Ok,
Looking on Ebay, there are a ton of cheap backup cams....here are a coupla questions:

PAL or NTSC....US is NTSC right?

CMOS or CCD......what are the differences? *CCD=charge coupled device *CMOS=complementary metal oxide semiconductor

And, while I'm at it....the Hong Kong cameras on ebay are very cheap, and I know that you usually get what you pay for.....but most of those also have a disclaimer on their sites saying that there might be an extra charge from customs for exise tax, duty etc....anyone get hit with these charges before?

Thanks for your input!
Yoke

 

ihffilm.com/videostandard.html

US is NTSC.

dalsa.com/corp/markets/ccd_vs_cmos.aspx

I have only had a few purchases from Hong Kong but the Customs charge was handled by the shipper. It just showed up as a normal USPS parcel.

 

US= NTSC
CMOS= usually very cheap and you get what you pay for.
CCD= better picture quality but more expensive.

Recommendations:
Front FWIW I went with the Coastal camera (CCD) for the front. It has not dissapointed and gives a beautiful picture at all times (except when the lens is dirty ). I think it was ~$120. I have LED lights in my PIAA light bar mounts so I always have an image.

Rear: I went with a Hong Kong "heavy duty" infrared led camera also CCD (~$100). Has 30 some ir led's around the actual pin hole lens that literally light up the night (they only come on in the dark-very neat). I had a problem in Ouray last year in that the camera stopped functioning when it got wet. It started working again after a few dry days so in time I "waterproofed" it by covering the holes in the back with silicone (it was sold as waterproof). It has worked perfect ever since the "waterproofing".

Both camera's will "white out" in direct sunlight and I have been wondering if a film of polarizing materiel would stop this.

If you have an unlimited budget go with a FLIR unit in front but be prepared as the cheapest I found one for is $2K.

 

I bought one of the $25 Hong Kong cameras for mine and I'm very pleased with it. It has a good picture, and does well at night too with the small IR emitters. I ended up with something similar for my front cam, which works well also, but I mainly use it for spotting off road.

As for price, it was exactly what they stated on the eBay auction. Ended up being about $35 with shipping and the $5 hole saw that I picked up for drilling the hole in my bumper.

 

Did you end up drilling the stock bumper in the back?

 

No, I have the Rugged Ridge XHD, so I drilled a hole in it and mounted to that.

 

Coastal has some great cameras.