I installed a Pioneer AVIC-Z1 w/ bluetooth & backup camera last month. A few weeks ago it was a nice day and I was bored so I took the boat to the lake and took a few video's of why the camera is great to have. The video's aren't that great, I took them with my digi cam and the light reflects in some of them, but you get the point. The camera is mounted in my tailgate handle on the opposite side of the keyhole.

This shows how it helps hooking up trailers. For this I put my tailgate down and you can see the ball in the lower corner. The camera isn't centered in my tailgate so you have to compensate a little bit, but after doing it once I know how much to compensate. I seem brake happy because the boat is parked on a slope, so I kept tapping the brakes to keep my speed under check:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEtYfOM7sYs

This one just shows me backing the empty trailer in the water to get the boat out. You can't see the trailer behind the truck when the boats not on it, so this is kinda handy. I wouldn't trust it by just watching the camera if the ramp was crowded, but it's a nice double check and easy when nobody else is around:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA0yI7WzuOA

Normally the camera only comes on when I put the truck in reverse, but I wired up a switch so I can turn the camera on manually when I need/want to. You can also make my head unit splitscreen and show the rear camera and navigation. That's what I'm doing here. For some reason after I uploaded this one to Youtube it isn't as clear ... oh well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzZ_5lqyBiE

Kinda cool I thought. I'm loving the AVIC-Z1, just wish they'd figure out a hard drive hack so I could load mp3s!

 

thats cool dude....does the camera angel change? how so?

 

NICE!! How much was the rear camera? Can you post some pics of where its mounted?

MoBann

 

Nope, camera angle doesn't change. For hooking up to the trailer I just put the tailgate down so the camera is facing down towards the ground. Gotta be careful the trailer will allow for this obviously!

 

I thought the AVIC could load mp3's. Isn't that what 10G of that 30G drive is for? May have to burn them to cd/dvd to transfer them though.

Those videos look pretty good. What camera did you get? I want one for my Kenwood XXV-05V.

 

I don't ... but need to get some. Hopefully I'll have time to wash the truck this weekend and get a few pictures.

 

The AVIC can PLAY a cd full of MP3's, but it will not record them to the hard drive. To record stuff to the hard drive you have to put in a CD with the songs in normal format. Pretty lame! It records pretty fast, but even at pretty fast it takes a while to fill up 10 gigs even if you put them in one after another.

Those videos look pretty good. What camera did you get? I want one for my Kenwood XXV-05V. [/QUOTE]

Fuji E550.

 

You misunderstood me D. I meant what are you using for your backup camera not your digital camera.

 

Ah ... sorry. heh I'm just using the cheap eBay cam. I've been happy with it for the price, but I'm sure there are a lot better options out there if you spend a little more money.