New thread on polarizer filter for BlackVue DR500GW-HD

erewhon said:
Hello ucsmfu,



I see you are in Canada, so I think the Shapeways source (in New York) would probably be the best place for you to order.

Go to:

https://www.shapeways.com/model/154...d-magfilter.html?li=user-profile&materialId=6

625x465_1544589_1764916_1391028309.jpg


The price there is $6.19 (US) for the white strong flexible plastic. You can order it dyed black, and the price jumps to $7.61. Shipping is not included.

The finish is a bit rough, and the item dyed black has the texture of a coarse velvet and it attracts lint, but it works fine. For the best appearance, I've found that ordering the adapter in white and then carefully sanding the outer surfaces and painting it with a suitable plastic compatible black spray paint works nicely.
Click to expand...


Thanks for getting back to me soo quickly, is there any coupon codes available ?
Thanks
 
ucsmfu said:
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, is there any coupon codes available ?
Thanks
Click to expand...

No coupon codes that I am aware of.

From time to time, Shapeways will give me a code for a discount on my own designs, and I guess if you are a regular buyer of other people's designs, you might get a discount coupon occasionally. However, I know of no currently available coupons. Sorry! :rolleyes:
 
ucsmfu said:
Thanks for getting back to me soo quickly, is there any coupon codes available ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
got it, thanks, just ordered, so this will fit the DRG 550 as well right ? are they making a polarized filter for the rear cam for the 550 ?

thanks
 
ucsmfu said:
got it, thanks, just ordered, so this will fit the DRG 550 as well right ? are they making a polarized filter for the rear cam for the 550 ?

thanks
Click to expand...

Forum contributor Tweaker reports that the adapter works fine to fit a filter to his DR550 unit (the front camera). I do not have the two channel BlackVue, so I do not have the rear camera and therefore have not designed an adapter that will allow a filter to be fitted to the rear camera. The same filter would work on the rear camera as on the front camera - you just need the proper adapter to mate the camera and filter. Just a simple design problem, as they say! :)

Remember that you need to determine the proper orientation of the filter to get the best effect. The way to do this is discussed in earlier posts on this thread.

Good Luck!
 
erewhon said:
Forum contributor Tweaker reports that the adapter works fine to fit a filter to his DR550 unit (the front camera). I do not have the two channel BlackVue, so I do not have the rear camera and therefore have not designed an adapter that will allow a filter to be fitted to the rear camera. The same filter would work on the rear camera as on the front camera - you just need the proper adapter to mate the camera and filter. Just a simple design problem, as they say! :)

Remember that you need to determine the proper orientation of the filter to get the best effect. The way to do this is discussed in earlier posts on this thread.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...
Any way of making a smaller filter lens clip for the rear small camera on the 550 ?

I noticed there's more glare and reflections in the rear which results in unclear video recordings.

Anyone else in the forum working on a polarized filter for the rear 550 cam ? Thanks
 
THIS thread is what got me to sign up on Dashcam Talk! :)

I'll be getting one of the printed adapters (haven't decided which, yet) and the CPL for my DR500 in the near future, and want to thank you folks, and especially erewhon, for working this all out!

I'll be sure to post up my results. Take care!

• • • •
EDIT: Couple of adapters ordered, filter ordered, 30MAY2014
 
Last edited:
Thanks for your comment, Tomas!

I noticed that you said that you ordered a filter in addition to the adapters. That's good. I need to stress that the filters must be ordered separately, and that they are not included with the adapters that you order from Shapeways or Sculpteo.

I just got an email from someone who assumed that the Carry Speed filter was automatically included with his order at Shapeways. Not so. I just changed the descriptions at Shapeways and Sculpteo to say that the Carry Speed filter must be ordered separately.

So far, there have been 38 sales from Shapeways. Sculpteo, however, does not provide me with sales information since I have no markup on the adapter (and no money to me). Clearly, it will not fund my retirement...

Overall, however, pretty good sales for such an obscure little gadget. I'm happy that it seems to be working for most of you. :)
 
ucsmfu said:
Is this the filter we need ? https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0093YC6ME
I want to make sure before I order it.

also, is it plug and play into the adapter ?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, that is the filter you need. Some assembly is required.

The filter comes with an adhesive backed metal ring (plus a spare).

This shows an early press-on design (right) beside the metal ring (left):
IMG_0626web_zps77a24e24.jpg


This shows the metal ring attached to the adapter (using adhesive backing):
IMG_0627web_zpsf4029a37.jpg


This shows the clip-on design (the one you are getting) sliding along the body of the dashcam, and being lifted slightly so that the lens of the dashcam is starting to slide into the hole in the adapter:
clip-position-2_zpsdf6b8b89.jpg


This shows it all snapped into place (no metal ring on the adapter pictured here, by the way):
clip-position-3_zps560c4c40.jpg


Finally, you have to find the correct orientation of the filter to reduce the glare and reflection. Orient your car so that you have a lot of glare and reflection in your windshield. Then, hold the filter by itself in front of your eye and rotate it until you get maximum glare/reflection reduction. Mark the bottom of the filter in some way (I used a yellow sticky dot). The filter is attached magnetically to the metal ring glued to the 3D printed adapter, and rotated as needed. This shows my setup with the yellow dot denoting correct filter orientation (picture shows the old press-on design rather than newer clip-on design):
yellow-dot-1_zpseebff126.jpg


I prefer the clip-on design, but did not have any up-to-date photos. You will find many more photos from other forum members in the earlier posts.
 
ucsmfu said:
Any way of making a smaller filter lens clip for the rear small camera on the 550 ?

I noticed there's more glare and reflections in the rear which results in unclear video recordings.

Anyone else in the forum working on a polarized filter for the rear 550 cam ? Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi ucsmfu,

Here's what I can do. I've looked at a number of photos of the 550 rear cam. An adapter for the rear cam would follow the same general design as the front cam, but I would really need the rear cam in my hands to do precise measurements. A bolt-on design would probably be best, since the rear cam body is smaller than the front cam, and the shorter span of the springy part of a clip-on design would probably be too stiff. Also, the intersection of the simple cylinders of the cam body and the lens barrel seems to have additional shapes present (with the rear cam), which might complicate the fit.

I would use the smaller bolts shown on the right adapter below (from a front cam design).
two-bolt-on_zpsb8268722.jpg


So, if you would send me the rear cam, I will design an adapter for it. It would take about a week of fiddling around to come up with something that I felt would work, and another two weeks to get a prototype printed. I assume that the prototype will fit OK, or will need only slight changes, so I would plan to ship your cam back to you after the first prototype. With all the shipping and 3D part ordering, you would have to try to go for maybe two months without a rear-end collision! :eek:

The lens of the rear cam does not appear to extend as far out from the cam body as does the lens on the front cam. Therefore, the CPL filter will not be as close to the lens. This means a greater chance of shadows in the corners of the video (vignetting). However, your 550 rear cam has a narrower field of view than your 550 front cam, which in turn has a narrower field of view than my 500 cam, which makes for a smaller chance of vignetting. Hopefully, the end result will be no shadows.

Interested?
 
Tomas said:
THIS thread is what got me to sign up on Dashcam Talk! :)

I'll be getting one of the printed adapters (haven't decided which, yet) and the CPL for my DR500 in the near future, and want to thank you folks, and especially erewhon, for working this all out!

I'll be sure to post up my results. Take care!

• • • •
EDIT: Couple of adapters ordered, filter ordered, 30MAY2014
Click to expand...

do you got this all up and running? I am considering ordering the filter and the printed adapters. I have quite the dashboard glare in my mustang. Was thinking about trying a dashmat first.
 
I just order both as well. I'll provide an update with pictures later next week.
 
bruce rechichar said:
do you got this all up and running? I am considering ordering the filter and the printed adapters. I have quite the dashboard glare in my mustang. Was thinking about trying a dashmat first.
Click to expand...
JUST got it installed and it took me all of 20 seconds to adjust the filter orientation watching the live video via my iPad. :)

Not perfect, but probably 90-95% of reflections drastically reduced. Well worth the effort and cost! Thank you, Erewhon! :)

Here's a quick video of me adjusting the filter just after installing it...

 
Oh! Forgot to include some pics of the the adapter and filter installed on my DR500GW-HD...
filter_adapter_mounted.jpg
 
What does it look like at night if you do not take the cap off?
 
hackztor said:
What does it look like at night if you do not take the cap off?
Click to expand...
Very dark.

Any polarizing filter will reduce the amount of light reaching the camera by one full stop - in other words, it cuts the amount of light reaching the camera in half. (It is the equivalent of putting polarizing sunglasses on your camera.)
 
So how do the poor users across the pond in the UK get the adapter ??? I have found the filter on Amazon UK ...
 
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