Out of focus rear camera

[Fpeter3]

The rear view camera on my 2013 Fusion Hybrid certainly does not have the clarity of the car we test drove. Even the salesperson agreed that it was blurry. Yesterday my wife took the car back to the dealership to have service look at it. After 20 minutes of waiting, they produced a "comparison" car to show her that it really was okay.

 

Does anyone know if the focus can be changed on the camera? How difficult is it to get to the camera?

 

TIA!

 

Pete

[acdii]

Most likely its the lens. causing it. The cameras are fixed focus, but if the outer lens is distorted in any way, or has a film on it, the image will look just like that.

[coach81]

Hard to see how bad your clarity is from that pic.. looks like you altered the colors somewhat... but your rear view cam won't be crystal clear.. it's not supposed to. It's just so you can see how close are far away objects are.. Mine is not crystal clear, and I doubt any are.

[acdii]

the one in my 10 is a little sharper than the 13, and the 13 also stutters, but that's the MFT, not the camera. The MFT is a POS, would rather have the one in the 10 even if it doesnt have those fancy colors and stuff, at least it works 100% of the time.

[storksb]

The camera in my 13 FFH is reasonably sharp, did you check to see if there was a protective film left on it?

[Fpeter3]

Thanks for the suggestion, but there is no film over the lens. I will eventually remove the camera and try to see if there is any improvement that I can make. I am very disappointed especially when the salesman agreed that the picture in the "demo" car was much clearer.

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

[Riggo]

I noticed my camera is also blurry. It seems slightly in focus very very close to the camera but the further back you go the blurrier it gets. I seems like the lens or outter lens is definitely disorted.

[acdii]

Dont mess with it, take it to another dealer. If it isnt in focus, its bad. These from what I can tell are sealed units.

[Fpeter3]

A followup: Had to take the car in for another problem. This time to a new service manager. He agreed and replaced the camera. Now it is much clearer! Thanks for all your suggestions!

[neod192]

A followup: Had to take the car in for another problem. This time to a new service manager. He agreed and replaced the camera. Now it is much clearer! Thanks for all your suggestions!

Can you share a pic from the new camera so we can see the before and after? :) Can you do it in the same spot?

[Riggo]

Do most of you notice your review camera to be sharp like an hd TV or close or would you say it's much less clear than an hd TV? My girlfriend has an aftermarket alpine camera and touch screen radio on her car and it looks super sharp and clear at any distance. My fusion camera looks somewhat clear up close but not crystal clear, the further away it gets the blurrier it gets.

When I took it to the dealer they said they compared it to another fusion and it was the same. I guess I need to go to the showroom or lot and look at some other fusions myself. I didn't have time when I picked up the car from the service area last week :-/.

[Riggo]

Here is a photo of the rear camera in use. I don't know if it shows up too well. The resolution actually looks better on the photo than it does in person for some reason.

The problem I see is that the objects further away are out of focus, for instance, the orange construction sign on the right in the background. You can't read the letters at all on it.

On my girlfriends aftermarket camera, the text on that sign would be crystal clear. The parked cars in the background are also somewhat blurry, it's not as apparent in this photo as in person.

So what I'm wondering is if this is the norm for these Ford cameras or if there is something wrong with mine.

It's not that I'm all that upset about it, but when I see my girlfriends car and then mine, it seems like mine is a few generations behind in quality.

 

Edited August 12, 2013 by Riggo

[GrySql]

Looks similar to mine.

 

Is the Alpine in-car screen as large as the FFH's 8" Touchscreen?

Screen size and the camera effective pixel amount (ie., 640x480) affect the screen resolution.

[Riggo]

Her screen size is 6.1". Maybe that's it. It's just so much sharper. Oh well.

[acdii]

My HD Tv is like that, if its not an HD picture its fuzzy, unless the screen size is reduced, then clear. They my both be using the same type camera, but the smaller screen size will make it clearer.

[Riggo]

So acdii. your rear camera looks like mine, with the cars in the distance looking blurry andthe close up cars not looking super HD sharp?

[acdii]

Yep, its not the sharpest camera, but it does what its there for.

[Riggo]

Ah, ok. That makes me feel better then!

Edited August 14, 2013 by Riggo