Cheap dashboard camera disassembly and hacks.
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- I added this little dashboard camera to an order just to see what sort of quality it was, since it was only about £11.
In use the sound was very muffled and the image was good during the day, but very dark at night. The colour of the recorded footage suggested that it had an IR filter in the camera which would give better daylight image colour, but poor night sensitivity.
So I took it to bits and discovered that there is indeed an IR filter (removable) on the back of the lens. And when the case is removed the microphone records good quality sound too, owing to the fact that there isn't actually a hole in the case for it!
So here's a complete disassembly guide to save you from messing your camera up by trying to go in from the wrong side.
Here's the ebay listing where I bought the camera. www.ebay.co.uk/...
Your videos have drastically reduced my need to take all of my shit to pieces.
Thank you.
+Saud Siddiqui lol
Lol.
Take it apart any how. ;)
Or wait till it blows up then try to repair it. xD
This channel did the opposite to me, I watched a few videos and then started taking everything apart.
Opposite for me, Clive has given me more options on how to open things. My tool kit now includes a vice of knowledge and a spudger.
"...you can remove this part here but it tends to be a bit of a one-way operation though..."
hahaha that describes how most of my repair jobs start and finish
Thanks for the vids, a pleasure to watch
The last couple of times I took a specific type of videocamera apart I have ended up with 1 spare screw each and every time, with me being absolutely baffled where it's position should be.... :P
If you use that, you have to keep in mind to shout BLYAT every time something video-worthy happens
Your comment wins at everything.
No more to say about it.
I am watching all your vids. I am certainly not any kind of an electronics person, but am sure enjoying your teaching style. Thanks for all your trouble doing these vids.
I have 4 of these and Yes they are great. 2 for cars and 2 for recording on my Dodgem cars when in the town. They are worth their weight in gold from a public liability point of view + you get some great footage. Brilliant review Clive as it helps me understand them a bit better,
it is nice to see how complex the “inside” is for the camera. w/o having to take it apart my self.
it is so nice to learn about what works well and not so, great learnings in you presentations !
sold out! darn...thats ok,you already did one in,saved me the problem.
Loved it - especially liked you "howking out" it's insides - haven't heard that word for about 30 years and man it's a wonderful word indeed :-). Thanks for the teardown and love your videos.
Awesome video again clive. Do a video of how it works now. Could be ideal as a very cheap “go-pro” style vlog/action camera. Keep up the good work from Glasgow !
Job well done. Thank you for taking the time to do this video. You did good.
I once bought a camera like this and turned it into a night vision camera. I just had to take the IR filter out of, slaped some IR-LEDs on it and done. It worked really well.
A'm a little miffed to be honest. Your nice video of you dismantling of this dashcam has lead me to buy the exact camera from ebay in interest toward outfitting a cheap peephole camera to my door. The nice ribbon cable attached to the lens in your video looked just long enough to get down the doorway peephole, in an effort to capture the person who keeps ringing my doorbell and running away every time I go to answer my door!.. (without having to drop $40 on a real peephole camera, that might only have 640x480 resolution, never mind that the camera in this should have been much better, and only for $12! With the same motion triggered capture ability!) I followed your lead, prizing the glued on back off, then removing the screws, peasy... now the same wiggle wiggle, the board comes loose. But there's some resistance. I pull anyway. attached to the camera module in the identical appearing dashcam I had just received from overseas, was a piddly 1/2 inch long, soldered flex-cable that promptly tore a corner just above where it was soldered directly to the board! (no release connection as your model had, along with the 1 1/2" cable) I moved it a little- it tore clean through! NOw what! Waaaaah! :( so CHEESY!... I need a beer, I like a nice local Laker Red from here in Hamtown :) It's not your fault, these Chinese are taking leftover stuff and bodging bits together into the final product, you can't count on what you are getting! The soldered cable in my unit was so short it's a wonder they even put it together! I was hoping to outfit a wider angle lens to the sensor, but on getting it apart, I had a look at the actual camera sensor. It was about the size of a grain of salt, I have a fisheye lens that would fit the mount, but the field of view from the salt-grain sensor would be almost telephoto! I know, I might try soldering that Mylar ribbon to that Mylar ribbon at the break... yeah, hair thin printed on conductors, what are my chances? Do I shell out another $12 in the dashcam lottery? Sad part: I hooked it up on my car and went for a drive, getting reasonable daytime footage before ripping it all apart!
The sound it makes when you turn it on is present on Sony's android camera app.
I've been using this for the past few days and I have to say that while I am impressed at what you get for the price, I don't think I am quite as happy with it as you are. It records decent footage during the day, although the resulting video is rather grainy such that you can't make out number plates. It's also a little bit choppy in the frame rate department. At night it picks up close to nothing, though I will try removing the IR filter. Otherwise it's a nice little device - a bit buggy, but that's hardly surprising. I paid €8 (about £6) for it, so for that price you can hardly go wrong!
My inclination would be to use that little lens behind my mirror and
source a longer ribbon cable, to then attach to the main body of the
camera. This would be a more stealth installation, and less intrusive on
the driver's view. Thanks again for the disassembly!
The audio noise on startup and menu browsing beeps are identical to the SJCam series. Wonder if they're made in same factory, and/or had firmware developed by same people.
+thechosendude I think there's a lot of copied software in the Chinese cameras.
I own a Rollei branded Chinese made dash cam. It also has got exactly the same sounds but very different hardware.
Originally copied from the startup sound for a Sony camera. Heard it on a compact Sony I owned for a while, and my brother's Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. The menu does look suspiciously familiar.
Developed? Its china so its of course stolen.
thechosendude I
It'd be good to see a comparison between the camera with and without the filter if possible at some point.
Hey Clive, i noticed a bit of a problem with that dash cam. Them lipos are sensitive to heat so if you were to leave that camera in your dash on a hot day the lipo would be ruined. I've ran into that problem before and replaced the lipo with a capacitor on a dash cam and just kept it plugged in.
I bought one of these but it was an as seen on TV thing and the quality isn't the best but it works. Shoots 720P HD video with or without night vision and takes pictures and records voice. the audio is tinny and sometimes has noise, It was $40 at walmart. I did a little hack with the voice recorder and encoded a song to the .wav file format that this thing uses and it plays. the speaker is very tinny so I replaced it and it sounds a little better. The cell phone style battery that comes with this thing doesn't last but 15-20 minutes but runs fine on a power bank.
anyone notice the startup sound is the one from the sj4000 WiFi.....
I find your videos to be very educational and useful; they are an encouragement to get back into chemistry and electronics. Please keep them coming, soon when set up I'll be contributing to your page. Thank you; KD
If you want to see if it has an ir filter without taking it apart, you can always point a remote at it while it running and press a few buttons. Looking at the screen, you should see the ir led light up a purplish color.
Don't get me wrong, I still want to see it torn down ;)
I had the same problem with the sound on my little security camera. So I opened it up and noticed the hole for the mic was on the side but the mic was dead center on the circuit board. I made a little hole was dead center on the plastic casing and it sounds better
Just so some of you could find one aswell. K6000 HD 1080P would result in a cheap camera on Alixxpress (arround 15 euro, seen some for litle as 12 euro :D )
Clive, you keep those great video's coming, also about those expensive items at your job(?). They are awesome. :D
And I dont know If you did, but if you got some money for a U8 smartwatch clone, there cheap and seem to have exposed a i2c or spi bus (add sd, or eeprom ;) )
CliveI watched intensely - especially your hoyking / hoikingPhysics is fun but hoyking is not for the faint hearted :-)
Hah... I bought one of these to use in my Ford Sierra Sapphire. I got mine when these were expensive (£19.99), though you can get one on eBay now for as low as £7.50 inclusive of shipping! Mine went on to serve in my Volvo V70, until I went posh and bought a 'NextBase' model. For the money, these cheapies do a fair job, and are better than nothing. The NextBase is marginally better sensitivity, and marginally better focus. Sound level and quality aren't much different. The annoying thing I had with my cheapy was that there was a significant rattle on the audio, but no other unwanted sounds were apparent. The so called night lighting on mine is white, but not much use for anything other than if you are taking still pictures with it. I guess you could glue it to the front of your nut and use the lights while you're out in the dark, as long as you take a battery pack to keep it going.
A dashcam is fun to have, and makes good entertainment to watch what the other nutters on the road are doing. I doubt I'll take mine to bits, but it was well worth seeing you do this, and very informative. At least if I need to fettle it in the future, I'll know what not to snap off or tear away whilst effecting an entry!
You were robbed Clive- just seen the same one on a buy it now for £8.99 lol :P To be honest I'm quite surprised at the build quality of that, might have to get one and have a play, now I know the two essential mods! thanks :)
Quick question Clive. Regarding upgrading the rechargeable batteries in these things, and cheap chinese trinkets in general, if I replace the battery with one of the same voltage but a higher capacity, will it still charge ok, and will it charge fully? Thanks.
Yes, if you fit a higher capacity cell it should last longer but still take a charge, although it will take a longer time to charge. I recommend using a protected cell with the little circuit board on it. Some standard phone batteries would be ideal.
Thanks for the advice!
Clive, did you ever do a before and after video using this thing? It would be interesting to see/hear the results.
I didn't. But it would have been a good idea. I still have it, so may do that in the future.
Thanks, I might consider using it for when I'm flying.. Might have to retro-fit an input for the two-way radio.
Clive, could you do a video as it is (at night) then show how to remove the IR filter and the results? I wonder if it can be hacked with IR leds
did you notice that sound coming off the camera is identical to Sony Cybershot?
yes my dscw800
i have the same cam but it died about a week after arrival. didn+t even get the chance to test it out properly. thnx for tips on disassembly. now only to figure out whats wrong with it :)
I want to use mine for capturing license plate. I understand that there are long focal length lenses on Ebay. I am going to remove the IR filter also as color is not important as this will be an auxiliary 2nd dash cam.
For my mind, the biggest issue this camera has is that there is no protection between the bottom of the tripod mount screwhole for connecting the windscreen mount and the screen... If you screw in the supplied mount "properly" before using the locking screw, you crack the screen . . I know, I did it !
here in 2022, look how clean and new clives table was 8 years ago!!!
Haha, checked out the ebay listing you linked too Clive, it's been removed due to a 'error' in the listing, lol!
I laughed when he said "so I took to bits"
nooo man dont use somethin like that, the absolute best thing i can think of u using, and honestly it seems like a pretty dam good idea i cant think of any negatives...but jus buy a cheap used phone off ebay, definitely a galaxy s7 or up or anything with n equivalent cam, idk if id get the samsung, i would personally, but if ur only using for the camera then its possible another phone might have a better camera n more options,
I've got one of these! The audio is crap, but that's ok because nobody wants to hear me singing in the car anyway! XD
I also found the night driving stuff to be not too bad as long as there's a bit of light. I reckon you could probably decipher the number plate of the vehicle that you hit, as long as their plate is lit up; which is all you need really! I don't want to end up testing it that way though! >.
Clive, without the IR filter you may find that the colors have gone all wonky as the camera is color adjusted to use the filtering..
Artists use this effect sometimes but it may not give you your intended results.
You’ve got that a bit backwards. The camera isn’t color adjusted to use the filter. The filter is required for the camera to detect colors correctly.
can you give me some high detail pictures of the board? I'm curious what microprocessor is that :)
the start up sound is a copy of a conon coolpix canera
(fun fact)
Have I got old news for you . . . . . It's Nikon who makes the Coolpix range of cameras. I have three different Coolpix right here, P500, L810, and L29, and not one of them sound like this dashcam, and I also have one of them too!
clive ,id love to see u modify your vehicle so the front has a wide angle bright beam of IR light so cameras with out the filter can see in dark better :D
I think you could learn a lot from AvE when it comes to disassembly.
Regrettably I've just broken the 2nd camera that arrived today (although the first one I received still works). It's the 2015 model and seems to be built differently in a couple of ways, for example the way the flat flex for the camera appears to be simply glued onto the board. After taking it apart once to see if I could remove the IR filter the camera stopped sending a signal. Upon closer examination it seems as if a few of the tracks on the flex had been ripped off, with no easy way to re-attach them. And whilst trying to fix that the screen started to flicker, meaning that flex is acting up too! Not surprising for these cheap Chinese products, but disappointing nonetheless to immediately break something after waiting a month for it to arrive.
Interestingly, it makes the exact same beeps and "sparkle" noise as my A118 B60 dashcams do, but with a nicer looking UI. Probably due to my cameras having tiny wee screens.
I've learned the hard way most of these cheap Chinese dash cams are horrible RFI generators...had to shell out $$$ for a Garmin one that doesn't wreak havoc with stuff. One of the worse ones not only jammed my amateur radio gear but also rendered my car's FM stereo nearly useless.
I happen to have used an identical looking camera but of a different brand (Dymond) yesterday, in combination with a walkie-talkie. They interfered with eachother. The walkie-talkie had a lot of static and messed up singnal and the camera had recorded a lot of crackle, like a loose wire somewhere. My car's radio was okay however.
Good teardown. I like the "cruel" take-apart of the device :) do you have a link where one can purchase the device?
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131341304120
Hoik it out-Good usage of the age old Scottish word.
Startup sound is similar to the one from my old canon...
The fabric that covers the speaker is usually there primarily to keep dust away from the speaker. Especially metallic particles as these will stick to the speaker and hamper the operation of the speaker.
I have revived supposedly bad speakers in numerous mobile phones by disassembling them and removing the metal particles that was stuck to the speaker.
It was an easy job to remove the small metal particles, verify that normal speaker operation had resumed and then charge people for 30 minutes labor and a new speaker :)
also, you need to post video of before and after video so that we can make a dicission of it's worth tearing a camera to bits for a night vision camera.HOW TO REMOVE IR FILTER AS WELL !
It used to be that mainly the cheapest electronic shit was mainly glued together, but now the most expensive phones are mostly glued together meaning it's almost impossible for the average person to do any repairs without breaking something expensive.
This looks the Kitvision I just bought, the sound recording is very out of sync with with film footage and like you say the night footage is not good, very grainy.
PS: what about the viewing angle? I have several old miniature "Spy" cameras (like pen camera, keychain camera) but the angle is so narrow that they are almost useless as dashcams.
Hi Clive, do you have any info on the vendor of the main processor in the camera? It is quite interesting in that it does not require any external RAM and comes in a QFP package.
Clive, I would like to see the disassembly of a pair of cheap video spy camera sun glasses.
+Jim Bryan They're not actually very exciting inside. Just a small PCB with a few chips, a lithium cell and tiny phone-style camera.
@bigclivedotcom How good is the video quality? I am planning of getting one of these and attaching it to my plane for aerial photography on the cheap
mine is broke now and before i buy another. what is the max distance from camea to board. I want to use it to look at something on a corner.
will you look at some of the cheapie action cameras?
I was thinking could you do a video of modifying the camera to take a lithium ion battery in it?
Could you tell me if the battery is 3.7V / 250mAh and 2x3cm size? Thanks.
Hey clive I have a dash came I unplugged the screen to see if I can rotate it so the power supply goes in the bottom of tr cam instead of the top and now when I've plugged it bag in there it a dark spot in the top right corner do you know any way of getting the dead pixels back or where I could buy a replacement screen? thanks
even as a "toy", how can a simple memory card - design, parts, labor(?) - cost less than a digital camera - design, parts (including screen and sensor), labor, a battery, programming? I understand economies of scale, particularly regarding electronics, but still. We live in a crazy world! (I also wonder the same thing about PC motherboards which are unbelievably cheap given the IP that goes into them)
Hello. How long does the battery last while recording? The ebay listing states that the battery is 1400mAh, but this sounds really ridiculous when I see its size :).
Clive, you should have reviewed this in the style of Dave Jones! ie. lambaste it for being poor quality, despite the extremely low price tag.
clive has his own way of accomplishing things. dave is so obsessed with the Chinese product that, however good the product may be, he always tout as if its the worst thing in the universe. on the other hand, clive has a very deep respect towards any electronics. he is calm and his review is much more interesting to watch.
bivek sapkota I know, I just thought it'd be a funny contrast to Clive's usual well-balanced reviews.
Great video. What is the model number of the camera? Looks worth buying.
That's an old video, there are better units available now.
@@BigClivehi.... I have one question.... ❓
Can we replace only the camera with that of iphone camera lens to get much better video quality???
Please make new video about this swapping of the camera with smartphone cameras???
is it have av-in function?
Hi Clive. Just was wondering, i have the same at home and just was wondering, is it possible to attach istead of this camera to any rear view cameras? I like the size of this screen, but want to use as rear view camera screen for my car. Maby you can make a video if its possible to connect some kind of rear view cameras what you can get on eBay :)
+hei Kenģik I don't think it would be easy. But you can get some super-cheap rear-view camera kits on ebay now. Ultra mass produced just for that task.
the startup sound sounds identical to the startup of my Sony cybershot
whats the noise at 8:14 ish? what in the world?!
Wondering if the camera will fit to a Raspberry Pi camera inteface? - if so it begs the question how can this whole unit be retailed at half the price of the marketed Ras pi camera and have onboard processing and recording along with the screen ect.
+vizionthing It's all in marketing and what you can get away charging for something. Once they figure out there's a market for some individual thing, they start selling that one piece for a lot by itself, even if you can get it in something for the same price or cheaper elsewhere.
hello, could you tell me the model of the IC of this camera, including the image sensor, please
if you have one of these and it came with an SD in it, I recommend you replace it immediately because the card is garbage quality.
Does anyone know where to find a replacement battery for this thing?
Hi,
Thanks for the video. How did you get the front lens ring off that you show at the beginning? I grabbed mine with a pair of pliers and tried to give a little twist and it didn't seem to want to move.
+ringwood I used unreasonable force, and it ain't going back on again.
+bigclivedotcom I've got a bunch of "unreasonable force" in my toolbox. Use them all the time! Thanks.
could you tell me the model of the sensor and of the processor?! please
I bought 7 of a very similar cam (same board inside, almost). They all died within a couple of weeks.
Would be awesome to hide that thing in the headlining and have the camera just sat behind your rear view mirror
Clive, thanks for this and all your other videos. I really like the 'reverse-engineering' aspect your videos. Along those lines, could you 'hack' the OS of these cameras? I believe most of these run some variant of Linux, feel free to confirm or deny this. Also, when you removed the actual camera I thought it looked similar to the camera module for a Raspberry Pi and wondered if there are standarized pin-outs (connectors) for these types of camera. Same question regarding the LCD screen. If so, I'd like to see you do a video on that.
Richard Marton I have a Xiaomi Yi action camera which is very similar. I managed to telnet into the Linux operating system. So I guess this also runs the Linux kernel.
I'm not familiar with that camera, how did you physically connect to it to make the telnet connection Wifi, Ethernet or USB cable? Something else?
Richard Marton it's a gopro 'clone' so it has wifi. that is what i used.
Seeing someone else mention the Xiaomi Yi which is a higher end camera than this one. Makes sense it'd have a beefier SoC that could run Linux. I took apart some SJCAM firmware and it was eCos, which is a small, real time OS.
Camera is probably standard but it's late and I can't remember what that connector is called.
interesting
what iland are you on? i'm in oban, great wee video
isle of man :-)
+bigclivedotcom ... Hi Clive, Do you reckon that LCD screen could be re-used with a Raspberry pi ? Would love to see some projects re-using that screen.
^ Would love to know this as well.
Hello i have same camera but not holding any charge unless is powered in any suggestions ?
The lithium cells usually bake in them quite quickly.
I tried out a similar one, but the battery life was a joke - 5 minutes after charging overnight -, so I sent it back and got a refund. I'll see if I can find the same model as yours, with the Earth in the intro animation. Mine had a car.
They don't have good batteries in them because they are intended to be plugged in at all times while in you vehicle. They normally power on and record when they receive power and turn off when they lose power. It's how they work. Almost all dash cams are going to have poor battery life because of this.
But 5 minutes??? Better not even have an internal battery then, for goodness sake! It's the most ridiculous battery life of anything I've ever encountered out there.
They add one so you can pull it out and show an officer video of an accident. It wouldn't need to be used for a long period of time so it doesn't need to be very large. Some people just replace the battery with a large capacitor instead so the battery won't go bad with power on it all the time.
I'd at least have used something that gives me a minimum of 30 minutes of battery life. At least that's what I do for my projects...
+bigclivedotcom any chance of posting some sample video from its intended use and one from above your workbench as you do your normal videos? please? it'd be nice to see some actual footage from the thing before I go out and buy one
+opopo Check out a channel called techmoan for the best dashcam reviews on UA-cam. Really deep and thorough.
+bigclivedotcom thanks, and actually am a subscriber of his. love the retro hi-fi. my only issue is Id like to see this cam without IR filter in operation... if ya know what I mean.
+bigclivedotcom and I don't see this cam on his channel ;)
Hi Clive, any advice on how to remove the IR filter? Is it on the board or the lens?
+Paul Basden Usually on the back of the lens barrel.
+bigclivedotcom Thanks fella. Does it just pop off?
+Paul Basden It's often tacked at the edges with glue and can be popped off with a knife.
What island are you on, I'm in Glasgow but go to Bute quite a lot
isle of man :-)
Is there any way an external image can be played on the screen?
There is always a way, the question is how complex it is
those "night vision" leds r a complete joke i simply cut a shape out of black duct tape n covered them up u can see a whole lot better n u dont see the 6 (in my case) little dots around the screen of ur recording from the direct led reflection
those cameras are around £8 now
do you still have that memory card? would be nice to see the space it came with
I tested it in a chromebook and it appears to be dead.
bigclivedotcom did you try your windows mechine?
i got one but the battery was bad and expanded does anyone know where i can find this extact battery
becuase there is no writeing on it and most battries ive seen like phone batteries say that its compatisity and voltage mfg date and all that
but this one doesnt which is disapointing i got it for free from my dads good mate and i never asked whats wrong with it
and i wanted to use it as a video camera
There will probably be a six digit number on the battery that gives its dimensions in millimetres.
@@BigClive it didnt have any numbers or anything it was really sollowen tho and wouldnt charge and im thinking what if the digits where never printed on it ive googled 300mah batterys which is most probably the size the battery was and it shows the same battery that probs will fit and its on ebay with fast shipping i asked for a hardware stores with a picture of what type of battery i needed but they dont got it but i might get one battery of ebay
2:53 my phone makes that noise when I go to the camera xE
you took the camera to bits, but never showed how to remove the filter,,
How well does it work with closeup/macro now that you can wind the lens in and out?
It now goes to super-macro when the lens is set to closest focus. You can get the objects right up to the lens.
+Clive Mitchell could it be used a component microscope?
+Ian Isted It can be adjusted to focus very close, so that's feasible, especially with a small ring of LEDs. They do a similar thing on ebay with LCD screens on handheld microscopes.
+bigclivedotcom Cool. Thanks Clive. Love the videos :D
Between you, Julian Ilett, and Dave Jones I have all the electronics videos I could want.
+bigclivedotcom Cool. Thanks Clive. Love the videos :D
Between you, Julian Ilett, and Dave Jones I have all the electronics videos I could want.
I watch this video I have the same camera my wife bought it for me online because an 18 wheeler had hit me and they determined it to be my fabrication that it didn’t happen was going to run to take care of the trailer came in on me his insurance company said no the trailer follows the cab it’s impossible but anyway
My wife bought me this camera and I watch this video I wanted to take it apart to do like the man suggests and make it better for night vision I tried to unscrew the lands and it ripped it off the circuit board The base you unscrew the lines from is attached to the circuitboard via a ribbon and it ripped it free ruining the camera I no longer have one I am sad so do not try to unscrew the lines
"Philips" head screw.
comm744
An American term not recognized in much of the rest of the English speaking world. John Thompson (Portland, OR) re-invented (possibly independently) the cruciform orifice (aka crosshead) screw in 1932; but the same was invented and patented 60 years earlier by British inventor John Frearson. Thompson sold his idea to Henry Phillips who obtained US patents in 1933. The patents were lost in the courts in 1949.
the mic is the problem.
i had one of those n it was shit it only lasts 5mins
Wait a hold it - "and hacks". POTENTIAL Hacks you mean. =[ Thanks for camera's inside view and the 'what not to do'; But Now in waiting to see what's next . . . I'm just left holding my brew. - could be worse
lol i literally just bought this at bargain buys like 10min ago XD
+Gogo Lego i thought hmm lets look online for how to hack it