Don't forget to remove the protection film on the inside of your CPL-600 [duh]

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mikey94025

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Sharing here to warn others who might make the same mistake -- I purchased a CPL-600 filter for my A329T telephoto channel. While reviewing telephoto footage yesterday, I wondered why the oncoming license plate was difficult to read. I thought maybe I needed to manually focus the polarizing filter (because the notches could be off like with the front channel), but the CPL-600 is rectangular vs. round so that couldn't be right. Then I noticed my CPL-600 lens ships with a clear protection film on the inside of the lens that I neglected to notice and remove. Oops!

With protection film (bad):

vlcsnap-2025-09-21-16h08m39s661.webp


Without protection film (good):

vlcsnap-2025-09-21-16h08m08s208.webp
 
That "after" pic should look a lot better than that. Maybe start with cleaning both sides of the window,
then remove the CPL and clean both sides, and also clean the cam lens.

It looks like maybe there is a finger smudge, or just dirty window glass, but I'm betting on a smudge
somewhere. There are parts of the After pic that look better and some parts look worse.

Hope this helps!
 
you can never clean your glass too often as a dashcam operator, windows first and foremost, but i have also at times cleaned camera glass ( lenses / CPL filters )
The bottom pic still look a bit,,,,,, smokey, i am sure it can be better.
 
kamkar said:
you can never clean your glass too often as a dashcam operator, windows first and foremost, but i have also at times cleaned camera glass ( lenses / CPL filters )
The bottom pic still look a bit,,,,,, smokey, i am sure it can be better.
Click to expand...
Cleaning not help me remove the many many pits and rock chips on mine though. 😆
 
I cleaned my telephoto lens and CPL filter. More importantly, I installed a fresh static sticker and mounted the telephoto again. There's still some telephoto smudge near the bottom left third that I need to track down.

After my very initial telephoto + sticker installation, I had to remove it to fix something with the cable. Afterwards, I just reused the same static sticker. Today I noticed a lot of air bubbles in that old telephoto sticker so that may be why my previous "after" picture still had issues. Thanks for calling it out!

With new static sticker (best):

vlcsnap-2025-09-23-16h03m31s594.webp
 
mikey94025 said:
I cleaned my telephoto lens and CPL filter. More importantly, I installed a fresh static sticker and mounted the telephoto again. There's still some telephoto smudge near the bottom left third that I need to track down.

After my very initial telephoto + sticker installation, I had to remove it to fix something with the cable. Afterwards, I just reused the same static sticker. Today I noticed a lot of air bubbles in that old telephoto sticker so that may be why my previous "after" picture still had issues. Thanks for calling it out!
Click to expand...
Is your telephoto camera looking 'through' the static sticker? You will get an even clearer view if the sticker is not in the way.
 
TonyM said:
Is your telephoto camera looking 'through' the static sticker? You will get an even clearer view if the sticker is not in the way.
Click to expand...
^ This is the first thing I thought of. @mikey94025 if you like this image you are in for a very nice surprise
when you see what this lens can do. 😉

Your static sticker should ONLY come between the self-adhesive and the windshield, and nothing should come between the
lens and the windshield. There is glare and a rainbow in your image that would not come from the glass.
 
I honestly do not get the point of those static stickers. Unless you are planning on removing/re-mount cams all the time, why not just mount direct to the glass for maximum adhesion.
I have never had any issues with removing them, may take some muscle, but a nice plastic pry tool with a flat edge does good to remove a cam mount.
 
speedingcheetah said:
I honestly do not get the point of those static stickers. Unless you are planning on removing/re-mount cams all the time, why not just mount direct to the glass for maximum adhesion.
I have never had any issues with removing them, may take some muscle, but a nice plastic pry tool with a flat edge does good to remove a cam mount.
Click to expand...

I agree. I preferred the optimal adhesion for a set up that would not move once correctly installed. I used a small level and a bit of tape
to mark where I wanted everything and all 3 units are staying where I wanted them.

That said, I can see how some folks might prefer the ability to more easily relocate once or twice to try different locations for different views.
 
TonyM said:
Is your telephoto camera looking 'through' the static sticker? You will get an even clearer view if the sticker is not in the way.
Click to expand...
Huh, I didn't think it mattered. Thanks for pointing this out.

The reason why I use the static sticker, besides the fact that it came in the box, is because it makes it easy and clean to remove the dashcam. I change cars frequently, or used to.
 
TonyM said:
Is your telephoto camera looking 'through' the static sticker? You will get an even clearer view if the sticker is not in the way.
Click to expand...
@VIOFO-Support you might want to consider adding a note to the user manual about mounting a remote camera on a clear static sticker - to ensure that the sticker does not affect the camera's view.
 
TonyM said:
@VIOFO-Support you might want to consider adding a note to the user manual about mounting a remote camera on a clear static sticker - to ensure that the sticker does not affect the camera's view.
Click to expand...
And perhaps make them smaller…? Or do they really have to be the size they are to ensure adequate adhesion…?

I like the ‘idea’ of the static stickers…but personally, a) Don’t like seeing them on the screen, inside or outside, especially at the edges…and b) Wary of the absolute adhesion and chance of ‘failure’ ….
 
SC@AU said:
And perhaps make them smaller…?
Click to expand...

I do a fair bit of testing and frequently move things around. I appreciate the static stickers, but you don't need to use the entire sticker. I frequently cut them so they are just a bit larger than the 3M pad. This leaves me with some "extra" to use in the future when I move something around.
 
SC@AU said:
And perhaps make them smaller…? Or do they really have to be the size they are to ensure adequate adhesion…?

I like the ‘idea’ of the static stickers…but personally, a) Don’t like seeing them on the screen, inside or outside, especially at the edges…and b) Wary of the absolute adhesion and chance of ‘failure’ ….
Click to expand...
They are easy to cut with scissors.
Perhaps full-size is good for the larger, heavier front camera, and half-size for the smaller lighter remote cameras.
 
Don't use alcohol to clean lenses (or computer screens), you will strip useful coatings. A damp (with water) lens cleaning cloth is fine.
 
mentadent said:
Don't use alcohol to clean lenses (or computer screens), you will strip useful coatings. A damp (with water) lens cleaning cloth is fine.
Click to expand...
I use alcohol and a q-tip all the time to clean lenses and have never had an issue.
 
I cleaned my rifle scope with alcohol on Tuesday, everything moving was still in mortal danger, and there is also 2 less flies at my friends place.
But at 50 M hard to miss, and both was direct hits, but on the container if you hit near by the splattering lead will still get them, but i hit right where the crosshair was on the flies.

I think it is equivalent to getting hit by a SUV that fell off a transport airplane and reached terminal velocity. So instant death.
 
What?!? People in other countries have guns, too??? I thought all of the guns in the world were here in the US 🤣
 
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