UK Ford Focus - view through windscreen

[Paul Iddon]

Cam is fine enough (set to 1440p) - but I wonder if there are any other car owners that have the A119 on the windscreen?

The reflection from the glass is quite obvious, even with the CPL attached there is little improvement.

Could it be the angle that the screen is at being the contributing factor? The dashcam is as high up as I can get it above the rear view mirror. (I have also added a home made lens hood to try and counteract flare).

Any thoughts?

 

[jokiin]

check the CPL is adjusted correctly, there was a batch that went out to some of the resellers just recently that weren't correctly aligned

 

[Paul Iddon]

check the CPL is adjusted correctly, there was a batch that went out to some of the resellers just recently that weren't correctly aligned

Tried realigning it (used my Google white background). No real difference m8 sadly.

 

[jokiin]

you should be seeing a difference with the CPL on, if you're not then something is wrong, check the lens isn't in the wrong way around, not common but has happened before

 

[Paul Iddon]

Re-did the CPL - showed up dark against my phone screen when hand held at the angle of the dash cam lens (I'm an avid photographer - I fully understand how polarisers work and the rotation affects...

It is better but still noticeable.





Below is a screenshot from a video off my cheap £20 Aldi dashcam which was positioned right behind the mirror, but the lens was perhaps an inch further from the windscreen and another inch lower, and on the left hand side of the mirror:

 

[jokiin]

it won't remove all reflection, it's not intended to, if it did you'd find the effect too strong to be able to leave it in place at all times

 

[Paul Iddon]

 

[Nigel]

Could it be the angle that the screen is at being the contributing factor? The dashcam is as high up as I can get it above the rear view mirror. (I have also added a home made lens hood to try and counteract flare).

Any thoughts?

The screen angle is quite good for CPLs on the older Focus, the newer ones are getting a bit too shallow but should still remove most reflections.

The A119 (no S) is a too wide angle for you to remove the reflections on the left and right edges with a CPL, only the ones near the centre will be completely removed. Test it with a bit of white paper or a white hand on the dash under the centre of the windscreen. It is hard to tell on your images if there is a problem since there are no reflections in the centre...

 

[Paul Iddon]

I suppose the centre is the important bit really.

Maybe I'm being too critical?

 

[Paul Iddon]

The screen angle is quite good for CPLs on the older Focus, the newer ones are getting a bit too shallow but should still remove most reflections.

The A119 (no S) is a too wide angle for you to remove the reflections on the left and right edges with a CPL, only the ones near the centre will be completely removed. Test it with a bit of white paper or a white hand on the dash under the centre of the windscreen. It is hard to tell on your images if there is a problem since there are no reflections in the centre...

Mine is old. 52, M reg.

 

[Nigel]

I suppose the centre is the important bit really.

Maybe I'm being too critical?

You will have to put up with some reflections at the edges, I would expect them to fade out faster than they do though so I'm not convinced it is working right, but with those images I can't tell.

Mine is old. 52, M reg.

I was trying to work it out from the registration no on the image, but that is not M reg!

 

[Paul Iddon]

You will have to put up with some reflections at the edges, I would expect them to fade out faster than they do though so I'm not convinced it is working right, but with those images I can't tell.


I was trying to work it out from the registration no on the image, but that is not M reg!

MA52 OFG

I call that M reg, lol... I suppose you'll call it a 52 reg

 

[Nigel]

MA52 OFG

I call that M reg, lol... I suppose you'll call it a 52 reg

A true M reg would be an Escort, not a Focus.
Your M reg could be almost any year this century!
So your system is not good for dating a car

This new system is far too complicated, they should never have used the 5 for September!

 

[2000rpm]

MA52 OFG

I call that M reg, lol... I suppose you'll call it a 52 reg

I would call it a 52-reg (first registered autumn-winter 2002).
In the past the first letter referred to the year. My wife once had an M-reg Metro.
Nowadays the first letter (two letters) refers to the area the car was first registered/purchased. In your case, Manchester/Merseyside.

Unless it's a private plate.

 

[Paul Iddon]

The camera records video well enough despite the reflections. Watch this motorbike overtake me and others quite quickly despite there being limited room with parked cars all down the left and with oncoming traffic as well as a car turning off to the right (bet he barely saw that one!) before cutting in ahead and taking a left hand turn at the traffic lights

 

[Leopold]

Hi! I think it looks ok, you always get a bit of reflection from the lower corners due to the angles down there... different polarization and can never get total cancelling as you can do (almost) in the center parts.

Here is what it looks like in my car (different brand but same principle):


__
PS. This is a screenshot, not full resolution. Camera mounted behind rear view mirror so it is almost completely out of sight from the driver's perspective, Viofo CPL filter which is carefully aligned for maximum reflection cancelling.

 

[Leopold]

The worst possible conditions is when you have sunlight coming in from an angle right in front of you and illuminating the dashboard to the max, here is a sample of that although a bit of clouds. Easy to note slight blurring in lower corners but still no problems to see what is necessary if something happens. I'd say this is almost perfect performance for a cheap CPL having to deal with an extreme wide angle lens under these conditions of being mounted just an inch behind a car windscreen.

 

[Zardoz66]

A CPL will not give you 100% reduction, and you have to adjust the CPL and angle of the lens to give you the best reduction you can get.

 

[EJB]

Post one is very similar to the effect in my newish KIA Ceed with a steeply raked windscreen.
No amount of messing makes it any different except when the angle is raised which then sees too much sky and tends to 'white out!
The same camera model in my motorhome, with a fairly flat windscreen, is perfectly OK!

 

[Paul Iddon]

Right, so I have lowered the dashcam down the screen so that it is almost level with the rear view mirror.

Even with the CPL (correctly aligned) the wide angle shows lots of dashboard - but is this better than the previous clips?