bass1

I dont think there are many requests for the 1000 and 5000 (military grade?) cams but we can add those too. On the same note no one wants 100 cam that dont work. Theres already a sticky but has threads from 2005 and mostly outdated info. So lets not let two extra categories ruin a possibly useful thread. Im talking average good cams that can achieve effective pictures in your average joes front or back yard. Which is what everyone on here repeatedly is asking for.

Asking for the best low light cam seems to be a redundant popular question on this forum, is it possible we can make a sticky titled "best low light cams." I understand there are many applications but most here are asking for same thing, usually wanting to see at night aiming from their house to a fixed vehicle or yard. Thread should be simple and updated with a list of user recommended low light cams.

I went ahead and set everything back up to start recording to capture a pic and couldnt get a clear picture what so ever, I have no clue what happened, my camera can no longer focus, im so pissed if anyone has any idea of what went wrong please inform me. I tried to auto iris lenses and they both were very blurry. Both were working fine a few days ago. I tried moving the switches in the back of the camera and nothing. Will post pics once I figure this out.

I was just testing the Kpc-sll650bhe and to my surprise it works great in low light. Ive been messing with different lenses and also was surprised to what a difference a lens can make. So in order for me to get this camera to work well in candle light conditions I found that an f1.8 lens with auto iris worked best. This lens is also 70mm rated and zoomed in without a problem. The camera also worked really well off the infrared from my remote control which confirmed that it can read IR. I dont mind this camera at all, considering I was willing to buy the suntar 300, true infrared military grade cam for 1000. I initially seen pics on here from this cam and they werent so good, perhaps the wrong lens was used, as I got the same with a cheap lens. My conclusion on this cam, not a bad buy for the price and can see really well in low light conditons. Its also a black and white 600tvl, from my understanding most colored day cams turn to b/w at night and since my main concern was at night I really didnt need the color.

If you build it they will come, shouldnt be that big of a deal now to make a 3tb system that records in mpeg2, shouldnt be 10k either. Theyre doing 500gb systems for cable and sat companies for $250-$400.

I think if you want real dvd quality you will have to find a dvr that uses mpeg2 format not sure if they even exist for security systems, h.264 is great for saving space and much better then mpeg4 but still the picture will be no where as good as mpeg2. I could be wrong though. My picture (h.264) quality is pretty good but still not dvd quality, I read somewhere on this site that once you get hooked into this hobby you will always want an upgrade to a better system, very true. But to be fair my h.264 is pretty good just not dvd/hd quality.

Hey scorp appreciate your intellectual response, but space isn't a a big issue anymore you can get a 1tb hard drive for pretty cheap. These high end companies like American Dynamics are charging 5k for something that's no where close as a cable or sat company dvr that's going for $300 . You can also add now a 1.5tb to some of the home dvrs now giving you plenty of room. Again the picture is true high definition. I think in the near future security dvrs will reach that point. Is a modulator the same as a multiplexor? Might try this in the weeks to come just to see what I get.

I was watching a program previously recorded on a friends satellite DVR and I noticed the picture is perfect, as if I was watching the show directly from the company and not from a dvr. Comparing that image to my h.264 secuirty DVR I was a bit discouraged as I purchased a top quality DVR, and now wondering why dont these security DVRs have the same quality as a sat or cable dvr. It records in real time without a probem, which seems to be a huge deal with the security dvrs. Theyre also recording up to 3 channels simultaneously for only 300 bucks on a 500gb hard system. I wonder if one of these dvrs can be rigged for security use, anyone try or thought of this.

Thanks scorp, the min illumination is .3 I think I need more then that, not sure though as it seems companies are not living up to what they're advertising and a .03 for one company might be a .01 for another. This camera stuff is too involved for me and unless someone actually tested a cam and can give their input, then don't believe what specs you read. That's from what I gathered from this forum. I will continue reading and if anyone there's any other specific models please feel free to post them. I have a d1 7fps h264 dvr and need a good quality cam to hook up to. I want max zoom in low light conditions which is what everyone seems to be after yet still hard to find a solid product. The sunstar I mention is $1500 but was wondering if there's anything else out there before I jump right in. I also found the SLL650BH which claims to be a very low light cam, thinking about putting a 100 mm lens on it and see what happens, if it don't perform as expected I will just resell it, that's the plan for now. Anyone has any input on this model?

Couldnt find too much on the link, downloaded the clip and the player but ws an image of the ground. Anything else out there

Hello all, Ive been reading for a few days and still cant find the answer to what I need to get. Any help is appreciated. I have come to the conclusion that there is no need to get a colored cam, since they turn black and white at night regardless if colored or not. My only concern is that the black and white cams are left behind since all the technology is aiming to better the colored cams. Iam looking for a good box can that can get a facial image at 100 feet at night. This seems to be what everyone is after but I checked all the models posted and still cant find anything that can zoom in to get a facial image at 100 feet. It dont matter colered or not since again my main concern is at night. The one cam I found which maybe an overkill is the sunstar 300 which is used by LE agencies. Can you please recommend a few cams that I can search that meet my applications requirements. Ive been searching and searching with no success as there are many things that go into play. Price is not an issue here which seem to stop most posts from adding good quality cams to the thread. Thanks again for any help.