Product Review: Fine Vu CR-500HD

[MG1]

I've had this thing for nearly six months. It's a good little unit. A little pricey, but I am happy with its performance.

Pros:

Very good day time video.
Uses less power than other dashcams I have had.
On board buttons to: mute sound, take photos, turn on/off parking mode, and format microSD card.
Doesn't heat up (haven't gone through summer with it yet).
No evidence of fogging up like Blackvue.


Cons:
Not that stealthy, but you can cover up most of the markings.
LED lights cannot be turned off (although, you can make a cover for it).
There seems to be an issue with Sandisk Ultra microSD cards (locking up)
Under certain conditions, the footage shows overall colour tint (could be due to Sandisk microSD card).
Have to buy GPS unit separately.

The CPL filter. Save your money. I didn't notice enough of a difference.

All the issues with the footage I've had was on Sandisk Ulta microSD cards. I have five of them that I rotate through and all of them are problematic with this unit. I recently purchased a 32 gb patriot class 10 and none of the issues show up.

I'm pretty convinced the Sandisks are the problem. I'll have to wait until summer to really test the Patriot.

That's it for now. More to come.........

[MG1]

Update:

Forgot to mention that night shots are average at best. Everything is grainy and license plates are hard to read, unless you're right behind the car.

Inserting the microSD card is a bit hard. My fingers must be too big. Gotta have nails like a woman.

The software is pretty straight forward and easy to use. Mildly intuitive.