Do you have a dashboard camera? Hard to install?

I was surprised at how relatively cheap dashboard cameras are. And today, it seems like a good idea to have one. My major concern is instillation -is it a big deal?
Any recommendations?
Thanks.
 

I have one in each vehicle. They were bought from a business that installs remote starts, stereos, rims/tires & window tint. The first one I bought in 2017 & is a Panasonic & was about $400. The second one was $450 a few months ago & is called Opsis by Stinger. Both vehicles have cameras located in the front & rear windshields. Recording is on a microchip which can be removed, put in an adapter & played back on your computer. You can also link it up to your phone for instant viewing. They also have audio recording along with GPS location, your vehicle speed & time/date. I think they could be stored on the cloud, but I prefer having a chip.

I decided to get the first one after I was broadsided by a 17 yo driver. Luckily for me, he did it in front a road crew painting lines on the road & they all seen him run the 4-way stop. Even if they hadn't been there, his story didn't match what he did to my truck.

I've been happy with them & I've recorded some things while driving that had to be seen to be believed. I also wouldn't hesitate to give the chip to an officer if I ever witness an accident.

I've seen the cameras advertised that you self-install & I'm not sure I'd want one. My brother is looking at one of those.
 

I have one that my husband installed in my car... when it's recording its fine, but the darn thing won't stay where it's been put, it just keeps falling off. I've tried all sorts of things.. but to no avail..

I won't buy another one now unless I get another car in which case I'll have it pro installed
 
@hollydolly, your complaint about not staying in place is what I've heard the most about the ones you install. I'm afraid if something did happen, the camera would go flying off when it was needed.

I had to have the last camera moved one more inch away from the mirror so I could get the chip out. The installer didn't have a problem with that at all.
 
@hollydolly, your complaint about not staying in place is what I've heard the most about the ones you install. I'm afraid if something did happen, the camera would go flying off when it was needed.

I had to have the last camera moved one more inch away from the mirror so I could get the chip out. The installer didn't have a problem with that at all.
precisely, that's what I found.
 
I was surprised at how relatively cheap dashboard cameras are. And today, it seems like a good idea to have one. My major concern is instillation -is it a big deal?
Any recommendations?
Thanks.

It depends. Installation is a little more involved if you want to install the power cable directly to the car's fusebox. Alternatively, just push the power plug into the cigarette lighter or a similar auxiliary socket. Once I had decided where about on the windshield I wanted to position it, it took me no more than 15 minutes to install. Of the cars I have fitted them to, Ive only had one fall off. I put that down to trying to stick it to the windshield when it was cold. I just ended up running the car for a while with the demister on until it took the chill off.

As for positioning the power cable, that seemed easy enough. I run the cable along the front edge of the headliner -- tucking it behind the headliner so it can't be seen. Then run the cable down the 'A' Pillar -- tucking it between the 'A' Piller garnish and the seal. Some cameras come with a spatula for that very purpose. Then I ran the cable down under the dash and out to the cigarette lighter at the front of the centre console.

My camera is the next model up from this one. The person in this video installed his pretty much the same way I did. The only thing I did differently, was to position the camera higher up, so that the body of the camera is on the 'dotted' area, with the camera lens protruding just below the dotted area:

 
It depends. Installation is a little more involved if you want to install the power cable directly to the car's fusebox. Alternatively, just push the power plug into the cigarette lighter or a similar auxiliary socket. Once I had decided where about on the windshield I wanted to position it, it took me no more than 15 minutes to install. Of the cars I have fitted them to, Ive only had one fall off. I put that down to trying to stick it to the windshield when it was cold. I just ended up running the car for a while with the demister on until it took the chill off.

As for positioning the power cable, that seemed easy enough. I run the cable along the front edge of the headliner -- tucking it behind the headliner so it can't be seen. Then run the cable down the 'A' Pillar -- tucking it between the 'A' Piller garnish and the seal. Some cameras come with a spatula for that very purpose. Then I ran the cable down under the dash and out to the cigarette lighter at the front of the centre console.

My camera is the next model up from this one. The person in this video installed his pretty much the same way I did. The only thing I did differently, was to position the camera higher up, so that the body of the camera is on the 'dotted' area, with the camera lens protruding just below the dotted area:

Magna -Carta,
Mucho thanks. You're now in the will!!! 🙂
 


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