Opinion please on focus/sharpnes of this picture (2560x1440x30fps)

[vjc]

Hi,

Just got an A119 v3 and wondering if the picture I attached is the best I can hope for.

Please share your thoghts.

Thanks.

 

[DT MI]

Looks a bit 'hazy' to me. I especially see an area right in the middle (to the left of the pedestrian sign and below the cloud) that could be a number of things.

Is your windshield really clean - inside and out? This can affect image quality.

Do you have a CPL on the camera? Sun glare/reflections on the windshield can cause IQ issues.

Is the camera lens clean (no fingerprints, smudges, etc.), and all protective film removed?

 

[kamkar]

It do look a little weird in the middle
More frame grabs from scenarios with a different composition would be nice to have a look at too.

 

[Dashmellow]

I give it a B- maybe even a C+

 

[kamkar]

A proper frame grab VS a trimmed screen grab would also be nice.
The pic above is 1585 X 820

 

[vjc]

Looks a bit 'hazy' to me. I especially see an area right in the middle (to the left of the pedestrian sign and below the cloud) that could be a number of things.

Is your windshield really clean - inside and out? This can affect image quality.

Do you have a CPL on the camera? Sun glare/reflections on the windshield can cause IQ issues.

Is the camera lens clean (no fingerprints, smudges, etc.), and all protective film removed?

The windshield and the camera are clean. The haze looks like pixel blocks.
I cannot upload the riginal resolution because a VLC snapshot is too large, 4.5MB.

Let me try and upload to youtube -- never did that.

 

[vjc]

A proper frame grab VS a trimmed screen grab would also be nice.
The pic above is 1585 X 820

The file is too large when I try to upload it here ...

 

[vjc]

I uploaded the video to youtube, but it deteriorated the quality even further:

Not sure what to do next.

 

[vjc]

When I download the uploaded movie back from youtube, I see that it was transcoded to 1280 × 720 and the size is about 10x smaller than the original. Not sure how to upload a full resolution mp4.

 

[DT MI]

Not sure what to do next.

Set up a free account at mega.nz. Upload videos/pics and post the link here.

 

[vjc]

here's my mega upload. Unfortunately, I had to edit out gps coordinates with iMovies and the resolution fell to 920 × 1080, but it's much better than youtube. I'll try to get a full res movie tomorrow.

Here's the Mega link:

Mega

Just added a clip in full resolution. It's a parking lot, so the picture is pretty static, but seems to lack sharpness nevertheless.

Mega2

 

[Nigel]

Just added a clip in full resolution. It's a parking lot, so the picture is pretty static, but seems to lack sharpness nevertheless.

The focus isn't perfect, but it is not far off, a little manual adjustment might be worth the effort if you are into that sort of thing.

I can see some rainbow patterns, which I suspect are from aftermarket windscreen tint? This may be producing the slight haziness too...

For a true test of the lens, you should record with the camera outside of the car with no glass/tint in the way, then we can better judge the source of any imperfections in the image. Also record with the sun behind the camera. With this clip the sun is in front of the lens and so causing reflections within the lens, windscreen glass, and tint, which makes it hard to judge focus accurately. The top left is lacking detail, but it is hard to judge if that is from focus or from the sun being in the top left, then the right is affected by the rainbow patterns which again are hiding detail and making it hard to judge lens quality.

 

[vjc]

For a true test of the lens, you should record with the camera outside of the car with no glass/tint in the way, then we can better judge the source of any imperfections in the image. Also record with the sun behind the camera. With this clip the sun is in front of the lens and so causing reflections within the lens, windscreen glass, and tint, which makes it hard to judge focus accurately. The top left is lacking detail, but it is hard to judge if that is from focus or from the sun being in the top left, then the right is affected by the rainbow patterns which again are hiding detail and making it hard to judge lens quality.

A handheld clip outside the car:


Handheld

 

[Nigel]

A handheld clip outside the car:


Handheld

Looks pretty good to me, focus looks much better out of the car, so I guess most of the issue was the windscreen/tint, still not perfect, but I wouldn't bother trying to improve it.

There is a little more chromatic aberration than I would like, but that is fairly normal, and there are a lot of worse cameras, it is not a top specification DSLR. Colour, exposure, noise etc. look very good in that image. Sky being a little overexposed is correct for a dashcam, shadow detail is more important. Seems to be a little less sharpening used on that firmware than I would expect, if you prefer it sharper then you can always add some in an editor, much easier to add than remove.

Biggest image quality improvement would be from more bitrate, but for everyday use I would leave it as it is rather than install modified firmwares.

Frame grab from above video to save others downloading:

 

[vjc]

Looks pretty good to me, focus looks much better out of the car, so I guess most of the issue was the windscreen/tint, still not perfect, but I wouldn't bother trying to improve it.

There is a little more chromatic aberration than I would like, but that is fairly normal, and there are a lot of worse cameras, it is not a top specification DSLR. Colour, exposure, noise etc. look very good in that image. Sky being a little overexposed is correct for a dashcam, shadow detail is more important. Seems to be a little less sharpening used on that firmware than I would expect, if you prefer it sharper then you can always add some in an editor, much easier to add than remove.

Biggest image quality improvement would be from more bitrate, but for everyday use I would leave it as it is rather than install modified firmwares.

Nigel, thanks a lot !

I'll try to borrow the same camera from a neighbor to compare side by side, but you've pretty much convinced me that the image is as good as it ever going to be from that dashcam.

 

[Nigel]

You could try without the CPL, that will probably remove the rainbow patterns, but may show reflections instead. Which is best depends on the vehicle and tint. Those rainbows are a bit unusual, we normally see big ones in the sky when tint+CPL are used and interfere with each other. You should see the same effects when wearing polarised sunglasses.

 

[vjc]

You could try without the CPL, that will probably remove the rainbow patterns, but may show reflections instead. Which is best depends on the vehicle and tint. Those rainbows are a bit unusual, we normally see big ones in the sky when tint+CPL are used and interfere with each other. You should see the same effects when wearing polarised sunglasses.

What is interesting, the car was not custom tinted (unless Florida-sold cars are tinted at the factory). I noticed that side/ rear glass looked darker than on the vehicles sold say in the US Northeast but it is how it was originally at the dealership, and I did not bother to ask since I do not care much about this sort of things.

I'll try your suggestion, thanks. I was not so much worried about color distortion/glare as with perceived lack of focus, really.

 

[EGS]

here's my mega upload. Unfortunately, I had to edit out gps coordinates with iMovies and the resolution fell to 920 × 1080, but it's much better than youtube. I'll try to get a full res movie tomorrow.

Here's the Mega link:

Mega

Just added a clip in full resolution. It's a parking lot, so the picture is pretty static, but seems to lack sharpness nevertheless.

Mega2

Question on the Mega2 video you uploaded. Is this particular video recorded with the camera outside your car? No wind shield or glass in front of it?
After looking at the footage it looks like the half left of the image is off focused and the right side looks nice and sharp. To me that means something is a bit skewed on the optical segment or the sensor mount is not properly tighten in one side. Rotating the lens may fix that side but you may encounter that the other side will be out of focus.
Attempting any mechanical adjustment will void your warranty and I think this is a good reason to make valid that warranty on your favor if you have it.

 

[vjc]

"Mega2" was recorded with the camera attached to the rear windshield which appears to be more tinted than the front one. "Handheld" was recorded with the camera poining more or less in the same direction as "Mega2" but outside the car.

 

[EGS]

"Mega2" was recorded with the camera attached to the rear windshield which appears to be more tinted than the front one. "Handheld" was recorded with the camera poining more or less in the same direction as "Mega2" but outside the car.

Ok. Then the softness on the left side may be caused by the curvature of the car glass