Gearbest Blackview BL950

[CheckYourLights]

I had issues with the G90 lens dropping out of focus in the heat - looks like the same thing in this video

That's what I think it is too. I've sent screen shots to Gearbest and they are going to talk with Dome about it. It doesn't happen all the time.

:EDIT: just noticed that the mute button is the Left Arrow key. So from now on I should not have to run clips through Registrator Viewer to mute them.

Also I was able to run the firmware update on my camera that was already the latest version installed on my camera. So I am guessing you can go back and forth easily, but I will need to confirm. I'll edit again when confirmed.

 

[Sunny]

That's what I think it is too. I've sent screen shots to Gearbest and they are going to talk with Dome about it. It doesn't happen all the time.

I haven't noticed that yet.
I'll have to keep an eye on it then. Hmm...

 

[reverend]

It's another chocolate teapot lens

To be fair even DOD has the same problem and they charge twice the price.

Now I have the Mobius

 

[CheckYourLights]

and confirmed. I just "flashed down" a Geekbuying unbranded G90 from the custom 24MB firmware to the Blackview Carcam_C6000A: SVN r4396 firmware and then to the Standard r328MP from Dome (max 18Mbps) and it seems to be working alright. So for review purposes it seems like I can go back and forth if i decide to test custom firmware on my BL950 and then go back when GearBest and Done supply a Blackview branded firmware.

I am also guessing you can edit the logos and boot sound. If I knew what I was doing I would love to have a DashCamTalk boot and shut down screen and maybe some car noise as the boot sound.

:EDIT:
Just want to leave this here so more people see it. Links to different firmwares.
I wanted to unquote it so people don't have to click for all the links, but credit goes to reverend for originally posting theses.

Standard r328MP from Dome (max 18Mbps):
https://mega.co.nz/#!kMMTmJBJ!y2Js1NGLJU21D_epsewYLZezVQ9AMNdC6UXWr-ZQoLc

r328MP modified to run at 20Mbps VBR, min 1 max 2:
https://mega.co.nz/#!lYVGFBgY!n2ssUbaX2qrC82u5OnwEk2jSjyH734U3jHlHXMbzKCs

r328MP modified to run at 24Mbps VBR, min 1 max 2:
https://mega.co.nz/#!UANzRYiQ!fk3wP4M0oUIGUlqvGsrHGmVgJ4QhNNC2FAW7KIwG5QA

r441MP modified to run at 12Mbps and a max of up to 48Mbps
https://mega.co.nz/#!Qc8XRKpL!DxGNTWYKVE6JnpdaGqBK5tRVjbUcusKUy9x3QxnLaRc

 

[Sunny]

Left arrow is mute?
I use that to turn the screen on after the screen saver turns it off.
Hopefully, it doesn't mute the video.

 

[jokiin]

First press of any button should only activate the screen

 

[CheckYourLights]

Left arrow is mute?
I use that to turn the screen on after the screen saver turns it off.
Hopefully, it doesn't mute the video.

First press of any button should only activate the screen

This. Just like you have to tap the SOS button twice if the screen is off.

Once to turn the screen on and a second to lock the file, but yes on both my G90 and BL950 when the screen is on Left Arrow is the hot key to mute and un-mute the mic. There is a little blue and white mic icon in the top right of the screen that an X comes over when it is muted.

The custom firmware seems to have the menu choice as well, but my stock Carcam_C6000A: SVN r4396 does not have a MIC menu choice.

 

[CheckYourLights]

Just a quick bump.
added an 18MB screen shot to compare on the first page.
Also SanDisk strikes again. I have tried two class 10 32GB Ultra cards and both cause the BL950 to stop recording and display a red Low Speed Card warning on the screen

 

[reverend]

It's weird they have so many issues with Sandisk cards - I think it's the slow random I/O. I've got an 8GB Sandisk Ultra and that seeks to behave, but admittedly it doesn't usually get chance to loop as that's what I use for testing.

I've got a Samsung card which is definitely quicker - I haven't really tested the Kingston I got this week though.

 

[jokiin]

It's the controller chipset in the Sandisk cards, they do something differently to others and it's a problem for a lot of cameras

 

[reverend]

Yeah they're definitely doing something wrong - shame as that's all they have in stock at CostCo and they do the best warranty in the business.

I've got a 64GB Sandisk Ultra ticking away happily in the rear cam but whenever I watch footage you can sometimes see it drops a few seconds here and there - there's no pattern to it so it's just totally random.

This Kingston Class 4 seems quicker than the Sandisk Ultra though when I've done filecopies - I'll give it a ragging in the benchmark stuff at some point to see how they all compare.

 

[CheckYourLights]

Just a quick bump for curious minds. As some of you may know I have been having some small over heating issues with my BL950. So I bought an IR thermometer to see what was going on.
It was about 86-88F out today and my car had been parked in the sun all day.

Was how hot it in my car from being in the sun all day.
I put the camera in for about an hour and let it record.
I took about three clicks and got 151 153 and 157F
It was burning hot to the touch but was still running.

 

[reverend]

Jeez that's ridiculous - so that's touching 70c which I'm guessing is the upper limit of this camera?

The Panorama is certified for 90c which is 194f - I don't know about dashcams but I'd stop working in that heat too - I struggle above 25c!

 

[jokiin]

chipset is rated to 70c

battery is good for 45c though

 

[CheckYourLights]

So I guess I'm going to have to make sure I turn it off when I park up.

battery is good for 45c though

What would a capacitor be good for? I did not really realize I was roasting the battery(and just about to roast the chipset) I'm just used to always leaving my cameras on.

 

[Sunny]

That's too hot.
My G90 gets hot but never too hot to touch.

 

[Mandami]

I had issues with the G90 lens dropping out of focus in the heat - looks like the same thing in this video

another example found on youtube

chipset is rated to 70c
battery is good for 45c though

and the OV4689 sensor:
temperature range:
- operating: -30°C to +85°C junction temperature
- stable image: 0°C to +60°C junction temperature

 

[reverend]

So it's not just me then, that's good news to hear.

It's behaved recently in the UK but we're only in the low 20s at the moment so it should really be ok at that.

If they paired this up with a decent mount and lens assembly that didn't change focus in heat it would be a better overall package

 

[Mandami]

I've got a 64GB Sandisk Ultra ticking away happily in the rear cam but whenever I watch footage you can sometimes see it drops a few seconds here and there - there's no pattern to it so it's just totally random.
This Kingston Class 4 seems quicker than the Sandisk Ultra though when I've done filecopies

maybe the card is fake ?
You made me curious and I tested my 8GB Ultra cards (class 10).

I generated a file of 2.45 GB (2,633,473,416 bytes) using Huge Small File and I get the following results
writing on SD > 23MB/sec
reading from SD > 43MB/sec

writing on microSD > 17MB/sec
reading from microSD > 22MB/sec

Of course I could use something like CrystalDiskMark for more detailed benchmarks.

 

[reverend]

It was the USB reader - I tried a different one and the Sandisk reads at up to 40MB/sec in that one so quicker than the Kingston - if you try CrystalDiskMark you'll see that the Sandisk Ultra cards are really bad at 4k random IO - the Extreme will fare much better though.