Dashcam Recording Tips
Knowing how to effectively use your dashcam is crucial to ensuring you capture the video footage when you need it most. When you first get a dashcam, it’s essential to practice recording videos and downloading them. Understanding your dashcam’s full range of features and how to retrieve footage can make a significant difference. Today’s newer dashcams offer enhanced video quality, more features, and are generally much easier to operate and access footage from.
Capturing the Footage You Need
Dashcams are designed to continuously record video, looping over old footage when the memory is full. It’s important to act quickly and know how much footage your camera can store before it starts overwriting the oldest recordings. Some dashcams come with an event or lock button that helps preserve important footage. When pressed, this button saves the current video and locks it in a separate folder, preventing it from being overwritten.
Dashcams typically record video in intervals of 1, 3, or 5 minutes. When you press the lock button, it saves the ongoing video to ensure the event you’re witnessing is captured. However, this is not foolproof, as you might be nearing the end of a recording segment. It’s important to press the button immediately after an incident, as the camera will capture the event starting from that point, but it may miss a few seconds before or after.
Many newer dashcams are designed to automatically save some footage before or after the lock button is pressed, ensuring you capture a more complete event. Additionally, even if you only capture part of the event using the lock button, the rest of the footage remains on the SD card. Dashcams can record for hours depending on the size of the SD card, and knowing the capabilities of your dashcam is essential to ensure you can retrieve the footage before it gets overwritten.
Capturing the License Plate
Getting a clear view of a vehicle’s license plate can be crucial when documenting an accident or reporting a dangerous driver. However, even with a high-quality dashcam, factors such as time of day, weather conditions, and the speed of the vehicle can impact the clarity of the plate.
Most dashcams also record audio, which can be valuable in providing context. Always keep the microphone on and announce the license plate when you can clearly see it. Even if you can only get part of the plate number, it could still be helpful.
It’s a good idea to test your dashcam’s ability to capture license plates under different conditions—experiment with various distances and speeds to see how clearly your camera captures plates. As you test, say the plate number out loud in the video if you can clearly see it. This practice will give you a better understanding of how well your dashcam performs in real-world conditions.
Important: Never put yourself in danger just to capture footage or a license plate number. Your safety should always come first.
Downloading and Accessing Footage
Learning how to retrieve and download your dashcam footage is just as important as recording it. Many newer dashcams come with a mobile app that connects your phone to the camera via Wi-Fi. This makes it easy to download footage directly to your phone for editing, sharing, or storing.
If your dashcam doesn’t have an app, you may need to remove the SD memory card and use a card reader to transfer footage to another device, such as your phone, tablet, or PC. Once the footage is on your device, you can easily share or edit the video as needed.
Final Thoughts
By practicing with your dashcam and understanding its features, you’ll be better prepared to capture key footage when you need it. Regularly test your dashcam’s capabilities and familiarize yourself with its memory and storage features. Always prioritize safety, and remember, your dashcam is only one part of ensuring both your security and road safety.
