Backup camera quality

We've used our 2020 Plus's Around View a few times, and I noted no blurry picture. I don't use the rear view much, though - mainly I look at the composite image from "above" the car.

If you were inclined to test you could print anything you want using 210 point bold font (you can manually type any size number in the font size box) and place it 36 - 48 inches behind the car. If you can read it your camera is better than my Leaf's. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the camera's vision is far worse than the California DMV's standards that require glasses while driving. I don't think you could read the huge "E" at the top of an eye chart with the Leaf's camera.

You could go to a Nissan dealer and ask for a LEAF test drive and look at how the backup camera looks.

The one at this dealer looked the same as mine. I suspect they got a large batch of bad cameras and have no interest in fixing them. I'm reviewing the Federal DOT standards for required resolution of Rear Visibility Devices. Cameras are on page 44.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/tp-111-v01-final_tag.pdf

I can't see how this could meet any reasonable standard, but I haven't reviewed them yet because my work is keeping me busy at the moment.

The backup camera on our Prius PHEV was pretty lousy, but it was definitely better than that one, at least in the daytime.

I owned a 2012 Plug-in Prius for 8 years, and a Prius Prime for 2. Without any kind of hyperbole or exaggeration I would say their backup cameras were about 40 - 50 times better. I'm trying to get one of my original 1998 Nokia phones working good enough to take a picture of the same scene because I believe it will still be light years better than the camera on the Leaf. Until then, here's a side by side of the same driveway and sign comparing the Leaf camera to my cell phone's camera.

My 2013 SV doesn't have the backup camera option, but this thread is making me feel like I'm not missing much.

I wonder if someone will swap the stock camera at some point, as there are tons of backup cameras listed on Amazon for less than $100. Would be interesting to see how much better one of those would be, particularly on a 2018 or newer LEAF (with a higher resolution display)...

Picture looks fine on my 2019 Plus but still have issues with water on the lens

My 2013 SV doesn't have the backup camera option, but this thread is making me feel like I'm not missing much.

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A properly working Nissan rear camera produces a perfectly adequate image.

SOME people, of a certain age, such as those in our household, still have a hard time remembering to use the camera image.... mirrors are still our friends. Maybe we will see a gradual learning curve.....

dmacarthur said:

SOME people, of a certain age, such as those in our household, still have a hard time remembering to use the camera image.... mirrors are still our friends. Maybe we will see a gradual learning curve.....

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Having driven cars with no cameras for twenty some odd years before cameras arrived, it took me a decade to "trust" the camera. I'd laugh at myself and ask in my head, "What? Do you think the camera's going to lie and show you a clear path when there's really a pole in the way or something?" But I still couldn't bring myself to trust something to electronics that I'd been doing with my eyes for decades.

SBCLeaf said:

dmacarthur said:

SOME people, of a certain age, such as those in our household, still have a hard time remembering to use the camera image.... mirrors are still our friends. Maybe we will see a gradual learning curve.....

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Having driven cars with no cameras for twenty some odd years before cameras arrived, it took me a decade to "trust" the camera. I'd laugh at myself and ask in my head, "What? Do you think the camera's going to lie and show you a clear path when there's really a pole in the way or something?" But I still couldn't bring myself to trust something to electronics that I'd been doing with my eyes for decades.

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And we have been driving for over 50 years, including many of those in school busses..... The camera does NOT lie!

I think it was mostly the idea of backing up without turning around to look. Even though I knew the camera was showing me what was there, it just felt so wrong.

dmacarthur said:

SOME people, of a certain age, such as those in our household, still have a hard time remembering to use the camera image.... mirrors are still our friends. Maybe we will see a gradual learning curve.....

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Mirrors do not have that wide angle view that is critical to me when backing out of a busy parking lot.

I like the camera better for that, well the camera that can actually tell a car from a tree. The fish eye lens means I can see cross traffic while backing out way before I could see it by using my own eyes or mirrors.

UDATE

After the dealership declined to fix the issue I called Nissan Consumer Affairs, who contacted me today and told me that their job is to reinforce the dealership's diagnosis. In other words, if a dealership says there's no problem Nissan Customer Affairs does not check into anything or review anything. They just confirm the dealership's diagnosis and close the case. I couldn't even believe my ears, so I asked twice in different ways and they were very clear that's the procedure.

So the only possible resolution to this issue is going to be from NHTSA.

Are you absolutely certain that there is not a clear plastic shipping protector on the lens that was not peeled off before purchase? If so, that would explain why the other cars on the lot have the same issue. The cameras on all three of my Leafs have been clear, but I remember needing to peel the shipping protector off one of them (2019, I think) because the image was out of focus.

GerryAZ said:

Are you absolutely certain that there is not a clear plastic shipping protector on the lens that was not peeled off before purchase? If so, that would explain why the other cars on the lot have the same issue. The cameras on all three of my Leafs have been clear, but I remember needing to peel the shipping protector off one of them (2019, I think) because the image was out of focus.

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Absolutely certain. You can see the plastic lens in my closeup photo. It's kind of translucent rather than clear. I believe that's what's making the image blurry. It's present on all the 2020 Leafs I looked at on the lot and not present on other models.

your best bet might be to find a Leaf with a good backup camera and do a side by side video on the same clip showing the fuzzyness of one vs not on the other, then post to Youtube and do some good old fashioned public shaming. If you were around Seattle i'd help you out with that, hopefully you can find an enthusiastic Leaf owner in your parts.

the other more expensive option is to not waste your gray hairs on this and replace it yourself.. part number looks like this:
https://parts.nissanusa.com/p/Nissan_2019_Leaf-HATCHBACK-SL-ELECTRIC/Camera-Back-View/97508242/28442-5SA1B.html

Marko

estomax said:

the other more expensive option is to not waste your gray hairs on this and replace it yourself.. part number looks like this:
https://parts.nissanusa.com/p/Nissan_2019_Leaf-HATCHBACK-SL-ELECTRIC/Camera-Back-View/97508242/28442-5SA1B.html

Marko

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I wouldn't hesitate for a second to replace it myself if I could buy it from somewhere that would allow me to return it for a 100% refund if it had the same issue. I haven't explored yet. Is it something that can be replaced without disassembling the hatch?