Eric Rogers, Author at Car Camera Shop

Posted on July 14, 2021January 24, 2023 by Eric Rogers — Leave a comment

Top Tips for City Driving

More often than not, our customers install a car camera because they’re looking for protection against other drivers on the roads around them. And that need for peace of mind is, understandably, highest in cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester. Here, high traffic volumes and congestion make driving conditions difficult and stressful, and the result is that 75% of all UK motor accidents occur in urban environments.

We spoke to insurance company Adrian Flux, who said that although the most serious accidents tend to happen at higher speeds, city drivers suffer more than their fair share of shunts, bumps and scrapes. Their spokesperson also highlighted that it’s likely that the majority of ‘crash for cash’ accidents happen where there is less risk of serious injury – in other words, in urban areas.

With that in mind, we’ve produced our top tips for city driving to help you minimise the chance of being involved in an accident.

1.Keep your distance

Rear-end collisions are one of the most common forms of road traffic accident so by simply ensuring you have a safe distance between you and the car in front, you give yourself ample time to react to their actions safely. Also, by communication your actions well in advance, with clear indications and gentle breaking, you give drivers following you enough time to react accordingly, reducing the chances of being rear-ended yourself.

2. Give Yourself Time

Speeding is a major contributor to the accident rates in the UK, but by allowing yourself extra time to get to your destination, you can drive in a slow and calm manner. At slower speeds you are also able to analyse road conditions better which will help you to avoid any potential hazards.

3. Anticipate

Don’t just survey your immediate surroundings, such as the car in front and the one behind, ensure that you are aware of activity as far ahead of you as is possible, paying particular attention to junctions, pedestrian crossings and traffic lights. In city environments, pedestrian and cycle traffic can have a significant impact on vehicular activity, so be sure to make yourself aware of activity on the pavement and in cycle lanes, as well as on the road itself.

4. Read the Signs

Road signs are there for a reason, so make sure you pay attention to them as they give you early warning to any hazards on the road ahead. As well as road signs, road markings will also help you to identify any potential threats and allow you to react accordingly.

5.Regularly service your veichle

It’s one this making yourself more aware of the potential dangers of the road, but you also need to be sure that your vehicle is in good working order. Among other things, ensure that your brakes are in good condition so that you can stop effectively if required and that your lights, windscreen wipers and heater are working so that you have optimum visibility in all conditions.

6. Concentrate

It sounds simple, but every time you step behind the wheel of your vehicle, it requires your full concentration. Don’t allow yourself to get distracted by your stereo, sat nav or mobile phone. In busy cities, the landscape of the road ahead of you can change dramatically in a heartbeat, so ensure that you are focused at all times.

Follow these simple tips and you will greatly reduce the likelihood of being involved in accident. However, for those occasions that a collision is unavoidable, a car camera will ensure that you have irrefutable evidence as to the circumstances surrounding the event. This evidence can be crucial in proving your innocence, helping you to protect your no claims bonus and avoid rising insurance premiums. Also, with some insurers offering discounts to customers who install a car camera, there are potential savings to be made too. Adrian Flux commented that insurance premiums can also be higher in some urban areas in the UK, so discounts of up to 15 per cent can count for a lot more.

If you have any other top tips for safer driving please comment below.

Drive safely.

Posted on July 14, 2021January 24, 2023 by Eric Rogers

Flash for Cash Scams

As featured in today’s media, incidents of a worrying new twist on the ‘crash for cash’ scams are being reported, where drivers waiting to exit junctions or driveways are flashed, signalling that they are safe to proceed, before they are deliberately crashed into. Dubbed ‘flash for cash’ these scams are engineered to place the blame on the innocent party and are generally followed by a substantial, and often grossly inflated, insurance claim. Read more on how this type of crash for cash scam is engineered.

So, is this the beginning of the end for common courtesy on UK roads? These incidents are thankfully isolated, but they have been reported widely in the media, including the BBC, and will be on the minds of drivers up and down the country. The next time you are flashed before exiting a junction or merging onto a busy, but slow-moving carriage way, will you think twice?

We sincerely hope that in defiance of this type of unsociable behaviour, drivers will remain courteous on the roads and help to make UK highways a calmer and safer place to be. However, if you’re looking for some additional protection against ‘crash for cash’ and ‘flash for cash’ scams, a car camera installed in your vehicle will record activity on the road around you to provide irrefutable evidence if you’re involved in an incident. Our range of dash cams offer HD video recording, multiple lenses and wide-angle lenses to help you capture as much detail as possible.

Posted on July 14, 2021January 24, 2023 by Eric Rogers

Our new website is live!

After months of hard work our new site is now live. We’ve also compiled our new range of the best car cameras currently on the market covering all areas of technology. We realise that buying a car camera can be a confusing task so we’ve tried to make the website as easy to use and friendly as possible. Plus, we’ve added lots of guides to help you decide what’s most important to you.

We’ve divided the range into categories depending on the most common features and added filters to you can easily and quickly narrow your criteria down until you find the camera that’s right for you.

We combine this extensive product range with a secure and fast checkout process to make ordering from Car Camera Shop as easy as possible. Over the coming months we’re testing and reviewing new products which are set to advance the car camera market even further – so watch this space!

We would love to hear from you if you have any questions or feedback on the website or car cameras in general. So drop us a line for a friendly chat.

We look forward to seeing you again soon,

Car Camera Shop

Posted on June 29, 2021January 24, 2023 by Eric Rogers — Leave a comment

New Release: The Nextbase 122 Dash Cam

As part of the brand new series of Nextbase dash cameras, the Nextbase 122 dash cam is a clear winner as a highly practical and functional car camera. HD recording, parking mode, and more, all for a very low cost make it an ideal choice for younger, or new drivers.

Recording Quality

The Nextbase 122 records in an impressive 720p HD at 30 frames per second – enough to clearly capture road incidents in detail. Its 5-layer f1.6 lens provides a viewing angle of 120° to ensure that the whole road is covered with video footage in order to provide court admissible evidence instantly. The vehicle camera is completely compatible with a polarising filter, giving you to option to improve your recording quality through reducing or completely removing glare and reflections from your vehicles windscreen. These are some seriously impressive specs when compared against the price tag of this camera.

Design

The Nextbase 122 has the classic look and feel of a Nextbase camera, meaning a discreet installation which doesn’t distract you while driving is very possible. The newly designed mount uses a lower profile design and high strength neodymium magnets allowing you to easily place and remove the dash cam with just one hand. A standard 3m adhesive pad is used for fitting, and a suction pad is included. The power cable goes directly into the mount itself, leaving the car camera completely free from wires.

Nextbase 122 Features

Video Quality

The Nextbase video quality is sufficient for recording the road ahead of you in enough detail to use your footage as evidence. 720p @ 30fps HD Recording, alongside a 120° wide viewing angle ensure that your journey is covered.

Display

The Nextbase 122 uses a bright and clear high-resolution screen for easy menu navigation and playback. The display is 2″ in size which is slightly smaller than some of the previous models. This provides enough size to see the menu and recording screen while allowing the camera to have a slightly more discreet design.

Capacity

This dash cam will support up to a 32GB Micro SD card, for 4 hours of footage. Once this storage becomes full, it will automatically begin to overwrite the oldest footage to provide you with constant recording.

Footage which you don’t want to be overwritten can be saved as a manual recording.

Parking Mode

The Nextbase 122 features a new and improved intelligent parking mode which will automatically begin recording when motion or movement is detected around your parked vehicle.

This makes use of their new high precision G sensor to make sure that all possible events are recorded and locked away from being overwritten.

Free Cloud Access

Another feature new to the Nextbase range is their completely free MyNextbaseCloud service. This allows footage to be easily saved, viewed and shared online without taking up storage space on your SD card or computer.

What's in the box

122 Nextbase Dash Cam
Fitting tool
Adhesive mount
Suction mount
Usb cable
Car power cable
Quick start guide

Posted on July 30, 2020January 24, 2023 by Eric Rogers

Buyers Guide

Why buy a car camera?

Find the perfect dash cam with our simple buyers guide

At first, the process of choosing a dashcam can appear daunting and the multitude of different cameras and brands can feel like a minefield. And then when you’ve narrowed your choice down, the technical details can confuse you even further! From the wide range of video resolutions available to different memory and mounting options, identifying the right dashcam for you can seem impossible. So we’ve produced this guide to finding the right dashcam to help you narrow down your selection and find the right camera for you.

We regularly get asked which dashcam we recommend, and we’re always happy to offer an opinion, but the ideal camera for you is dependant on the features that you’re looking for. You can find out more about the features that are common among dashcams in our guide to the key features of car cameras, but here’s a closer look at the options that you should consider when picking your dashcam.

1. Camera Size

They say size isn’t everything, but it’s an important thing to consider when choosing your dashcam. Most people opt for a small, discreet camera as they believe it’s less likely to be spotted by would-be thieves, and also has less impact on the drivers view. Both very valid points, but small car cameras are also likely to have less features, or require external devices to enable options such as GPS or wifi. This is because there simply isn’t enough space inside for the components required. Larger cameras often feature screens too, which can make viewing footage and adjusting menu settings easier, and can usually be hidden very neatly behind your rear-view mirror so needn’t interrupt the drivers view of the road.

2. Your budget

Needless to say, the amount you have to spend is a key factor in any purchase, and as far as dashcams are concerned there is a camera to suit any size of wallet! But how much should you spend? Well, it really depends what’s important to you. While all of our cameras record outstanding footage, budget cameras may lack the build quality or refinement that more premium, big brand cameras offer. More expensive cameras may also offer advanced features such as wifi and touch screens, and are generally more user friendly too, so it’s important to decide what matters to you most.

3. Video quality and resolution

Your cameras resolution refers to the quality of the video that it can record. The higher the number, the better the quality. And when you may come to rely on your footage as evidence, it’s important that you’ve done everything you can to capture as much detail as possible. While almost all dashcams record in high definition (HD) nowadays there are still different levels of HD quality, from 720p, 1080p and even 1296p. (Don’t worry about the ‘p’ at this stage!). The higher quality settings mean that your camera needs to store more data too, so memory card capacity needs to be considered also.

View all HD quality cameras

4. Dual-lens front and rear cameras

For maximum protection, dual-lens dashcams offer cameras at the front and rear to record activity on the road in both directions. In these setups, the front camera usually acts as the main unit, managing all of the image processing, power and memory, which means that the rear unit can be much smaller, having less impact on rear visibility. The two cameras are often connected by a long cable which can easily be routed through your vehicle. Dual-lens setups usually include software that makes it easy to view your video and quickly flick between the front and rear view to give a clear picture of events happening around you.

View all dual lens front and rear cameras

5. GPS maps and speed

GPS allows your dashcam to monitor your location, and uses this information to plot your route on a map when you view your footage using the software provided with your camera. It also enables your camera to calculate your speed, which can offer vital information in the case of an incident. Some customers feel that this information can could count against them if they happen to be over the speed limit, so you may choose to disable any options that may stamp details of your speed onto the video if you’re slightly heavy-footed!

View all cameras with GPS

6. Memory Capacity

Almost all dashcams record their footage onto a Micro SD memory card which slides into a small slot on the outside of your camera. While these cards are all the same size physically, some offer a greater capacity and can hold more video. While some will argument that in the case of an incident you only ever need the last few minutes of footage, memory cards can accumulate files that are protected from being overwritten as the camera has determined that something of note happened while recording that video. These can reduce the amount of available space on your memory card unless you empty it regularly. Therefore, a larger capacity memory card can make this easier to manage. You can read much more in our guide to memory cards.

View memory cards

7. Parking Protection

If you’ve even returned to your car to find it damaged, and the culprit long gone, then parking protection will be of interest to you. In this mode, your dashcam will use motion detection technology to monitor activity around your vehicle and record a short clip if it detects any significant movement. It will also start to record if it feels a bump or knock using it’s internal g-sensor and start to record. In both cases, your car camera could well capture footage of the guilty party which can help you to track them down. For more information, read our guide to parking protection.

View all cameras with parking protection

8. Low-Light performance

Dashcams rely on there being a source of light in order for them to record useable video and some perform better in low-light situations than others. All cameras will capture useful footage if you’re driving in areas with good street-lighting , but if you spend a lot of your time driving at night then you should consider a camera with a wide dynamic range (WDR). This is sometimes referred to as a high dynamic range (HDR) but both terms refer to the cameras ability to process data effectively in low-light conditions and digitally enhance the footage to deliver improved results.

9. Event recording and G-Sensors

Almost all car cameras include an internal g-sensor which measures movement across three axis; up and down, left and right, forwards and backwards. Using this information, the camera can identify sudden or severe movement, such as braking heavily, swerving erratically or a significant collision, and can protect the video being recorded at that time from being overwritten. However, you may like to be able to protect video files manually too. If you witness an incident on the road around you that you would like to retain a record of, some dashcams feature an event record button which can be pressed and the footage being recorded at that time will be kept safe until you need it.

View all cameras with a g-sensor

10. Suction or adhesive mount

Dashcams are ideally affixed to your windscreen, behind the rear-view mirror, and this is done by the means of either a semi-permanent adhesive mount or a suction mount. While adhesive mounts are usually smaller and more compact, which can help your camera to remain discreet, a suction mount will offer a degree of flexibility, as it can be repositioned and removed from the vehicle as required. Most dashcams can easily be removed from their mounts, which is an important consideration for the security conscious.

Read our guide on mounts

11. LCD Screen

LCD screens have several benefits, making it easy to watch your recorded footage, change menu settings and align your dashcam so that it is pointing in precisely the right direction. Some cameras even offer touch screens which make navigation simple and intuitive. For cameras that don’t feature screens, these can often be connected to tablets and smart phones via wifi, so that a screen is not required and the camera itself can be kept as small and discreet as possible.

View all cameras with an LCD screen

12. WiFi

As mentioned above, some dashcams offer a wifi connection so that you can use your tablet or smartphone to review footage, adjust settings or watch a live feed to help when aligning your camera. When activated, your dashcam will produce it’s own wifi hotspot that you can connect to with your device. You will need to download a specific mobile app for your smartphone which will then allow you to connect to your camera. We often get asked if wifi means that you are able to connect to your dashcam from anywhere in the world via the internet, but this isn’t the case; your wifi hotspot has a range of 5-10 metres.

View all cameras with a mobile app

13. Hardwiring your camera

As standard, dash cams connect to your car via a cable to the cigarette lighter socket (just like a sat nav). However, some of our customers prefer to hardwire their camera into the car electrics. This means that there are no cables on show and you have a free cigarette lighter socket available for other car devices. When you hardwire the camera you can choose to wire it to a circuit which is powered all the time, meaning you can take advantage of the parking protection mode so the camera is always on and recording. Almost all dash cams can be wired to the car via an optional compatible hardwire kit. We always recommend using the services of a fully qualified, insured, and experienced auto electrician to do the installation for you. We now offer a nationwide mobile dash cam installation service from only £99..

By considering each of these features, we hope it has helped you to narrow down your choices and identify the perfect camera for you. Our website’s filtering and comparison tools will also help you to choose the dashcam that meets all of your needs. However, if you’re still not sure, please feel free to contact us.

Protect your no-claims bonus and insurance premiums

Many insurance claims prove nigh-on impossible to resolve fairly, as each party denies responsibility and police forensics only tell a part of the story. This can result in either both parties having to assume equal responsibility or, even worse, the innocent party being wholly blamed. By having clear video evidence, which in the case of many car cameras also contains date, time, speed and location data, insurers are able to completely understand the circumstances leading up to an incident. This evidence enables you to protect your no-claims bonus, ensuring your insurance premiums don’t increase.

Faster insurance claims processing

When an insurance claim is being processed there’s the inevitable back and forth as each party explains their case, making statements, providing diagrams and more often than not, embellishing the details in their favour as they do so. However, with high-quality video and supportive details regarding the location, time and speed of any incident, the facts speak for themselves and remove any doubt or indecision that may otherwise have delayed your claim from being processed and paid.

Protect against Crash for Cash scams

According to the Insurance Fraud Bureau, organised Crash for Cash scams are on the increase and cost the UK insurance industry £392 million a year, with 1 in 7 personal injury claims likely to be linked to one. Highly-organised gangs orchestrate crashes which usually result in an unwitting and innocent party rear-ending a gang member, who can then claim for anything from vehicle damage and loss of earnings to personal injury for themselves and often for passengers who weren’t even in the car! Protect yourself with irrefutable video evidence that will clearly show the circumstances leading up to any incident and put paid to any concerns about these scams impacting your insurance premiums.

Report dangerous and unsociable drivers

It’s an unfortunate truth that not all drivers value safety as much as we would hope. Drivers speeding, tailgating, under-taking and using mobile phones, among many other issues, mean that the roads are more dangerous than ever before. One method of combating this worrying behaviour is to report wreckless and dangerous drivers to the authorities by capturing them on video. In many cases these drivers are prosecuted purely on car camera evidence. As in-car cameras become more and more common, and the threat of being caught becomes more and more likely, we can help make our highways safer.

Capture and report road rage incidents

According to a recent survey by insurance company Admiral, road rage is becoming more common in the UK with over half the people interviewed admitting to getting angry at other motorists. The vast majority of incidents culminate in nothing more than some choice words and an offensive hand gesture but, more worryingly, nearly 10% of people interviewed said that they had been threatened with physical violence. Car cameras can be used to keep a detailed record of any such events and can also be used to diffuse situations as many attackers will back-down once they realise they’re being filmed.

Keep a record of your fleet and drivers activity

The level of detail captured by car cameras, particularly dual-lens cameras that record in-car activity at the same time as on-the-road action, mean that they can offer fleet owners the ability to monitor their vehicles and drivers activity easily and effectively. At the same time as protecting insurance premiums, particularly in the light of Crash for Cash scams, owners can rest assured that they have a complete understanding of their drivers activity and behaviour as well as a highly-detailed record of their vehicle’s usage.

Record and keep treasured memories

Fortunately, car cameras aren’t solely dedicated to capturing accidents, scams and negative behaviour. They also enable us to capture videos of more enjoyable activities such as scenic road trip holidays and exciting track-day races! Whatever treasured memories you want to keep, an in-car camera will deliver a high-definition record of events that you can watch time and time again. You never know, you might also be lucky enough to capture more unusual events such as meteors falling to the Earth, as recorded on many car cameras in Russia in 2013!

Posted on June 15, 2020January 24, 2023 by Eric Rogers — Leave a comment

Do I need a Power Magic Pro or Battery Kit?

What is the difference between the Power Magic Pro & Cellink Neo 6

The Power Magic Pro is the most commonly used option and is the right choice for most requirements. It is a device that monitors the vehicles battery level once you have switched the ignition off. If your vehicles battery has enough juice the Power Magic Pro will allow the camera to remain powered up. If the vehicles battery drops too low (below 12, or 12.5v) the camera will be automatically shut off. It will remain off until the vehicle is next taken for a drive.

We are always asked how long the dash camera will stay on for when using the Power Magic Pro. Unfortunately it is almost impossible for us to provide a definitive answer. Different vehicles have different battery sizes and lots of different electronics that draw power from the battery, as a general rule of thumb, we see cameras remaining on anywhere from 1-4 hours. How much you drive and how healthy the battery is can play an important factor in determining how long the camera will stay on, we have known them to stay on for much longer.

With this option, it is important to remember that power is taken directly from your vehicles battery. The Power Magic Pro is simply a gate keeper that either allows the camera to remain on, or forces it to shut down.

Some users have reported receiving Low Battery Warning messages on the vehicles dashboard. This can be caused if the vehicle is particularly sensitive to battery drain and in most cases can be resolved by increasing the shut off level to the upper limit (12.5v). In the rare cases where this does not solve the problem, our engineers have found that we can rectify the issue by ensuring we are not drawing power from specific circuits. If you are purchasing our Professional Installation Service then you won’t need to worry about this. We’ll make sure it is running correctly.

The Battery Kit

The second option is to use the Cellink Neo 6 battery kit. Other batteries are available but we have tested them and found this to be the best currently available.

The main difference when compared to the Power Magic Pro is that the Cellink Neo 6 does not draw any power from your vehicle whilst you are parked. Instead the Neo 6 will only charge and draw power from the vehicle whilst your are driving. This has a couple of benefits, it means that you do not need to worry about triggering low battery messages, or ever running your vehicles battery low. More importantly it can provide you with a much longer, and much more predictable power supply when you park your vehicle. We have seen single front cameras remain on for approx. 35 hours and front and rear cameras remain on for approx. 17 hours.

There are a few considerations to take into account. The battery does require that the vehicle is driven in order for it to re-charge, it will take around 40-45 minutes to fully charge. This is pretty quick, which is one reason we recommend the Neo 6. However, if you are only driving the vehicle a few times each week, 2-minutes down the road to go to local shop. You shouldn’t expect the battery to get a good charge and keep your camera on for long. If your daily commute is at least 30-minutes then there is a good chance the Neo 6 will be able to keep your cameras powered up whilst you are parked for the day. This can of course provide a huge benefit, especially if you leave your car in a busy car park.

Many people ask if they can have the cameras on 24/7. This option comes pretty close and from a full charge it will get you through the night, or near enough. For those looking for 24 hours of recording then you’ll need to look at the next battery up, or adding a battery extension.

This is a much more expensive option but is arguably healthier for your vehicles battery and will provide you with the power required to meet most requirements.