Phil, if the price that you have to pay for a "Killer view" is a steep and crooked driveway, then it may be worth it. We live here in the flatlands of California's Central Valley and don't have any scenic views at all. Well, actually we can see some of the distant Sierra Nevada's peaks but have to get out on the highways to see them. The trees in our neighborhood block out all of our mountain vistas.
Cameras with fisheye lenses won't well for backup camera usage. My Boyo backup camera takes in a span of 120 deg. horizontally and 90 deg. vertically. All objects within a range of about 18" to infinity appear to be in focus with my camera. That makes sense to me since photographic wide angle lenses have a greater depth of field than normal (e.g., 50 mm. lenses) or telephoto ones.
I feel it's okay to cobble together a backup camera system, or, anything else for that matter. In doing so, however, you must be willing to risk expending some effort and money that later turn out to be wasted. Also you may discover that the components you select may not be the best suited for their operating environment. For example, these backup cameras need to be completely weatherproof and most web cams may not be. Sometimes it's best to buy a complete system or components from companies that have done enough research to turn out good products.
As far as the "Videosystemsbyjim" is concerned, I am always a little leery of an Internet company that won't list its address and phone number on its website.
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