Rear Camera Image "Dark"?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 37
Likes: 1
From: Western PA
2010 GL550, 2009 SL600 RENNTECH, 2014 S63
Rear Camera Image "Dark"?
Good morning all,
Has anyone else noticed that their back up camera is virtually useless at night in an unlighted area? We have back up cameras on all of our vehicles, and at night there is a fairly clear image of about 10-15 feet t the real of the car. If you need any additional illumination, a light touch of the brake pedal to bring on brake lights is even better (We live WAY out in the country- far from any street lights.
The camera(s) work fine during the day, but even with brightness settings changed, is seems almost useless at night.
Any ideas?
Bruce
Has anyone else noticed that their back up camera is virtually useless at night in an unlighted area? We have back up cameras on all of our vehicles, and at night there is a fairly clear image of about 10-15 feet t the real of the car. If you need any additional illumination, a light touch of the brake pedal to bring on brake lights is even better (We live WAY out in the country- far from any street lights.
The camera(s) work fine during the day, but even with brightness settings changed, is seems almost useless at night.
Any ideas?
Bruce
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 263
Likes: 0
S 550
Our backup camera seems fine, between the reverse lights and the brake lights we are able to see ok. But I don't have another backup camera to compare it to.
Might be an issue with your camera or system settings.
Might be an issue with your camera or system settings.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,936
Likes: 350
From: Huntington NY
S560
I test drove a GL for the weekend and noticed the exact same thing- the rear camera was virtually useless. You can see quite a drew comments in the GL forum regarding it. My SL63's rear camera is also virtually useless at night. Must be a Mercedes thing because my BMW's and my ESV are very good. I'm thinking of putting in more powerful reverse lights to help with the illumination...
Member
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 105
Likes: 1
N/A
I agree - it's really hard to make anything when there are no street lamps. In contrast, my '12 GL and '14 M don't suffer from this problem although I suspect it has to do with greater lighting from the rear lights.
Turning up the brightness helps a tad but considering the great visibility I get from my other vehicles, it's unfortunate that the flagship car for MB has this issue. I'm hoping for some kind of update to fix it.
Turning up the brightness helps a tad but considering the great visibility I get from my other vehicles, it's unfortunate that the flagship car for MB has this issue. I'm hoping for some kind of update to fix it.
Newbie
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
From: Naples, FL
2008 CL600, 2014 S550
Definitely useless at night. I have had a number of MB vehicles with the rear view camera and never had a problem at night. The dealer seemed to not know of the problem. During the day it looks as though you are looking through a telescope from the wrong end! Not as good thing!
Found out from the dealer the backup light has only three led's on each side under the brake lights, in spite of fact the lens is wide enough for many more. "The greater width is for esthetics!" I just find it incomprehensible that anyone would think that is sufficient to enable anyone at night to see to the rear in an unlighted area with or without a rear camera. I could read a book with the amount of light given off by the backup lights on my CL600.
Found out from the dealer the backup light has only three led's on each side under the brake lights, in spite of fact the lens is wide enough for many more. "The greater width is for esthetics!" I just find it incomprehensible that anyone would think that is sufficient to enable anyone at night to see to the rear in an unlighted area with or without a rear camera. I could read a book with the amount of light given off by the backup lights on my CL600.
Last edited by wwtell; Jan 24, 2014 at 12:29 PM. Reason: Additional information
