Reversing camera

cwynnes

Hey ppls,

Ive been lookin into buying a reversing camera for a lorry, has anybody any experience with these, are they any good?

All i want is one with reasonable price and quality, I know if i buy one from a dealer here id be ripped off,

Ive been lookin at a wireless one on ebay but dont know of what kinda quality itd be.
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Backup-Back-up-Reversing-Camera-Colour-TFT-LCD-Wireless_W0QQitemZ110062388192QQihZ001QQcategoryZ75330QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Has anybody got experience/advice when buyin one of these,

Any help would be great,

Regards,

cwynnes

peasant

Haven't got one myself but heard from other campervan drivers that it has to have a viewing angle of at least 120 degrees, better 150 degrees. The 90 degree ones simply don't cover the edges.

Another thing to look out for is that the display is switchable so that you can either see the real image or the mirror image. (mirror image being useful when comparing the picture from the camera with what you see in your side mirrors...otherwise you'd get confused).

Some people also wire them to be always on and not just when reversing so that they can be used as a "rearview mirror" while driving.

Can't really comment on quality of different makes.

EDIT:

The one from your link looks a bit useless tbh ...especially for a truck and the dinky 3" monitor doesn't inspire confidence either.

I'd say you'd need something like this

cwynnes

Perfect,

Thanks for your help

ninty9er

My dad's company installed them on all the vans, but the drivers have been so used to driving without them that they're hardly ever used

cwynnes

My da operates 4 lorries and has been talkin about gettin dem for so long that this christmas iv decided to just go and buy one and see what he thinks, i know he'll never use it, he might not even install it on the lorry so its mainly just a present to shut him up :):)

Rovi

We use these systems by Durite on the off-roaders:
http://www.thetoolboxshop.com/sess/utn;jsessionid=154574be683c1c3/shopdata/0050_12-24v+CCTV+Kits+and+Accessories/0020_12-24v+Colour+CCTV+Kits/product_details.shopscript?article=0010_12v-24v%2BCOLOUR%2BCCTV%2BVEHICLE%2BSURVEILLANCE%2BSYSTEM%2BWITH%2BSOUND%2B%3D280-776-00%3D29

Rear mounted radiators and rollcages preclude having back windows, and thus conventional interior rear view mirrors are useless.
We've fitted the monitors on the centre of the dash, and leave them permanently switched on as rear view mirrors, with the images flipped to simulate the view you'd normally expect to see in a conventional glass mirror.
They work really well in this application, and are perfectly usable even in darkness.
Wouldn't be without them (or something similar) at this stage.

They have so far proved impervious to rain, dirt, and getting hit with trees

maidhc

Auto distribution sell them too if you are looking for a bricks and mortar outlet.

cormie

€600:eek:

Could obviously save more than that preventing you from knocking into an expensive car or whatever but surely they can be got cheaper, ok, I know the Ebay one is £89, but it can't be that much worse? Can it?

cormie

What about something like this? I wonder could you connect that to a monitor for a sat nav and switch between rear view and map? Probably not. Or how about this? What makes the one linked to from the toolboxshop.com €500+ more expensive

peasant

The wireless one in my picture above is 277 euro from www.luis.de
(website in German and I don't think they ship to Ireland)

Rovi

cormie wrote:

€600:eek:

Could obviously save more than that preventing you from knocking into an expensive car or whatever but surely they can be got cheaper, ok, I know the Ebay one is £89, but it can't be that much worse? Can it?

We didn't get them from that link, it was just a handy spot to illustrate the system.
We got them in a local motor factors, for approx. €400, IIRC.

Still dearer than the others you linked to above on e-Bay.

The only significant difference I can see is that the screen is bigger (which, believe it or not, is a factor in our particular application :rolleyes:), and there's no mention of any ability to 'flip' the image for a conventional mirror view.

cormie

Could you explain about flipping the image for the mirror view? Is it not just a case of leaving the camera on, or do you mean to mirror the view, so you see the view you're used to seeing in the mirror (mirrored? lol)?

The screen you linked to is 5.6", the one on Ebay is 7". It would be something I'd be interested in because I'd be doing a lot of reversing in car parks etc with my van I think so could save me a lot of money in the long run if I knock into a merc or something (which I've never done in a car, but still). €100 would seem ok, but wouldn't even think of spending €400 on one

Rovi

cormie wrote:

Could you explain about flipping the image for the mirror view? Is it not just a case of leaving the camera on, or do you mean to mirror the view, so you see the view you're used to seeing in the mirror (mirrored? lol)?

That's exactly it: displaying the image as if it was looking in a mirror.
We use them as a substitute for the regular interior mirror, so they're left switched on permanently in 'mirror' mode.

Hagar

What's the legal position on these cameras? Are you allowed have a screen with a picture, as opposed to an instrument type screen, where it can been seen by the driver whilst driving?

galwaytt

cormie wrote:

.... I think so could save me a lot of money in the long run if I knock into a merc or something .....€100 would seem ok, but wouldn't even think of spending €400 on one

if you do hit a Merc, you wouldn't even get a quote for Eur100 !! And Eur400 would only buy the paint, never mind the panels! Jeez..............

And, if you want to extract value from the camera set-up - recycle it. By which I mean, take it off when you change van, and put it on the new one. In one fell swoop, it's now cost you Eur 200...........

cormie

Hehe, I'm not disputing that it could save me money IF I hit a valuable car, I'm just trying to justify spending €400 as opposed to €100 on something that seems to do the same thing?

I can't see mention of the mirror view I wonder is there a lens you can put over the eye for that?

cwynnes

Hey ppls,

Iv been searching ebay a lot lately for a decent reversing camera and i came across this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=ADME%3AL%3ARTQ%3AUK%3A1&viewitem=&item=300056016828&rd=1

Its a lot cheaper than any other on ebay, what do you think, is it genuine?

cwynnes

Anybody any opinions???