My brand new SG9665GC V3 is not performing as expected!

[Q-BiC]

Drove to work and parked the car with the replacement SG9665GC V3 facing the sun and drove off again a couple of hours later. Today was sunny, but temperature was only +-12°C.

Despite the low temperature, the problem became clear again: the replacement unit has the same issue, although it seems to be roughly limited to the right half of the frame this time. I'm not sure if it will stay like this in summer, it could get worse on the right hand side, or it could start to affect the whole frame. Either way, I don't think I'm ready to accept this from a 200€ dashcam @ 12°C, I'm sorry.

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I've been away from this forum for a while, but the last few weeks, we had hot weather (25-30°C) and I was able to collect more sample footage.

(As explained earlier, the problem with this sample is limited to the right half of the frame (irrespective of sun angle).
Clickable for full-size.)











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I had previously agreed with niko that he would test-run his sg9665gc before sending a 3rd kit to me.
Now that I see the footage of my 2nd kit (1st replacement), I'm convinced the problem is bad enough to warrant another RMA and get a good one in return...

 

[niko]

I've been away from this forum for a while, but the last few weeks, we had hot weather (25-30°C) and I was able to collect more sample footage.

(As explained earlier, the problem with this sample is limited to the right half of the frame (irrespective of sun angle).
Clickable for full-size.)











Normal:

Soft:


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I had previously agreed with niko that he would test-run his sg9665gc before sending a 3rd kit to me.
Now that I see the footage of my 2nd kit (1st replacement), I'm convinced the problem is bad enough to warrant another RMA and get a good one in return...

New tested unit is ready for dispatch tomorrow (today we have bank holiday).

 

[Q-BiC]

Unfortunately this 3rd unit has the same problem. (Maybe even worse as the original one, but then the temperature wasn't quite as high then.)
Did a normal test run, straight out of the garage; then parked the car facing the sun for 3 hours. Outside temperature 27°C.

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[niko]

It looks like in your case intensity of direct sun while car is parked (especially in mid-day ) creating heat to hardware which is over rated value and in this case focus shift can not be avoided， this applies to all dashcams.
When device temperature is back to normal ratet value then focus is also become sharp.
Soft focus recovery time may take time depending on different circumstances.


Sent from my LG-H962 using Tapatalk

 

[sp5it]

QC on it's finest

 

[Q-BiC]

After 10 minutes driving with the AC on full, the image still didn't clear up... It needs to be parked in the shade for an hour first...
If only my cheap Mini 0801 was still working so I can prove not all dashcams have this problem... Reports from people in much hotter climates than mine, using the SG9665gc without theses issues, and the cam being included in "top 5 cams for hot climates"-lists, praising the "all metal lens housing" that "preserves sharpness even in hot climates", also contradicts this.

 

[niko]

QC on it's finest

QC ( Quality Check ) - we keep it quite high. Not that we never had any issues, yes on some rare occasions we also do have very few QC reports and we sort them out immediately in favor of customers. And maybe I can agree with you that with 1st dascham there could be very little chance of QC rare one off issue because it has been sent brand new un-boxed, but 2nd dascham I have tested myself personally for few days. 3rd dascham few weeks. I have also made many other tests lately and now I can tell that focus shift appears due to temperature reaches close or higher than rated temperature ( see my previous reply ).
P.S. - the outside temperature is not the same as inside temperature. Most important is the intensity of the sun. At some days where temperature was only +12.5C I was getting dashboard temp. readings at +82C and dashcam case +62. The lens temp. would be even higher than case temperature. Hence is obvious focus shift due to being close or higher than rated temperature.

 

[niko]

After 10 minutes driving with the AC on full, the image still didn't clear up... It needs to be parked in the shade for an hour first...

I agree with you. With my test it took about 40min drive before focus came back.
P.S. - my AC freezer gas is leaked out, so I have no AC at the moment. I believe with AC on it would take less time, but obvious that certain time is needed for focus recovery after lens has been exposed over rated value heat.

 

[thancam]

weird. Because my country's climate is very hot. Last week, the outside' temp is above 50 oC and everything's fine.
my car always parks in garage avoid directing heat from sun.

 

[thancam]

Start to watch from 0:32

the summer heat wave has hit korea, with the mecury rising to over 35 degrees Celsius, but that figure can easily double or triple inside a closed car after just a few hours.

In the car, there are two diffirent temp, temp of hot air inside the car which you can feel when you enter car. And another temps is temp of object get direct sun ray. That's why you enter a car, you feel hot. But if you tough a metal in car like car bonnet, you feel like your hand is burned: temp of bonnet is higher than air in car too many times.

 

[nephilim]

For me the obvious question is: if everybody knows that direct sunlight causes (relatively) high temperatures... why is it so difficult to design a dashcam which can cope with those temperatures w/o focus issues? This reminds me of the german ICE train's A/C which stopped working in summer (outside temperature too high) or the british Type 45 destroyer which cannot operate in the Middle East because the intercooler does not like hot weather

 

[niko]

... why is it so difficult to design a dashcam which can cope with those temperatures w/o focus issues?

There are limitations to hardware used in present daschams, the size of daschamera and lens size. The smaller ( more discrete ) dashcam and the smaller lens used, which are packed within small space and heated under direct sun, the more chance for focus shift. I believe if going to use normal size DSLR camera where they use gigantic lens ( gigantic in relation to lens used in dashcam ) then you will not see same focus shift. Of course there are many other variables that affect focus shift.
It is normal to see focus shift if temperature of hardware (lens) reaches close to max. rated value.

I assume there is out there some sort of "space technology" that would not allow focus shift under extreme temperature, but obviously that technology cost fortune and end price would be 10-100x higher ?

 

[jokiin]

we are working on something now to address this, for those affected message me your details and I will follow up with you directly

 

[DT MI]

...why is it so difficult to design a dashcam which can cope with those temperatures w/o focus issues?...

Simply because all materials are subject to some degree of thermal expansion as temperatures increase. This is a matter of physics and not design.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_expansion#Thermal_expansion_coefficients_for_various_materials

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_expansion#Examples_and_applications

 

[Street Guardian USA]

we are working on something now to address this, for those affected message me your details and I will follow up with you directly

It has to be a small batch isolated issue. Sounds like it should be sorted out soon. I've been testing V2 /V3 units in the Nevada desert last few years with no issues.

 

[lacibaci]

Simply because all materials are subject to some degree of thermal expansion as temperatures increase. This is a matter of physics and not design.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_expansion#Thermal_expansion_coefficients_for_various_materials

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_expansion#Examples_and_applications

I think it is more of a cost issue than physics or design.

 

[DT MI]

I think it is more of a cost issue than physics or design.

As is true for just about any product. There are materials less prone to expansion but they cost more and are more difficult to work with increasing manufacturing costs. While it would be nice to have a camera 'totally' resistant to thermally induced focus shift I suspect the limited population willing to pay for one would make for a poor business case.

 

[thancam]

I think it is more of a cost issue than physics or design.

Could you show any solution ?

 

[jokiin]

As is true for just about any product. There are materials less prone to expansion but they cost more and are more difficult to work with increasing manufacturing costs. While it would be nice to have a camera 'totally' resistant to thermally induced focus shift I suspect the limited population willing to pay for one would make for a poor business case.

design plays a part, being so close to the window has some negative effects, the camera will hold focus to the rated operating temp no problem, there are situations where you can exceed those temps which is a part of the challenge

 

[niko]

It has to be a small batch isolated issue.

Same thoughts here. We are checking this now to see if all 3 units came from same batch or if there anything else to address.