Use car's existing factory cameras.

[DougD]

I have a 2014 Ford Fusion Titanium, which comes with not only a rear backup camera but also a front camera that's used for the lane departure warning system. Has anyone attempted to utilize these cameras as dash cams coupled with some kind of DVR?

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Those OEM backup/front cams are most likely analog and not even HD, or will not even have WDR (night vision). So, starting from that you don't have much to work with. The next challenge is they probably are all connected via the complex CANbus which will be extremely difficult to tap into assuming it's an analog a/d signal. I'm not sure this project is worth the effort unless you are in a major DIY project mood. You're going to have to dig deeper to get the exact specs of the camera, sensor, and the type + method of signal it transmits.

 

[frav]

Analog? I doubt it. Probably digital, but maybe not HD resolution. The CAN-bus is digital, and almost everything else related to communication in a car. So why using a old analog camera & having a need for a A/D-converter? Don't think so.

 

[jokiin]

more likely to be analog cameras, not suitable to do what is being discussed regardless though

 

[DougD]

Thanks guys, appreciate the pointers. I was hoping there'd be some way to do this since the factory camera and bezel consumes most of the space available for mounting a camera out of sight.

 

[spotnz]

When I had a rear view reversing camera installed in oct last year. I was told that night vision was available, for an extra $1000.

AND the camera being next to the opening catch, faces downwards. making viewing of traffic difficult, unless their breathing my exhaust fumes

 

[Lielap]

Even if the factory cameras are analog, there is a problem of recording that analog signal. There are analog to digital storage devices available on ebay, but there is no data about video encoding used - most likely they have very poor video compression.

Therefore, it would be nice to have DVR that would have video input. I haven't seen such DVR yet.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

If you want a major DIY product, Here's a Raspberry Pi Video Capture add-on board:

http://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=20159
http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Easycap
or
http://www.auvidea.com/index.php/theme-styles/2013-06-22-21-23-34/raspberry-pi-hdmi-in
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1419380698/connect-your-hd-camcorder-to-your-raspberry-pi

You would need another Analog to Digital converter box in between. (Composite to HDMI)