Dnasty

I am getting ready to do an upgrade on the headunit and figure might as well throw in reverse cam as well. Wanted to know if there were any good ones out there i know theres tons from china that fit right in the license plate light holster which would be great but I have no idea the quality of these things. I've came to this one every time just because their ad looks the most professional but it could be the same 10 dollar stuff on ali express.
Not really sure how the kid playing soccer behind the car gives a good representation of picture quality and also don't know what is cmos,ccd, ccd sony and which one is the best. I basically don't want it to look like crap and be able to see when I back up at night because i have 5% on the back and this would help some. Also waterproof and nightvision I assume are standard on these?

michail71

Well the "other seller cheaper product" looks better than the overpriced trash Mercedes put in the W204 C-Class.

But I can actually get by on using it. You develop a skill, much like ultrasound technicians can make sense out of what they see.

Dnasty

Lol so they are putting the trash cams stock on these newer benzes. I been tellin my dad he got an aftermarket cam installed on his s550 cuz that thing looks like a cellphone cam from the 90s.

EuroDriverSD

I just ordered this backup camera. Honestly, it looks identical to the one you are considering. It came out to a few cents over $51 with tax & shipping. I chatted a bit with the sales rep, said it works with aftermarket head units and has had good reviews from customers. Ships from California too, opposed to waiting for it to arrive from overseas.

Dnasty

Yea i was probably gonna order from them they have great customer service and are in my city. They just don't have any info on the camera on their site. I still don't know what cmos, ccd, sony ccd is but they claim sony ccd is the best to have on these cameras.

michail71

I think they finally started getting it right in the 2015+ models. It's sad because I've seen many systems in other cars approaching 10 years old that work great.

If I could get a plug and play swap out for my car I think I'd go for it. Anything aftermarket would have to be better.

EuroDriverSD

Given the price, I seriously doubt it's CCD - let alone Sony CCD. I explored the option of a factory camera (a grip, assuming you can find one) or in my case, a Kenwood CMOS-320 which would run about $250-$300 and it's still a CMOS.

The sales rep said it's waterproof, works at night, and he gave me the resolution but I forgot what it is. It's a bolt-on, so no drilling my car, etc. In sum, it's a basic color camera. As long as the image it's decent, I'll give it a try - it's worth it for the price. Worst case scenario, I replace it with the Kenwood and resell it. Just my $0.02

jbondox

Sony is the main patent holder and the largest supplier of real quality cameras. If you want something a bit more better, the Alpine with obstacle recognition is great... expensive as all hell, but worth it

http://alpine-usa.com/product/view/hce-c305r/

plus coupled with a front FLIR your broke, j/k you have a badass system. I did many FLIR on S class with IR camera, The FLIR is better for sure, especially with obstacle recognition

Link:

EuroDriverSD

^ wow, that really is badass! For me, all I really need is something basic on the back to keep me from kissing the bumper. (My camera from Avin arrived today, will be installing tomorrow). For forward view I'll put my money on the HIDs.

On the other hand, the above might be a good investment on my wife's C320, lol

Dnasty

I spoke to a sales rep at avin the other day who told me that this was a sony ccd camera... so would be interested in knowing the quality of your camera once you hook it up.

EuroDriverSD

I'm going to try and install it tomorrow and I'll let you know my thoughts.


I really don't have very high hopes of it being a CCD camera, but who knows. It came in a very generic box with no brand on it. On the side, it has boxes to check or "X" whether it's NTSC, PAL, CCD or CMOS - none of them are checked. There's no identifying markings on the camera itself, other than a date manufactured sticker, a gold "QC Passed" sticker and the number 02558 stamped on the bottom. It looks practically identical to the Navinio that the OP posted a link to, and I noticed that on Amazon, they offer a CMOS and a CCD version and they both look identical as well. If I find any additional info, I'll let you know.

EuroDriverSD

I had the camera installed today. The image is actually quite good. My installer said he was pretty impressed with the image quality for being an aftermarket camera. Here's a daytime pic. It looks too interlaced but on the HU screen it looks perfectly clear. I'll try and take one at night.

http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/...pst3urpk7o.jpg

Dnasty

I am impressed maybe the guy was being honest when he said sony ccd. How does it look at night? Also which side of your plates did you mount it is there a recommended side?

EuroDriverSD

At night it looks very good too. I took a pic last night, I'll try to upload it later. I mounted it on the passenger (right) side of the car. I think it can physically mount on either side, but if mounted on the driver side, the camera would end up father left from the center of the vehicle

Dnasty

Cool thanks sorry if this is a noob question I think I understand how to wire the camera part to the reverse lights but in the front part of the car do you actually tap into a reverse gear cable or is there something coming out the headunit that you connect that addition red wire to so that it automatically switches on when you go in reverse.

jbondox

sony is the major patent holder, its most likely not a sony named camera as you can go to their website and view the models. it is what internet stores tell people to make the sale

EuroDriverSD

Sorry for the delay but as promised, here's the night shot

Dnasty

Well i'm sold doesn't look any worse then the camera on my dads 2011 sclass.

c300white

Nice image. Yes, all digital cameras have a Ccd - light comes through the lens and the Ccd is a chip that converts light to electric signal. Early cameras had a different type of material from CMOS - bipolar was more expensive, but less noise and hence clearer pictures - Sony was the leader in this. CMOS sensors came along , cheaper , but more noise - so not good in low light - but they got progressively better and the Digital processors got more poweful to correct for noise - now most cameras use that - but of course quality can vary - and depends on lens, Ccd and digital processing ....

Dnasty

Hey I just got mine in was just wondering are there any instructions on installing these? Was wondering what the red power cable connected to the rear part of the video cable was for. As I see theres also another power cable for the camera itself in the rear with a ground.

EuroDriverSD

Mine did not come with any instructions, however I had my local audio shop install it.

That red wire you are talking about is the trigger wire to let the camera know when the video feed is active (and thus, switch the camera on). If your headunit has a reverse wire in the harness already, I don't think you need to connect that extra red cable, since the headunit takes care of the switching operation.

Here's a quick tutorial I found online that explains the wiring:
http://blog.qualitymobilevideo.com/b...-trigger-wire/

Dnasty

Ok thanks I figured the front of the car portion was for a trigger just wondering why a rear power wire was needed for the video wire if there is also an independent power cable. I think from what I read it is for continuous power? But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the dedicated power cable in the back.

EuroDriverSD

It's not for continuous power - it's a "switch" wire to activate the video feed to the display when you go into reverse (i.e., connect it to your reverse light to activate the camera feed). However, I believe your headunit already has a reverse wire in the harness. Thus, you shouldn't need to connect that extra red wire if you already wired the reverse wire to the headunit.

Jacob G

Hey, guys look at my project. I've integrated a rearview camera in the standard command on my CLS 55 AMG IWC. Step by step videos on the channel.

You Tube