Front and Rear Dash Cam

ID10T Error on 21/07/2025 - 13:57

I never thought this would be so difficult. :-/

I'm after a reasonable Front & Rear Dashcam set.

Not a single unit with an internal front and rear camera, but an internal windscreen mount front facing camera and an external (or maybe rear window mount) rear facing camera. Good screen size too. SD card slot a must.

Ability to save incidents from voice command and unattended bump recording. GPS location would be a bonus as would speed detection.

I can hardwire myself Ford '98 EL wagon. I was convinced to get a Garmin DriveSmart 66 MT-S SatNav which I'm very happy with, voice command and (android) mobile phone connectivity is great, phone sound not so great though.

To the community I follow daily, I ask, thoughts please?

Automotive Dash Camera

Comments

  • theHMASfriendship on 21/07/2025 - 14:03
    +2

    I just employ an old gentleman named Graham to sit in my front seat and narrate my drive into an old tape recorder he has. I have the rear view mirror set up so he can see out the back.

    He’s retired so he’s happy to work for a cup of tea, some scotch fingers and a chat. I got a banging deal on scotch finger bulk packs from Amazon and do the half price twinnings packs from Woolies. Costs me around $0.40 per drive so I figure it would take me around 5-6 years at least to break even if I put in a dashcam.

    • Jolakot on 21/07/2025 - 15:20
      +1

      Unfortunately old mate doesn't have the eyes that he used to and keeps mixing up 1's and I's in license plates, so you might need to factor in the cost of refractive surgery every 20000km.

      • theHMASfriendship on 21/07/2025 - 15:39

        I'll just upgrade to a younger model whenever he starts getting unreliable

        • joka on 21/07/2025 - 16:23

          Make sure the young model is not too young, keep above 18 years of age at least.

  • boomramada on 21/07/2025 - 14:09
    -4

    To the community I follow daily, I ask, thoughts please?

    Just buy a Tesla or Merc, comes with surrounding cameras.

    • BargainMe on 21/07/2025 - 14:26
      -1

      Merc doesn't record

      • boomramada on 21/07/2025 - 14:34

        Subscribe to correct package (of course you need to pay), attach the USB, bob's your uncle.

  • spackbace on 21/07/2025 - 14:35
    +7

    Good screen size too.

    Why? You use your phone to view saved footage

    Just look up the Viofo range on here, highly recommended. Pick your poison based on budget

    • Dr Phil on 22/07/2025 - 17:22
      -2

      "Good sized screen" is a major distraction

      Are you going to be watching the road, your rearview mirror or the good sized screen OP?
      Seriously mate. Get your priorities right.

      Good sized screens are only used for reversing cameras.

      And what is "reasonable" for one person is unreasonable for everyone else
      And this reply explains why.

      No wonder you cannot find what you want….it doesnt exist for safety reasons!

      Cheers and good luck

  • joka on 21/07/2025 - 14:35
    -2

    Not a single unit with an internal front and rear camera

    You would be hard pressed to find a front camera and rear camera in the one housing. I think you need to re-asses your expectations.

    • ID10T Error on 21/07/2025 - 14:42
      -3

      https://www.garmin.com/en-AU/p/671095/

      Garmin Dash Cam™ Tandem
      Dual-lens Dash Cam with Two 180-degree Lenses

      • geekcohen on 21/07/2025 - 14:54

        How does that help with anything happening behind the car? That only shows you the internals and people inside the car. How are you going to see a registration if someone hits you from the rear?

        • Jolakot on 21/07/2025 - 15:24

          Easy, tell your passengers to duck so they're not blocking the rear window, and hope whoever crashes into you is driving a lifted Land Cruiser

        • ID10T Error on 21/07/2025 - 16:23
          -2

          Exactly geekcohen. Read my orig post again, you'll see what I want and what I don't want.

          • geekcohen on 22/07/2025 - 09:53
            +1

            @ID10T Error: I got that, but why did you link the Garmin?

            • ID10T Error on 22/07/2025 - 13:12
              -1

              @geekcohen: Because, I have a Garmin GPS and had seen the Tandem in my original search.

        • joka on 22/07/2025 - 11:21
          +1

          Ah the mysteries of ozbargain. Say something helpful and get negged.

          • ID10T Error on 22/07/2025 - 13:14
            -2

            @joka: Maybe because your post was negative without any background research.

            • joka on 22/07/2025 - 13:22
              +1

              @ID10T Error: My reply about negging useful and logical comments was to:

              How does that help with anything happening behind the car? That only shows you the internals and people inside the car. How are you going to see a registration if someone hits you from the rear?

              Not my own comment.

              But i still stand by my original comment. There is no camera in the world which is housed in one unit that takes forward footage AND rear-view footage. The link you posted takes footage of occupants.

  • plmko on 21/07/2025 - 14:41
    -4

    I have no idea what you're asking for.

  • Jolakot on 21/07/2025 - 15:12
    +3

    I spent hours of researching and watching videos recorded from different models, settled on the Viofo A229 Plus front + rear with hardwire kit and professional installation for $450 total.

    Minimal regrets, the night time video quality isn't quite as sharp as I was expecting (just barely enough to see close-up license plates) and I wish the app would tell me which parking mode videos were from motion sensor and which were from collision sensor, and had to play around with settings to get it to stop registering the door being shut as a collision, but I'd buy it again if given the choice.

    Can't really beat it for price to performance, but I wouldn't get anything without the STARVIS 2 sensor, considering even with the sensor it's still barely enough.

    • Sidor on 22/07/2025 - 07:08
      +1

      Mind sharing who did you use to install one?

  • ID10T Error on 21/07/2025 - 16:21
    -1

    Thank you Jolakot. That is the type of advice that I'm after

    I will keep that unit in mind. :-)

  • ID10T Error on 21/07/2025 - 17:17
    +2

    Okiies - got the Viofo A229 Plus front + rear as recommended by Jolakot.
    $334 on eBay. I'll sort out wring when it arrives.

    Thank you to some that replied positively, no thanks to the others. I thought our community was better than some of you proved otherwise.

    • eek on 21/07/2025 - 19:09
      +2

      Good choice. Currently running the same camera in one of my cars while the other cars I've had previously have always had Blackvue 650/750/970 setups all with parking mode and one with a lithium battery pack.

      Pleasantly impressed with Viofo - Excellent value, great image quality and the wifi connection is more stable than the Blackvue variants! Won't be buying anymore Blackvue cameras in future. Not worth the money.

      • Primus Pilus on 22/07/2025 - 09:00
        +1

        Given that most cars these days have factory privacy glass or aftermarket tint, do they affect the performance of a rear camera? 🤔

        • eek on 22/07/2025 - 09:32
          +1

          It makes the images darker yes, but still works fine. Night time performance may vary, but always a issue with bright headlights shining into the lens. I had 20% tint on my previous X5 which already had privacy glass. Only impacted the video quality slightly. Key is to have good quality tint too. If the film is bubbling or hazy it causes more detrimental affects than just darkness.

          • Primus Pilus on 23/07/2025 - 12:06

            @eek: Thanks for your comprehensive explanation. 👍

    • Jolakot on 21/07/2025 - 20:28
      +1

      You won't regret it

      You'll need the hardwire kit version 4 (HK4) if you want to hook it up for parking mode, not compatible with version 3.

  • TheOtherLeft on 22/07/2025 - 09:21
    +2

    Viofo user here. Installed in three of my cars over the years

  • skillet on 22/07/2025 - 09:58
    +1

    I have been using the 70mai cameras for a few years now, one of the cars parked under the sun 24x7, been through at least 3 summers. So the heat is hitting the cams directly. They have supercapacitor battery which can withstand cooking. They both dual cameras and not stupid high priced.

    70mai A800

    70mai A510

    • Jolakot on 22/07/2025 - 10:37

      Those have regular lithium batteries, I don't think any 70mai dashcam has a supercapacitor. Lifespan will be shorter because of it, but 70mai is very well priced.

  • Lastchancetosee on 22/07/2025 - 11:12
    +1

    Blackvue was installed as part of my purchase. Can't compare as it's my first car camera, but so far so good.

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