HaloCam M1 Motorcycle Dash Camera

[superfist]

4 minutes ago, daboo said:

I don't know that the thread is that old.  I recently saw one that was over 10 years old that someone was replying to.  And another about that old where the OP was looking for help to get home and their bike was parked on the side of the road.  I hope they are not still out there. 

To answer your question, the lens does lose detail when wet.   Though for a dash cam, it is still usable.  You'll see the general situation in front of you develop and still be able to read things like license plates when they get close.  Anyone looking at the video for posting will get the added effect of feeling like they are out in the wet themselves.  My Sena 10C did the same thing.  And the water drops would shift and move off the picture.  It just added to the effect, IMO.

Chris

Thanks Chris!   That information is much appreciated.

[daboo]

On 2/1/2019 at 5:53 PM, Odge said:

This review has been posted on BMW and ST1100 websites as well (and who knows where else).

It's a good review, and the product seems worthwhile, but do you (daboo) have all these different motorcycles or are you spreading the gospel of halocam? 😉

"spreading the gospel of halocam"?  No, but I do enjoy spreading the real Gospel.

I belong to a number of forums.  The other day, I realized a good description of me would be that I am a "forum junkie".  I love motorcycles and love to ride.  If it isn't snowing, then I'll be riding. The FJ-09 was on my short list a couple years ago for a replacement bike, and the new Tracer is still there on that short list...actually more so.  When I did replace my Honda NT700V, I went with a BMW F800GT only because it fit me better.  But I also test rode the FJ-09 at the time. 

Just because I don't have a Yamaha today doesn't mean we don't share things of interest in general.  Clothing, lights, GPSs, etc are all things that are common across similar bikes.  I belong to a Kawasaki group and a Honda ST-Owners forum because they have some incredibly great rallies; wonderful people to ride with.  But just to make things clear, I am not a member of a HD forum.  I don't think they'd like my advice on wearing hi-vis riding jackets or full helmets. 

I've talked to some others who post trip reports.  We all do the same thing.  Make one post with links to the pictures and then post that where we think others will enjoy the post.  A review like this was, is very easy to apply the same process to.  

Why did I post it elsewhere?  I like sharing "good deals".  Always have.  Wanna hear about my lawn mower?  Probably not.   But when I find something that works well and I think others might like to know about it, I share it.

And just to be clear, I have no financial interest in Halocam.  I just found them to be an excellent product and for a price that is half that of the INNOVV K2.  

 

Edited February 4, 2019 by daboo

[wordsmith]

Love that doggie!   Schnauzer? - tho' a bit hard to tell with such a small image...

Edited February 5, 2019 by wordsmith

[Odge]

Hey Naboo, no problem here. I actually bought the halocam partly because of that review. Besides the crappy instruction sheet, it is a cool product. 

When I was looking for more information on the cam I found the same review so I thought I'd ask. 

As I said before, the review is accurate enough and well presented. I just thought maybe you were spamming bike sites which wouldn't be so great. 

Thanks for the info, the cam could end up paying for itself many times over. Meanwhile I can watch fisheye videos of my squidly wheelie attempts on my phone. 😉

[daboo]

No problem, Odge.  Cameras are just one of those things that isn't bike specific.

Here's a post I made on another forum that actually gives an answer in a way to @superfist question about the lens in the wet.  It's one of those "where did you ride today" posts.  The pictures with the side of the helmet shown are from my Sena 10C Pro.  The Halo Cam pictures say so in the upper left corner of the pictures.  I'll paste the entire post in.

Chris

Quote

I rode out to the prison this morning.  Had breakfast with some of the other volunteers at 0630 hrs.  We have areal flood warnings up for the rain coming through.  But as I pointed out to the other guys there at breakfast, I would be drier walking out to my bike than they will be walking to their cars.  And with heated gear, I am comfortable immediately.  So with a little RainX to keep the visor free of rain drops, I enjoyed the ride.

I took the High Bridge road home.  It's a nice curvy and hilly road.  Surprisingly, there were only a few places where there was gravel or mud on the road, even with the rain we've had.  The back end did step out a couple times.  Nothing serious though.

I got a chance to practice what it is like to ride a real adventure bike, a GS.    Like a good GS rider, I stood up.  I realized afterward though that I only got off the seat, not the full standing position required to be a real GS rider.  It was more of a "sport-touring" pose, probably because I ride a F800GT, not a GS. 
 I should go back to practice this and get it right...

Chris

Edited February 6, 2019 by daboo

[dangerzone2]

Thanks for all of the great info.  I'm waiting for a system like this that has slightly better video quality.  Not being able to read license plates is a no go for me.

[superfist]

4 hours ago, dangerzone2 said:

Thanks for all of the great info.  I'm waiting for a system like this that has slightly better video quality.  Not being able to read license plates is a no go for me.

I agree.  It looks good and I was almost sold, but what you mentioned is exactly why I didn't click "buy."  Reviewing pictures I realized it's really difficult to make out plates even 30ft in front of the camera.  I don't think 1080 with a tiny sensor is going to be enough.  I don't mind waiting or paying more for a better quality image.

 

I'll keep messing with the GoPro for now.  I've done some testing and if I can read it with my eyes while on the road, I can zoom in and read it on the playback.  My current settings are 2.7k resolution at 60fps with a wide field of view.  Protune HAS to be enabled for the additional bitrate and I leave the flat color profile as the default.  This gets the most image quality out of the GoPro that can be brought out in post processing.

 

I've seen some dashcams hitting the 1440p resolutions, so they're getting better.  I really think they're taking yesteryears cell phone camera sensors when the cell phone manufacturers are no longer buying them for their product lineups.  So it seems dash cam camera tech is lagging a little bit.

[daboo]

On 9/19/2018 at 9:32 AM, Panther6834 said:

One thing to consider when purchasing SD cards, whether for a dashcam, camera, drone, or anything else that uses SD cards (including microSD)...the "fastest" is NOT always the fastest.

...The moral of this story is, do NOT just go by the speed classification - while many U3 cards are faster than their comparable (ie. capacity) U1 cards, there ARE some U1 cards that are faster than their comparable U3 cards...when purchasing SD (or microSD) cards, ALWAYS compare the read/write speeds for the capacities you are considering. It's ok to "trade" a little speed for a higher-capacity card, but, if the speed difference is to great, then (especially for use in a dashcam) consider the next smaller capacity.

I was just reading through some of the comments here and came across this one.  It's worth reading his entire post, not just the part I quoted.

I got an education in microSD cards when I got the Halocam dash camera.  My first "mistake" was in buying the Samsung EVO card that was offered as part of a bundle when I purchased the dash camera.  Apparently, the vendor has nothing to do with what is offered as a bundle to purchase.  It's controlled by Amazon.  But the specs looked good.

In using some memory benchmark testing programs, I found the Samsung was incredibly slow in Write.  In Read, it was certainly fast, but when writing to the card, it was only half what the transfer rate was supposed to be.  I'm going off of memory now, so don't hold me to these numbers...but it was writing at @16 MB/s and was supposed to be transferring at @30 MB/sec.  It only reached 30 MB/sec for an extremely short period of time...probably just long enough to get the rating on the side of the card.  A lessor rated Sandisk memory card I had for my Sena 10C was actually better at 29 MB/sec.  

Then as I was reading through comments on the Samsung EVO card, someone pointed out that Samsung didn't warranty the card for use in dash cameras.  I suspect their memory card works just fine in a still camera, but not where you need a sustained write speed like with a dash camera or action camera.

So that's just a personal observation or experience on what Panther was saying.  When a camera says it can take a 256 GB memory card, don't just assume you can use the cheapest memory card in it successfully.  

Chris

[Odge]

Update on the halocam if anyone is still interested. While basic functionality of the main unit is ok, I have had two front camera failures. I was impressed initially with the customer service, but after all the hassles with failed cameras, buggy software, etc. I am past the point of caring. I think I will just tear all the wiring out. There might be someone out there who has had success long term, but I think it would be better just to pay a little more for a camera with a longer history of quality. Halocam seems like a fly by night operation. After their initial mini sales blitz they have gone quiet. Their crappy android phone app hasn't been updated in ages despite barely functioning. Lesson learned.

[nhchris]

Thanks for the warning on this.

I just bought a Viofo 119 V3 and installed it in the cage. First dash cam I've owned.

WRT SD cards: Apparently a dash cam requires an "endurance" card that can survive much longer in the environment of constant writes and over writes.

Check out this video for the specifics...