This is the most commonly asked question in every optical shops that we have been to. Glasses are widely used for its ability to withstand heat, scratches and transmit light very well. Huge optical and photographic companies rely on quality glasses to produce high-grade lenses for their products. Professionals believe that the clarity glasses can give can’t be replaced or matched with plastic lenses.

And, Do you know there is a huge cost difference between glass and plastic lens?

(Image Source: https://goo.gl/images/Pb5Gpi)

  This is also being considered by companies making dash cameras. Car cams are being relied-on to record road incidents and serve as a proof for legal purposes, so having a clear and quality footage is a must. One of the reason why the lens is being considered as one of the most important part of a camera. Having a low quality lens can affect the quality of the footage, just like when you’re wearing a low quality eyeglasses. Consumers expect to receive what they are paying for whatever the cost it. Sadly, some dash cameras claim that they do have glass lenses, but to cut down cost, some pieces of these lenses were made of plastic. No wonder why we can purchase too cheap dash cameras in the market now.

  What are the consequences of using plastic lenses? First, plastics contract and expand when exposed to different temperature. Second, though plastics are more durable and lighter, it is more vulnerable to scratches which will wear off as time goes by. All of these could affect the quality of the video in the long run. Specially in the Philippines, where it is summer most of the time, heat can penetrate windshields and be trapped inside the car affecting all plastic accessories inside. According to Heatkills.org, when it is 35 degrees Celsius hot outside, heat index can shoot-up to 45 degrees leaving your car engine off for only 10mins. Imagine leaving your car for hours! This will surely affect the lens of the dashcam if it was made with plastic. Of course, the video quality does not only depends on the kind of lenses used, but it plays an important role for having a great quality footage. 

As the glass gets thicker, the clearer and cleaner the image is. Why is that? The lens filters the light. According to most professional photographers, any degradation to the quality of the lens will also degrade the quality of the image that will be produced. So what can we say about 6 layers of pure quality glass lenses in a dash camera? We can surely expect a sharp and clear image for that, since light will be well filtered. But as reality bites, like when you are trying to purchase your eyeglasses, eyewear made from glasses is more expensive than the plastic ones. In the Philippines for example, a standard plastic eyeglasses can be purchased from P588.00 and the glass ones are around P2,000.00. This amount doesn’t include the coated and double vision ones, and also excluding the brand of the frames.

Same goes with purchasing a car cam, you can already purchase a DVR for a very cheap price, but only use it for a short period time. Affordable and expensive DVR’s might cost you some money at first, but it will surely serve its purpose for a long time. Who wants to spend money for the same thing over and over again?

Check the quality of a sample clip of a video taken from a six-layered-glass-lens dash camera. Please contact customer service if you have questions.