DASH CAM VS ACTION CAMERA

WHAT IS AN ACTION CAMERA?

An action camera is a camera dedicated to recording the action process. It is often shot from the first perspective of the athlete. The action camera has higher requirements for compact and sturdy protection performance. Usually, the user's demand for shooting videos is greater than that for shooting static pictures need.

It is usually fixed on sports equipment or the surface of the human body for shooting. For sports cameras used on motorcycles, they are usually hung on the helmet side or front, but you need to buy some accessories for the helmet. This is mainly to take some moving pictures of driving. The action camera body is waterproof and the picture is anti-shake.

 

WHAT IS A DASH CAM?

Dash cam is the instrument of the rel-event in-formations such as image and sound in registration of vehicle traveling way.

After install the dashcam, the video image and sound of running car overall process can be recorded, evidence can be provided for traffic accident.

People who like to travel by car can also use it to record the process of conquering difficulties and obstacles.

While recording, the time, speed and location are recorded in the video, which is quite a "black box". It can also be used at home as a DV to shoot the fun of life, or as a home monitor. You can also do parking monitoring and install a driving recorder at ordinary times. The video data cannot be cut. If you cut it, you will not be able to provide help after the responsible accident occurs. It is also to prevent the inevitable behavior of touching porcelain in today's society. For motorcycles, the driving recorder is installed on the car, and the front and rear cameras can capture the front and rear conditions of the car.

 

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ACTION CAMERA AND DASHCAM

The sports camera is used to take pictures of the locomotive scenery. It is easy to get hot when driving. The endurance is not enough. If the video in the memory is not deleted, it will be recorded until the memory card is full, so sometimes some important pictures cannot be taken. Sports cameras are not as convenient as dashcams, but they can complete the work. Usually more expensive than dashcams. It must be carried with you and opened every time you drive. The dashcam is ideal for monitoring traffic for safety and security purposes. Generally cheaper than sports cameras. When start the motorcycle,the dash cam will automatically record. No need to take it with you or open it before driving.

Sports cameras are ideal for capturing extreme sports and activities. It is not an ideal substitute for a dedicated dashcam. The DASH CAM is installed in your car to continuously record your driving situation as a witness of traffic accidents. There are other purposes, but the continuous and always on function of the DASH CAM puts forward technical requirements that the motion camera cannot meet.

The dashcam records the scene of an accident. The power supply of the dashcam is connected to the battery, so it is not easy to power off. The unimportant videos in the dashcam will be automatically overwritten. The important thing is that its videos will be automatically locked or manually locked. There is also a parking guard function. Everyone knows when they touch your car. GPS function, barometer, tire pressure gauge and more than ten other functions, so it is completely different from the sports camera. 

The table below helps you understand the difference between action cameras and driving recorders more clearly.

 

	dash cam	action camera
Pricing	low cost video camera	more expensive
Power	Automatic when the car on	Must turn on manually
Power Supply	Unlimited battery life since it is connected to the car’s battery	Two to three hours depending on the video mode and settings
Loop Recording	Yes, 1min／3mins／5mins／loop recording	No support
Motion Sensor (parking mode)	Yes - dash cams turn on and record automatically when parked upon sensing movement	Sometimes included as an extra feature
G-sensor Impact Detection	Yes; can detect sudden impacts and hit-and-run incidents, and isolate and store the video	No, can’t detect sudden impacts or isolate footage
Setup	One-time; designed to stay in the car at all times	On and off, especially if used for other activities
GPS Tracking	Yes, helps to determine the location and time of an incident	No
Parking Monitoring	Yes	No
Compass speed panel	Yes	No
Video Quality	Medium	Medium to high depending on your chosen model
Wi-Fi	Yes	No
Size	Small	Small to medium depending on the model
Screen	Yes	Sometimes
Car Mount	Included since it is designed for cars	No, you’ll have to spend extra for that
Dual Cam (360 Option)	Yes - films outside and inside your vehicle simultaneously	No
Extreme Temp Resistance	Yes - thanks to temperature-tolerant capacitors	No - powering up the action cam can be difficult in the cold.
Atmospheric pressure	Yes	No
Altitude	Yes	No
Smart Alerts	Yes - helps prevents accidents	No
Memory	High by default	Low to high
Advantage	The battery is used for power supply without continuous charging Front and back double video, wide angle, more comprehensive record The car starts when it starts and shuts down when it stops, which is convenient	The installation is complicated, may need help from professional
Disadvantage	The video quality is better and clearer during the day First person perspective, suitable for recording scenery Easy installation	Poor battery life, frequent charging required Rear view angle cannot be recorded Increase helmet weight

 

LET’S TALK ABOUT WHICH MOTORCYCLE EYES TO CHOOSE TODAY!

It is recommended to choose a driving recorder.

The reason is simple, because there are many uncertainties in sports cameras, such as power supply and reliability, such as fixing methods and so on.

It is dangerous to fix the sports camera on the helmet, because both the bracket and the camera itself change the wind-impacting surface of the helmet, so the increase in the drag coefficient does not matter. Generally, drivers who use sports cameras do not particularly care about fuel consumption; but in When riding at high speed, the angle of the head changes slightly, and the wind resistance generated by the sports camera and the bracket may seriously affect the balance of the body posture, which is a great hidden danger to driving safety. Therefore, the sports camera regulations often cannot limit riding on the helmet. Most riders use sports cameras when driving at low and medium speeds, and the usage scenarios are only to take pictures of scenery or teammates.

 

MOBILE PHONE

Without considering extreme sports, you can use the mobile phone bracket of the helmet to shoot, although it is heavier than the sports camera, and the wind resistance coefficient is greater; But what impact can it have when shooting for tens of seconds to several minutes at medium and low speed? A helmet mobile phone bracket is not very expensive, and the shooting quality of most mobile phones is not bad.

Many sports cameras will eventually be installed on the handlebars, and they will be firmly fixed with a special bracket and then shine in front. That is, it has completely become a tachograph for motorcycles.

At the same time, the battery of the sports camera can only last for one or two hours. If you want to shoot for a long time, you have to use the USB harness for power supply, but there will still be a potential safety hazard of the battery; The point is that the motion camera basically has only one camera. As a recorder, it can only shoot in the front. What about the blind area behind? The combined dual lens motion camera must also be fixed on the handlebars, and the shooting blind area is still large.

Sports cameras are theoretically suitable for extreme driving, but in reality, riders who have conditional extreme driving will have a team to help them shoot, and they rarely  to drive extreme; Then this "MINI DV" is meaningless.

 

FINALLY, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE ADVANTAGES OF THE DRIVING RECORDER, IN SHORT, AS FOLLOWS.

 

ACC wiring

fixed camera

Front and rear dual camera

Strong reliability

Wide range of temperature adaptation

 

No need to turn on manually: the driving recorder will be rigidly fixed on the vehicle and can be wired through ACC; that is, it will be automatically powered on after the vehicle is started, and there is no need to manually turn it on like a sports camera.

Fixed camera: The fixed camera is divided into front and rear dual cameras, and you don’t need to worry about fixing the angle, and the cameras dedicated to motorcycles are generally shuttle-type, which is considered to reduce the drag coefficient; and the fixed positions of these cameras can also be very free. The front camera can be fixed on the handle, the base can be pasted directly, or you can modify it according to your own needs. As long as you find the right angle, it can still be used as a sports camera.

No battery: Since the power is obtained through ACC, the driving recorder does not need to bring its own lithium battery. Without the lithium battery, there is no need to worry about being exposed to the sun, and there is no need to worry about the low temperature causing the device to shut down. This is the advantage of the driving recorder.

Self-developed APP: MERCYLION motorcycle driving recorder has self-developed APP, through which APP can be connected, viewed, retrieved or downloaded to the mobile phone through Bluetooth or WiFi hotspot on the mobile phone (without traffic), and can also be shared directly Internet, or edit it yourself before sharing. Moreover, the front and rear dual cameras also have a "picture-in-picture" perspective, which is actually more playable than an action camera. With the helmet and mobile phone holder, one person can also shoot "big movies". In fact, some devices that look handsome are cumbersome and impractical to use.

Strong battery life: the limited battery life of the car sports camera: the battery life of the sports camera is quite poor. If it is not wired and charged, it will be used up in about an hour. However, the driving recorder is connected to the power supply of the body, so it can be used with the car to consider the degree of convenience. Machine installed in the car It is more conspicuous on the surface, sometimes it will be removed to prevent theft, and it will be forgotten to install when driving, or if you don’t remember to turn on the recorder, it will not be easy to be recorded.

Loop recording: Some action cameras do not support loop sage storage, and need to manually restore the memory, which is very troublesome; and the driving recorder has a cyclic sage storage function, which can effectively save key files even if the memory is small.

Firmness: basically, the lens and the main body of the sports camera adopt a single bracket + the outside is easy to hit in the event of a collision accident.

Pixels: The pixels of the sports camera are very large, but this also means that the storage will take up more storage space, reducing the running speed and battery life of the camera itself; in fact, the recorder does not need too high pixels, as long as the license plate and Accidents are fine.

Price: The price of sports cameras is relatively high, not counting the price of accessories, and the price of accessories will be much lower. In summary, although sports cameras can be used as driving recorders, they are generally not used instead of driving Logger.

Final Verdict: For Driving Purposes, Best Choice Dash Cams

If you rely on action cameras for your outdoor hobbies and other activities and want an inexpensive way to monitor your driving, use an action camera as a dash cam. If you don't have an action camera and just want to record your driving, a driving recorder is your best choice.

The value and convenience of a dedicated dash cam make it a better fit for vehicle and traffic monitoring than action cameras. Automated features are an argument in its favor. However, with its all-around price and feature set, it does seem like a good fit.