Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
the number of times I have almost hit someone head on because they are on the wrong side of this narrow road .... I'm not afraid to die but this is almost an every day thing
I have a front and rear camera dvr system in my jeep, my truck, my camper van, and motorcycle. I often will use the footage for making travel videos on my yt channel (I have more than 1 channel, none of them are popular lol), but you would absolutely be surprised the number of times they have captured crimes, road rage, really cool things like sunsets/sunrises, wildlife, and stupid people not paying attention. If I am ever in an auto or motorcycle accident, I will always have proof it wasn't caused by me. Another reason you should get one is insurance companies will often reduce your rates on your vehicle if you have one, so they can pay for themselves quickly (check with yours).
Some general info to know about them:
Video quality: 4k is way better than 1080P but this video is 1080P and thats because of the camera quality combined with video quality. 720P is very grainy. If you want the ability to capture license plates in case of an accident, you need 4k for sure. if you drive at night, F1.8 or lower aperture is required.
Camera quality: as a photographer, a great photographer can still take great pictures even with the cheapest cameras. But that is because they are using their skills to do so. With car cameras, they are set them and forget them. For that reason, higher quality cameras will be better than cheaper cameras. F1.8 or lower aperture is best for low light, multi coated lenses are best for focusing and clarity. Wide angle front/rear 150+ degree is best for vehicles, 360 degrees is all the way around, theoretically.
Card size: SD card sizes where the video is saved depends on video quality for how much video you can save. As an example, a 1080P system can save about 1-1/2 hours of footage to a 128G card, 4k 6-8 hrs to 512G, when it gets full it over-writes the oldest video. Meaning, if you are trying to record travel videos, you need to be able to capture several hours of footage and that usually means having a very large card or several smaller cards you can swap in and out as you travel and they get full or you will lose footage.
Viewing/editing videos: almost all in-car cameras use a phone app to transfer videos. That is fine if you are only transferring 1 or 2 videos for an accident or similar but if you plan to transfer travel videos, you will want to be able to remove the card and hook it straight into a computer for faster transfer. As an example, using a wifi app on my phone to transfer a single 1080P video takes about 12 minutes for a 5 minute video (imagine if you had 36 of those or 3 hours of footage). It only takes about 12 minutes to transfer all 36 videos from the SD card to a computer not using the wifi app but instead using a usb-c card reader.
Video loop length: Also, some in car cameras have a loop setting for the length of video to store. It can be 1 minute and up to 5 minutes or longer. For travel videos, set that to the highest setting possible. As an example, if you drive 3 hours and you are doing 1 minute loops, that means you saved 180 video segments at 1 minutes each, but only 36 videos at 5 minute segments. If you are editing and combining travel videos, its easier to combine 36 videos than it is to combine 180 videos. At the same time, if you only occasionally saved videos of sunsets or wildlife or similar, it might be ok to use a lower loop time setting.
Recording car breakin: almost all in-car camera systems have a security feature for accidents, often called something like G-shock. What that means is that if another vehicle hits your vehicle while parked and turned off, the cameras will capture it as it detects the impact. But that impact is a lot of force. It may or may not capture someone breaking your window out.
Here are the in-vehicle dvr's I own:
On the motorcycle:
vantrue falcon f1 kit: amzn.to/458MIth
512G card: amzn.to/4kHU1N8
installation video: youtube.com/watch?v=xOb4lt1AlDc
In the jeep & truck:
4 channel 360 camera: amzn.to/43YHfEe
newer version of above: amzn.to/3FFM3Fh
256G card: amzn.to/4mK3Z2g
In the campervan:
dvr: amzn.to/3SzBUNi
2 x 256G card: amzn.to/4mK3Z2g
Others I have used in the past (may not be available now but will def be cheaper because they are older technology - I've been using dvr in vehicles for about 6 or 7 years and I upgrade as newer technology comes out since I use these cameras for travel videos too):
1600P front, 1080P rear: amzn.to/45IjAcz
360 G500H: amzn.to/3HqZFVs (no longer available)(this video recorded on this system)
1080P only front rear: amzn.to/45Eh5rC (no longer available)
3 channel 1080P front & rear: amzn.to/4kSzvcQ
Its sad the G500H is no longer available, I still use it sometimes. It is a great system
the number of times I have almost hit someone head on because they are on the wrong side of this narrow road .... I'm not afraid to die but this is almost an every day thing
I have a front and rear camera dvr system in my jeep, my truck, my camper van, and motorcycle. I often will use the footage for making travel videos on my yt channel (I have more than 1 channel, none of them are popular lol), but you would absolutely be surprised the number of times they have captured crimes, road rage, really cool things like sunsets/sunrises, wildlife, and stupid people not paying attention. If I am ever in an auto or motorcycle accident, I will always have proof it wasn't caused by me. Another reason you should get one is insurance companies will often reduce your rates on your vehicle if you have one, so they can pay for themselves quickly (check with yours).
Some general info to know about them:
Video quality: 4k is way better than 1080P but this video is 1080P and thats because of the camera quality combined with video quality. 720P is very grainy. If you want the ability to capture license plates in case of an accident, you need 4k for sure. if you drive at night, F1.8 or lower aperture is required.
Camera quality: as a photographer, a great photographer can still take great pictures even with the cheapest cameras. But that is because they are using their skills to do so. With car cameras, they are set them and forget them. For that reason, higher quality cameras will be better than cheaper cameras. F1.8 or lower aperture is best for low light, multi coated lenses are best for focusing and clarity. Wide angle front/rear 150+ degree is best for vehicles, 360 degrees is all the way around, theoretically.
Card size: SD card sizes where the video is saved depends on video quality for how much video you can save. As an example, a 1080P system can save about 1-1/2 hours of footage to a 128G card, 4k 6-8 hrs to 512G, when it gets full it over-writes the oldest video. Meaning, if you are trying to record travel videos, you need to be able to capture several hours of footage and that usually means having a very large card or several smaller cards you can swap in and out as you travel and they get full or you will lose footage.
Viewing/editing videos: almost all in-car cameras use a phone app to transfer videos. That is fine if you are only transferring 1 or 2 videos for an accident or similar but if you plan to transfer travel videos, you will want to be able to remove the card and hook it straight into a computer for faster transfer. As an example, using a wifi app on my phone to transfer a single 1080P video takes about 12 minutes for a 5 minute video (imagine if you had 36 of those or 3 hours of footage). It only takes about 12 minutes to transfer all 36 videos from the SD card to a computer not using the wifi app but instead using a usb-c card reader.
Video loop length: Also, some in car cameras have a loop setting for the length of video to store. It can be 1 minute and up to 5 minutes or longer. For travel videos, set that to the highest setting possible. As an example, if you drive 3 hours and you are doing 1 minute loops, that means you saved 180 video segments at 1 minutes each, but only 36 videos at 5 minute segments. If you are editing and combining travel videos, its easier to combine 36 videos than it is to combine 180 videos. At the same time, if you only occasionally saved videos of sunsets or wildlife or similar, it might be ok to use a lower loop time setting.
Recording car breakin: almost all in-car camera systems have a security feature for accidents, often called something like G-shock. What that means is that if another vehicle hits your vehicle while parked and turned off, the cameras will capture it as it detects the impact. But that impact is a lot of force. It may or may not capture someone breaking your window out.
Here are the in-vehicle dvr's I own:
On the motorcycle:
vantrue falcon f1 kit: amzn.to/458MIth
512G card: amzn.to/4kHU1N8
installation video: youtube.com/watch?v=xOb4lt1AlDc
In the jeep & truck:
4 channel 360 camera: amzn.to/43YHfEe
newer version of above: amzn.to/3FFM3Fh
256G card: amzn.to/4mK3Z2g
In the campervan:
dvr: amzn.to/3SzBUNi
2 x 256G card: amzn.to/4mK3Z2g
Others I have used in the past (may not be available now but will def be cheaper because they are older technology - I've been using dvr in vehicles for about 6 or 7 years and I upgrade as newer technology comes out since I use these cameras for travel videos too):
1600P front, 1080P rear: amzn.to/45IjAcz
360 G500H: amzn.to/3HqZFVs (no longer available)(this video recorded on this system)
1080P only front rear: amzn.to/45Eh5rC (no longer available)
3 channel 1080P front & rear: amzn.to/4kSzvcQ
Its sad the G500H is no longer available, I still use it sometimes. It is a great system
