[AlanHo]

I am considering buying a DOD F520 Car Recorder and know very little about them. I have browsed our forum to gather information from other users. It would appear that most of the posts refer to the DOD F500 camera which is similar.

I have some questions directed at users of the camera….

I have not found a post showing how people have mounted the camera – a link or photo would be appreciated.

Where have you taken the power supply from for the charger – or if you run on battery and charge it when required  – how long does the battery run for?

I see the video format is MOV. What software do you use to edit and convert the file into AVI or whatever you use on Photobucket?

What size and spec of SD card do you use

Does the camera work on a loop so it is permanently over-writing the oldest video – if not- how do you use it.

Is the night vision LED of any practical use?

Is it practical to use the unit as a still camera out of the car – and are the images of reasonable quality. A link to a member’s sample or  a copy photo would be appreciated

Is this a reasonable source to buy from?

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Digigomart/Dod-F520-Car-DVR-/_i.html?_fsub=3154123011

[rustynutz]

I have not found a post showing how people have mounted the camera – a link or photo would be appreciated.

Alan, I'm sure the mount that comes with the cam is fine but I use a different one that I had bought previously.....

I have it stuck to the windscreen right alongside the rear view mirror. Using this mount means the cam is upside down but that isn't an issue as there is provision to turn the image the correct way up in the settings.

Where have you taken the power supply from for the charger – or if you run on battery and charge it when required  – how long does the battery run for?

I have just been running it on the battery at this point and as I take it out after doing some filming I'm unsure how long it goes before it needs recharging.

I see the video format is MOV. What software do you use to edit and convert the file into AVI or whatever you use on Photobucket?

There's no need to convert them, both Photobucket & Youtube support MOV....

What size and spec of SD card do you use

I'm currently using a cheap "Team" brand class 10 32GB SDHC card....
The F520 does support SDHC cards up to 64GB though.

Does the camera work on a loop so it is permanently over-writing the oldest video – if not- how do you use it.

Yes, it does...Your best bet though would be to check out the DOD website: or perhaps download the manual :

Is the night vision LED of any practical use?

Haven't tried out the night time capabilities as yet....

Is it practical to use the unit as a still camera out of the car – and are the images of reasonable quality. A link to a member’s sample or  a copy photo would be appreciated

I dodged the current showers and took a couple of sample snaps for you, Alan....

This first one is taken just with the standard lens setting and as can be seen the "fish eye" look is quite pronounced....



This second one was taken with it slightly zoomed to remove the fish eye effect....

Is this a reasonable source to buy from?

That's the same company that I purchased my cam from.
No issues as such other than I had to wait over a week for them to get more stock in, in spite of their ebay ad saying they had 8? of them available...
Oh, and they are on the DOD blacklist (as are the other ebay sellers) so don't expect any support from DOD themselves....

Anyways, I hope this all helps.....Cheers 

[Alasama]

They have 2 demo movies in this page.
http://www.dod-tec.com/dm.php?prod=f520.jpg#

Or, lots of actual testing video are available at Youtube.

[AlanHo]

Thanks a bunch - great info.

[Shambles]

Howdy.

I've also not taken any night time shots yet. I have my 500LFD set to create 5 minute segments which work out at around 250mb each (1920 x 1080p). I use a 32gb class 10 card.

I've routed power from my map lights. When I plug the cord into the camera it starts recording automatically within a few seconds.

I've just taken a few shots showing the mount position (click to enlarge):

[Dazzler]

Looks like a good setup Steve 

[AlanHo]

I have recently sold a few items on Ebay - including a netbook computer, a digital camera, two mobile phones, a laser printer and some other bits and bobs.

I decided to use some of the proceeds by buying a DOD F520 car video which I have just ordered via Ebay. I imagine it will take a week or two to arrive - so stand by for questions when I get stuck in and get stuck........

[rustynutz]

Good onya, Alan.....

I look forward to seeing some of your home movies....

[Phil №❶]

I've routed power from my map lights.

Can I see a pic of exactly how you've achieved this   

[Shambles]

I've routed power from my map lights.

Can I see a pic of exactly how you've achieved this   

I'm sure I posted some pics previously. If I find them I'll post the link. Just a couple of screws to remove then a wee bit of soldering (which isn't strictly necessary but I prefer to do it that way)

[Phil №❶]

That's good enough for me, thanks 

[Shambles]

https://www.i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=9948.0

For my DOD installation I soldered a 12v floating lighter socket into the roof space (where previously I'd opened a USB adapter up as in the link above) and connected the supplied cigarette lighter adapter into that.

[AlanHo]

On Wednesday 18th July I received a letter from Parcel Force UK stating that they were holding a parcel from Taiwan for delivery to me as soon as I paid them the customs clearance charge of £33.50 – which was a bit more than I expected. I paid it via the internet and they delivered the parcel yesterday afternoon to one of our neighbours (we were out for the day).

Amazing really because I placed the order on 8th July which means it took only 11 days to reach me which included 3 week-end days and being held for at least 2 days for customs clearance payment.

The parcel was of course my new DOD F520 car cam which I opened this morning and have spent about 3 hours playing with it and getting it installed in the car.

I was intending to install it behind the rear view mirror (as per Shambles) but on my new i30 the area where I would need to put the suction mount has shading which is too rough for it to hold suction. In addition – Shambles had found that the feed from the interior light was not wired from an ignition source – so I looked elsewhere.

This is the drivers view out through the windscreen showing the location of my Nuvi sat-nav and the new car-cam. As you can see the drivers view is not obstructed.



Another view of the mounting position



The USB cable from the car-cam is fed under the cowl above the tacho and speedo housings. There is just enough room to push the wire in between them – it circles the tacho housing in an anti-clockwise direction, travels down the side of the steering wheel housing and across the bottom of the dash to the open storage compartment in front of the gear lever where the lighter and power sockets are located.





You can see that the cable to the sat-nav also travels round the tacho housing – but clockwise - and then follows the same route as the car-cam cable.  The rectangular block in this cable is the wireless traffic receiver – you can also see its aerial heading off to the windscreen.

However – there is a snag – the power adapter for the car-cam plus its USB plug is quite long and I cannot avoid bumping it when I change into 5th gear. I have a similar (but lesser) problem with the sat-nav adapter when I go into first gear. I have therefore ordered a double socket lead which is fitted with a short plug. I will locate the extended sockets at the back of the storage compartment and plug the car-cam and sat-nav power adapters into them. This will also enable me to tape the adapters into the sockets because neither are a secure fit – the car-cam one in particular is very sloppy.




I have used the camera in anger and am delighted with the results. I have transferred a couple of test videos onto the computer and viewed them using Windows Live Movie Maker. As others have said the HD setting produces awesome quality video when saved on the PC in HD quality. I find if I save a video in computer quality, prominent sharp edges – road signs,  window frames etc are slightly jagged and seem to shimmer.

You can now have a laugh at my expense. The first time I tried the camera – not in the car but hand-held in the garden – I was very disappointed with the video quality. It looked slightly blurred despite the camera being set to 1920 x 1080. I trawled through the various settings but was unable to find any anomaly. After 20 frustrating minutes I solved the problem by peeling the small disc of protective clear film from the lens.

I know you are going to ask for some example videos – but this must wait until I find out how to edit them to a suitable size and format for posting via photobucket here.

[Doggie 1]

Great write-up Alan and ingenious installation.

[eye30]

Great write up.

Now all we need is a few vids from you to see how good the picture your driving is.

[Dazzler]

  Glad you are happy with your purchase Alan. Neat install too 

We are luck we don't cop those customs clearance charges...

I got a new Battery for Trish's MSI Laptop from Hong Kong for A$35 in less than 10 days and 3 pairs of Kids 3D glasses from the UK in about the same time for around A$20 including postage .. (So I was thrilled with the speed of delivery too) 

[rustynutz]

I know you are going to ask for some example videos – but this must wait until I find out how to edit them to a suitable size and format for posting via photobucket here.

Just post them up to Youtube as they are, Alan.....You can then do some limited editing with the Youtube tools....unless of course you want to do a professional job like Daz... 

[AlanHo]

When I first installed the car-cam it would switch on and start recording as soon as the ignition was switched on and switch off when the ignition was off. However If I stopped the recording by pressing the toggle record button the recording would stop - but then come on again a minute later and stay recording until I hit the record button in which case it would stop again for exactly one minute ad-infinitum until the ignition was eventually switched off. I had a fiddle with the camera settings and have cured this - but I'm not sure which setting did the trick.  I can now stop and start recording at will, in addition to it going on and off automatically with the ignition.

My Camera settings now are :-

Size             1920 x 1080
EV               +0
White Bal     Auto
Contrast       Standard
Sharpness    Standard
Effect           Off
Scene          Auto
ISO             Auto
Duration      15 mins
Recycle        No
USB In         Yes
Shutdown     Power Off
Video Flip     No
Motion Set    No
Mic              On

Yesterday the weather was cloudy and dull and the videos were fine. However - it is sunny today and the pictures are washed out with over-bright skies and dark shadows. There is a  slight "veil" on the picture which is being caused by the reflection of the dashboard and the A pillars on the steeply raked screen - and I may have to find a way of moving the camera to a postion behind the mirror to minimise this.
 
What exposure settings are you guys using and do you change them to suit the weather all the time?

[Shambles]

Same basic settings here MrHo, though I have Recycle set to "5mins" and Duration set to "no"

[rustynutz]

I had a similar problem to you with the washed out skies, but I can't remember what setting I changed now...
Whatever it was, I've left it the same since and have been quite happy.....

I'll check the settings for you when I get home as I'm away for a couple of days..... 

[meehalych]

customs clearance for a camcorder?! Do you have to pay for all parcels, which are sent from abroad or it depends on a declared goods cost?
(goods which value is up to 1000 Euro are free of charges here)

Congratulations with new camcorder.

[AlanHo]

customs clearance for a camcorder?! Do you have to pay for all parcels, which are sent from abroad or it depends on a declared goods cost?
(goods which value is up to 1000 Euro are free of charges here)

Congratulations with new camcorder.

I am not sure what the UK rules are. If you bring an item into the UK from outside the Euro zone through airport customs - you will not be charged any duty if its value is less than a certain figure. It used to be about £30 - I have no idea what it is today.

However - if you import an item via post, courier or freight company it will have to be cleared by customs who make a charge for inspecting the parcel and the admin work if duty or VAT is chargeable.

The camera cost 109 USD and the postage was 60 USD. The supplier put on the customs form that its value was 4000 NT$ (Taiwan new dollars) which is equal to £85 or 130 USD at today's exchange rates.

Customs charged me £20.10 VAT plus £13.40 clearance fee.  How this was calculated I have no idea and I will not waste my time contesting it.  I know I have been ripped off - but us Brits are well used to it.

[Dazzler]

That added up to a lot of money Alan (glad you are well pleased with it) 

[Shambles]

What I've found, especially since upgrading (3 times) to my current DOD, is that if I ever leave the house without it I'll turn back and grab it. The drive feels 'naked' when it's not there.

[AlanHo]

How to Install a DOD F520 Car Cam in a 2012 Hyundai i30

The windscreen of the new i30 is more steeply raked than the previous model – which makes installing a car cam more tricky.

Encouraged by the installation done by Shambles - I first tried to locate the camera behind and on the passenger side of the rear view mirror – but I was thwarted by the large area of black perforated screening bonded to the windscreen – which prevented the sucker mount from getting any suction. In addition – Shambles had found that the 12v feed to the internal light was not switched with the ignition – meaning that the camera would have to be switched on and off manually or the USB lead inserted/detached to switch it on and off. 

Hence I mounted the camera on the top of the dash at the edge of the windscreen on the drivers side.

Initially I was very happy with the installation – until we had our first sunny day for several weeks because the reflections on the screen were casting a veil across the video and other reflections from the heater vents and A pillar were also ghosting the picture.  It was clear that I had to find a way of fitting a “Lens hood” between the camera and the windsceen so that it looked through an area of screen free of reflections.

I did a lot of experimenting with bits of cardboard, sticky tape and profanity before I got a basic idea which seems to have worked really well.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you will need.

1).  Buy a 44” Toshiba HD television. Discard the television, the cables, instruction book and all the packing – except for the Styrofoam blocks that protect each corner of the screen. This will be your raw material.

2).  Now pop down to your favourite wine merchant and buy a case of 15 bottles of Australian Black Stump Durif Shiraz red wine – try and get the 2009 or 2010 vintage. The 2011 vintage for some reason is merely totally delicious rather than absolutely awesome. You will need this case of wine firstly to have something to enjoy when you celebrate your successful installation of the camera and secondly the box makes an ideal paint spray cabinet to protect your shed or garage from overspray.

3).  A very sharp craft knife with a long blade or a Swiss Army knife sharpened and honed to perfection. Styrofoam is quite difficult to carve and it is essential that the knife is as sharp as a scalpel.

4).  A sheet of fine emery paper to get the mounting surface of your lens hood dead flat.

5).  A length if foam draught preventer – the sort you stick into gaps in doors or windows.

6).  A small can of matt black hobby spray paint

7).  A small amount of emulsion paint and a brush to apply it – the colour is not important (but a dark colour would be nice) - it will only be used as a sealant because I found that styrofoam melts if you spray it with a solvent based paint.

THE METHOD

The method is simple – you spend several hours experimenting with carboard templates to get the required geometry sorted – whilst ignoring the sarcastic sneers from her indoors that there are better things to do with your time.

You then take one of the TV corner protectors and you carefully carve it to the required shape. Carving is not all that difficult – you simply cut away all the Styrofoam that does not look to be a part of your lens hood. This can be quite an exhausting process because you have to keep trying it in the car with the camera in place to check that it is not visible in the picture. It took me a good hour of coming and going between the garage and the car before I got it right. The final stage is to carefully rub the face that will be against the screen on a sheet of emery laid flat on your workbench to get it dead flat.






You then spray it with the matt black paint and watch in horror as all your hard work melts in front of your eyes.

You now take a second corner block and repeat the carving procedure as described above. Even though you made one before – don’t be under the illusion that you have a template to copy from – you don’t – your previous effort is a black molten mess. It is at this stage that you start to wish that TV’s have more than 4 corners just in case your next efforts meet problems.

Once you have a carving you are satisfied with – give it a coat of emulsion paint to seal it and hopefully protect it from the solvent spray paint. After the emulsion has dried, you then cross your fingers and hold your breath when you spray it matt black – hopefully you will find that all is OK. You may need a second coat in several hours time.

Finally you attach the foam strip around the perimeter to ensure a perfect fit against the windscreen.








Don’t celebrate with the wine just yet – because you need to take the car for a spin in bright sunlight to check all is OK. Once you have done that – you can enjoy a glass or three of your Black Stump wine with your wife - who at long last has a bit of your company.

[Dazzler]

  Wow are there no end to your talents Alan.. and as usual I love your sense of humour 

Misha, don't try this at home either the TV or Camera would have been stolen before you had your 1st piece of foam carved...

[Shambles]

I don't care if it works or not, I can't stop sniggering 

[Dazzler]

The only negative I can see is you can't hide the camera with a hat or sun shade when you are parked away from home like I do with my GPS...

[Shambles]

.. and thieves will think you have a 44" Toshiba in the boot

Taking a different approach, could a plastic polarising lens from a cheap pair of sunglasses be made to fit?

My polaroid sunglasses certainly work on my eyes when driving to remove reflections from the dash and glass.  The CPL I have on my camera works a treat too.