DR400G-HD Lens Mod

[kay188]

Hey guise. I like to mod things.

SUPER WIDEEE~! That's what she said. :twisted:

Approx. 160 degrees.

Don't forget! Youtube compression is terrible for MP4 videos like this. It honestly looks way better on the computer.

The thing people have to understand is that the wider the angle, the less sharpness the image will have on this 2MP sensor and at 1080p resolution.
Of course you can pick up details such as the licence plate and even the driver inside the car if you had a telephoto lens mounted on the camera. However, that's a telephoto lens, not wide.
The wider it gets, the harder it is to maintain a very sharp image... considering the lens is $7...
I know many people will start to complain about how the video is not sharp and you can't read licence plates...
People have used dashcams way before us overseas. They have no problem with VGA 640x480 resolution... so why do people even complain?

The main purpose of a dashcam is for evidence in case of a collision with YOUR vehicle, not to pick up details like the plate. Of course, having the plate on file will help, but it's not necessary in a serious collision.

 

[DashCamMan]

That is a very wide angle. At some point when the angle is too wide, the amount of distortion makes it less useful.

 

[kay188]

That is a very wide angle. At some point when the angle is too wide, the amount of distortion makes it less useful.

For sure. The front windshield is only so large. I understand that having a lens that covers the front windshield would be better than one that's super wide.

i just had to do this mod though since I modded my GS1000.

 

[raychay]

Where did you buy the lens?
Is it secured with 1 screw?

 

[kay188]

Where did you buy the lens?
Is it secured with 1 screw?

Lens is available on DealExtreme or Ebay.

It's a 2.1mm CCTV lens.

You NEED to buy a M12x0.5 CCTV mount with 22mm screw hole distance for the lens.

Removing the original lens will not work. The original mount is too small.

 

[kay188]

Here's a video of the lens during daytime.

It has a purple tint because the lens does not have an IR filter. It's sensitive to IR light which shows up purple on the sensor.