Camera

[Phantom]

I'm considering putting a port side forward facing camera on a 31CB so I can tell how close I am to the dock while maneuvering. (Depth perception challenged.) An aft facing camera might also be handy. I see Garmin has four "compatible" cameras - GC™ 100 Wireless Camera, GC™ 12 Marine Camera, GC™ 200 Marine IP Camera, and GC™ 10. Does anyone have experience installing any of these? It appears they are fixed direction and do not pan. Does anyone use a different camera? I see "blink" mentioned in the forum.

 

[bob daily]

I installed a rear facing camera so I could see what was coming up from behind and keep track of what was going on in the cockpit area mostly fishing poles. I went with a auto backup camera with a dedicated screen/monitor. Easy to install, cost was a lot less than what your looking at with Garmin.
The dedicated screen is handy so you don't have to bother with the chart plotter every time you want to use it. My total cost to install was less than $35 and the picture quality is great. Pictures of unit is in my photo album . Bob

 

[Matty]

I bought a garmin virb 360. Yes it is overkill. But just to let you know picture quality is unbelievable. It is compatible with the chart plotter so you can do a split screen. You can control from the chart plotter and switch between rear and forward pointing cameras.

 

[FlyMeAway]

I bought a garmin virb 360. Yes it is overkill. But just to let you know picture quality is unbelievable. It is compatible with the chart plotter so you can do a split screen. You can control from the chart plotter and switch between rear and forward pointing cameras.

I've been considering this solution as well. You can buy Garmin VIRBs pretty cheap on eBay, and my understanding is that they all work with the chartplotter. Plus, no cables to run!

 

[Severum88]

So I finally scored a used VIRB XE on offerup. I just wanted to post some info that I could not seem to get confirmed anywhere. With the latest firmware on my 7612, the VIRB camera settings, DO in fact, allow you to reverse the image for backup.

Severum

 

[FreeSoup]

Have a Virb 360 for other purposes, might need to play with it for this application. Appears all the Garmin cameras are discontinued now? That's disappointing.

 

[Wee Venture]

Have a Virb 360 for other purposes, might need to play with it for this application. Appears all the Garmin cameras are discontinued now? That's disappointing.

Garmin discontinued the Virb cameras but still makes others such as the GC 10. I have the GC-10, reverse image version, mounted aft of and slightly above the solar panel where it has a view over the top of the dinghy and serves as a backup camera. It is connected by video cable to the chartplotter, where I can see the image either full screen or split screen.

John