Back Up Camera recommendation

[Glippie]

Any recommendations for a back up camera that I can install (or have installed) on my '97 E250 Sportsmobile?

 

[1der]

Check out the Wolfbox line of rear/front cameras. We have the G900 installed in one rig and the G900 Pro installed in the other. I have installed these in a couple of other rigs for people.

We have found them to be a great add with lots of features. The G900 Base with the windshield mount option would be my go to. The Pro has more features but I am not sure I will use them.

 

[Scalf77]

Check out the Wolfbox line of rear/front cameras. We have the G900 installed in one rig and the G900 Pro installed in the other. I have installed these in a couple of other rigs for people.

We have found them to be a great add with lots of features. The G900 Base with the windshield mount option would be my go to. The Pro has more features but I am not sure I will use them.

Ditto, I have installed a few for people and they all love them. I have version of one on my pickup and like it.

 

[geoffff]

Do you have a setup where you can use a rear camera for a good view of the road behind you and also a wide angle view downwards of the rear bumper area for backing up?

I have wondered if I will need two rear cameras to accomplish this

 

[1der]

The unit retains two set rear view angles that are each independently set by the user. One is normal rear view mode, the other is triggered by selecting reverse gear (or a switch) which changes the view to a sharp downward angle.

I am also going to reinstall the reverse camera I have for the stereo head unit to provide a lower view from below or somewhere mounted on the bumper box.

 

[boywonder]

1der was just here visiting and we played with his Wolfbox g900 pro....there is a wire in the camera harness that when connected to the reverse/backup lights the rear camera changes angle down towards the rear bumper and also displays configurable backup guide lines on the screen. When you put the vehicle in drive (or any position other than reverse) the rear camera goes back to being a rear view mirror camera.

Of course, since 1der was here I just ordered the Wolfbox g850...it does all of the above with less rear camera resolution than the 900 or 900 pro.......for less $$.

 

[panamint]

Wolfbox all the way .. Had mine for years and not a lick of problems

 

[1DogRescuer]

A Key part of your consideration is how you want it mounted, the image processor FORMAT (CMOS or CCD). Most of the Chinese sellers will say both, or whichever you ask them for …. this is Impossible. There is a Big difference between CMOS & CCD. Then you have to decide if you want PAL or NTSC format.

I suggest that you mount the camera externally, as high as possible, as opposed to in license plate ‘pocket’. The field of view is much better.

iBeam makes Solid cameras. I tried out a Natika, which had Good image quality, great customer support; but, I ended up not using it due to my final decision on mounting. Personally, the ONLY time that I would use a rearview display, is if my HU (stereo) has no display.

I ended up using an iBeam “FlyFish” style, mounted on my hightop, and I believe it is the Best camera for my application that is well below $200. I now plan to use the Natika as a forward facing camera, since my Pioneer HU has a switchable display.

When mounting, I use 3M 5200 (afair). It is PERMANENT, and waterproof.

 

[N147JK]

Do you have a setup where you can use a rear camera for a good view of the road behind you and also a wide angle view downwards of the rear bumper area for backing up?

I have wondered if I will need two rear cameras to accomplish this

Mine is a very wide angle (145 degree) camera and it shows traffic behind and also the rear bumper - no second camera needed. On the other hand, to make that possible, an image that wide is pretty "warped". To be honest, I very rarely use the back up camera. To be safe, you really need a set of human eyeballs out there spotting for you.

 

[bobthecow]

+1 for the Wolfbox. With my rear seat situation my rearview mirror was effectively useless, so I swapped it out for a G900 Pro. I have the rear camera mounted to the bottom of my bumper swing arm, and it's great as a rear view mirror… but less great as a backup camera.

I also have a camera in my third brake light (not available now from the seller I got it from, but seems identical to a ton of other ones available on ebay, aliexpress, etc, like this) that I use for a high angle shot at my back bumper, parking space, etc, when backing up. That one's hooked to my head unit.

 

[Gooseberry-SMB]

I finally pulled the kenwood out that didn’t like the new apple stuff and installed this with apple play and cameras. I did need to order another camera for the front but for the cost it works pretty good. I just loaded all my music on a sd card so it’s kinda fun the random stuff that plays. I know I could use the phone but this has all my cd’s and apple on it.

BOSS Audio Systems BVCP9700A-C... Amazon.com

 

[geoffff]

+1 for the Wolfbox. With my rear seat situation my rearview mirror was effectively useless, so I swapped it out for a G900 Pro. I have the rear camera mounted to the bottom of my bumper swing arm, and it's great as a rear view mirror… but less great as a backup camera.

I also have a camera in my third brake light (not available now from the seller I got it from, but seems identical to a ton of other ones available on ebay, aliexpress, etc, like this) that I use for a high angle shot at my back bumper, parking space, etc, when backing up. That one's hooked to my head unit.

I read the Wolfbox can be scrolled downwards by swiping the mirror screen to see down while backing up.
Did this feature not work well enough for you?

 

[bobthecow]

I read the Wolfbox can be scrolled downwards by swiping the mirror screen to see down while backing up.
Did this feature not work well enough for you?

Yeah, the Wolfbox can scroll up and down, to an extent. But the two cameras have pretty drastically different fields of view:

It's possible that I could have mounted the wolfbox camera up really high and gotten something that worked okay for both, but I like being able to look "straight back" with the wolfbox camera, the same way a rear view mirror would, and you can't do that with a high mounted camera.

I also had the other camera for at least five years before installing the Wolfbox, so I thought of it more as a complementary camera than buying one to do both jobs.

 

[AckCamp]

Thx to everyone who shared their experience and recs. I checked out Wolfbox over a year ago, and didn't think it was worth the cost of upgrading from the little backup Kenwood camera which came with the van. But, Wolfbox now has the G900 TriPro, so it has 3 cameras now--rear, front (on the other side of the rearview mirror), and now the front bumper. That sealed the deal as it helps the driver see what the spotter outside the van sees. Picture me yelling from outside (Turn your wheel left to avoid that rock!), and the driver inside yelling back (How far away am I from the rock now?!). So, yea, I'm hoping the front bumper camera helps us communicate. We installed it today (took it to HD Car Stereo in Hawthorne). They install a bunch of these, are listed on Wolfbox's website, and so far so great. Omar showed us how it works and made sure both our phones were connected. The resolution is so much better than our Kenwood camera, and the angles are great. I worried a lot about mounting the rear camera so low (basically on bottom of the rear bumper), but it's working out fine. We installed the front bumper camera on the Ford grill. I wanted its GPS to act as a speedometer, since ours is off due to large tires, but it lags a little bit so it's not accurate either. Also, when hard wiring installation, they said that they normally have the mirror turn on when the key is in the Ignition position (ie turns the car on). We asked to have the mirror turn on in the Accessory position (before car turns on). We sometimes want to look outside the van without turning on the vehicle (such as when in a quiet campground and wanting to look out or seeing wildlife but not wanting to spook it away) so, if this helps others, wire to turn on in Accessory vs Ignition position.