I recently purchased a Kenwood DNN990HD head unit. I was wondering if anyone can help me choose a rear view camera. I see they have the cmos-320 and the cmos-220. There is a $100 difference on both cameras ($270 vs $170). Can anyone help me in deciding if its worth the extra $100 for the 320 or should I get a different brand altogether?
WOW I just helped a friend buy eight each 650 line High Res CCTV color cameras for his house and he did not pay that much money for eight high res well make video cameras.
I would search for a more reasonable priced alternative since it looks like your paying a salesmans weekly bonus buying either of those. A well made clear pictured high res 650 line + video camera cost can be as low as $20.00 US each, so your pricing numbers are scary high when compared to whats available for video security purposes.
Somebody is possible overcharging you for a nickle and dime item IMHO. Oh and cameras are expendables as they take a beating exposed to the elements in any use.
Oh and even ebay has a huge selection of cctv grade video cameras. Just try and stick with a real name brand and you should be OK. I use CNB cameras and they also make a rear view car cam also. its over priced but with a little searching you might find a more reasonable price. These things are vary economically made nowadays < $20.00 to $80.00 will put a real quality reliable camera in you hands for practically any use >.. hope this info helps some, especially on saving you some money...
Oh and the signal standards for CCTV video have not change in 35 years so if its a video camera it is made to supply the standard video signal your HU will accept, so don't let any one snowball you on this engineering fact either....caveat emptor, buyer beware < and its helps to know all about what your buying these days lol lol lol...
I would search for a more reasonable priced alternative since it looks like your paying a salesmans weekly bonus buying either of those. A well made clear pictured high res 650 line + video camera cost can be as low as $20.00 US each, so your pricing numbers are scary high when compared to whats available for video security purposes.
Somebody is possible overcharging you for a nickle and dime item IMHO. Oh and cameras are expendables as they take a beating exposed to the elements in any use.
Oh and even ebay has a huge selection of cctv grade video cameras. Just try and stick with a real name brand and you should be OK. I use CNB cameras and they also make a rear view car cam also. its over priced but with a little searching you might find a more reasonable price. These things are vary economically made nowadays < $20.00 to $80.00 will put a real quality reliable camera in you hands for practically any use >.. hope this info helps some, especially on saving you some money...
Oh and the signal standards for CCTV video have not change in 35 years so if its a video camera it is made to supply the standard video signal your HU will accept, so don't let any one snowball you on this engineering fact either....caveat emptor, buyer beware < and its helps to know all about what your buying these days lol lol lol...
I would look around on Ebay for starters, as they have vehicle mounted cameras for sale there. At least you will see possible viable alternatives to over paying for the kenwood option.
If you see anything interesting PM me and I will help you as much as I can since I am familiar with this technology since I was in this industry many moons ago. I would need the Kenwood service manual to be able to absolutely for sure make everything work out for you. I believe the service manual can be had from Pacific Coast Parts online if its not online for free somewhere already.
I am sure Kenwood has made this optional item very attractive for the cash out lay they are asking you for, but its really a fairly economical item to begin with, and the technology is nothing special. Pm me here anytime on the DIY I will try to help you.
I also just downloaded the owners manual for your mentioned camera and its a standard Cmos CCTV camera 330,000 pixels < nothing special there > and it uses and a standard RCA phono cable connection to your head unit so no big deal there also. Its directly 12 volt powered just like any CCTV camera you can buy so nothing special there either. The kenwood unit uses a small hand held or dash mounted contrl that alows you to switch from wide angle to narrow angle picture view digitally but this is also available on most CCTV cameras so nothing special there either except the fancy dash mount push button control.. So just about Any well made CCtv camera could be used as an alternative and at a more reasonable price like in the $40 to $80 range would be the most I would spend. Your paying for the name and the nice looking small package the camera is in and the fancy remote dash control...
If you can live with a single viewing width picture this could be very easily done by any aftermarket camera. The dual view would require a soft ware change in the DSP for the aftermarket unit to shut down the dozens of options these cameras offer in a single push button on screen menu...down to a single view width change...
Last edited:
For what Kenwood wants you could buy a retail Go-Pro camera which is very High def video and its a mini DVR also. It could be interfaced as easily and its a whole lot better camera. I have a friend that uses one as a dash mount cam in his vehicle. Great video detail, and a mini DVR built in also... Juts some food for thought before you shuck out that kind of dough on a very simple rear video camera
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.