Dash Cams - Best ones for night vision?

Your not going to get any camera to read plates. If anyone says there's can just ask for a YouTube video. The main problem is the auto-focus lens would have to be aimed at the license plate. Here's an example

 

The lens on dashcams are all fixed focus. Most will be of some use at night if the vehicle is close, and has lights on.
(like running a red light, swerving into your lane, etc.) I don't turn mine off at night, but don't expect to catch much.

 

I have a GoPro now but use to have a Sony Handy Cam. Very high def and expensive but still could not catch a plate number. That video above was in high def but cut down for YouTube. Still can't catch the plate.

 

good thing you were able to stop. i counted 4 cars that went sliding.

as far as night vision. i think your crap out of luck. unless your in the city with highway overheads like in the above video. you've got nothing to light up the video. i don't think any of them come with night vision like what the military uses.

 

If you could install some IR auxiliary lights on the truck that are bright, that would work better.

 

from the vids i've recorded. you can kind of see the vehicles. but you can defenitly see their lights.

if something happened. i don't think the cops would have a hard time figureing it out.

 

The fixed focus of a dash cam is not the real problem. It is that the field of view (FOV) is too large to create an image with clear enough resolution to read something such as a license plate. A camera with a FOV of 10 feet could easily be configured to read a license plate clearly. This is fine for a CCTV security camera that moves, but not for a dash cam that is in a fixed position. The FOV would be too small to see enough of what is happening in front of the vehicle.

A wide angle lens is much like your own eyes. The further away and wider angle you look with your eyes, the lower the resolution of what you are looking becomes. When you focus in on an item with your eyes using your central cone vision, which is only about a three degree angle, the object becomes more clear. Cameras work very similar. To improve this, you can increase the lens size to compensate, much like a person using a magnifying glass or binoculars.

No reason to spend a lot of money on a dash cam. Just find one that can record at 720p or higher resolution with a frame rate of 30 frames per second or higher. None of the dash cams will perform real well at night, but they will see enough to determine some key things, such as whether you were in your lane or had the right of way should a collision occur. Not seeing a license plate would not disprove whether or not you were at fault for a collision. It just makes it harder to pin down the financial liability in the event of a hit and run accident.

 

You will find a lot of videos on YouTube of dash cam footage, both day and night.

The only real way to capture plates is the use of the same systems that law enforcement uses. The best one of those I know of was the Motorola Mobile Enforcer. It is not cheap. Last I saw, it was around a couple thousand and it is hard drive based.

Thinkware, Cobra, Garmin, Blackvue have gps capable cameras. I'm sure there are others. You'd very likely have to spend a bit more than $300 up to $500 for the ones I was looking at.

 

It's a little misleading. I know I was doing 30mph and the others 55+. As soon as I got on the ramp I could feel my drives slip so I went real slow. This only lasted maybe 5 miles. I was empty too so not a good thing