Video through a tinted window?

[joe4 0]

Is there a trick to good video through a tinted window? I am guessing that mounting the lens close to the windows is a good start to prevent glare but is there anything else.

[rory 0]

wide dynamic technology ...

[joe4 0]

rory,

 

are there any wide dynamic cameras under $200? or some kind of device to place around the lens, then attache to the windows to block the lite that is in the building?

[Cooperman 0]

joe4,

 

the standard trick would be to either use a rubber lens hood, or a polarising filter to cut down reflections, or a combination of both.

 

You can normally pick these up at a decent photographic store.

[joe4 0]

Do you want the hood to touch the window creating a seal from the lens to the window?

[Cooperman 0]

First off, make sure the glass is clean both sides; if possible, use an alcohol / organic based solvent to degrease thoroughly.

 

If you can get a suitable rubber lens hood, taking it right up to the window will exclude any light from behind the camera, so reflections should be minimised that side.

 

Any internal reflections inside the glass itself, or indeed if the glass quality is poor, will affect the final image but in general this is rarely a problem.

 

If there's a problem with reflections outside the glass, a polarizer filter may help to reduce them, but it's generally more effective on internal reflections.

 

I've actually set up a camera very recently in a similar situation, but as I was using a 3x telephoto, it was sufficient to move the lens up to the glass, without the need for any hood or filter. If you're using a wide or ultra wide angle lens, then the problems are usually far more obvious.

[bryan1656 0]

The tint should pose less on a problem than the window itself. You can't get a good focus through regular glass because the light gets refracted. The tint just reduces the amount of light getting to the camera.

 

Glare can be a problem, but this can be taken care of through camera postioning, lens hoods, and filters.

 

What camera you need will depend more on what kind of video you need, distance to target, and lighting conditions at target. Choose your camera based on that and then take into account that your tint will reduce the light a few stops, and remember that the glass will keep from getting a tight focus. I'd think glare would be the least of the challenges.

 

For general stuff such as parking lots, approach areas, etc that are lit by commercial lighting, there should be plenty of C/CS mount cameras out there for less then $200 that will do the trick nicely.