I've got two older B&W cameras that I'd like to replace, as the resolution is not as good as the other cameras and they're starting to get some burn in. I've been happy enough with the other cheapie ($100+) B&W IR bullet cams, except for the fogging after a heavy rain. I thought I'd go colour with the new cams and eventually replace all the older cams.
I know when I looked a few years ago, the colour cams were not recommened due to poor resolution. I'm looking at the day/night IR colour cams using the Sony 1/3" CCD @ 420 TV lines. A varifocal lens would be nice, but not necessary. There seems to be quite a price range on these, anywhere from sub $100 to $400. I know some of this is due to the branding (WIDGAFA), but why the wide price range? Anything in particular I should be looking for?
Am I right in assuming that you're not in the US? (Colour) That might make my advice less useful because I have NTSC (never the same color) equipment and you may need PAL/SECAM.
I'm *mostly* satisfied with the Sony HAD based IR bullet cams I've purchased from Supercircuits for about $150 made by KTC. I add a little bead of silicone sealant all the way around the end caps, wire exit point and other seams to prevent moisture from entering. If your cameras fog after a rain, there's water getting into them and that's not good. Many bulletcams use O-rings to keep out the water and after a few years, they fail to seal properly. Weatherproof doesn't mean waterproof, as I have found the hard way.
Remember that IR cameras are only black and white at night, and the resolution is much poorer at night than during the daytime. Mount them where they won't get rained on. One real problem with IR cams is that the illumination is coaxial to the lens. Any dirt that gets on the lens will be lit at full intensity and will not only interefere with the sharpness - it will cause the lens to "stop down" because of the brightness of the dirt reflected back into the lens and the camera will become virtually "night blind." The same layer of dirt, ironically, is invisible to the color sensor in daytime because it's out-of-focus and because the internal IR illuminator is shut off during daylight, hence no light is being reflected back into the camera. I'm thinking of using separate IR illuminators aimed at critical areas to help eliminate the reflection problem. I live near a big city and a superhighway and that puts a lot of dust in the air which eventually settles on the camera lens. Choose a camera with a lens shade if you've got "dirty air" because it will help to lessen the amount of dust that settles on the lens.
Another problem I've found is that my IR cams attract insects. I have a neat video of a giant spider almost covering the lens with a web it was spinning. I have to clean them off at least twice a year, sometimes more, depending on the fauna. Birds will occasionally perch on them as well, especially when it's cold because the cameras are warm to the touch, especially if the LEDs are lit.
Oh, and one more weirdness I've found is that green grass shows up as gray during the daytime. The color rendition of the IR cams I use is not anywhere near as good as a normal bullet cams. In fact, I use two bulletcams to monitor critical areas - one normal, one IR. I like seeing green grass and cars in their natural color.
Supercircuits also has a new line of high res cameras that are probably designed for people who are using HDTV setups. More costly, to be sure, but it might be something to consider if you're going to monitor the cams on your HDTV.
PS. WTF is WIDGAFA? Google turns up nothing except this post when searching on that acronym.
Yeah, I put some Silicone around the threads (O-Ring) on the worst one. Most are in protected areas.
A few times a year I see what appear to be swarms (thousands) of very tiny insects around the cameras. I have no idea what they might be, except they seem to show up at night during the transition to warmer weather. These bugs are invisible to the naked eye, but the IR really shows them up. Also a spider or two.
I've been meaning to write a VB Script that will email me when the capture files are bigger than normal on any given day. So I can clear up problems like tree growth, spiders etc.
The IR turns off during the day with the cameras I have now. Although the transition can cause problems (on/off) on cloudy days.
Thanks for the detailed response. I've cruised the Super Circuits web site many times,but I've been buying from SpyCameras4Less lately. I also see a few eBay sellers carrying the Sony CCDs.
Yes, I've seen them too. I think they might be fog or dust particles. It's an eery sight, that's for sure. It almost looks as if the cameras are under murky water. The particles seem to flow and change directions all at once like a school of fish or a flock of birds.
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