Outdoor D/N IR Bullet for wildlife viewing

[jimroberts 0]

I want to install a one camera CCTV system in Wisconsin (cold winters) to watch the local wildlife on my farm (deer, bear, turkeys, etc.). My budget is about $1000 for one IR bullet and a basic 4 channel standalone DVR. I may add another 1-2 cameras later. I want reliable equipment - 5-10 year lifespan.

 

I am primarily interested in good low light visibility for the maximal possible distances (40 meters would be good, 50-80 meters even better). I could use some of my budget on a separate IR illuminator (< $200 though). Maybe something like this - Everfocus EIR100 (http://www.everfocus.com/product.cfm?productid=106). I need a lens setting of about 6mm but a small zoom range would be good.

 

I will place the camera outside about 400 ft from my home. I will probably use an external motion sensor (maybe a Crow Genius) to minimize activations from birds, squirrels, etc.. It gets cold here so I either need an outdoor camera with a heater or a heated enclosure. I have no local dealers so will likely buy online and would prefer online dealers with good reseller ratings.

 

Here are a few options I have found with a camera budget of about $300-600 or so.

 

Samsung SCO-2080 - mid range of my budget with a separate heated enclosure

http://www.samsungcctv.com/prd/pro_view.asp?pro_uid=5457&cat_uid=182&cat_biz=ctv&cat_lev=AB

1/3" Super HAD color CCD

3.6x (2.8 ~ 10mm) varifocal lens with auto iris

Built-in high-performance IR LEDs

Day & Night with ICR (Infrared Cutfilter Removal)

High resolution of 600TV lines (Color), 700TV lines (B/W)

Min. illumination of 0Lux@F1.2 (LED on)

0.15Lux@F1.2 (Color)

0.0003Lux@F1.2 (Color sens-up)

Rated to 50m

No heater

 

CNB BE4815NVR – lower end of my budget range

http://www.cnbtec.com/en/html/product/product.php?seqx_prod=339

1/3" IT CCD

550TVL High Resolution

Day & Night (ICR)

2x Digtial Zoom (3.5-9.5mm)

Built-in IR LED 56EA & Sensor 1EA

IR Visible Range : Max.50m

Built-in Fan & Heater

0.3Lux(Color), 0.1Lux(B/W), 0.008Lux (DSS 32FLD), 0.000Lux (IR LED ON)

 

CNB BE5810NCR – above budget a little

http://www.cnbtec.com/en/html/product/product.php?inc=spe&seqx_prod=337#p_v1

1/3" IT CCD

550TVL High Resolution

Day & Night (ICR)

2x Digtial Zoom (f=7.5~50mm F1.3)

Built-in IR LED 206EA & Sensor 1EA

IR Visible Range : Over 80m

Built-in Fan & Heater

0.3lux(Color), 0.1lux(B/W), 0.008lux(DSS 32FLD), 0.000lux (IR LED On)

 

KT&C KPC-N701 – no idea where to buy these

http://www.ktnc.co.kr/english/viewtopic.php?t=929&sid=8bd45c82beca2687d203a90e3bac20a2

1/3 960HSony Exview HAD CCD II

Ultra High resolution, 700 TVL

True Day & Night with ICR

2.8-12mm Varifocal Auto Iris Lens

45 Unit IR lens with Max 50 mm

? Lux ratings

 

I would appreciate any other suggestions or advice. Thank a lot.

[Nimrod 0]

“I want to install a one camera CCTV system in Wisconsin (cold winters) to watch the local wildlife on my farm (deer, bear, turkeys, etc.)” snip... “It gets cold here so I either need an outdoor camera with a heater or a heated enclosure.”

 

 

I also live in Wisconsin and had asked the same question about cameras and temperature. I was told that any outdoor camera should work fine, and the heaters in a box camera are really for the condensation that can form on the window.

 

 

“I am primarily interested in good low light visibility for the maximal possible distances (40 meters would be good, 50-80 meters even better). I could use some of my budget on a separate IR illuminator.”

 

Lets see, my Russian isn’t so good so i will convert this over. “120 feet would be good and 150 to 240 feet even better.” You are looking at cameras with up to 12mm varifocal lenses and the cameras have 1/3 inch sensors. Using this free lens calculator.

 

http://www.howtosurveillance.com/HowToVideo/CCTV-lens-calculator.html

 

It looks like a 1/3“ sensor with a 12mm lens will see 150 feet away at a width of 60 feet. Lets assume you are really getting the 700 lines advertised (I personally do not belive it) and figure out what you will see. 700 lines divided by 60 feet = 11.7 pixels/ft. Now look at this well known and very useful resolution chart. It shows at 150 feet with the 12mm lens you will see half of nothing (chart only goes down to 20 pixels/ft).

 

These are the steps i would take to pick out the camera resolution and lens.

 

1) Look at the resolution chart and pick the minimum resolution you will accept.

 

2) Pick a maximum width, or field of view you want.

 

3) Multiply the pixels/ft x FOV in feet to get horizontal resolution. 75 pix/ft x 20ft FOV = 1500 lines or pixels. This example would be close to a 2 mega pixel camera 1600x1200, but you would probably have to go to a 3MP camera 2048x1536, notice it is the second number you look at the 1200 and the 1536 one.

 

Advice number 2. Get a cheap ebay camera that has a 1/3“ sensor and 600 to 700 lines of resolution. Buy an assortment of cheap M12 board camera lenses from 2.8mm to around 30mm. Get 100 ft of cheap pre-made cable for camera with an RCA connector you can plug in to your TV with. Run the cable outside and try the different lenses in the daytime with lots of light so the cheap camera works. Have someone walk around and see how much detail you get and decide what you think is acceptable.

 

Secret tip. The board camera lens screws in and out to focus. It is held in place with a tiny cross screw. Use a flat blade jewelers screwdriver to loosen it. A magnifying glass or glasses is your friend to find the screw.

[jimroberts 0]

Thanks for the reply.

 

I am interested in just identifying wildlife with my camera in low light out to maybe 150ft or more. I don't need to zoom in for "facial detection" type purposes. Since most wild animals roam around at dusk & dawn and at night I need a low lux sensitive camera and IR illumination to see out to as far as possible. I would like a lens magnification similiar to the vision of our normal eyes.

 

As I mentioned in my original post, I will probably use a 6mm lens setting with a 1/3 CCD sensor camera. Then I want a high quality, reliable camera with good low light sensitivity and the best IR illumination possible so I see out as far as possible with my budget range.

 

Are there any other IR bullets I should consider?

[VST_Man 1]

Vivotek IP8332 works great

[Nimrod 0]

“I am interested in just identifying wildlife with my camera in low light out to maybe 150ft or more. I don't need to zoom in for "facial detection" type purposes. Since most wild animals roam around at dusk & dawn and at night I need a low lux sensitive camera and IR illumination to see out to as far as possible. I would like a lens magnification similiar to the vision of our normal eyes.”

 

I think you will be very surprised as to what you see and what the camera see’s. As a human being you are not aware how much you eyes are scanning a scene or refocusing on objects in slightly different places. The camera will not do this for you. If you set up a camera per my second suggestion you will be very surprised what the camera actually see’s, my guess about 1/3 to 1/4 of what you see, the rest will be out of view or out of focus.

 

Try this experiment, close one eye and look out of a cardboard tube, the longer the tube the more mm lens. Now you are starting to see what the camera will see.

 

Look at your example, 150 foot out with 6mm lens and 1/3 sensor = 120 foot wide field of view. 700 TVL/ 120ft = 5.8 pixels per foot!!! lets say a bear is 3 feet wide, 3ft x 5.8 pix = 17.4 pixels or TVL out of your 700 lines. 17.4 pixels/700 lines = .0248 or 2.5% of the horizontal width of the screen is filled by a bear standing up. So the bear will look like the tip of your little finger.

 

But to answer your original question about light sensitive cameras go here.

 

http://www.ktnc.co.kr/english/index.php?c=10

 

Then select Varifocal, fixed lens, or BW on top of screen.

[ak357 0]

Look at your example, 150 foot out with 6mm lens and 1/3 sensor = 120 foot wide field of view.

700 TVL/ 120ft = 5.8 pixels per foot!!!

 

Are you assuming 1 TVL = 1 Pixel ?

[Nimrod 0]

"Are you assuming 1 TVL = 1 Pixel ?"

 

Yes i am.

[Nimrod 0]

“3) Multiply the pixels/ft x FOV in feet to get horizontal resolution. 75 pix/ft x 20ft FOV = 1500 lines or pixels. This example would be close to a 2 mega pixel camera 1600x1200, but you would probably have to go to a 3MP camera 2048x1536, notice it is the second number you look at the 1200 and the 1536 one.”

 

Sorry guys I made a mistake transposing the horizontal and vertical numbers. I said look at the 1200 and 1536 ones, these are the vertical numbers. I should have said look at the 1600 and 2048 numbers, so a 2MP camera would be the better match. 2MP = 1600H x 1200V.

 

Also ak357 asked about the usage of 700 TVL. I used the 700 TVL number because the 700TVL was in the spec for the camera, and this document explains what 700TVL means.

 

http://www.vdtsi.com/indigo/10.pdf

 

“TVL is in general terms a horizontal measurement of how fine a detail from a

scene can be resolved on a display. This number relates the resolvable fine

detail to an equivalent number of equally spaced black and white vertical lines

across the width of the viewing screen1.

 

A common misconception of the term TVL is that it relates to the number of

Video Lines2 on the screen, i.e. 625 for PAL and 525 for NTSC. “

[ak357 0]

“

Also ak357 asked about the usage of 700 TVL. I used the 700 TVL number because the 700TVL was in the spec for the camera, and this document explains what 700TVL means.

A common misconception of the term TVL is that it relates to the number of

Video Lines2 on the screen, i.e. 625 for PAL and 525 for NTSC. “

 

How would you suggest we can record 700 TVL camera as best as possible ?

and how many lines we should expect after recording ?

[rory 0]

Get something with a 5-50mm lens.

Perhaps better off with a TDN box camera, 5-50mm IR lens, and a housing with a heater.

Then use separate IR.

[Nimrod 0]

“How would you suggest we can record 700 TVL camera as best as possible ?

and how many lines we should expect after recording ?”

 

Well D1 which is common on a good DVR’s and is 720x486. But truth be told the actual visible pixels are 704 x 480, so we have 4 pixels to spare. And assuming a good DVR you can record and playback at full D1 resolution.

 

With that said, this is were it gets complicated. First you have to consider manufactures cooking the spec. Is a 700 TVL analog camera really 700 lines. And second, as the analog signal travels down the coax are we loosing so many lines of resolution per 100ft of cable, remember this is not digital, signals get attenuated. I had searched online last night trying to solve this problem and only came up with the chart I posted in the install forum. It does not specifically mention loosing resolution only signal strength. If anyone has information on this please post it.

[ak357 0]

With that said, this is were it gets complicated. First you have to consider manufactures cooking the spec. Is a 700 TVL analog camera really 700 lines. And second, as the analog signal travels down the coax are we loosing so many lines of resolution per 100ft of cable, remember this is not digital, signals get attenuated. I had searched online last night trying to solve this problem and only came up with the chart I posted in the install forum. It does not specifically mention loosing resolution only signal strength. If anyone has information on this please post it.

 

So what will happen (resolution) if u record 420 tvl camera at D1 res ?

How would you rate your final output ?

420 or D1 ?

Edited April 3, 2011 by Guest

[rory 0]

So what will happen (resolution) if u record 420 tvl camera at D1 res ?

Good question.

Its 511x492 pixels recording at 704x480 pixels?

Stretches pixels?

Still better than lowering it down to 352x240 pixels?

[ak357 0]

So what will happen (resolution) if u record 420 tvl camera at D1 res ?

Good question.

Its 511x492 pixels recording at 704x480 pixels?

Stretches pixels?

Still better than lowering it down to 352x240 pixels?

 

Rory relax plz

[Nimrod 0]

“So what will happen (resolution) if u record 420 tvl camera at D1 res ?

How would you rate your final output ? 420 or D1 ?”

 

You can not gain resolution that is not there. So 420 in, would give you 420 out, when recorded at D1 resolution. A good example of this is when you put a 320 x 240 camera and a 640 x 480 camera on a DVR recording at D1 resolution, the playback of each image at 1X zoom would show the 640 x 480 image to be twice as big as the 320 x 240 image because it has twice as many pixels.