Cansonic UltraDash Z3 Standard Edition review
Back in 2017 I installed the predecessor to the Cansonic UltraDash Z3, the UltraDuo Z2. The Z2 is still running to this day, although its battery is incapable of independent operations after years in the sun. In that time I’ve turned over footage from the dashcam that never quit multiple times to the police. It’s also shed light on a couple of very confusing accidents.
This is an initial review but not expected to change substantially. It will be updated with more video when there is good content.
I’ve also had multiple clips featured in crash compilations, idiots who can’t drive, and the like.
But this isn’t about the Z2, it’s about Cansonic’s UltraDash Z3 (Standard Edition.) The Z3 records from two cameras at the same time and can be used for forward and rear recording simultaneously. If you’ve got the Commercial Edition the second camera is more for ridesharing situations and records the interior of the vehicle. There’s nothing saying you can’t point the cameras at odd angles and record what’s going on on the side if you want.
My assumption here is the Commercial Edition is just a different lens, but I’m not reviewing the Commercial Edition.
Consumer installation is fairly simple there are a couple of mounting options and a plug-in that has a cable long enough (for me,) to run from the outlet, under the floor mats, up the seal/seam between the door and the windshield, across and down to the dashcam. I see about two inches of wiring. You can also do it significantly more professionally if you want to take the time and see no wires.
The UltraDash Z3 has much better mounting options than the Z2 did. Magnet clamps, power conducting, you can pop it right out and take it in with you (I do this when I’m getting recordings off the unit, not particularly worried about someone stealing it.) Reinstallation just involves positioning it under the magnet and letting attraction do its thing.
The Cansonic UltraDash Z3 was a breeze to set up. I set the time zone I am in and chose whether to honor daylight savings time, formatted the SD card per its prompting, and it just worked. It pulls the time as far as I can tell from the GPS. I’m not sure what happens when you cross time zones, but if I find out that’ll be in the next review.
The recording pops on about a second after the start of the car and just works.
Above is a video that combines the front and rear recordings of the Cansonic Ultradash Z3. This is from a little over an hour of video driving from Nashville to the TN Ren Fair and back again. The video is sped up 600-800%, processed and combined to look similar to what is on the UltraDash’s display. It’s not quite, but close enough as I’m not going to drive and hold a camera up to record what you see.
I don’t have any particular video of interest at this point. With the Z2 I’d usually have something for the police about once every month, and that hasn’t happened yet. So sped up driving video with jazzy music is about all I’ve got.
As a note, the Z3 records sound, but speeding things up 600-800% in a video editor, unless you’re a real fan of Alvin and the Chipmunks I did you a favor and removed it.
I’m not going to run through the reasons you probably should have a dash cam. They’re great and need no real emphasis.
You can see what the Cansonic UltraDash Z3 is capable of in the video above. I’ll add a nighttime video next week (added below Nashville to Bowling Green,) and you can see the HDR and low light capturing abilities. I’m currently pleased with this device.
I of course wish it had some sort of WiFi auto-offloading of recordings when at home, but those are fairly pricy police grade units and much more in the commercial sector than the consumer. I believe I’m in an extreme minority of consumer applications for them.
Anyway, the Cansonic UltraDash Z3 is great. I’ll update the review if it ends up not being so in the future.
Ensure you choose the right edition (standard or commercial.) Be aware they come both with, and without SD cards and that you should get a high-endurance SD card. Keep in mind you don’t need a particularly large high endurance card unless you’re just really wanting to store large amounts of driving video.
Grab a Cansonic UltraDash Z3 at Amazon or on Cansonic’s website.
