Recorder Cctv
CCTV night vision camera...the best one???
CCTV night vision camera?
Hi i have a home system incuding a camera and recorder but the vision at night is just not clear enough...any suggestions which camera is best or where to buy???
thanks
A few ideas - ask a camera salesman at your electronics store if yours is a low light one. They normally go down to 0.1 lux which is darker that a stary night - yet they will give an image - the quality of which depends on the sensor.
Another thing you can do is get an infra red illuminator. These are a bank or high intensity infra red diodes, emitting light (but being IR is invisible to humans, but not to the camera). They will illuminate a smallish area quite well. Instead of buying a built up unit (which can be expensive), consider buying a kit and assembling it yourself. It is nothing to be frightened of once you have a bit of soldering practice - don't be put off by the nay-sayers.
But basically, this is a big subject - the types and range of cameras is enormous. Does it need to be waterproof or is it well sheltered, is it connected to a switching unit (probably not from what you said), how much resolution do you want. A competent salesperson will coax these things from you and make a recommendation. Cameras range from $30ish dollars for a nasty B+W one to $450 (which may need a housing - heated if outdoors). These guys know these questions and answers and can help you best.
It may be they use the existing camera in a small, well lit area if it has poor specs, and get you to add something much better (then you will need a switching unit, but these are not terribly dear - a standard one will support 4 cameras, leaving room for expansion). While it will cost, it may well be a very good solution/investment. The cheap camera may be poor, but they are not totally useless, especialy when used in surroundings they are designed for.
From what you say, I am guessing the camera simply isn't rated to give the quality or detail you want. That means buying a more expensive one. I know money is important but these are a bit like an insurance policy - you would not believe just HOW MANY people get caught buy them. You have an intrusion or prowler, the cops play your tape, have a laugh and say 'that is Joe Smith, lets go pick him up'. But, the camera needs to catch that detail. Video evidence in court carries a lot of weight and has resulted in a lot of guilty pleas, where previously the baddy would have tried a not guilty plea.
Get professional device, not a 17 yo at a Tandy store. You may get away with a $170 camera - who knows until you ask. It is simply to hard to do here.
Good luck - I am also putting in video surveillance. As an idea, if you have 2 real cameras, consider adding a dummy one (they cost about $14 here for a black dome one). You cannot tell it from the real thing. A baddy certainly isn't going to take risks with it (make sure the installer runs a conduit to it, or do something which suggests it is connected).
I'm taking a different approach, using motion sensitive camera software so only real events get recorded. When movement within a cameras range happens, it gets emailed to me along with a pic of the movement which triggered th alert (as soon as it happens), I also get an SMS on my mobile phone. Full recording of all cameras starts by the computer, and uploading shots every few seconds to a remote website. Even if they smash the computer (after finding it, if they find it), it's too late for them. Their pics are safely offsite. You can also be sitting anywhere in the world and "look through" any of the caneras to see if all is OK. Same thing as you are doing, just a different approach. The software ranges from $45-$100 but you need a spare computer with ADSL and about 60Gb of free disk (less is OK).. It is essentially an indoor solution, although you can add webcams to your hearts delight - a really top quality one gives you change from $70. It means that when it goes off, you can sit at your desk and see if a curtain got blown by theh breeze, or two hoodlums with basball bats are rifling your place for money. You call the cops telling them 'robbery in progress', how many baddys there are and where in the house they are. I had a spare computer and hard drive, and a spare webcam, so it only really cost 2 high quality webcams, the software, and paying my ISP for diskspace to store the photos of any baddys that come a-callin'.
Good luck with this - I think it is very worthwhile and wish you well.
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