Where did you mount the camera? Post your pictures

Blackdog said:
Further to my post back in May, (and big thanks to MiiHere for giving me the idea), I've finally taken some pictures of my install. The vehicle is a 2012 BMW X1 (pre-facelift) in Titanium Silver. The camera is a Street Guardian SG9665GC.

First off, the original install, just sticking the mount's to the window:




Not very discreet! I had originally hoped to mount the camera at the top of the screen next to the rear view mirror, behind the "dots", without using the cable tidy. Unfortunately this resulted in some of the rear view mirror housing being in frame, so wasn't acceptable. Hence the location I've chosen to avoid that, but it just looks ugly.

So I wanted a discreet solution that looked as OEM as I could get, and I knew that meant extending the "black" section where the rear view mirror is. It was MiiHere who gave me the idea to use vinyl.

So here is my first attempt:



(ignore the white paper) - you can see this would hide the camera mount etc, but in my opinion (after I'd applied it) looked silly. I hadn't got it lined up straight and I hadn't gotten all the air bubbles out (this was actually completely black window tint film....in the first picture you can see two black squares on the top left and right of the screen....these were my little "test" swatches of different materials to see which I wanted to use!).

So I decided the black had to blend in with the original section. Thats what the white paper is....one of many templates I made with paper, so that I could just cut the vinyl to the correct shape.

Here's the finished article:











As you can see, the camera peeps out at the bottom. The black vinyl isn't the exact same "shade" as the OEM black section, but in real life it blends in quite well, and it doesn't stand out...lots of cars have these black sections on their screens now, so at a passing glance, you'd just assume it was original.

I got a stone chip that needed repairing and the repair guy initially thought it was genuine... I've still got the template so if the screen does need replacing I can easily do another one (now I commute 100 miles a day, I'm expecting more stone chips!...and now I commute 100 miles a day is the reason I got the dash cam....so many miles = so many opportunities to need it!).

When I first tried installing the vinyl I just tried sticking it to the glass.....it was impossible to get it in the correct position, so I used some water with "washing up" liquid mixed in and then it was easy to slide around to get the correct position and then "squeegee" the excess water and air bubbles out. Also note that in some of the pictures it looks like some of the vinyl hasn't stuck correctly - thats just the muck on the outside of the windscreen that isn't in the wiper path and also the "dots" around the original black section - they are flush with the glass, so not a problem to stick over, and until these pictures I hadn't noticed them that obvious....so in reality they aren't a problem.

From the driver side it looks like this: (apologies for the image being grainy...had to lighten a lot in photoshop to show any detail)



And the passenger side:



The pictures make it look quite big and obvious from inside, but it doesn't seem like that when in the car, i.e. not in your face.

In the drivers view picture you can see the GPS unit in the bottom left of the dash. I had initially put it at the top of the rear view mirror housing (tucked in behind the mirrors cable, just visible in the first two pictures) but you aren't meant to put it so close to the camera (interference?) so I moved it.

Because of how far down I had to mount it, the cable tidy doesn't go all the way up to the headlining, so you can see the wires at that point, but I'm happy with that....call it a compromise.

Taking pictures of the screen is quite difficult with glare and reflections....and also I could've washed it first.

Note my skater dude friend....he's been with me through about 5 cars! (thats 5 car changes...I haven't written off 5 cars!!!!)

Here's a screen grab to show the field of view:


Hope you like.
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Vinyl could do a job for me - is it from eBay?
 
niko said:
Yeah, I also like @Blackdog idea shown HERE.
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Me too. Going for it. Ordered some tint, got the wife on standby who is very artistic, & arty-crafty for the design and installation. As mentioned in a different thread, I have a C4 Picasso with a massive windscreen- looking to do a job whereby I can fit discreetly a wedge camera. Hopefully. :eek:
 
Richard Ayrton said:
Me too. Going for it. Ordered some tint, got the wife on standby who is very artistic, & arty-crafty for the design and installation. As mentioned in a different thread, I have a C4 Picasso with a massive windscreen- looking to do a job whereby I can fit discreetly a wedge camera. Hopefully. :eek:
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Yeah, I remember your case. I was also thinking about "tinting" solution for your C4 to hide wires under DIY tint. I am sure your wife will do a great job.
 
niko said:
Yeah, I remember your case. I was also thinking about "tinting" solution for your C4 to hide wires under DIY tint. I am sure your wife will do a great job.
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I never thought about a tint, nor heard of one to be honest, until I read the post that you quoted. Feeling slightly inspired, decided to go for it. We shall see if it workso_O Tint ordered, tick.....now reading up on wedge cameras. Thank you for your help @niko - appreciated.
 
Richard Ayrton said:
I never thought about a tint, nor heard of one to be honest, until I read the post that you quoted. Feeling slightly inspired, decided to go for it. We shall see if it workso_O Tint ordered, tick.....now reading up on wedge cameras. Thank you for your help @niko - appreciated.
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No problem. Idea and final result was from @Blackdog. My "job" was just to point out to his post ;)
 
Thanks guys, but while were giving kudos, lets not forget that I got the idea from Miihere!

Yeah, I got the samples from adobe window films. I got samples of limo black window film and 100% black window film and also the vinyl. I have installed window film before, so was confident with that, but went with the vinyl in the end. I bought a metre roll as the sample wasn't big enough.

I made lots of paper templates and made lots of adjustments to those templates before I was happy, then it was a simple case of tracing round the outline onto the back of the vinyl (which is white paper, so its easy to write/draw on). Make sure you get it the right way round, so the sticky side is to the screen.

I tried just sticking it on the window but it was impossible to get it right (as soon as it touched the glass it would stick, and pulling off to re-align would stretch it), so I went through several attempts.

Then I remembered the wet application method for film so tried it with the vinyl and it worked. Get a spray bottle and fill with water and a drop or two of washing up liquid, then spray the windscreen in the area you are putting the vinyl, and also on the sticky side of the vinyl. Depending on the size of the vinyl you can peel all the backing off. Take care not to touch the sticky side (just rest it on your palm, sticky side up), make sure you spray it straight away to help avoid dust sticking to it (i'm not sure how wet it should be, I saturated it, probably a bit too much). Then put it on the windscreen and it will slide around easily. You then need to squeegee the excess water out so that the vinyl sticks (use a squeegee or credit card etc)..this takes a bit of patience, as it will slide around when squeezing the water out...just persevere. When its sticking in position move any air bubbles out by working from the centre of the vinyl outwards. Tip: when doing the water stage, put a towel on your dashboard, cos it will get wet!

Eventually it will be in position and hopefully no air...I think I left it for a few days, may even have been more, to make sure it was cured, then put the camera mount on as normal, again, leaving that a few days to cure.

The hardest part is making the template - its difficult to make sure it is in the right place because you wont have the camera in place. I did a mixture of inside and outside of the screen to get it right, even then, when I put the camera mount on, I was about a millimetre lower than I wanted, but didnt want to peel it off incase it took the vinyl as well!

Keep the template incase you have to re do it, i.e. Replacement windscreen.

Done right it can really look good, just depends how finiky you are.
 
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I have a Ford Focus. It has long sensors on front glass. Because of that i cant decide to buy which dash cam and mounting area.

i will buy A119 or mini 0903.
0903 samples seems better and it is smaller. but A119 has largest angle and can be hidden.
which mounting place and dash cam do you prefer?

Thx for help. 1.jpgalternate.jpg alternate.jpg
 
If you go with the A119, take a look at mounting it to the plastic housing itself. There may not be enough "width" though based on your plastic housing and to keep away from those vents in the housing. One of my SG9665GC is mounted similarly in my car and has been great the last 18 months or so it's been there.

Otherwise, for the A119, I'd go for the side in the black dot area that provides the least interference getting to the SD card. I'm a fan of getting the camera as hidden as possible, which means mounting it high so that the lens is at just the right place where the top of the image just shows the black dots.
 
I mounted mine behind the mirror so its doesnt block my vision or distract me. My only problem is i cant easily see if its working or not.

_FFX9599.jpg
 
From experience, the best place to mount a dashcam is NOT behind the mirror but above the driver or on the dash in front, (assuming the size and shape of the dashcam is such that it can be mounted safely without obscuring anyone's view).

The reason I say this, is because the driver's view is very different from the view from the centre of the car. I recently saw an incident involving the car in front of the car in front of me. I saw everything as clear as day. The dashcam mounted behind the mirror, captured nothing at all because the different viewing angle failed to see past the car in front. Obviously trying to catch footage of the car in front of the car in front, is unusual. However, what it does show is that the view the driver has is different to the view the camera sees from behind the mirror and in some circumstances, this might become critical where an accident is caused by the driver being able to fail to see properly and there then being some question as to whether or not the driver took due care or should have been able to see a danger.
 
c4rc4m said:
the driver's view is very different from the view from the centre of the car.
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Very true, and could be important. But the trouble with having a camera in line with the driver is it can either be outside the wiper-covered area or be in an illegal place. I saw a link to what the law says recently, I'll try to find it.

Edit> D'oh, it was right here in this thread!
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...ra-post-your-pictures.502/page-40#post-278446
http://suction-mounted-car-cameras.blogspot.co.uk/
 
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c4rc4m said:
From experience, the best place to mount a dashcam is NOT behind the mirror but above the driver or on the dash in front, (assuming the size and shape of the dashcam is such that it can be mounted safely without obscuring anyone's view)..
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not easy or practical in a lot of cases, illegal in some also
 
I prefer a center mount simply because it best shows my own vehicle position easily which is likely going to be a big factor if I am involved in a crash since I drive a large van. There is great value in making it easy for a unintelligent jury member to fully comprehend things :p

Phil
 
Richard Ayrton said:
Vinyl could do a job for me - is it from eBay?
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You may find issues with mounting the camera onto either vinyl or the dotted area. Suction mounts don't tend to stick well to the dots (I believe they probably let air under the mount), and whereas an adhesive mount will work, if you come to remove it, there's a risk of removing the dotted area as well, which could make for an expensive repair or hit when selling your car.

A suction mount onto vinyl may also be problematic as I found they don't suction well. As for an adhesive mount, the issue then may become whether the vinyl's adhesive is strong enough to carry the weight of the camera as it's that and not the mount that's holding it to the screen.

What I did with my GoPro was use black vinyl on the housing itself to matt it down and make it merge into the interior behind the smoked windscreen. The Go Pro as standard has a clear housing that stands out a mile, especially with a silver camera in it like this (stock photo from google - usually only have 1 cable!). Many dedicated dash cams have white writing or logos on the front and so could benefit from matting down to matt black:

F05450-GoPro-HD-font-b-HERO2-b-font-Outdoor-Sports-Camera-Protective-font-b-Case-b.jpg


What I did with mine was apply some black vinyl adhesive sunshade material from ebay:

I can't remember exactly how I did it, but I'm pretty sure I stretched it as best as I could, used a craft knife to make corner cuts where necessary and then used a hair dryer to stretch it tighter. Overall, I thought the result was good and it's now very discreet in the car:

29ar9kx.jpg



308wj78.jpg


PS these days the GoPro is usually my backup camera. It's only in use because I dropped and broke the lens on my Mobius.
 
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DashcamUser1 said:
The rules on mounting dash cams in the UK can be found here: http://suction-mounted-car-cameras.blogspot.co.uk/. I was given a similar leaflet when I purchased my F770 dashcam. What I am surprised about is how Toyota, and other car manufacturers, can get away breaking this rule by having their own safety systems that intrude more than 4 cm into the wiper clearance zone (and beyond the rear view mirror) but if we were to install dash cams in the same area, we could get fined / prosecuted for it.
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DT MI said:
You may be good to go with yours since that specifically says it applies to suction mounted devices. ;)
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The UK rules actually apply to any obstruction on the windscreen, whether that be a suction or adhesive mounted dashcam or satnav, mobile phone holder, air freshener, sticker etc.
See section 8 of the MOT Inspection Manual : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mot-inspection-manual-for-class-3-4-5-and-7-vehicles
 
Good points about mounting on the vinyl, because you are sticking to the vinyl, not the glass, so it all depends in how well the vinyl sticks to the glass.

I used a 3M sticky pad, not suction mount, and the dots are in the screen, not printed on it.

If the vinyl does come away from the glass the it will look crap from outside and be the opposite of what I wanted to achieve, but so far its working very well.

With this possible problem, only time will tell I suppose.
 
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