SGGCCPL Circular Polarizing Lens Filter “CPL” problems

[Diamondblack]

My CPL filter will not stay on my SG9665GC camera any more.

When I fitted it to the camera 6 months ago I had to push it in that hard that I thought it could snap the camera lens of.

Luckily it fell of the camera in the carry bag as it could have fallen down into the heater vent on the top of the dash.

I can not use the filter anymore as it is likely to fall of when I go over the first bump in the road.

Mine was one of the lenses that came in the second V2 batch only for a V3 to come out weeks later.

My other gripe with the SG9665GC in the thick mount is not thick enough.


The CPL filter also touches the windscreen and prevents me from adjusting the height of the lens which could have been eliminated if the mount was thicker.

It doesn’t help either that the GPS cable plug fouls the windscreen as well.

Why oh why doesn’t the SG9665GC come with an adjustable mount?

 

[Street Guardian USA]

@niko will fix you up with a proper fitting CPL. It's been a bit tricky to get the 3-D printing correct on these since there is a margin of error tolerance we have to deal with from batch to batch. We are personally testing each and every one at this time for a good fit.

GPS cable should always be plugged in before mounting the camera.

Your aim should be 40% sky 60% cars road hood. If you expect to get 50/50 might be tight in some vehicles with CPL on. (And that's usually aiming too high anyway)

 

[niko]

My CPL filter will not stay on my SG9665GC camera any more.

When I fitted it to the camera 6 months ago I had to push it in that hard that I thought it could snap the camera lens of.

Luckily it fell of the camera in the carry bag as it could have fallen down into the heater vent on the top of the dash.

I can not use the filter anymore as it is likely to fall of when I go over the first bump in the road.

Mine was one of the lenses that came in the second V2 batch only for a V3 to come out weeks later.

My other gripe with the SG9665GC in the thick mount is not thick enough.


The CPL filter also touches the windscreen and prevents me from adjusting the height of the lens which could have been eliminated if the mount was thicker.

It doesn’t help either that the GPS cable plug fouls the windscreen as well.

Why oh why doesn’t the SG9665GC come with an adjustable mount?

Please e-mail me directly by replaying to order number and I will look after you.

 

[Diamondblack]

Thank you for all the replies.

I think the filter housing needs a redesign as the material used in the design seems to have deteriorated.

I have only done a thousand odd miles since it was fitted 6 months ago and I don’t leave the camera in the car when I leave the car.

It is like the material that is used has stretched.


I fit the GPS and Power Lead to the unit before I fit it to the windscreen mount as it would be too fiddly to do so when it is already mounted.


Does anyone know the size of the GPS connector as I would like to get a right angled connector bit?


Surely 40% sky 60% or 50/50 is more of an individual preference and not set in stone, I "personally would prefer" to see more of the road ahead and less on my bonnet in the video clips.

I trialled the camera at both the top and bottom of my windscreen, there is only a 9 inch to a foot difference on height on my vehicle.
This did not make any real difference when capturing the number plates of the cars in front of me in stationary traffic.

I also think there are also fewer reflections from the windscreens when mounted on the bottom of a windscreen.
The problem is that the mount doesn't really allow for this as the unit looks untidy with the cables trailing out of the top of the unit.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

40/60 will ensure the focal sweet spot of traffic will remain centered. 50/50 might cut out bonnet/hood but then it might look as if you're aiming at the sky during playback. You'll get an unnatural feeling from the fish eye effect trying to watch traffic with cars being so close to the edge of the lens. (instead of them being centered)

If you got your SGGCCPL 6 months ago it has already been re-designed a bit since then. They are no longer too loose. The flaps have been extended to increase the interference friction fit. A 3rd redesign is in process (our designer in France) as we speak to tweak things even further. We are always looking to improve. Long term we exploring resigning future Street Guardian DashCam product lens housing itself to allow clip-able CPL's to snap on.

Installing the DashCam too low is never a good result (less field of view, wires showing)

 

[niko]

If you need right angled GPS antenna cable / adapter / extension, please e-mail me directly by replaying to order number and I will look after you.
To tidy up cables you can use cables cover:

 

[Diamondblack]

This is my V2 CPL Filter

A possible solution could be to fashion some sort of clip that fits over the entire lens housing, just an idea.

Another possible solution would be to create a lip so that the lens could clip on like a Kinder Egg for example.

I have also found out this evening that the GPS connector is a 3.5mm stereo jack

 

[jokiin]

Another possible solution would be to create a lip so that the lens could clip on

we are looking at doing something like this

 

[lacibaci]

One would think for $40 this filter should be perfect the first time... Relying on friction to hold it in place is a bad idea.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

One would think for $40 this filter should be perfect the first time... Relying on friction to hold it in place is a bad idea.

It's a very odd shape. We didn't think a CPL would be possible at all at first and we were happy David of Moovika was able to design anything at all that works. The problem with 3D printing from Shapeways is they have a margin of error that fluctuates, it's expensive, and these can only be hand assembled in small batches at this time. (We keep running out of stock). We are looking to change the housing of the camera itself to accommodate a better design into the future. We are happy to go through the Extra effort trouble to offer what we can in the mean time.

 

[jokiin]

One would think for $40 this filter should be perfect the first time... Relying on friction to hold it in place is a bad idea.

unfortunately we don't make the filter, when we can do a mass production version this won't be an issue