Guest wsurfer Posted June 19, 2006 Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 Has anyone installed an AVIC with this option? I have been renting a Nissan Murano which has a rear-view camera which automatically comes on when you go into reverse. I find it quite useful and wonder how well it is implemented on the AVIC units. Also, the capability to see a rear-view in part of the display when driving (pulling a trailer) sounds useful. Would love to hear any experiences witht he AVIC rear-view capability. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SilverGS Posted June 19, 2006 Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 I installed a rear view camera with my AVIC-D1 and it works exactly the way you described it in your Murano. It offers a split view when driving forward - rear view on the left and map on the right. It switches to full view when in reverse. It is a great feature and if you buy a good backup camera, the view is just excellent Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shaka Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Just like SilverGS wrote -- its awesome! I've got a 2004 VW Touareg and in 06 they added a rear camera option, so I bought the hardware from the factory (the camera/mount). Then using the D1 was able to implement it into my system. Its very helpful when backing up (it goes into cam mode in reverse as noted above).. but also when you just want to see whats behind you even in forward motion you can select it. Worth every penny, esp for an SUV. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aconite Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 I bought a "platecam". Works great. I have an SUV and the camera makes all the difference in the world. I'm sure the camera has already paid for itself by the accident it has already helped me avoid (stupid kid behind my suv that I never would have seen without the camera - not to mention all the dorks who walk behind backward moving vehilces in shopping mall parking lots :roll: ). A backup camera is well worth the investment - you already have the monitor if you have the Avic! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
musikman1 Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I agree with the other, backup cams are great! Given the information you provided in your note, allow me to make a few suggestions when you're out there in the ether selecting a camera: 1) FIRST, talk to your technician or car install guy/gal and go over the car to ascertain where you can place a camera and what kind of camera will fit to do the job you want. It won't do you any good to find the "perfect" camera that's 1" longer than the car can accommodate, for example. You had mentioned, for example, that you tow things with your vehicle. This means that you don't want to pickup one of the "plate cams," or the cameras that are mounted in the licence plate holders. You'll just have a perfect picture of the front of whatever you're towing the entire time.. For your situation, you want something up as high as you can get it on your vehicle. 2) Field of vision: You can get cams with all sorts of view area, called "field of view (FOV)." This number is usually reflected in degrees. The larger the number, the "wider angle" the camera, the more picture you get. The cheaper cams ($19-$29) usually have a 30-40 degree FOV. 40 degrees is 20 degrees to the left and right of dead straight behind you. A truly wide angle camera will have a FOV of between 90 - 150 degrees. Watch out for the salamanders out there selling the 30 degree "wide angle cameras." 3) Light, light and more light: As a rule of thumb, you want to get a cam that will need the least light possible to show the most picture possible. This brings up two scenarios: do you usually drive/park in areas that tend to be pitch black at night (no lights, cars, house lights, etc.). If so, you might want to consider a cam that has infrared (IR) LED's that will "light up" the background in a "Black and green" light vs. color. GOOD IR cams have an electric eye that will tell the LED's WHEN to turn on and off (or when it's dark). The other option to get light is to install something akin to foglamps in the back of your car (backup lights won't generally work well) to "light your cam's way." Light is measured in LUX, which is a unit of illumination equal to the amount of light that falls upon a square meter of surface. One LUX = One LUMEN/square meter = 0.093 candlepower. The lower the LUX number on a camera's spec sheet should be indicative of the minimum light it needs to take a picture. A good number is two LUX or less. With IR (infrared), this is usually irrelevant, as the LED's will always give you much more than the minimum to be able to see a picture (although in black and green instead of color). 4) Iris, or "I only have pupils for you." - the IRIS of a camera is the part of the lens that actually sees out into the world. This is what you pay the $$ for. The IRIS is usually expressed in mm, with standard car cams running 2.1-8 mm or so. Bigger is better. The more iris your camera is, the sharper (in most cases) your resulting pic will be. 2.8mm is perfectly acceptable and gives a very good pic, but more is better. More is also more $$. I'm having the 2.8mm taken out of my car (it has no IR LED's and I need them), and being replaced with a 6.2mm with IR and electric eye. Cost difference? The 2.8 w/o LED was $49, the 6.2 w/LED is $79. The difference in picture quality is startling. 5) Length, or "whoever told you length didn't matter had a.." oops, nevermind. - In this case, we want smaller and smaller. The smaller cam you have, the more places that you can easily place it. Cams come (in my experience) from 1.5" to about 7". I am not counting the "needle-eye" cams they put in reporter's buttons to do investigative reporting, those don't work well in high heat or cold, and don't waterproof well. The cam you'll look for looks like a black cylinder with a few spacers screwed onto them for installation and positioning help. 6) Reverse Image - Check to see that the camera will display a reverse/mirror image (the image that you are accustomed to seeing in the mirror). Most are hardwired, some are settable. Very few do not set to reverse. 7) Waterproof - a must if the cam is going to be peeking outside the car. It's standard with most cams. 8) Budget - I save this until last, only because it's a non-starter. I found over 50-60 different model cams in my research, and with the exception of 5, all were between the prices of $11 and $139. The other 5 were $299 (Pioneer), and some RV places gouging the customers for $370 to $600, ripoff city. RECAP: If you haven't fallen asleep, or hit the NEXT key yet, here's the condensed version: 1) Car guy - let him show you where and how big is possible. 2) Wide angle lens - 90+ deg FOV 3) Low Light - 2 LUX or less, Infrared if you need the illumination 4) Iris - bigger is better, 2.8-7 is in the average cost cams. 5) Length - shorter is better 6) Reverse Image - standard for most 7) Waterproof - standard for most 8) Budget - $39-$139 is a good barometer NOTE: I'm NOT this clever, I just got done making mistakes on ALL of these points because there was no one around to help. Hopefully it will save you a few $$.. I wish you luck! musikman1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Excellent post Musikman :!: Any suggestions where to shop for a camera? Which model are you switching to? :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
musikman1 Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 Sources for the cams? Oh lordy, I'd have to go look, I bought 7 cams from 7 sources to check them out. Do a google search on backup camera or mobile camera or car camera and you'll come up with a ton.. All my best, mm1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sdj99 Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Look on Ebay. You can get a good 1/3" CCD color keyhole camera with a 110 degree field of view for about $150. I wouldnl't go anything smaller than 1/3" if I were you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kinger402 Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 I was thinking of buying this camera. Because it seems very easy to install (as in i dont have to drill). ANy one have any experience with these? Do the specifications seem like it is a good camera? [url=http://cgi.ebay.com/License-Plate-Frame-Rear-View-Camera-1-3-Color-CCD_W0QQitemZ290010526734QQihZ019QQcategoryZ48605QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem]http://cgi.ebay.com/License-Plate-Frame ... dZViewItem[/url] Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BobyYoo Posted July 28, 2006 Report Share Posted July 28, 2006 i bought this cam for $40 shipped, it does the job just fine. It is useless driving at night, since the headlight beam from the car behind just shoot right into the cam, so i only see glare. [url=http://www.mp3playerstore.com/stuff_you_need/accessories/CAM-07.htm]http://www.mp3playerstore.com/stuff_you ... CAM-07.htm[/url] they have their own auction on ebay, so you could get it for $40 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GnatGoSplat Posted August 3, 2006 Report Share Posted August 3, 2006 How about CCD vs CMOS? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skynite Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 musikman1 .... excellent post, what camera did you purchase? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Candyman80191 Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 You definitely DON'T want a CMOS camera. An example of one is your ordinary webcam...which we all know really sucks without a lot of light. Go CCD. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rsxtype-t Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 is the AVIC-D2 reverse camera option only compatible with the pioneer ND-BC1 camera? or can you hook up any camera and function with no problems? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sportsfan21 Posted October 8, 2006 Report Share Posted October 8, 2006 No you can use the reverse camera feature with any camera that has a RCA output. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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