Car monitoring - what kind of a camera do I need?

[Rista 0]

I know next to nothing about cameras in general and I did do some searching and reading on this topic but I still need help. My situation is as follows:

 

I bought my car three months ago and it has already been keyed/scratched several times. It's always been during the night and I want to find out who is doing this. The car is always parked on street, in the exact same place and under a street lamp. Just across the street, 5-6m away is my dad's car. What I would like to do is to put a camera into my dad's car and record what happens around my car during the night, is this doable?

 

I bought this: http://cgi.ebay.com/30-LED-Wireless-IR-Night-CCTV-SPY-Color-Security-Camera-/330417084320?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cee6497a0 cheap CMOS camera thinking any camera would be good enough considering the distance between the two cars and the fact that my car is never in total darkness. Turns out that isn't the case. At first I had a 30 IR LED one and all I could see was white, then exchanged it for a 12 IR LED one which is better in sense that I can see something on the screen but I'm not happy with it. The resolution seems pretty bad, there is a lot of noise (has also to do with it being wireless I guess) and the camera simply isn't sensitive enough to light. Like I said, the car is parked under a street light and yet the image I'm getting is very dark and the IR doesn't even seem to be working at that distance.

 

Could I possibly find a camera that would give me a decent image in those conditions for under $250? I noticed if I mount the camera inside my dad's car next to a window, I get IR reflections which make it totally unusable. Is there a way to get around this? Do I even need an IR camera or there are any budget cameras available that are "sensitive" enough, or whatever they need to be, in street lamp light conditions? The image doesn't have to be great, just good enough that I can recognize a person that I already know (I'm sure it's one of the close neighbors that is doing it).

 

I know that's very little but the most I'm looking to spend is $300. Still, if there is something more expensive that would very likely work for me I would think about it. I'd be using a mini DVR to record the video on an SD card. Sorry for the newbish questions, any advice/help is greatly appreciated.

[DKtucson 0]

The problem you are going to have with most any IR cam is reflected glare from the window glass. Your situation kinda screams for a B&W starlight or .05 lux to 005 lux cam at the least.

What you MIGHT be able to do is this:

Defeat the IR emitters on the cam--untwist the outer cap-piece and unplug the power lead going to the IR board.

Get a seperate little IR emitter--they look very much like the cam you have pictured as far as the case goes but only have an emitter board in them. I have seen them on Ebay for $16 shipped from Hong Kong. Here is a sample still of the output attached to the post.

Put the emitter outside your Dad's car--maybe magnetically mounted to the undercarraige or on the bumper---or shining out of a different window (if the car is a 4-door) and direct it to the scene you are watching. This will eliminate the glare-back to the camera.

Other than that you can google "Car DVR" and there are items on amazon ranging from $125 to $249 for a better quality WDR (wide dynamic range) camera that is car mounted.

[Rista 0]

Thanks for your answer.

 

So, given the car is parked under a street lamp, I don't necessarily need an IR camera but a non-IR camera would work as well as long as it good quality and has low lux rating? I know the numbers are probably BS but would something like THIS work then?

 

I was thinking, I could also install the camera on my house which is located 25, 30m at most away from the car down the street. Then I wouldn't need to buy a separate DVR as I would be using my computer to record, there would be no issues with IR reflections AND I could monitor the car 24h a day, not only at night. That would, I imagine, require a much better camera. What kind of specs would I be looking for for this and would it even work? How about these two:

 

EN-VI80-38

 

540TVL

Sony 1/3 CCD

VF lens 9-22mm

IR range 80m

Price: $300

 

CM453VIC-2

 

600TVL

HDR wide dynamic

Sony 1/3 CCD Star Light

Auto Iris VF lens 3.7-12mm

IR cut filter - true day/night

IR range 40m

Price: $400

 

Any chance of these giving me any kind of decent image quality in those conditions?

 

 

Just to give an idea of what I'm looking for, here is what the camera I have looks like mounted on top of my dad's car. I need something quite better than this. The IR on this thing doesn't even work at this distance.

[DKtucson 0]

the cameras you mention in your specs *should" work to view from your home at that distance if they are low light/starlight WDR cams. It's hard to tell well in advance if a given length telephoto is going to deliver the scene desired without seeing the environment first. For example, what if someone parked a U-Haul van between point A and point B? would that screw everything up? Ouch.

The one cam with the 9-22mm verifocal might be better for your distance but the field of view will be small.

Most CCTV sales sites have a "Free lens Guide" --a table that spells out the given length of the lens and what angle of view you'll have--some post sample pictures as well.

With a 12mm lens at 100ft of distance your viewing area will be 38ft x28ft

A 22MM lens will be approximately 20ft x 14ft

 

Looking at the sample photo you are close to getting the scene--an IR booster is all that is needed

here is another sample shot of a night scene boosted with an additional IR emitter

[Rista 0]

It's a one way street and there is only really one car that parks near that area (between my house and my car) so another vehicle blocking the view would basically never be an issue.

 

From those measurements, it does seem the 22mm camera would be a better choice for me and the small field of view would not be a problem I think. That one however doesn't seem to be a starlight WDR camera Seeing as the whole area between point A and point B is fairly well lit during the night (street lamps), do you think I could get away with a non-WDR/starlight camera as long as its IR range is high (they are claiming 80m in this case)?

 

I would go with an IR booster but I would really need to get a better camera for that as well as this shot was taken outside the car. Once I bring it inside and point it through a window, it is a lot worse/darker. What I don't understand is, the camera that I had before this one was also a cheap chinese one but it it had more IR LEDs with higher range and yet it looked absolutely nothing like the shots you posted. The whole image was totally washed out and it was as if the camera was getting confused with too much light (street lamp + IR) or something, if that makes any sense. So I'm not really sure if an IR booster would help with this cheap stuff. So either I buy another camera + an IR booster if needed + a mini DVR, or I spend that money plus some more on a better camera that could record from a distance.

 

Either way, thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

[DKtucson 0]

Keep in mind that as a rule of thumb, take any stated IR range and adjust down by about 50%---I have yet to run into any manuafacturer that has been upfront & honest in regards to their IR specs.

The reason your cam looked washed out in the car--like it was getting too much light is that the IR built into the cam was reflecting back through the window and it was blinding itself..

If it's a bullet style cam with removeable cover I would unscrew the cap and unplug the wire feeding the IR emitter board. If it's a solid case camera with IR leds protruding from holes in the case I would use a low tech solution and cover with black electrical tape--then deploy a external IR emitter.

 

Here's a thought to save some $$--providing that the IR emitter on your camera is removeable....

Disassemble camera and remove the IR board

Drill small hole through the shell of the camera

Get a length of thin 2 lead wire and pass it through the hole in the case--wire it up to the exiting emitter power & ground

Take your now removed emitter and make a plastic box or other suitable weather resistant material--like those tubs that they sell sandwich meat in the stores--cut up one of those and use glue/tape so it's small in size. hook up the wire from the camera to the emitter

Run the emitter in it's plastic box OUTSIDE the car--this will remedy the glare and give you IR illumination without spending a lot more $$