Mobius mounting solutions

[Dashmellow]

Cheers Dashmellow,

it is rather discreet when viewed from the rear, obviously a tailgater should be able to see it, and if so and they back off, job done as far as I'm concerned.

Actually, compared to other cameras I've used, I've learned that many people don't immediately recognize the Mobius as a camera. Even when I've asked friends to look at the back window of my vehicle and ask them what they see, it often doesn't quite register as "camera". Some people do notice it of course, but then again, some ask, "what is that"? When I've done the same with a GT300W I sometimes use in the front of my vehicle, even though it is "stealthified" and well hidden, the shape of the device clearly speaks "camera" as it is reminiscent of a traditional point and shooter. Many drivers seem oblivious to the rear cam. Recently, I reviewed some footage and discovered some guy going "ape-****" right behind me because I didn't recklessly launch myself into a large busy roundabout quite as quickly as he would have liked. In fact, I've discovered a whole world of strange driver behaviors going on behind me I hadn't previously been aware of.

 

[horaceCJ]

@really :
1. I have my front Mobius installed like this for almost 1 year and never took it out except for maintenance. From outside it's visible just in some special light conditions. However, I noticed some buzzing sound in my videos (not always, just at some high engine revs or bad roads surface) and today I put a small rubber piece between the back of the holder and the rain sensor cover... hope the sound will disappear:

2. Did the Titanium writing on the back came by default?
3. Can you put a screenshot from a video recorded by the front camera? I'd like to see how much from the dash it covers. (It's a wide lens, right?)

 

[really]

@really :
1. I have my front Mobius installed like this for almost 1 year and never took it out except for maintenance. From outside it's visible just in some special light conditions. However, I noticed some buzzing sound in my videos (not always, just at some high engine revs or bad roads surface) and today I put a small rubber piece between the back of the holder and the rain sensor cover... hope the sound will disappear:
View attachment 7693
2. Did the Titanium writing on the back came by default?
3. Can you put a screenshot from a video recorded by the front camera? I'd like to see how much from the dash it covers. (It's a wide lens, right?)

Yes I agree horace regards it's visability or lack off. Also even though it is partly visable but only part of it slightly below the mirror [ I had to crouch to take that drivers side outside photo] somebody just walking past the car parallel to it on the pavement would never see it. Unless again they were walking past whilst crouching down at the same time. Most oppertunist thieves walk past a car close up to be able to peer in to scan the seats and center consul for valuables. From the front it is nigh on impossible to see the camera, even though the tints on my car are the very mildest avaliable.

Suddenly black windows to the rear of the B pillar in my opinion spoil the look of the car, plus I have yet to be asked to ferry the Beckham kids about

Yes the Titanium badge is standard on the Titanium specd Focus, we had a Focus Mk 1.0 Zetec 1.8 petrol, it was written of in a head on crash whilst the wife was driving it [young lad in a Mini Cooper lost it on a bend] She vowed never to drive another car unless it was a Volvo. She was very lets say "emotional" at the time and I wanted her back in a car before she lost her confidence completley. So we bought a Volvo S40 2.0 SD full leather and all the toys, and went like stink.

I loved it but wife felt it was to powerful for her...don't ask, she wanted her easy driving Focus back, so after 9 months of nagging we bought a Focus Mk2.0 Zetec 1.6 petrol. Now straight away I was missing "the toys" auto dimming, auto wipers, cruise and the like. so come time to PX I opted for the Titanium spec. Was going for the Mk3 hatch originally but realised Ford had chopped circa 20% of the boot space, and yes you guessed it the wife said she would not beable to park the estate variant ...........46 years we been married love her to bits, but I still don't understand the workings of the female mind

I'm digressing, so getting back on message:

Here are two screen shots taken with the B lensed Mobius on the same day, but lighting conditions were changable at any moment in time.

Due to the reflection of the A pillar trim on the video whilst using the Wide Angle setting, I've opted for the Narrow setting for now. It was an overcaste day but I do think the lighting settings need fettling a bit, but currently I'm at the positioning /installation stage. But would be interested to hear from some UK based members, their lighting settings to point me in the right direction. I say UK based because it can be bleeding dismal during the day in our neck of the woods.

 

[really]

Heres a snapshot taken same day same journey on the rear A lense camera FOV Wide 1080, not sure if the exposure setting set at +1. And might I add it had a mucky tailgate window

 

[reverend]

You've done a brilliant job there with these installs! Personally I prefer the Mobius pointing down a bit more as the auto white balance seems to behave a bit better - your images are looking good though and I'm sure I recognise a couple of those places

 

[really]

You've done a brilliant job there with these installs! Personally I prefer the Mobius pointing down a bit more as the auto white balance seems to behave a bit better - your images are looking good though and I'm sure I recognise a couple of those places

Cheers reverend,

hear what your saying, but it's a bit of a trade off really in the Focus Mk2 or 2.5 regards space behind the mirror. It's very tight accesability wise if higer up, plus to miss out the rain sensor in video would mean the Mobius sticking out like a soar thumb well to the right or left of centre. Saw a guy had managed in a Focus C-Max, re accesability but still suffered RSH in video, but no way could I replicate it to my satisfaction in the hatchback.

So yes higher up would mean having the camera more angled downwards, but to do that in its current position would only show more dash in the video. You could say it mirrors life in general and marriage in particulaire, its all about compromise

 

[reverend]

To be fair those pics look fine anyway - give it a go at dusk or when the sun is out as if everything still looks ok there's nothing to worry about anyway! You'll spot me a mile off with cams lined up in the front and back windows

 

[JakeBlade]

I'm just installing mine using the helmet sticker mount, in reverse to get the camera closer to the windscreen. I'm really interested in the impact that the camera angle has on video quality - ie to capture more or less dash in the shot.

 

[GJHS]

To be fair those pics look fine anyway - give it a go at dusk or when the sun is out as if everything still looks ok there's nothing to worry about anyway! You'll spot me a mile off with cams lined up in the front and back windows

Rev do you roll with multiple cams in the front and back full time or for testing only?

 

[Tom Butler]

I've mounted my Mobius on the underside of the rear brake light housing. The underside is more or less flat, so with the Mobius mounted using the cradle that it came shipped with, the camera was picking up a lot of sky. With a clear unobstructed view the image consisted of approx 50% sky.

During testing I simply angled the camera down using Blue Tac. I found pointing the camera down made a massive difference to the image quality with a reduced over-exposure. Probably got the sky making up 1/3 of the image now with the camera angles down.

Moving on to experimental stage two of the install. Using the mitre saw and some scrap wood I made myself a wedge. Also used were the plastic box for a DLT tape and a PCI blanking plate I found lying around. After cutting the plastic box down to size I was left two lips, one at the front and at the side. Credit goes to Niko here as the purpose of the lips were to push the camera forward and to the side against the lips for consistent positioning of the camera.

Magnets were fitted to the cradle of the camera to allow a secure fix and at the same time an easy dismount if necessary. I'm using a 3m long USB cable and an external power pack mounted by the driver's seat. The mount is currently secured to the brake housing using double sided foam tape. It's very strong and despite the heatwave is still holding firm. There's a bit of give when pushed due to the foam tape, but as I don't touch the unit when in use that's not a problem. Not noticed any movement when operational.

Been at stage two for some months now! Will move on to stage 3 when I get around to it. Plan to use a wedge with a metal base attached and bypass the plastic box. May also use Dual Lock to fix the unit to the brake housing body. Looking at pics I don't think Dual Lock would give me a flush fitting though. One advantage of the foam tape currently used is that it's thin. Whereas a couple of pieces of Dual Lock fastened together have a thickness to them. Will experiment and see what works.

 

[MrM]

One man's (not me) mounting solution is the Scosche Magnetic Dash Mount for Smartphone...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B00HZYM2UA

His Amazon Review...

"I needed a mount to fit my dashcam (Mobius camera) discreetly. This fit the bill perfectly.

For those that haven't read around, the kit comes with 2 slim magnetic pads to place in the case of, or on various devices, but may interfere with internal compass readings and magnetic storage devices (old gen ipods). Flash memory is unaffected.

The smaller magnetic pad was perfect size to pop inside the case of my Mobius camera, and it is held very firmly in place by the pad surface of this holder. The beauty of it means its easy to remove, and easy to adjust the angle of the camera.

I also think this would be the most convenient dash holder for your phone. The only downside would be the affects of the magnet on the compass feature, but if slipped between your phone and phone case, it can easily be removed.

As a note, the 3M sticky pad provided is a light grey colour. I applied it to my windscreen and there was no way it was coming off. Which was unfortunate, since it was not particularly discreet, I wanted to attach it with a black pad, and it was not easy to remove, so give some thought as to where you will place this mount."

Magnetic mounting solutions have previously been created by @niko & others. This is a ready-made solution for people who like the idea, but prefer to buy it rather than make it.

This review was left by me. Having decided the best viewpoint for the Mobius would be in the centre of the windscreen behind the mirror, the search for a mount began. I had been looking for a convenient one for a while, considering many different options. In short I wanted a mount that was adjustable so that I could ensure the Mobius was perfectly horizontal, and preferred a ball and socket type joint, so that you can tilt the Mobius vertically to optimise the view on the road. Furthermore I wanted something as small as possible, so I could tuck the Mobius right behind the mirror, that had a small footprint on the windscreen glass to make it discrete as possible. I plan to keep the Mobius in the car at all times, so fast removal not essential but a bonus.

When searching for a mount I came across this Scosche dash mount and it looked exactly what I was after. They come in 3 varieties, fixed angle with 3M pad (parallel to mounting surface), gooseneck, and ball and socket mount with a 3M pad, which is the one I opted for and linked to above. The business end is a magnetic surface that measures approx. 40mm square (I don't have it with me to measure), in any case its slightly wider than the Mobius is, but not by much. The mount is supplied with 2 magnetic plates, again, I don't have them to hand, the smaller of the two is slightly smaller than the magnetic surface of the mount, the larger would probably cover 60% or so of the back of an iPhone. They have an adhesive surface on the the side that doesn't face the mount, so you can permanently attach it to your device, or you can simply slip it between your device and case for a less permanent solution. As a mount for a phone I think it would work well, with the only negative being the magnet on the phone/case interfering with the compass function of the phone.

The good news is that the smaller of the magnetic plates fits inside the Mobius! I opened the case up to fit a supercap and put the plate in at the same time, under the case (non heatsink side of course). The magnetic plate is at no risk of damaging the flash memory. The result is the Mobius attaches to the magnetic surface like a dream, its a very secure and wont move unless you want it to, but yet easily removable if required. The ball and socket gives ample adjustment for all the angles you would realistically want for a windscreen. The only thing to bear in mind is you cannot position the Mobius to be perpendicular to the base of the mount (where the 3 M pad is). So you would not be able to mount the 3M pad of dashmount on a vertical surface and achieve horizontal positioning of the Mobius. One other point to note is the 3M pad supplied is a light to mid grey colour, so will be visible from outside when stuck to the windscreen glass. This annoyed me, so I replaced it with some double sided black tape I bought from Maplins, so it is now harder to see.

To cap it off, I bought a little Motorola right angle mini usb adapter from Amazon to take the cable away from the Mobius, so as to have better access to the memory card slot. A USB cable completes the hardwire into the car.

I will post a few pics up when I can.

In summary, yes its a little pricey, cheapest seems to be £16 from Amazon. Its a great product and partners the Mobius really well in my opinion.

 

[MrM]

As promised

 

[MrM]

Feel free to ask any questions

 

[GJHS]

I'm curious how strong the magnetic mounts are. I worry in an accident, the camera will come loose and stop recording

 

[MrM]

No chance. The magnet is pretty strong and perhaps more importantly the contact area is large too. You really need to prise and wiggle it off. Only way it would come off is if it took a direct hit. But then any mount would come off.

Remember they are designed to hold smartphones and iPads. A Mobius weighs nothing in comparison....

 

[barbagris]

May also use Dual Lock to fix the unit to the brake housing body. Looking at pics I don't think Dual Lock would give me a flush fitting though. One advantage of the foam tape currently used is that it's thin. Whereas a couple of pieces of Dual Lock fastened together have a thickness to them. Will experiment and see what works.

On a bike my experience of Dual Loc is that it allows things too much waggle freedom. In fact I use it sometimes when I need a flexible mount.

 

[MrM]

One other point to note which is lens positioning distance from window. I had to wait a long time for the right angle USB mini adapter to turn up, so initially had the cable plugged in the back, that in turn meant the Mobius lens was pressed right up against the window in the location I chose. This seemed to result in a lot of reflection of the dash on recordings. Having now installed the right angle adapter, I was able to move the camera back and the recording had much less reflection on it.

I guess its due to the fixed focus on the Mobius, but something to bear in mind, and again something that is very easy to adjust on the Scosche mount, you simply slide the Mobius back and forth, side to side for the optimal position, assuming you have the room of course.

 

[really]

Post 338 updated including some of the photo's

 

[MrM]

As you might have guessed, I really like this mount, so much so I have bought the flush version to fit in my wife's car to hold her phone.

It has given me the opportunity to measure the different pieces, which I found difficult to find on the web.

So here are the dimensions of the Scosche Magic Dash Mount:

Main magnetic head block 45x45mm at widest point

Small magnetic plate 31x28mm

Large magnetic plate 65x44mm

It was the smaller one I fitted inside my Mobius.

I hope that helps some people on here and people on the web more widely.

 

[dirkzelf]

I have only one Mobius camera, use it in the truck for work, and in my private car.

So, I need to easily and quickly place and remove the camera, but with a sturdy mounting.

I decided magnets is the way to go..... I use a cold flash camera shoe (tripot screwmount) double sided adhesive for the magnets, and hey presto!!

The metal mount in the car on the windscreen in my private car is very small, made from some household hook hanging thingie, cost about nothing. In the truck I use a small base plate.

No loose hanging cable either.....