Rear view mirror cameras, any recommendations?

[steve]

I'm looking a 'rear view mirror cameras' such as the one below for my car.

They are basically a mirror, that sits above your head in the usual place, with a screen built-in;the screen connects to a rear view camera (most have a front view camera and recording capabilities as well, but I am not bothered about those features).

I like the ~140 degree panoramic rear-view that these products provide.
Any thoughts? Has anyone gone down this route?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lenovo-10...4AAOSw7ApdS4fo

[BlueNova]

I'm nowhere near thinking about that yet Steve, but for the price it looks worth a shot.

I like the concept of an 'image' where the rear mirror would be, but if that's too close to your eyes ... I'm trying to remember how tight things were in my Nova, and thinking about my ageing close up vision!! ... you could still reposition it to somewhere within/on the dashboard.

I'll be interested to hear how you get on.

Alistair

[Dirk]

after my accident I fitted a dash cam front and rear, to actually see the screen whilst reversing it has to be angled so much that the front camera is not pointing forward, I'm not sure if a 10 inch screen would angle enough without hitting the windscreen

Dirk

[Alzax3]

I picked one up but found it was too huge to use - it cut out so much forward vision that there was no advantage....

[islandman]

I have to agree with Alex that big mirrors totally obliterate visibility, especially for tall folk like you Steve. Nice idea but don’t do it. Sort your dash out so it can accommodate a monitor it’s a lot better an option as I found out in the dash I made for your old car.

[Spacenut]

I would echo what Dave has said - the rear view mirror severely obstructs forward vision for tall drivers. Also, if it is a reversing camera, i.e. one that comes on when engaging reverse gear, as many of these systems do, the camera field of view is far too wide to use out on the roads, as you will not be able to distinguish a rapidly approaching car until it is right on top of you!

I had to change the focal length of my CCD camera to provide the optimum FoV for distance rear vision. Unfortunately that means that it doesn't work so well as a reversing camera, but I have seen dual input monitors with twin CCDs, one focused on infinity and the other for reversing. CCDs are so cheap these days you could have one of each, provided your monitor has enough inputs.

I was considering a forward-facing FLIR set-up for a while, using the second camera input on my monitor, but although it is easy to get CCDs that operate well into the infra-red, it is a lot more difficult (and expensive) to get hold of automotive grade sensors that don't white-out when a car comes the other way!

Lauren

[Spacenut]

Hi everyone - a word about camera positioning. Please please PLEASE do NOT follow the standard manufacturers practice of putting the reversing camera just above the number plate. I had a hire car from work last week which had a camera placed in this position, together with nifty overlays showing where you would be going based on the position of the wheels etc. All very well and good, but after a couple of hundred miles driving in the rain, the camera was so badly obscured by road muck that I couldn't see anything at all!

This happens on hatchbacks and on the rear panel of saloon cars. It also happens to the Nova, across the rear panel, but I have never EVER experienced this issue with the camera mounted under the top slat of the louvre panel. As well as giving a better view from what is one of the World's lowest cars, placing the camera over the top of the rear window, preferably under a louvre or Mk4 aerofoil lip makes it far less susceptible to the accumulation of mud and water.

You have been warned!

Lauren

[BlueNova]

I'm a long way off that level of detail on my resto, but excellent advice Lauren!!

I need to start a file with all these great tips!

Alistair

[Peter]

Hi everyone - a word about camera positioning. Please please PLEASE do NOT follow the standard manufacturers practice of putting the reversing camera just above the number plate. I had a hire car from work last week which had a camera placed in this position, together with nifty overlays showing where you would be going based on the position of the wheels etc. All very well and good, but after a couple of hundred miles driving in the rain, the camera was so badly obscured by road muck that I couldn't see anything at all!

This happens on hatchbacks and on the rear panel of saloon cars. It also happens to the Nova, across the rear panel, but I have never EVER experienced this issue with the camera mounted under the top slat of the louvre panel. As well as giving a better view from what is one of the World's lowest cars, placing the camera over the top of the rear window, preferably under a louvre or Mk4 aerofoil lip makes it far less susceptible to the accumulation of mud and water.

You have been warned!

Lauren

¿Que, "mud and water", what's that?.