Off-centre positioning

CameraObscura

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I'm considering buying the SG9665GC, but am unsure whether it would work well if not mounted centrally on the windscreen. Due to my car's rain sensor housing, and the headliner projecting down over where the shaded part of the windscreen usually is, I wouldn't be able to mount it behind the rearview mirror. Additionally, due to UK law regarding placement of items in the windscreen, I would have to position the camera more or less in line with the middle of the passenger seat, i.e. significantly off-centre.

Because the SG9665GC has no horizontal adjustment for the lens, how much of an effect would an off-centre mount have on the footage? I've looked through the photo thread in the B40/A118 forum and couldn't see anyone with such a placement - has anyone else placed the camera off-centre?

Thanks!
 
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I'm considering buying the SG9665GC, but am unsure whether it would work well if not mounted centrally on the windscreen. Due to my car's rain sensor housing, and the headliner projecting down over where the shaded part of the windscreen usually is, I wouldn't be able to mount it behind the rearview mirror. Additionally, due to UK law regarding placement of items in the windscreen, I would have to position the camera more or less in line with the middle of the passenger seat, i.e. significantly off-centre.

Because the SG9665GC has no horizontal adjustment for the lens, how much of an effect would an off-centre mount have on the footage? I've looked through the photo thread in the B40/A118 forum and couldn't see anyone with such a placement - has anyone else placed the camera off-centre?

Thanks!

I have them either side of the mirror in one of our cars, plenty of view either side, I'm in two minds as to which is better, more left or more right, I tend to think the one on the drivers side is better as the little bit of offset evens up the view somewhat as we obviously don't drive in the center of the road so a little bit of bias toward the opposite side of the road could be beneficial
 
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If you absolutely need perfect symmetry you could potentially DIY a shim or 3D print a wedge to go under the bracket, that's probably overkill though.
 
has anyone else placed the camera off-centre?

I have so (to the left of the rain sensor):

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I'm considering buying the SG9665GC, but am unsure whether it would work well if not mounted centrally on the windscreen. Due to my car's rain sensor housing, and the headliner projecting down over where the shaded part of the windscreen usually is, I wouldn't be able to mount it behind the rearview mirror. Additionally, due to UK law regarding placement of items in the windscreen, I would have to position the camera more or less in line with the middle of the passenger seat, i.e. significantly off-centre.

Because the SG9665GC has no horizontal adjustment for the lens, how much of an effect would an off-centre mount have on the footage? I've looked through the photo thread in the B40/A118 forum and couldn't see anyone with such a placement - has anyone else placed the camera off-centre?

Thanks!
What car make / model / year do you have ?
 
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...Due to my car's rain sensor housing, and the headliner projecting down over where the shaded part of the windscreen usually is, I wouldn't be able to mount it behind the rearview mirror....
I have the same issue with my car so I just mounted it on the bottom of the housing. I used industrial strength Velcro tape instead of the 3M VHB (only because I wanted try it out there and haven't made it permanent yet) - but will 'someday' use either VHB or DualLock. (As a bonus since it's not mounted 'on' the windscreen you may not be in violation of any legal restrictions.)

Inside -

FrontMountInsideFlashSmall.jpg

From the outside (with flash, it's not as noticeable in real life) -

FrontMountOutsideFlashSmall.jpg
 
I have an off-center mounted SG9665GC. Mine is mounted to the right side of the rear view mirror due to the required state safety inspection sticker directly behind the mirror. (USA left hand drive vehicle)
The simplest solution to aiming it towards the center of the vehicle's hood is to use an extra strip of 3M VHB tape along one third of the mounting plate on whichever side you want the camera to tilt towards. All you need is to alter the angle 2 to 4 degrees.
 
Thanks very much for all your replies guys.

What car make / model / year do you have ?

I have an Audi A1, 2013 model with sunroof (the controls for this seem to be what causes the headliner to descend over the windscreen). Given the restricted space around the mirror, and the laws about placement of items in the wiper-swept area of the windscreen, there's not much option for putting this camera anywhere around the mirror (other than on the rain sensor housing, and I'm not keen on putting it there), hence it would need to be significantly off to the left, over the passenger's side. Dashmellow's suggestion of some extra tape sounds like a good solution, though.

Of all the dashcams I've looked at, I'm most keen on the Street Guardian models because of their quality, and the SG9665GC in particular because it's discreet.
 

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My rain sensor is huge (over 6 inches wide) as it also houses an array of other sensors and in built forward facing cameras (It's a Focus ST)

Accordingly my SG9665GC is mounted way off centre and past the edge of the rear view mirror. I found that my initial worries, which were identical to yours, were unfounded and the end result is completely fine
 
Thanks very much for all your replies guys.



I have an Audi A1, 2013 model with sunroof (the controls for this seem to be what causes the headliner to descend over the windscreen). Given the restricted space around the mirror, and the laws about placement of items in the wiper-swept area of the windscreen, there's not much option for putting this camera anywhere around the mirror (other than on the rain sensor housing, and I'm not keen on putting it there), hence it would need to be significantly off to the left, over the passenger's side. Dashmellow's suggestion of some extra tape sounds like a good solution, though.

Of all the dashcams I've looked at, I'm most keen on the Street Guardian models because of their quality, and the SG9665GC in particular because it's discreet.

You should be fine with this set-up:
I "stole" picture from @alexsoll, thanks ;)

Audi A3 UK.jpg
 
Here's my installation. No problems whatsoever with the end result

Initially mounted it so wide due to shadow from the world's biggest sensor :confused: The problem is the length of the sensor, rather than the width.

The bottom corner of the sensor was in the picture when I mounted it any closer
 

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I have the same issue with centering my dashcam. I basically used some markers and tried to mount the adhesive in that area. The end result was it was still off center aimed towards the passenger side more but still usable footage. I should've used a temporary mount or took a bit more time to aiming it correctly, lesson learned. I might buy another mount for my cam and remount it later but those get pricey.
 
Never been too concerned about centering. Mine is above the steering wheel and video looks fine.
 
Obviously, everyone has different attitudes and requirements about whether they feel they want their dash cams centered precisely on the road ahead of them. For some of us, centering the camera is more important than others. Personally, my philosophy is that one should have equal coverage on either side of the car's hood in the event of an incident since statistics show that a large percentage of car accidents involve an impact to the left or right corner/fender, more-so than head-on and these are the most dangerous impacts to the passengers. (just saw this on TV recently) I would want to capture as much of the incident as possible if someone should come into or across my path and hit the front of my vehicle obliquely from the side. As I mentioned earlier in this thread my state requires an inspection sticker right behind the rear view mirror in the dash cam "sweet spot" and this requires me to mount cameras about 7 or 8 inches away from the center post of the mirror. So, in my case, I almost didn't buy an SG9665GC because it can't be aimed where I need it and want it to be, but since the camera was otherwise very appealing to me I decided I would find a way to make it work.

There are other reasons for wanting to aim a camera. One of the main reasons I became interested in dash cams 5 years ago is that I was being harassed and threatened by a very bleeped-up character I once did business with who was angry that I hired an attorney after he broke a contract. Footage I shot from my vehicle eventually led to the guy getting arrested on stalking charges for doing (among other things) crazy stuff like following right behind my rear bumper and swerving his vehicle at me when he was driving in the opposite direction on local roads. For reasons like this, my first front dash cams were always aimed to the left slightly (USA right hand drive) so as to always be sure to capture the behavior of vehicles in the oncoming lane.

I happen to have been one of the DCT members selected to evaluate a pre-production sample of the mini 0806 which like the SG9665GC also mounts directly on the glass and faces only straight forward. During one of the discussions among us beta testers I brought up this issue and explained my reasoning and desire that the camera should have some means to aim it slightly to the left or right. Rayman.Chan, the developer, immediately understood what I was getting at and saw the value of this concept, especially after I showed some screen shots. Later in our discussions I also pointed out that there are a number of states in the US that require an inspection sticker behind the rear view mirror, along with an increasing number of new vehicles that have an obstacle in the middle of the windscreen such as a rain sensor, necessitating off-center camera placement and this represents literally millions of vehicles and many potential buyers who might hesitate to buy, or simply just not buy a camera that can only face straight ahead.

So this led to further discussion among the group, questions, a bit of testing in my vehicle with a swing-arm protractor and some image evaluation. In the end it was determined that all you really need is perhaps 2 to 5 degrees of lateral adjustment to accomplish this task. Amazingly, Rayman came back within less than 48 hours with some CAD renderings of a design that led to a very clever, inexpensive to produce and easy to deploy solution......two simple plastic wedges that attach to the back of the existing GPS mount. One wedge provides a two degree lateral angle shift. The other gives you a four degree angle shift. Combine them and you get a six degree angle shift. Flip them over and you can shift the angle to the left or right. These now come in the box.

I would love to see an option like this included with the SG9665GC.

wedges.jpg

Edit: I've actually been pestering @jokiin about this wedge idea for well over a year now, so I hope it eventually happens. :)
 
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You should be fine with this set-up:
I "stole" picture from @alexsoll, thanks ;)

That would indeed be the best solution, but it'd be illegal in the UK - it's well into the area swept by the wipers, and the law limits encroachment into this zone to no more than 4cm from the edge. It's silly really, as there's no way I could actually see that bit of windscreen when sat in the driver's seat, but there it is - draconian laws make the world go round. :)
 
That would indeed be the best solution, but it'd be illegal in the UK - it's well into the area swept by the wipers, and the law limits encroachment into this zone to no more than 4cm from the edge. It's silly really, as there's no way I could actually see that bit of windscreen when sat in the driver's seat, but there it is - draconian laws make the world go round. :)
If you dont use cables covers, you can mount SG9965GC just below RVmirror sunshade, it will be only about 2-3cm below that sunshade which I believe will be within law ?

Edit:
However I might be wrong, your rain sensor cover may be on the way of lens FOV with my proposal.
 
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That would indeed be the best solution, but it'd be illegal in the UK - it's well into the area swept by the wipers, and the law limits encroachment into this zone to no more than 4cm from the edge. It's silly really, as there's no way I could actually see that bit of windscreen when sat in the driver's seat, but there it is - draconian laws make the world go round. :)

Where I live it is completely illegal to attach anything other than a rear view mirror to the windscreen except for a 4 inch square in the lower right hand side corner. Five years ago when I first installed a dash cam I was careful to try to hide it but I was worried that sooner or later I would get a ticket ($160.00!) or a warning from the police, but it's never happened. Over the years I've seen more and more gadgets like GPS units stuck to windscreens even right in the middle which has always been considered the very worst place because it can block the driver's view of the road. These days I see everything from toll responders to satellite radio controllers, to GPS units, radar detectors, and even an occasional dash cam stuck to different places on the windshields and when I've spoken to other drivers, nobody has ever had a problem with the police about it. Most didn't even know it was illegal and they don't seem to care. It seems that even though it is against the law in my area to mount anything to the glass, the law is just not being enforced. This is probably because those laws were written long before any of these popular electronic gadgets were invented.

So my advice is to keep your eyes open and have a look around at other vehicles where you live. Do you see other cars with electronics mounted on the glass into the area swept by the wipers? If you do, then perhaps the obsolete laws are not heavily enforced in your area too. I've found that supermarket parking lots are a good place to survey other cars for their windshield gadget mounting habits. :)
 
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Here are images from three separate cameras. One is 7" left of centre, one is 2" right of centre and one is 5" right of centre. In my opinion the view from each is acceptable and presents no problem.
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indeed, any of those are going to do the job, I think most would balk at 7 inches of offset (and realistically that's probably way more than people would normally be considering) but the small amount of offset in the actual picture is negligible
 
I can tell you from personal experience that the question of camera offset is highly dependent on the vehicle you are mounting the camera in. In some it is negligible and in others it is unacceptable.
 
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