History of a new Scottish DVR-007 owner... (Huge post)

Thanks for the replies rjgscotland & DashCamMan

Maybe next time I'll try 're-flowing all the solder joints', although at first look everything looked ok...

I didn't say that I don't like the DVR007, but you do have to get to know it before getting the best out of it.
For example, I always overexpose (+1.0 EV) in daytime, because the camera measures the bright sky, making the road too dark... and vise versa at night: I always underexpose (-1.0 EV) because it's dark and the camera bumps up the exposure, making cars, street-lights and licence plates overexposed

for the quality of F900LHD, F500LHD... I don't know, I guess I've seen some sample videos from some cheaper/fake models... never mind, I think I'll go with the cheap K6000, until GS8000 proves it is worth the money
 
I popped open my DVR-007 today to see just how glued on the lens was and if there was any hope of getting it off. It didn't respond to a good twisting so I suspect there is quite a lot of glue holding it in place. I've not tried using acetone or glue remover on the threads yet but perhaps I might try it in the future. I was looking to re-focus the existing lens or replace it with another lens that I have but for now it's just going to have to remain the way it is.

I took some phone pictures of the internals:





 
Thanks for sharing the internals. Same Zoran chip as the DVR-027. Good luck with adjusting the lens.
 
So I took apart the DVR-007 again in an attempt to fix the focus issues. I've determined the problem is due to poor/offset back-focus as a result from the tolerances being so small, but yet the plastic lens housing being poorly moulded. I initially tried gently filing down the housing where it makes contact with the sensor PCB, but because the lens is glued into the housing, I was then unable to adjust the overall focus. In the end I had to use two types of tape to make shims so get the rear element of the lens at the right distance from the sensor and also parallel with it. The tolerances are tiny. Half a mm can throw the whole thing out of focus! Definitely the "proper" way to fix it would be to file it down then adjust the focus with the lens (if the glue can be removed). I might re-visit this again at some point.

The result is that I seem to have improved the back-focus and the right hand side of the image is not so blurry now with possibly the side effect of both sides now having a slight blur. The overall image seems to be better though.

Before:


After:


Of course, I'd encourage that anyone who receives a DVR-007 or DVR-027 with focus problems tries to negotiate a replacement with the seller they bought it from!

Here's some pictures of the sensor board etc for those interested:

rguk.eu_s_007camboard1.jpg


rguk.eu_s_007camboard2.jpg


rguk.eu_s_007camboard3.jpg


rguk.eu_s_007camboard4.jpg
 
Hi rjgscotland,

Interesting way to fix the focus. I think the adjusted one looks better even though the sides are blurry.
 
DVR 027 dashcam, IR (infraRED)/night-capabilities

rjgscotland; here is the kind of video you requested:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't think is a good idea to unmount the lens from the sensor. You will obtain for sure some dust on the sensor.
I think if you ca use a needle to remove the glue so you can adjust the lens. After the refocus use some glue which will not melt because of heat. I think just a little superglue is OK. And it the camera have video out use some big display when adjusting the lens and don't forget the focus is few meters in front of camera.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
I wouldn't recommend anyone does what I did either, but it's familiar territory for me (fitting sensor boards in CCTV cameras and replacing DSLR shutters) so I went ahead with it. It would be very easy to get dust or fingerprints on the sensor if you don't take extra care. I might try using a needle as you suggest, but I can see some evidence of glue on the bottom of the lens which suggests there might be some further down the thread - annoying if this is the case!
 
On another camera I had also glue and is only outside. And removed it after some work with a needle and rotating the lens.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
Cool, good to know - I might give it a go soon.
 
At the 11:50 mark in the video below you will see how your lens is glued.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top