intensity2x

Finished installing a backup cam the other day and I figured I'd give a quick review.

I got the Sanyo CCA-BC200 because its seemed to have some good features. It is pretty small, has different viewing modes, and has adjustable guides overlaid on the image.

I paid about $250 for it, which is more than a lot of other cameras, but the features on this make it worth it to me. The different modes plus the overlaid guides are worth the extra $$ if you ask me. Its plenty small and real easy to install.

It comes with literaly everything you need to install. The camera itself, a small ECU box, double stick tape, wire taps, cable ties, everything. All the wires are plenty long (except for the switch, but I'll get to that later). Actually the wires are kinda too long, but at least there is no fear of running short.

The default mode is a corrected image view with guides. It attempts to correct the fish-eye view of the camera to give you a normal picture. It works well, but seems to overcompensate a bit. I'm judging just by the bumper line, it seems to bow out a little, but its still much better than the regular fish-eye view.

After the initial set up which requires putting markers at 2, 4 and 8 feet behind your vehicle, the guide lines give you a visual view of how far things are. You can adjust the center point if you mounted the camera off to the side so it compensates. It also lets you adjust the viewing angle. It can simulate a higher angle than the camera is at, giving you a more top-down view, though at greater distorsion. It sets lines at 2, 4 and 8 feet back so you can gauge distance, and you also set side guides so you know the width of your vehicle.

And this leads me to the next view, which is called "AirCam". It actually gives you a full top down view on the area behind your vehicle. It gets a little distored towards the edges, but its a really cool feature.

And the 3rd view is raw images, fish-eye view with no guides. boring.

Heres some pics:




The corrected Image View:


AirCam View:


Install Tips:
I installed it in my '06 TSX following the directions here: https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-video-electronics-navigation-22/backup-camera-diy-362179/

I installed the ECU on the trunk lid, under the carpet. It fits nicely there and made it easy to run the wires. Tied the power into the reverse lights, however I may change this. It takes a couple seconds to power up, which doesnt seem like a lot, but think about how often you are in reverse. Only a couple seconds at a time, right? I think I am going to wire it up to an accessory line instead. It also has a remote turn on lead which I can leave hooked to the reverse lights. The wires are stupid long so I have them all bunched up under there as well. The only wire I need to be long, isn't. The wire for the switch won't make it to the front of the car from the trunk lid, so I'll have to splice some wire to it. Thats for another day though. You really only need the button for the initial set up, or to switch modes. I prefer the default mode though so no real need for it. (other than to show off the AirCam mode )

All in all, it's a great product. I give it

Jottle

Thank you so much for trying out this camera. There are absolutely zero web user reviews or reports about others who have used this exact camera on their cars. I'm glad to see a fellow tsxer has tried it out successfully! I got the wendy cam, and I would have purchased the Sanyo if I had seen more reviews and could justify the extra coin Again, thanks for posting this writeup. Maybe I'll go with it in the future.

A few questions, do you find the aircam mode useful? And looking at your picture of the corrected view mode, do the colored markers move as you turn the car diagonally left and right? Or are the markers static on the screen?

Jottle

One more thing. Perhaps you can remedy the problem with the wires from the "mode" switch by mounting the control box up front under the glovebox? Of course, this means you'll have to run all the wires from the cam, to the nav box, to the front of the car

Fulani has a TL

iTrader: (1)

WOW, One reason I was not putting the camera on my TL was cuz of the fish eye view (I hate it!).

Great write up. Is the camera as noticeable as it is in the pictures?

jay427

Wow, I had never heard of this camera. I've been wanting one for about a year now but have been looking for a more high-end camera than Wendy's. How is this one at night?

intensity2x

I haven't really used the aircam mode much, being that the switch is to toggle it is still in the trunk lol. I see it being usefull if you are trying to do some tight manuvering, for example back up right to an object or between 2 objects. For everyday use I like the regular corrected view. As for the guides, they are stationary on the screen, it doesnt 'predict' where your car will be while turning. (Not sure if thats what you ments or not) They are always showing stright back. And the ECU is fine in the trunk, much easier to run the switch wire than both the video and power wires, plus you dont really *need* the switch. I do think that this is how it was designed though, as the video wire is much longer than the switch wire.

It isnt the smallest camera on the market, but its small enough. My second pic is taken from about eye level for reference. Mine I'm sure is more noticable because its in front of the plate. Also the braket it comes with kinda makes it stick out further than it has to. If you found some other way of mounting it you could hide it a little more.

I was trying to get a wendy's cam but I couldnt find one. One of the reasons I went for this one instead. Great question about the night view, I forgot to mention this. It seems to have auto-white balance, which means it is amazing at night! The stock reverse lights are plenty bright enough to give you perfect view at night. You can see everything out to (and past) the 8 foot marker. Anyone who is looking at cams with night vision, trust me its not needed if you get this camera instead.

jaehshim

hey great looking!
i'm also going to do this for my 06 when i get back home in NJ.
having the 06 with navi, i hope it's not so hard

Jottle

Heya. Did you ever get the switch hooked up front so that you can change the viewing angles easily? How hard was it to wire up?

intensity2x

Haven't gotten around to it yet, but it's not hard. Just have to extend the wire and run it up to the front. If you've ever wired an amp, it would be pretty similar to running the remote wire from the trunk under the door sill molding up to the front. Honestly though, I'm perfectly happy having the default view, don't feel the need to switch and thats part of the reason I haven't gotten to it yet.

Jottle

Ah. so it's just a simple one cable (+) positive electric wire for the switch?

intensity2x

Well, its 2 wires. I was just thinking about running some small gauge speaker wire though, so no more difficult than running a single wire. Its a momentary switch, not sure exactly how it works though. You may be able to run just one wire, depending on how it works, though it would probably be a neg, not a pos (+)... One of these days I'll get to it since right now its just dangling in my trunk

Jottle

Did you ever rerun the wires?

Jottle

bump for question above.