[AlanHo]

One of my DOD car cameras has died - I took it apart and the motherboard has fried behind the battery.

Before ordering a replacement I did some research to discover what other models might suit. My original very first DOD dash cam had a 140 degree lens but the later DOD cameras I bought have 160 degree lenses which I consider are too wide angled. It gives you less chance of reading number plates. Hence I was looking for a camera with a 140 degree lens again - but they are as rare as hens teeth.

I came upon this forum which proved useful DashCamTalk

I have eventually decided to buy the following camera. It will be delivered today and I will post my verdict when I have tried it out. It doesn't have a battery - but a capacitor - which is in its favour and it has a 135 degree lens.

VIOFO A119S Latest V2 Version w: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

[Dazzler]

No flies on you Alan. Even when I squint I can barely see where they have been. 

[John B]

Looks a great camera Alan. I found this video that compares the A119 with the A119S don't know if you have sen it but I found it interesting. My camera has a seperate GPS mount but I like the one on A119 and A119S better.


A119 vs A119S Video Comparison - Quick Analysis | DashCamTalk

[AlanHo]

This is a repeat of a thread I have started on the KIA Niro Forum - hence it duplicates some of the stuff from my first post in this thread and I couldn't be arsed to edit it..

I have now replaced the DOD LS460 front car cam and DOD LS430 rear cam in my Niro with two Viofo A119S car cams. The rear DOD camera failed with a burnt mother board behind the battery and I replaced it with a Viofo A119S car cam which resulted in a much neater installation taking up considerable less window area. I was so satisfied with the compact size and HD performance of the Viofo camera that I bought one for the windscreen.

The rear camera is mounted on the window as high a possible – limited by leaving enough room to be able to unplug the USB power lead. It hardly affects the rear view.

The front camera is tight against the housing for the windscreen rain sensor and the lane assist camera and as high as possible – limited by the fact that my wife sits further forward in the car and needs the rear view mirror to be swivelled towards her more.  I could possibly have pinched another cm in height but am happy that the camera takes up hardly any windscreen area as viewed from the driving seat.

Front 1


Front 2


Rear 1


Rear 2


Rear 3


Before ordering a replacement for my dead DOD camera, I did some research to discover what other models might suit. My original very first DOD dash cam had a 140 degree lens but the later DOD cameras I bought have 160 degree lenses which I consider are too wide angled. It gives you less chance of reading number plates. Hence I was looking for a camera with a 140 degree lens again - but they are as rare as hens teeth.

I came upon this forum which proved useful DashCamTalk

The Viofo A119S camera does not have a battery - but a capacitor - which is more reliable but stores only enough power to write the final file when the car power is switched off. It cannot therefore be used away from the car. It has a 135 degree lens which is another plus. I bought the model with the GPS module which mounts on the windscreen and has a power connection which also feeds the camera. You can therefore easily remove the camera from its mount without having to fiddle with the USB power supply cable. I also bought the circular polarising filters for the cameras which kill dashboard reflections.

This is the web site I purchased from :-

VIOFO A119S Latest V2 Version w: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Anyone tempted to buy one of these cameras should be aware that the camera mount on the GPS unit is not absolutely tight and the camera can vibrate slightly. To cure this, the manufacturer supplies in the box a couple of adhesive backed die cut foam pads which you stick into a recess in the camera to take up the small gap. However – I discovered this the hard way – there is no instruction in the box telling you what they are for and how to fit one.

I found this video on You Tube which educated me. 

[Shambles]

They look fantastic

[John B]

They look really good Alan. Might consider one of those for the rear of the i30 to replace the mini dash cam I have at the moment. I actually managed to hide my cable by going  under the plastic trim and then through the convoluted piping that takes the other cables on the rear hatch.

[AlanHo]

That's a nice clean installation John B - I suppose I could do something similar but it would not be easy and I am happy with how I ran the cable. - It is not obvious in the car interior when the hatch is closed.

As an aside. The first response I received to the same post on the KIA Niro forum was a member who posted "What do you use the cameras for". I fear he was posing a serious question.   

[John B]

That's a nice clean installation John B - I suppose I could do something similar but it would not be easy and I am happy with how I ran the cable. - It is not obvious in the car interior when the hatch is closed.

As an aside. The first response I received to the same post on the KIA Niro forum was a member who posted "What do you use the cameras for". I fear he was posing a serious question.   

Thanks Alan, nothing wrong with how you have run your cable and the one benefit with yours that I like is you can change that cable with no problems. It is highly likely that I will change the mini camera I have fitted as it has batteries that I don't trust in our very hot climate. The front camera is fine with a capacitor as is your new ones. Without doubt a new rear camera will need a different cable to the one fitted now so quite a bit of work to change over. I think your choice of cameras are excellent . Do they come with a filter or is that extra ?

[CraigB]

John, CPL is an extra VIOFO A119S | Dash Cam Talk

Note that there is also a GPS chip kit to fix recent reported issues Good news.V2 replacement kit available ...for 119&119s | DashCamTalk so make sure if buying one to get one that is already updated with the fix, not sure if the new base also fixes the loose connection between the cam and GPS mount.

It's good that they're fixing the problems but these quality assurance issues should have been picked before they even released to cam imo, that's Chinese products for you though

[AlanHo]

My cameras arrived as V2 but with the foam pads I mentioned to remove the slight slack in the GPS mount.  The non-GPS mount is fine.

As Craig said - the polarising filters are extra.  Also I agree that it is not excusable for the GPS mount to be launched with this slight - but easily rectified - flaw.

I was aware of this before I bought the cameras from info in the car cam forum I posted a link to.


I have been doing some tests of the cameras using various settings.

Today’s test was using the 1080p 30 fps setting with a polarising filter filter and the EV set at 0.0. I will try other EV settings to refine the picture.
As mentioned on the car cam forum - the picture quality is fine - but a little too sharp and contrasty. There is a firmware update due soon to improve this.

You tube link – not full quality



 
Camera mp4 file on One Drive

Microsoft OneDrive - Access files anywhere. Create docs with free Office Online.

 
For some reason I don’t understand the number plates on approaching cars are more visible on this setting than when I record at a frame rate of 60 fps.
I have more fiddling with settings to do before I find my favourite set-up. For sure this camera is as good as my previous expensive DOD L460W and even better at number plate recognition.

This is a single frame captured from the mp4 file played in my Dash Cam video viewer.

[CraigB]

Alan, it's a good picture when it's not pixelating, I think if you tilt the lens down another notch that might cure it what is the write speed of the card your using?

[AlanHo]

It is a SanDisk Ultra Miro SD XC 1  10x

How will tilting the lens down help the pixelating - is it because of too much sky?. I have a white car and tilting the lens down will lose sky but get more white bonnet. I will give it a go though.

[CraigB]

Yes I'm thinking to much sky which is confusing the EV sensor amongst all the trees, might give issue when coming out of tunnels as well.

The card should be ok I think that's 95MBs which is plenty fast enough

[CraigB]

Just re-reading through your post and realised you've dropped the frames to 30fps...that might be the cause of the pixelation

[AlanHo]

Craig

Same route, same car, same settings except back to 60 fps.

If anything the pixilation is worse and I cannot read the reg Nos of approaching cars.

I'm going back to 30 fps on both cameras.

I also tried 720p at 120 fps - but that was no better.

here is the 1920 x1080p 60 fps file

Microsoft OneDrive - Access files anywhere. Create docs with free Office Online.

I also have a 64GB Lexar 633x class 10 card I will give a try.  Some guys on the Viofo forum highly recommend them.  Probably to take advantage of my gullibility.

I remain intrigued why the faster fps shows smudged reg Nos. The 120 fps was slightly worse.

[Shambles]

^looks better than before, to me. I can see the reg plates perfectly.

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[AlanHo]

Steve : Try the reg plates of the approaching cars where the closing speed is approx. 70 mph. I can't read them even when I use my video viewer which I can jog one frame at a time and zoom the picture..

[Shambles]

I wouldn't worry about the cars on the other carriageway - they're going the opposite direction.

[CraigB]

Yeah the pixilation is definitely there still at 60fps, hopefully the firmware update coming in June will fix it.

One thing I should mention is that Sandisk cards are not recommended for VIOFO cams, both of the top Aussie sellers here have highlighted warnings not to use SANDISK cards in any of the cams sold.

[AlanHo]

One thing I should mention is that Sandisk cards are not recommended for VIOFO cams, both of the top Aussie sellers here have highlighted warnings not to use SANDISK cards in any of the cams sold.

That's why I bought the Lexar card - even though the SanDisk have been fine in my DOD cameras.

I have installed the Lexar card today and will compare it's performance.

Regarding picture quality and pixelation - my reason for the cameras is to record any incidents with my car. If the camera can read the Reg Plates of approaching vehicles and the rest of the picture is as clear as this camera is already giving - I am happy. Last year one of my friends was hit by an approaching car which was overtaking and didn't quite make it - he had a dash cam but it was a cheapie and it was not possible to identify the offender who had driven off .   

[CraigB]

Bugger I'll put another cam in one day, the mini 0806 I had in there was working fine but I lost my trust in the cheaper Chinese products and I removed it before it caused a fire or something

[John B]

Yep that is why I am going to replace the rear Mini 0806 in my i30.. My front one, the Street Guardian SG9665GC with the capacitor has been excellent.

@ Alan. Is it ok to fix the camera on the rear demister element ?

[AlanHo]

@ Alan. Is it ok to fix the camera on the rear demister element ?

The element survived me taking the previous camera mount off,  But I did it by using a piece of thin string stretched between 2 hands as a "saw" to cut through the adhesive. It was than easy to peel off the residual adhesive with no problem.  A friend removed his camera mount by using some thin guitar picks to attack the adhesive from all sides.

[John B]

Thanks Alan. The reason I asked is  I would like to fit a new rear camera and would prefer to have it attached to the glass rather than the trim. I was wary of messing the elements up.

[CraigB]

Thanks Alan. The reason I asked is  I would like to fit a new rear camera and would prefer to have it attached to the glass rather than the trim. I was wary of messing the elements up.

Is there problems having the cam where you've placed it on the trim? I was thinking it looked quite good there.

[John B]

Thanks Alan. The reason I asked is  I would like to fit a new rear camera and would prefer to have it attached to the glass rather than the trim. I was wary of messing the elements up.

Is there problems having the cam where you've placed it on the trim? I was thinking it looked quite good there.

It worked out well for the mini 0806 as it had a fair bit of adjustment, I am not sure that if I get the Street Guardian, that is a similar shape to Alan's camera  it would have enough, I would have to see. The other problem is it is a devil to get the adhesive pads to stick on the trim even after using plenty of isopropyl alcohol.

[CraigB]

I see, I guess as the wedge type also sit closer to the base it might not sit low enough to view out the window either

[Phil №❶]

Still having trouble sticking to the speed limit, I see 

Nice camera 

[John B]

I see, I guess as the wedge type also sit closer to the base it might not sit low enough to view out the window either

Had another look at the car and there is no way will the wedge type cameras fit on the trim as you stated it will not sit low enough and the camera screen would be facing the floor The Mini has a completely different set up with the camera hanging down from the base at an angle.

[AlanHo]

Will this help John - I drew round the dash cam. Print to size, stick on cardboard, cut round the profile, and you have a template

The dotted line is where the camera is positioned before sliding it down on the mount. The GPS mount has a USB socket on the top. The standard mount lacks a USB socket - you use the socket in the side of the camera which results in the cable being more visible.