are available. Good quality car cameras and bike cameras are now affordable so they are becoming a standard piece of add-on equipment. This is not surprising given how difficult and stressful it is to deal with insurance companies and the police when vandalism takes place or accidents occur. Savvy road users are increasingly turning to cameras to help clarify incidents and expose the truth.
This is true in the UK but it is also true in Europe. At Car Camera Shop we have seen a surge in inquiries from customers in Europe for our products as more people become familiar with what is available. Our customers tell us that they find it just as difficult dealing with an incident on a road in mainland Europe as they do in the UK.
As car cameras offer equal benefits whatever country you live in Car Camera Shop has decided to go multi-national. We now supply our full product range across Europe. Some of the countries we sell to include:
France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus, Croatia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Estonia, Romania
Benefits of a Car Camera
If you are in Europe our car cameras can help you in a number of situations, including when you are making an insurance claim. This includes any sort of accident and if you have been in an accident before you will know how difficult it is to determine blame. Memories are not accurate and people interpret what they see in many different ways. A car camera or a bike camera provides you with documentary proof in the face of these discrepancies.
A camera can also help when you are not in your car. This could be a situation where your car is vandalised or a situation where someone damages it accidentally but then leaves the scene without letting you know. Normally it would be almost impossible to find the person responsible which would mean you would have to pay for any repairs. With a car camera you will have some proof.
As well as offering practical help car cameras also give you peace of mind particularly when you are faced with road rage or a dangerous driver. Because you have footage you can get it published (on the internet or through a local media outlet) or you can give it to the police.
Europe Wide Service
With the Car Camera Shop Europe wide service you can now enjoy all of these benefits where you live. You get the same low prices and the same top quality products as we offer our UK customers. Plus our delivery is just £14.99 and takes five working days.
So if you want a camera for your bike or car the Car Camera Shop is your number one European choice.
Riding a bicycle is enjoyable for many reasons and millions of UK residents regularly take to the roads on two-wheels. Whether to commute to places of work, escape the hustle-and-bustle of city life or to get their pulses racing in more extreme cycling activities. However, there can be downsides and, at the top of that list, are the dangers that exist when you are on a bike, compounded by the lack of protection that you get when you’re in a car. It is because of these dangers that helmets are so important, and helmet cameras can also play an important part.
Benefits of Wearing a Helmet Camera for Cyclists
There are many benefits of wearing a helmet camera if you are a cyclist. These include recording your journeys, particularly when you are on a scenic or unique ride, so that you can capture treasured memories. It’s enjoyable to look back on your activity to re-live the excitement and share the footage with your friends and family.
However, there are more serious benefits of a helmet camera, including one that you hope we all hope we never have to call on; to look back on the moments surrounding an accident. Unfortunately accidents do happen – every year in the UK there are approximately 19,000 accidents involving cyclists – so wearing a helmet camera will allow you to demonstrate to the other parties involved and, if necessary, the police, how the accident was caused. It is not easy to argue with an image on a screen depicting the whole incident and being able to call upon irrefutable evidence can be invaluable.
Cyclists can also experience bad driving when they are riding their bikes and a lot of it can be a source of frustration. A helmet camera can provide an outlet for that frustration and a large community of cyclists upload videos to the internet showing poor and dangerous driving. If those drivers knew that their actions might end up on the internet, they might think twice before driving dangerously or acting aggressively. And with the power of social media growing daily, these videos can have a genuine impact. As recently as March 2014, a lorry driver was sacked for driving aggressively towards a cyclist who captured the event on their helmet camera.
Buying a Helmet Camera
Helmet cameras come in a range of different price ranges but they are all action video cameras. This means they are designed to be used outdoors – in situations like being on your bike – and they all come with a range of different mounts to attach them to your helmet. By using these mounts to affix the camera to your helmet, rather than to your bike, it means the camera will see what you see, rather than being fixed in one position.
There are also other features that are important to consider when buying a helmet camera. The first is loop recording. Essentially this means you do not have to worry about running out of recording space. The system records until its memory is full and then returns to the start and overwrites itself in a constant loop pattern. This only becomes an issue when you want to recover a recording as you will have to do it before it is overwritten.
Another is battery life, and you’ll need to consider the length of time that your camera will be able to record for before it needs recharging. Nobody wants to be on the ride of their life only to find that their camera has stopped recording!
A wide angle lens that shoots high quality video is also important: a resolution of 1280 x 720 is the minimum you should consider. Also make sure it is waterproof in order to deal with our weather in the UK and you will want it to be light and comfortable to wear. And finally make sure the controls are easy to use. Ideally you want one-touch recording so it is easy to operate while on your bike.
Stay Safe with a Bicycle Helmet Camera
It is unfortunate that many of Britain’s roads are not built for cyclists and it is a shame that cyclists have to put up with the behaviour exhibited by some drivers. A helmet camera, such as the RoadHawk Ride or the Replay XD 1080 Mini, gives you the advantage of the truth. This applies if an incident occurs and if you manage to avoid the incident but still witness terrible driving.
Plus you will be able to record all of those interesting things that you see on your bike every day!
If you’ve read our review of the BlackVue DR550GW, you’ll know that we’re big fans of 2-channel dashcams here at Car Camera Shop. To you and me, that’s a dashcam that features both a front and a rear-facing camera. There’s no denying that having footage of activity on the road behind you as well as in front gives outstanding peace-of-mind. So we were excited to review the iPixi/Winycam V200HD and see how this smart looking dashcam performs.
Key Features
HD quality video (1280 x 720) at 30fps.
120° (front) and 140° (rear) 2MP CMOS sensor.
Multi-lens to capture video from front and rear.
3” LCD touch screen.
GPS maps for speed and location tracking.
G-shock sensor to detect sudden and severe movement.
Parking mode for protection when parked.
Adjustable adhesive windscreen mount.
MicroSD cards up to 32GB. 16GB card supplied.
Aside from the rear-camera, the other stand-out feature of the V200HD is the LCD touch screen. At 3″ in width, it’s the largest screen of any of our dashcams and is unique in offering touch screen capabilities. Despite the screen size, the front-facing camera unit isn’t too bulky. Larger than some other cameras, but still small enough to be concealed behind the rear-view mirror.
As you may have seen from our unboxing video, the V200HD comes well packaged with all the necessary components to get it up-and-running, including a memory card. The main unit is as small as it can be considering the 3″ screen, and is largely black, with ventilation holes around the sides to help disperse heat. On the front of the camera is the lens, surrounded by an LED ring. This glows red when the camera is recording but this can reflect in the windscreen, particularly at night, so thankfully this can be disabled in the menu settings. Apart from that, things are left simple, with three small LEDs on the rear to show you that the camera is powered up, recording and that the GPS has a signal. There is also a microphone and one solitary button that can be used to record manually, which is placed in a convenient position.
The touch screen is impressive and makes navigating through the cameras menus a breeze. It’s not as advanced as today’s smartphones, but the basic touch functionality works very well as is very well suited to the dashcam market. I powered up the camera before installing it to have a play with this unique feature and was flicking in and out of the menus in no time at all. Using straight-forward on-screen icons, navigation was intuitive and there was very little lag, meaning it wasn’t frustrating to use. It’s a minor detail, but some of the menus have spelling mistakes and grammatical peculiarities in them which hint at the V200HDs foreign heritage, as Winycam originated in Korea.
The rear-facing camera is small and neat and connects to the main unit by a long cable. This enables the front, main camera unit to process images from both cameras. This means that when watching your videos, either on the LCD screen or using the software provided, the image can be flipped from front to back easily. This makes it easy to track activity around you as you either pass something of interest, or you get overtaken, for example.
Installation was easy, but slightly more time-consuming than some other cameras, due to there being three cables to find homes for. The first cable is for power, and this was simple to run around the windscreen, down the side of the dashboard and under the passenger seat to the cigarette lighter. The second cable was to connect the rear camera, and in my car, a Ford Focus, this was easily hidden behind the edge of the roof liner, the door surrounds and various bits of interior trim. The only minor complication came with leaving enough slack cable for the hatchback to open, but that didn’t look messy when the hatch was closed. The third cable is for the GPS unit which is, unusually but not uniquely, separate from the main camera unit in the V200HD. While some people prefer this as it allows the GPS receiver to be positioned where it can get the best signal, it does mean it’s an additional unit to mount in your vehicle. I tried this in several positions and it performed perfectly in all of them. Even when completely hidden behind the roof lining, it still captured my location accurately.
Mounting the main camera unit was also simple. The adhesive mount features a small ball joint and a tightening ring so it can be secured in place once it has been aligned. Once I had positioned it, neatly behind my rearview mirror, the adhesive stayed in place with no issues at all. The only problem I encountered was that the angle of my windscreen meant that the camera couldn’t point downwards as far as I would have liked. This meant that I captured slightly more of the sky than I would have liked to. This didn’t limit the amount of on-the-road action that I recorded, but it could have impacted the cameras brightness settings as it dims the overall image to compensate for the light from the sky, resulting in darker footage.
One other minor comment at this point would be that the adhesive pad was white, meaning that it was very visible from outside the car. Using black, grey or clear adhesive would have meant that the install was more discrete. The rear camera also mounted easily and neatly at the top of my rear windscreen and didn’t block my view at all when looking in the rear-view mirror.
Of all the cameras that I’ve tested, the iPixi V200HD was one of the most reliable and I never had any doubt that it would be working faultlessly. Upon starting it up, a voice message prompted me that “normal recording would now begin”, referring to the regular recording mode, as opposed to parking mode for example. At first I would check to see that all the correct functions had kicked in and that the camera was working as I wanted and it always was. Some other cameras, particularly budget cameras, work perfectly and then, for some reason, can throw a tantrum and stop doing what you expect. These complications can almost always be resolved, but they can sew a seed of doubt in your mind. With the V200HD, I never had that. I used the camera daily for over a month, as we feel that to really put a camera through its paces you need to use it over a prolonged period, and never had any issues at all. This peace-of-mind is compounded by the V200HDs ‘cut off voltage’ feature which means the camera can be left powered while you’re away from your vehicle for a long time, but eliminates the risk of it running your battery down completely. It will continue to record, in parking mode, until the voltage of your battery drops to a pre-defined level at which point it will turn itself off.
During everyday use, the V200HD recorded my speed and location very accurately with its GPS receiver, identified moments of significance such as heavy breaking or bumps with its G-sensor and switched automatically between the appropriate recording mode depending on whether I was driving or parked. To me, a good dashcam is one that can be installed, and largely forgotten about until the footage is required. I feel that this dashcam is a good example of that.
I would say that V200HD isn’t designed to be removed from your vehicle once it’s been installed. With three cables to disconnect and a mounting bracket that’s slightly tricky to reconnect in situ, this camera doesn’t lend itself to being taken out of the car overnight, for example. This will suit some people, who see the presence of a dashcam as a security measure, while it will be off-putting to others who may feel that a dashcam is an invitation for a smash-and-grab opportunist thief. Fortunately however, the Micro SD card slot is easily accessible and the card was easy to remove so that footage could be viewed on my PC.
Image quality is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most important factor with any dashcam and the iPixi V200HD scores well in this area. It’s not the best, and seems to struggle particularly in areas with rapid lighting changes, such as driving though tree shadows for example, but it’s perfectly adequate. At standstill, number plates are crisp and sharp but while in transit these can be more difficult to make out, depending on your speed in relation to other vehicles. This is often the case with dashcams and there is a trade off between cameras excelling is some areas of image capture but struggling in others. I think the V200HD has reached a good balance.
Most dashcams capture footage at thirty frames per second (fps), delivering smooth video that most people would be very happy with. The V200HD, splits this frame rate between the front and back cameras, meaning that the front camera delivers 20fps and the rear camera, just 10fps. To a tech purist, such as myself, this is a shame, as the footage appears every so slightly jerky. However, it doesn’t necessarily have a hugely detrimental effect on the cameras ability to capture the necessary footage in the case of an accident.
In order to view your footage in more detail than the LCD screen can offer, you’ll need to transfer it to your computer. The iPixi ‘WinyBBViewer’ software is only compatible with Windows so if you’re a Mac user you won’t be able to benefit from its features. You can still view your footage, but you won’t be able to access the location, speed and g-sensor data that your V200HD has gathered as easily. The software is simple to use and makes it easy to access all the data that you’ve captured. Videos can be easily flipped between the front and rear view, which really helps to paint a clearer picture of the activity around you, and simple tools for tweaking the image for the best view and for extracting incriminating videos and stills, make it really useful in the case of any incident.
So, if you’re after a dashcam with front and rear cameras, which limits you to just a handful of options, you could do a lot worse than the iPixi Winycam V200HD. While the image quality could be better, its many other features mean that it’s a very capable unit. The 3″ LCD touch screen is a unique and well implemented feature than makes the camera very user friendly, despite the complex featured that it offers, and once it’s been installed it can be largely forgotten about without any doubts as to whether it is performing as required.
Sample iPixi V200HD Videos
Unboxing Video
iPixi X100FHD Downloads
iPixi V200HD Software
iPixi V200HD User Manual
iPixi V200HD Installation Guide
Buy the iPixi V200HD Camera Online
The iPixi V200HD is available to buy online for only £249.99 which comes complete with the rear camera all the accessories you need to install it in your car and get up and running.
The iPixi X100FHD (also called the Winycam X100FHD) is a unique camera with many features which make it stand out from the others. At £199.99 it’s priced at the top end of the range and has full HD, GPS mapping for speed and location tracking, a g-sensor to monitor impacts, parking protection, and a unique swivel lens allowing you to point the camera inside the car – a feature particularly useful for taxi drivers and driving instructors.
Key Features
Full HD quality video (1920 x 1080) at 30fps.
130° wide angle lens with a 2MP CMOS sensor.
Rotating camera for front/rear recording.
GPS maps for speed and location tracking.
G-shock sensor to detect sudden and severe movement.
Parking mode for protection when parked.
Photo mode.
Adjustable adhesive windscreen mount.
MicroSD cards up to 32GB. 16GB card supplied.
The first thing we noticed when opening the box and unpacking the camera was that is felt like a sturdy and well built unit. The materials oozed quality and it was firmly put together. You get all the essentials in the box but no spare adhesive pads means there’s no backup in case you want to move the camera later. You can always get spare adhesive pads from eBay though if you need to.
The camera contains a single record button which is used to change the camera modes and manually lock a video file. There are 2 LED lights at the rear of the camera which are visible to the driver, one for power and another to signal it’s recording. The SD card slot is underneath the camera and there’s a front facing LED which flashed as you drive along. This light is very bright and overbearing at night but you can turn it off in the camera settings.
The installation process is simple. In our test we stuck the camera behind the rear view mirror so it’s tucked out of the way from the drivers’ view. Of course, this means that when you rotate the lens it will record the back of the mirror so if you need this feature you’ll need to mount the camera further down the window or to one side. However, always be mindful that you mount your camera in a safe and legal position.
Once installed, the iPixi X100FHD camera can be adjusted both up/down and left/right to make sure you get the best footage possible. The camera cannot be taken out of the car once it’s installed which means you can’t tuck it away when you’re on holiday or even taken it into the house to view the videos or change the settings. This means you need to take the memory card out of the camera and plug this into your computer instead which can be a little tricky, especially when it’s dark.
The camera has a nice voice guide system which tells you when it starts and ends recording, amongst other things. It’s nice to get the re-assurance that the camera is on and recording rather than having to check the LED lights to make sure it’s definitely working.
Like many cameras, the software and user manual is supplied on the camera itself, and accessed via the SD card. The software that controls the camera settings and allows you to view the video footage GPS and g-sensor data is only compatible with Windows. Therefore, we don’t recommend this camera if you’re not a Windows user since you won’t be able to change any settings (including the date and time) or view this additional video content.
The iPixi (or Winycam) X100FHD camera is very easy to use and setup. It automatically enters into parking mode once the camera hasn’t sensed movement for a few minutes and it automatically locks video clips when it senses an impact or sudden shock (via the built in g-sensor). If you want to manually lock a file as you’re driving along, simply press the one and only button on the camera. It really is very simple to use – once it’s in it just runs itself.
The most important factor when it comes to car cameras is the quality of the video – this is what ultimately counts when you need to rely on the evidence. The iPixi X100FHD records in full 1080p HD at 30fps. The video quality is on a par with other dash cams in this price range.
The rotating lens which allows you to flip the camera to face inside the car is a great feature for taxi drivers and driving instructors that would find recording inside the car useful. You will of course need to make sure to mount the camera in a position that will see in both directions. Normally, you would mount the camera behind the rear-view mirror to keep the camera out of the way, however, this will mean you won’t be able to make use of the rotating lens.
Changing the settings on the camera needs to be done with the supplied Windows software. You take the card out of the camera and insert it into your computer to load the software. Then, insert the card into the camera again (the camera will be in the car at this point) and the camera will update itself when you turn it on. This can pose a problem when updating the date and time of the camera. Firstly, you set the time using the software on your computer for a time in the future that you will insert the memory card into the camera. You then need to insert the memory card into the camera in your car at this set time.
At around the £200 price range, this iPixi/Winycam dash cam has a unique rotating lens and is very easy to use, it’s Windows only software and limited portability may limit its appeal to some.
Sample iPixi X100FHD Videos
Unboxing Video
Sample Footage
iPixi X100FHD Downloads
iPixi X100FHD Software
iPixi X100FHD User Manual
iPixi X100FHD Installation Guide
Buy the iPixi X100FHD Camera Online
The iPixi X100FHD is available to buy online for only £199.99 which comes complete with all the accessories you need to mount it in your car and get up and running
Shine North are developing a new TV show that shows just how useful dashcams are in capturing life out and about on Britain’s roads, from accidents, near misses and road rage incidents to the more humorous and bizzare events that you often glimpse through the car windscreen.
They would like you to be their eyes and ears out on the road and if you think you’ve managed to capture something interesting with your dashcam they’d love to see your footage.
If they use your video in the show you’ll receive a free £50 Marks & Spencer voucher.
How to send us your video
If you have a video you’d like to send us, we recommend you send it to us using WeTransfer. Simply visit www.wetransfer.com and enter our email address sales@carcamerashop.co.uk to send us your files.
Make sure to include your email address and name so that we can contact you afterwards. If you have any problems sending your video to us please get in touch and we can help.
Terms and Conditions Vouchers will be sent only if your video is used in the TV programme. Only 1 voucher will be sent per person. Offer only valid to UK residents over the age of 18. The voucher is a £50 M&S voucher.
