360° Around View Cameras

[emare]

Has anyone installed a 360° Around View Camera system. They are available on Amazon but often have few if any reviews. Fairly new product. All do not seem to work on longer, (20' +) vehicles. I really like the idea of the birds eye view as you drive. Makes navigating tight spots a little less stressful. I've already backed into a utility pole and think it might be a wise investment. Yes the utility pole was visible in the backup camera! thanks for any first hand experience or ideas.

[avanti]

Yes, I installed one. Buying direct from China they are quite inexpensive. You are correct that many of them are not tested for use on long vehicles.

The hard part is finding a decent place to mount the side cameras. On cars, they are usually designed to mount in the side-view mirror casings, but on a van you need to be a bit closer to the middle. I ended up mounting mine inside the porch light housings. Here are some pics of my install:

IMG_7189.jpg

IMG_7190.jpg

IMG_7185.jpg

IMG_7197.jpg

It is very cool. I don't use it quite as much as I though I would. This may be because I chose to display it on the rather small Sprinter OEM nav screen, rather than a dedicated monitor, which would probably be better (at the expense of clutter). Frankly, I think it is most valuable as a super-dash-cam. The device records continuously while traveling and obviously captures a lot. Here is a link to a video example of what is captured:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/412063...posted-public/

[emare]

Does this unit do a bird's eye view? Was the setup staight forward? What is the Brand. Thanks for the help.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by emare

Does this unit do a bird's eye view? Was the setup staight forward? What is the Brand. Thanks for the help.

Yes, it does bird view. You can see this in the left-third of the screen in the above photo.

Installation is easy except for running all the wires and figuring out where to put the side cams.

I bought it direct from China. The brand is Farz:

http://wholesaler.alibaba.com/produc...392986084.html

[emare]

Thank you, very helpful. How is Alibaba to deal with, never tried them.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by emare

Thank you, very helpful. How is Alibaba to deal with, never tried them.

Hit or miss. I have never lost money buying from China, but there are sometimes hassles. Ali Express is pretty safe. Alibaba is really set up for wholesale, but places like this will sell you "samples". They were OK to work with. IIRC, I ended up using Paypal rather than the Alibaba payment system. Not sure, though.

If I could get a similar deal from eBay, I would buy it there, but if not, it is not crazy to go direct.

[booster]

Originally Posted by avanti

Hit or miss. I have never lost money buying from China, but there are sometimes hassles. Ali Express is pretty safe. Alibaba is really set up for wholesale, but places like this will sell you "samples". They were OK to work with. IIRC, I ended up using Paypal rather than the Alibaba payment system. Not sure, though.

If I could get a similar deal from eBay, I would buy it there, but if not, it is not crazy to go direct.

Interesting information considering I just went through a hassle with DHGate. Went to buy some led fluorescent replacements and had to use credit card because it appears no more paypal with them. US Bank blocked the card, so I called them. They said that DHGate was on their list of fraudulent companies that generate way to many claims against the credit card due to bad products or fakes. DHGate appears to just broker for about a billion Chinese companies so it is like the wild west, it seems. US Bank suggested getting a prepaid card to use for protection, but you also lose some of your rights. I did finally find what I think are the identical product on ebay, at a higher cost that was about what the ebay and paypal fees would be, and ordered there instead.

[Davydd]

Advanced RV has been installing 360 degree cameras on the 24 ft. Sprinters for over 2 years now. In fact they started with the the next unit after mine and I didn't know about them. I did get to check it out and it is cool. I'm one who would need it as I feel many times I am back up challenged.

[emare]

Davy, Do you know what brand of system they used at Advanced?

[Davydd]

I don't but they have a YouTube video on it.

[SiennaGuy]

The video is below but quite frankly, I prefer Avanti's installation. It just looks neater to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoLp...MvbA2RMu9mKJvM

[FlyingDiver]

Originally Posted by SiennaGuy

The video is below but quite frankly, I prefer Avanti's installation. It just looks neater to me.

If you're referring to the side camera mounts, ARV isn't using the one in the video anymore. They designed a custom combination camera and security light mount that they 3-D print themselves. Replaces the camera shown in the video and the light fixture further back on the side.

I saw it when we visited the factory last month, but I didn't take a picture of it. I'll try to remember to do so at the Fest next week.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by FlyingDiver

They designed a custom combination camera and security light mount that they 3-D print themselves. Replaces the camera shown in the video and the light fixture further back on the side.

Heh. Glad I could pay back a little for all the good ideas I stole from them .