Back-up camera costs
 

I went to a Cartronics place and they indicated the cost as about $120-$150 for a good wide angle camera and another $150 or so for installation. I have a pioneer system in place in the car with a monitor.

Is it really that expensive? Options?

IMO, that's not unreasonable for a decent quality camera and professional install. It's not a difficult DIY, but it's pretty extensive. Lots of trim pieces get removed to run the wiring from the camera all the way to the head unit.

Recently, I've seen wireless ones that are in your plate frame. But really have no clue how they sync or anything.

I have a license plate frame camera on mine, it was about ~$20 on Amazon. Great picture, about on par with my wife's Juke Nismo's factory cam. I installed it myself which took about 1.5 hours.

I got mine for free from DeliriousClam in the freebies thread =) Get your premium memberships!!!

If you can install it yourself, they are pretty cheap on amazon. There is one that replaces one of the license plate lights with both a camera and light. Pretty slick!

I have a $20 ebay camera shipped direct from China. It is made into the license plate light and fits perfectly. It has a decent quality picture (I am not making HD movies with it) and has built-in LEDs for extra light at night.

Ebay Backup Camera

I bought something similar and just ditched the camera and used the one that came with my mirror. :tup:

Pretty sure that's the one I have too, and the image quality is surprisingly good. Definitely more than enough for backup-duty.

To OP:

I did it myself, with help from wifey (who bought it for me in the first place; yes, she's a keeper).

The DIY isn't difficult, but it is fiddly. The toughest part, for me, was getting the signal wire from the interior to the outer part of the car. That required removing the wire gromet/harness (for tail/signal/backup lights), cutting a line through it, and pushing the wire through what is essentially a vapour/water barrier. Not impossible, but surprisingly tricky.

If you've got the cash at your disposal, go with the pro install. If not, PM me and I can give you a better description of how I did it.