Rear View Camera

cormie

Hi,
My new van has no rear windows, which has its advantages and disadvantages. I've driven with a full load blocking my rear view mirror in my current van and I do prefer having that extra bit of assurance by being able to see what's directly behind me (bikers, drunk pedestrians etc).

I'm thinking of getting one of these rear view cameras but have no experience of what's good and what to avoid.

Has anyone bought something similar and how did you find it? Are they easy to install and do they work well?

Any feedback appreciated:)

Henry Ford III

Don't bother mate. Use your rear view mirror when you can and door mirrors too.

cormie

I wont have a rear view mirror in the new one though, the back doors of the van have no glass on them, good for security but bad for safety. Wing mirrors are fine for general driving, but if you have a biker behind you, I always like to be able to see where abouts they are in the rear. Also for reversing in busy areas, outside a club for example with a lot of drunk people just standing around, I don't want to end up tipping off someone and they trying to start a fight on me or sue me or some crap:o

ballooba

He has no rear view mirror. Unless it has an X-ray function.

Capt'n Midnight

Not too sure about this but aren't TV displays for the driver illegal when going forward, and that they would only be legal if you were reversing.

Owen

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Not too sure about this but aren't TV displays for the driver illegal when going forward, and that they would only be legal if you were reversing.

I don't think so. I think it depends on the content being watched, for example, some high end trucks now come with blind spot cameras which are forward facing (A rhd truck has a huge blind spot under it's front left bumper for example), and are active all the time.

cormie

Even if there was some crazy law that didn't allow for the exception of displays being used for such a thing, surely no garda would actually nab me for watching what is only the view behind me and if they did, surely a judge would let it slide:)

cormie

ned78 wrote:

some high end trucks now come with blind spot cameras which are forward facing (A rhd truck has a huge blind spot under it's front left bumper for example), and are active all the time.

Yeah that's an essential place to have one in my opinion. There was a story not so long ago about a guy in a wheelchair who got caught on the grill and travelled at 50mph for a few miles caught on the grill:eek: This probably wouldn't have happened if the truck had a camera there.

Owen

cormie wrote:

There was a story not so long ago about a guy in a wheelchair who got caught on the grill and travelled at 50mph for a few miles caught on the grill

I heard about that one. It shows what a terrible personality I have though, my first reaction on reading that story was to laugh. Apparently the truck driver was alerted over his CB and refused to believe something like that could happen, and it took some pursuading to slow him down.

Getting back to your original question, I've seen the reversing cameras in operation, and they're decent enough quality for what you'll be using it for. I'm toying with installing them into a project car I'm building at the moment too.

ballooba

ned78 wrote:

It shows what a terrible personality I have though, my first reaction on reading that story was to laugh.

Shame on you.

I didn't even smirk. Even when I saw that the guy had posed for pictures stuck in the grill.:D

cormie

Hehe, terrible;)

Ned, have you any idea what one you saw in action and how much it was etc? I wonder are they hard to install?

unklerosco

Was thinking about getting one for the new van... gotta wait till i get it first. What van u got cormie??

As for truck blindspots... A guy that worked for my dad was stopped at lights, someone was walking right infront of the truck, he couldnt see them n when the lights went green he took off, straight over the person.

peasant

In order to see everything, including the corners of your vehicle, the camera has to be mounted high up an the van and face down and back.
To do that, it needs a large viewing angle.
I suspect the camera in your link will only show parts of the picture and thus give you "false" security. Either get a good camera or none at all and somebody to direct you into difficult spots.

For example:
http://www.waeco.co.uk/shop/details.aspx?c=3&s=10&i=&p=177

The LCD display is what's expensive ...hence this one has an old style monitor

cormie

Will be getting a 02 LWB High Roof Ford Transit 330 tomorrow Unkelrosco.

Ouch, that one's pretty expensive peasant. I wonder is it really all that much better than one for half the price. I was thinking it would probably be best to put it near the top of the van for a better viewing angle. I think between a camera and the wing mirrors, I should be fine. Oh, the van I'm getting also has parking sensors built into the back step which are pretty handy. They beep if you get too close to something:)

peasant

I don't really know cormie, I' m only dealing in second hand info here.

The big yoke in the sig gets maneuvred around without a camera ...side mirrors only

Rovi

We like Durites.
See this old thread for more detail-
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055024418

StephenC_IRL

my dad has a cam on his lexus rx400h, its really, really useful IMHO

ballooba

How do they work it on buses?

Conar

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Not too sure about this but aren't TV displays for the driver illegal when going forward, and that they would only be legal if you were reversing.

I don't think thats true.
The Primeras have a reversing camera.

cormie

Rovi wrote:

We like Durites.
See this old thread for more detail-
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055024418

Ah I remember that thread, the Durites is very expensive

This looks ok, 120 degree viewing angle.

Del2005

You do realize that the parking sensor will also pick up people. All you need then is for driving on the road and thats where the mirrors come in, when driving a van or truck you need to be using your mirrors even more then in a car. If you are constantly checking the side mirrors, the chances of something sneaking up is reduced and the rear camera may give u a false sense of safety.

Also for reversing in busy areas, outside a club for example with a lot of drunk people just standing around

It's not a very good idea to be reversing a large vehicle in a busy place without a spotter. Get a bouncer to help.

cormie

Well I drive a van at the moment and do use my mirrors much more than I ever did in the car and there wont always be a bouncer around to help, especially in the narrow streets around temple bar and the likes. I'll still be using my wing mirrors just as much, but will have the extra benefit of being able to see what's right behind me. We do have an huge amount of tail-gaters in this country remember;)

Cmar-Ireland

Check ebay, there are tons of cheap lcd displays and cameras. Get one with night vision on it. I have one that I had on my old 4x4 and it worked great. The night vision worked out to about 6 or 7 meters. I had mine connected to an in dash lcd, but you can pick up rear view mirrors that switch to an lcd display when you engage reverse.
As has been mentioned, mount the camera up high and facing slightly down for the best field of view.

cormie

Where did you get yours Cmar? If you got it on ebay, could you link me to the type of camera you have please? I think I'll just go for one of the ones I linked to earlier. What does the camera/lcd have to be connected to to switch to the camera when reverse is engaged? The clutch? Engine? Gear stick or what?:)

3ps

cormie,

I have a reversing camera in my motorhome, which I suspect is harder to drive then your van as it's wider so the mirrors aren't as effective.

The camera i mounted up high and is kindof like a fish eye.

I have a small monitor on the dash, not flatscreen.

You can set it so it only engages when you select reverse.


If you are primarily going to use this for night time use.... you might not be able to see very well in the dark.... your reversing light isn't going to light upt he area very well. Perhaps where you will be will have ample lighting but it's something to think about. Pay more and find one with night vision!?

January

Conar wrote:

I don't think thats true.
The Primeras have a reversing camera.

Which only come on when you put the car into reverse... So if it is illegal to drive with a moniter then it's ok to reverse cos you won't be going forward. Plus, those Primera cameras are crap, they're more for parking because it doesn't have a good range.

cormie

Quite a lot of them actually seem to have night vision which is good. It wont primarily be used for reversing, but reversing in a busy place will be risky without one if you get me. I'll want it constantly on when driving for use as a normal rear view mirror too.

I might go for this one, seems to have everything mentioned above (night vision, good viewing angle-120 degrees, and switches when reverse is engaged).

I'm not too sure what's up with the way the screen is split into 2 on the image of the lcd though

Cmar-Ireland

The one I got has a lot of IR leds. I bought it years ago, and it wasn't to dear back then. Even cheaper now I suspect. The one you linked looked really good. But I would probably select individual components rather than a package. The rear view mirror is no good to you, so I'd look at getting a decent sized flip down monitor, maybe something like this
Then select a camera to suit you needs, maybe this

Edit:
It would be easy to set it up to be on full time as a rear view system (legalities aside :rolleyes: ) or wire it through a relay to the reverse lights circuit to only power up during the tricky reversing moments

cormie

I can't really tell, but is half the monitor I linked to a mirror, and then half is the display? I'm not sure if the camera you linked to has as big a view degree wise as the one in the package above and that display is pretty dear when you add postage, only £5 cheaper than the whole package I linked to:o If it is illegal to use when going forward, the mirror size one wouldn't be so obvious but a big drop down screen might get me pulled a few times:o

I saw this too: http://youtube.com/watch?v=nq924I1WGoY

see at the end she says if you have bluetooth, the screen will go fuzzy unless you get the bluetooth version? Would that effect every screen the same way if I have a bluetooth headunit and a bluetooth phone in use in the van too?