Car Camera Guide Reviews

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What is a Car Camera?

There is no exact definition of car camera as nowadays, there are several different kinds of camera for car available for you. When looking for the best car camera, first of all, you need to know what kind of car cam you want! Check out these cameras below:

What kinds of car camcorder are available



When talking about a car camcorder, or if you are looking for the best in car camera, you first of all need to clarify exactly what kind of car camera you are looking to buy. These fall into 2 main categories and one additional, catch all category.

1. Dash Cam

The most common type of aftermarket car camera is a dash cam or dashboard camera. These cameras differentiate themselves from other cameras with 2 main features. Firstly, they are designed to record their footage continuously in a loop. This means when the internal storage of the camera is full with footage, the camera starts to record over the oldest footage first meaning you always have the most recent so many hours footage stored on your dash cam, footage which you have the option to “lock” so it’s not recorded over.

The second main attribute of a dash cam is the ability to switch on and begin recording automatically when the engine is started and then switch off and not drain the battery when the car is stopped. This is mostly achieved by wiring the camera directly to the 12v wire that supplies the cigarette lighter in a car or even just with an adapter to slot into the cigarette lighter to power. Some of the most considerate dash cameras even come with an additional USB slow in the power adapter, allowing you to power another device or charge a phone/tablet. A handy extra to have.

Dash cams are one of the major subjects we look at on this site and have a large number of dash cam reviews designed specifically to help match up a potential buyer of a dash cam with the best dash cam for them. We are confident if you read our reviews and follow our recommendations you will find the best dashboard camera for you.

2. Backup Cameras

The next most popular kind of car camera is backup cameras or reverse camera. These cameras are designed to be attached to the rear of your vehicle in some way and send video footage to a display device located on your dashboard, permitting the driver to have a live feed of exactly what is behind him.

The Backup Camera is fast becoming an essential extra in a newly purchased car with over 50% of new cars having them installed. It’s clear to see why when you look at the devastation that vehicles backing up can cause a community. It is estimated that in the US, as many as 50 kids a week are run over by a reversing car and in 70% of those incidents, the child is run over by their own parent or close relative. This is a mind blowing figure when you are a parent yourself.

The reason this figure is so high is often due to large blind spots at the back of vehicles. When you take a typical SUV, there can be a large 20ft blind spot directly behind the vehicle due to the height of the rear of the vehicle. Kids in cars produced the following video demonstrating 62 children that the driver of an SUV just cannot see in an effort to make people think about what’ sin their blind spot when reversing.

Again, it’s a powerful video and demonstrates exactly the problem that a Car Backup Camera is designed to mitigate. If the driver of the SUV in that video had even a budget backup camera installed, it would have been very clear that he had kids behind his vehicle, potentially saving lives.

All-in-One Car Black Box

The last and slightly less rigid category of car camera is the all in one camera, sometimes called a car black box. This kind of car video camera is often made up of a mixture of dash cameras, reversing cameras as well as interior cameras designed to record events inside the vehicle itself.

Sub-categories of All-in-One cameras

The main type of Car Camera recorder is a dual channel dash cam or multi-channel dash cam system that combines a dash cam and a backup camera. These have all the advantages of a dash cam, normally with an additional, often lower quality camera on the rear that not only allows the driver to see behind him but also records the footage, doubling the advantages of a standard dash cam. There are many different kinds and flavours of these car security camera and which one you choose will depend a lot on your budget as these cameras are the most expensive category.

The next type of these all in one devices are Reverse cams with multiple camera inputs. These have up to 4 cameras located around the vehicles, all feeding footage to one screen that you can either cycle through the inputs or split the cameras across a large screen. These kind of systems are ideal for very large vehicles such as RVs or busses. Essentially they give the driver as much information as possible allowing them to safely maneuver there large vehicle with the highest amount of safety possible.

After these two subtypes, they go into very specific application uses and can’t really be categorized further.

Is it worth buying a cheap car camera?

No matter what kind of car cam you opt for, it’s worth investing the minimum required to get a quality piece of kit. Buying cheap electronics sounds like a great deal, especially when some of the features and specifications seem to match those of the cameras that are as much as twice the price. I'm sure in this day and age, the vast majority of people have had experience in buying a cheap electric products and being somewhat unsurprised when they break. The old adage of “You get what you pay for” is as true in car cameras as it is any any other purchase.

In the example of a dash cam, if your device fails when you need it most, it can be devastating. If you are unfortunate enough to be involved with an insurance fraudster during a fraud attempt, your mind may be at ease, safe in the knowledge that you have captured their antics on camera. Image that sinking feeling you will feel when you discover that your dash cam didn’t record the footage like you assumed it has because it died earlier in the week due to poor build quality and cheap internal components. This would be a double hit when the fraudster causes your insurance premiums to go up, laughing all the way to the bank.

Where can I get more info on Car Cameras?

If you are looking for more information on any of the above types of car camera, please visit the relevant sections for more detailed information on what you want to look out for when buying these cameras as well as our reviews and recommendations of specific products.

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