Those spy photos.

[Morningside]

You know the ones. These.


Why bother? Are they supposed to confuse the on-looker? They hardly hide the car do they so why not just paint them a bland black? I know you cannot quite see intricate detail but the overall shape is easy to see.

[toerag]

How else would the motoring press spot them?

[FourWheelDrift]

It's to confuse U-Boat captains - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage

[rampantdidact]

It's supposed to hide/make it harder to make out the shape of the bodywork from other manufacturers/on lookers etc.

This what I've been told which kind of makes sense.

[GroundEffect]

It's the intricate details that are important.

[Monty Python]

Wasn't it supposed to stop a camera autofocus system from working?

[Pickled]

Monty Python said:

Wasn't it supposed to stop a camera autofocus system from working?

If anything it will make a camera's AF work better/easier, with the good black/white contrast, infact most AF adjustment software uses a series of black & white circles.

[Riley Blue]

It's easier to stick 'warts' under to disguise the actual lines of a car?

[J8 SVG]

They are also pre-production cars and without the tatty wallpapering, they look even worse for the most part!!

[McWigglebum4th]

toerag said:

How else would the motoring press spot them?

That be the truth

[Monty Python]

Pickled said:

If anything it will make a camera's AF work better/easier, with the good black/white contrast, infact most AF adjustment software uses a series of black & white circles.

The current ones do, but I think the first systems used colour to help focus, hence the use of black and white patterns.

[Conscript]

FourWheelDrift said:

It's to confuse U-Boat captains - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage

Essentially this. As well as disguising the details in the car, the pattern also makes it harder for the human eye to distinguish the shape, size and proportions of the car accurately.

For a u-boat captain, that means it's harder to judge distance to target for an accurate shot; for punters like us and the press that means it's harder to comment on the car itself.