In this guide
Most dash cams use a wide lens, which is sensible: you want to see the whole road, both lanes and the pavement either side. The trade-off is that everything more than a few car lengths away is small in frame, and a number plate that is small in frame cannot be read no matter how many megapixels the sensor has. A telephoto channel fixes that.
What a telephoto camera actually does
Instead of a second wide camera, you get a lens with roughly 4x magnification pointed down the road. The image covers a much narrower slice, but everything in it is far larger. A plate three or four cars ahead, or on a vehicle in the opposite carriageway, stays legible where a wide lens records it as a grey smudge. It is the same principle as using binoculars rather than opening your eyes wider: you give up field of view to gain detail at distance.
Who actually needs one
Telephoto is not for everyone, and we would not fit it to a car used mainly around town. It earns its place if you do serious motorway or A-road mileage, if you report incidents to the police and need the plate legible enough to act on, if you drive for a living in haulage, recovery or delivery work, or if you have already lost a claim because the footage was not sharp enough.
What you give up
On a 2-channel kit the telephoto channel usually replaces the rear camera, so you trade rear cover for distance detail ahead. For most drivers rear cover is worth more, because rear-end shunts are the incidents most often disputed. That is why we normally fit telephoto as part of a 3 or 4-channel system rather than instead of a rear camera.
The VIOFO telephoto options
- A229 Pro Tele — 4K front with a 4x zoom channel, as 2 or 3-channel. The affordable way into telephoto.
- A329T — 4K at 60fps front with a 2K telephoto channel. The higher frame rate freezes a plate while the car is still moving, so this is the sharper of the two.
- T330TW and T340TW — telephoto on the commercial platforms, alongside a waterproof external rear camera for vans and trucks.
See them together in the telephoto range.
Our honest recommendation
If you are choosing between telephoto and a conventional front-and-rear setup and you are not sure, take the conventional one. The A329S at 4K 60fps already reads plates at a respectable distance, and rear cover is more useful day to day. Choose telephoto when you have a specific reason: long motorway miles, regular police submissions, or footage that has let you down before.
We fit telephoto systems at our Beeston workshop from £100 for 2-channel and £120 for 3-channel, vehicle dependent and confirmed before you book. See VIOFO dash cams fitted in Nottingham, or call 0115 924 0666 and describe your driving — we will tell you whether telephoto is worth it for you.
