Panzer Platform
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2022
- Messages
- 2,775
- Reaction score
- 2,681
- Location
- California
- Country
- United States
- Dash Cam
- 2024 Minimum Requirements: STARVIS 2 & HDR
Hello, and welcome to my first official Dash Cam Talk forum post.
Let me start by saying I’m new to dash cams, and I’m basically a true amateur, and I’m hoping I can learn from all your expertise.
I would like to get your feedback on the Pros & Cons of using a CPL Filter on a dash cam to mitigate window glare. I’m a huge fan how they work wonderfully during the daytime to almost eliminate window glare. However, I’m less than enchanted with their use during night time, and low light driving conditions.
Based on my limited first hand experience, I found that leaving the CPL Filter on during night time driving, made my footage appear darker, and it had a slight yellowish tint. Of course, the simplest solution is to remove the CPL Filter for night driving, but that would fall somewhere between an inconvenience, and forgetting to remove it all together.
I’ve read customer feedback that said over time due to normal road vibration the CPL Filter can become misaligned, and cause even more degradation to the recorded footage. So it’s recommended to periodically check the alignment to make sure it has not rotated from it’s intended position. This sounds like one more maintenance check to keep up on, that I will most likely neglect until it’s too late.
So, I went looking for alternative solutions, and came upon a YouTube Video from “Phil UK Net”. He does an excellent job explaining how CPL Filters reduce available light to the camera lens / sensor, and offers a simple DIY alternative. I’ll leave a link to Phil’s video down below.
I also cam across a YouTube Video from “LifeHackster”. He demonstrates a product that essentially works like Phil’s DIY solution, but has a much better fit & finish, and aesthetic appearance. I wonder if dash cam manufacturers will ever make this accessory, it looks like it would work for my application. I’ll leave a link to LifeHackster’s video down below.
Next topic.
I’ve read a general rule of thumb is to adjust the dash cam so the horizon line is in the middle of recorded footage, (50% sky / 50% road). By accident one day I noticed my camera became misadjusted buy placing, and removing my windshield sunshade, and when I reviewed the recorded footage I had around 70% sky, and 30% road. I noticed immediately that my usually windshield glare was all but eliminated except for a very small proportion on the bottom corners of the footage. I kept watching the camera footage to see if cars, and their license plates were still in frame, and still readable. To my surprise they were, and most importantly I could still read license plates. So for the past few months I’ve been driving around with all my dash cams adjusted 70% sky 30% road thinking everything was hunky dory.
Well, I’ve now learned that this also creates another problem thanks to Dadi_T. He said aiming the camera to high will “produce dark videos and bad exposure”. I don’t have a full understanding how this works, but I think he’s saying the bright sun will cause the camera to automatically “dim” itself. Please forgive my laymen explanation.
If you made it this far, thanks for your time, and I’m looking forward to reading what you guys have to say about this topic.
Thanks again,
-Chuck
Phil UK Net;
LifeHackster;
Let me start by saying I’m new to dash cams, and I’m basically a true amateur, and I’m hoping I can learn from all your expertise.
I would like to get your feedback on the Pros & Cons of using a CPL Filter on a dash cam to mitigate window glare. I’m a huge fan how they work wonderfully during the daytime to almost eliminate window glare. However, I’m less than enchanted with their use during night time, and low light driving conditions.
Based on my limited first hand experience, I found that leaving the CPL Filter on during night time driving, made my footage appear darker, and it had a slight yellowish tint. Of course, the simplest solution is to remove the CPL Filter for night driving, but that would fall somewhere between an inconvenience, and forgetting to remove it all together.
I’ve read customer feedback that said over time due to normal road vibration the CPL Filter can become misaligned, and cause even more degradation to the recorded footage. So it’s recommended to periodically check the alignment to make sure it has not rotated from it’s intended position. This sounds like one more maintenance check to keep up on, that I will most likely neglect until it’s too late.
So, I went looking for alternative solutions, and came upon a YouTube Video from “Phil UK Net”. He does an excellent job explaining how CPL Filters reduce available light to the camera lens / sensor, and offers a simple DIY alternative. I’ll leave a link to Phil’s video down below.
I also cam across a YouTube Video from “LifeHackster”. He demonstrates a product that essentially works like Phil’s DIY solution, but has a much better fit & finish, and aesthetic appearance. I wonder if dash cam manufacturers will ever make this accessory, it looks like it would work for my application. I’ll leave a link to LifeHackster’s video down below.
Next topic.
I’ve read a general rule of thumb is to adjust the dash cam so the horizon line is in the middle of recorded footage, (50% sky / 50% road). By accident one day I noticed my camera became misadjusted buy placing, and removing my windshield sunshade, and when I reviewed the recorded footage I had around 70% sky, and 30% road. I noticed immediately that my usually windshield glare was all but eliminated except for a very small proportion on the bottom corners of the footage. I kept watching the camera footage to see if cars, and their license plates were still in frame, and still readable. To my surprise they were, and most importantly I could still read license plates. So for the past few months I’ve been driving around with all my dash cams adjusted 70% sky 30% road thinking everything was hunky dory.
Well, I’ve now learned that this also creates another problem thanks to Dadi_T. He said aiming the camera to high will “produce dark videos and bad exposure”. I don’t have a full understanding how this works, but I think he’s saying the bright sun will cause the camera to automatically “dim” itself. Please forgive my laymen explanation.
If you made it this far, thanks for your time, and I’m looking forward to reading what you guys have to say about this topic.
Thanks again,
-Chuck
Phil UK Net;
LifeHackster;