SGGCCPL Circular Polarizing ( CPL ) Lens Filter for Street Guardian SG9665GC

FYI:
SGGCCPL is now available on USA Amazon. (fulfilled by merchant)
Amazon Prime stock should be available in just over a week or so. (waiting for extra stock to arrive first)
 
Finally received this CPL, directly from Pier28. I got it to decrease the reflections from built-in navigation display in Infiniti's Q50 (b.t.w, if you're planning on getting new car - you probably shouldn't get this model until Nissan/Infiniti will modify the display's placement/angle). This filter cannot completely remove the reflection (regardless of the position of the lens) but the results are much better than without it. Here are 2 screenshots, one with CPL attached and one right after I removed it during traffic light stop.

8sMTQg2.jpg


JZykMH0.jpg


So yea, it's not perfect but does work well enough. One minor complaint, though - I'd really like more "tight" (or secure) fit when attaching it to the camera's own lens housing. It hasn't fallen off the camera during the car's movement but it's very easy to bump it off when trying to attach it to the camera or trying to detach the whole camera from camera's windshield mount.
 
yeah that's quite a lot of reflection from that screen

how tight it is varies according to manufacturing tolerances and very hard to get it perfect for every single piece unfortunately, it may be worth putting a piece of tape on the lens housing just to make it that little bit tighter
 
Other than your screen reflection, your reflections are much better than mine. Unfortunately not much you can do about the screen reflection, unlike dash reflections where you can buy a dashmat. The only thing I can think of is adding a nice fitted piece of tinted film, like a screen protector but tinted.

Also, to make the CPL more snug, chuck some painters tape along the edges. I bought some for about a $1 and trimmed it down so you can't even see the tape sticking out and now it's much more snug.
 
Richie83 said:
Other than your screen reflection, your reflections are much better than mine. Unfortunately not much you can do about the screen reflection, unlike dash reflections where you can buy a dashmat. The only thing I can think of is adding a nice fitted piece of tinted film, like a screen protector but tinted.

Also, to make the CPL more snug, chuck some painters tape along the edges. I bought some for about a $1 and trimmed it down so you can't even see the tape sticking out and now it's much more snug.
Click to expand...

That's not a bad idea. Buy one of those polarized laptop screen privacy film sheets and cut it to size. That might reduce or eliminate the monitor screen light shooting upwards towards the windshield into the camera.
 
Speaking of tint ( which I'm about to have installed on my new ride at 20% )

The dude gave me a piece of offcut to mull over and would be perfect to cut and paste if needed for the front JooVoo X.
 
I was seeing a lot of reflections and thinking about a CPL filter until an interesting thing happened.,,
As I was trying my cam out in different locations (blu-tack was ideal btw) I managed to knock the angle down so the image was ~50% traffic, 50% dash.

Now reflection issues are all but non existent and the cam handles strong light, low sun angles & changes from sun to shade far better.
I can still pick up plate info on cars 1 - 2 lanes either side and see no downside to my intended use (capture morons who cause me damage).
 
Film Guy said:
I was seeing a lot of reflections and thinking about a CPL filter until an interesting thing happened.,,
As I was trying my cam out in different locations (blu-tack was ideal btw) I managed to knock the angle down so the image was ~50% traffic, 50% dash.

Now reflection issues are all but non existent and the cam handles strong light, low sun angles & changes from sun to shade far better.
I can still pick up plate info on cars 1 - 2 lanes either side and see no downside to my intended use (capture morons who cause me damage).
Click to expand...

yeah it can vary from car to car, if you can get away without one is certainly preferred as the filter can have some adverse effects as well
 
I got CPL filter today and I tested it out but it didn't seem to improve it that much.

First half of video is without CPL and second half of video is with CPL.


Is there any way to improve it some more?
 
If you want to optimize your CPL, hold it up to a flat screen TV. (needs to be a TV, not a computer monitor) and it should be perfectly clear held normal, and black 90 degrees.

The first batch was not glued in and might shift slightly. You can spin it a bit. Latest batches are glued in place.
 
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Pier28 said:
If you want to optimize your CPL, hold it up to a flat screen TV. (needs to be a TV, not a computer monitor) and it should be perfectly clear held normal, and black 90 degrees.

The first batch was not glued in and might shift slightly. You can spin it a bit. Latest batches are glued in placed.
Click to expand...
Speaking of latest CPL batches. I ordered another one Saturday and it arrived today! That is next business day from California to the east coast. @Pier28 continues to amaze with outstanding service and support.
 
they won't remove all reflection, just minimise it, you can get ones that are perhaps a bit more effective but you'll find in low light you lose a lot of detail and get a lot of motion blur, it's about finding a balance
 
I purchased and installed a dash mat shortly before @Pier28 shipped me a CPL for my SG9665GC. The dash mat was surprisingly effective but the combination of the CPL with the dash mat is killer! Still, there is a satin finish silver area just over my radio that still created an annoying reflection but I was able to eliminate it with a piece of flocked blackout material I use in my photo studio. It comes in a big roll and is very similar to what telescope barrels are lined with to absorb light. It did the trick and blends nicely with the look of the dash mat.

A little DIY can go a long way sometimes and it got me thinking about @Alex P.'s night time navigation display problem.

reflection.jpg

I don't know how well it would work but it may be possible to ameliorate or even eliminate such a problem with a sheet of carefully applied and properly aligned linear polarizing film directly over the navigation display. While it would likely slightly alter the look of the screen, at the correct polarizing angle it might just do the trick. You can buy this material in various sizes from a wide variety of sources like eBay and Amazon. Larger sizes and films with different characteristics can be purchased from specialty suppliers like polarization.com and Polarizingfilm.com that are specifically intended for LCD displays. Could be worth a try.

polarizedfilm.png
 
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Picked up one of these for the front. Just a random thought on the German glass used. Wouldn't it make more sense to use less layers of glass? The uv filter is pretty much useless since the windshield alone blocks almost all uv, not to mention 7 layers of glass in the camera it self. Usually more glass means less transference of light. I'm by no means an expert in optics, but i do DSLR photography for a hobby, the best polarized lens filters have high transference and a very thin profile. (They also cost a lot but are worth it)
 
Also, any way to get raw video files of this?

There looks to be a definite loss of quality for the cpl at this time in the video. Not sure if its due to higher exposure needed and blur or if it's placement of camera or what but the trees and light have a hazy effect vs non cpl. Look at 5 min 40 seconds.
 
I have to check for raw files from my files history.
There may be a little hazy effect due to higher exposure and motion blur in some scenes which is normal in those circumstances, but there are no "definite loss of quality" in terms of comparison vs other dashcam cpl filters use.
 
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