IR Illuminators

[Marshall 0]

Can anyone suggest an IR illuminator that is a good bang for the buck?

 

For instance, the Speco IR-200. [edit by mod-store link removed] Has anyone tried one? I am looking for an area of about 25x25 yards to be lit for a Sanyo VCC-HD4600.

 

Some of these devices use bundles of low quality emitters, so even though there are many LEDs, the performance might be poor. I can build these units myself, too, but the time involved in machining the heatsink and soldering the driver to the emitters is sometimes more of a tradeoff than just paying the price for a built one. I have used 940nm P60 emitter engines before which worked well for throw on units I have made, but they didn't cover the wide area I would need from this setup.

 

I wasn't looking to spend more than $130-ish, though. So the high-end units are out of the question for me.

 

Thanks

[EarlT 0]

Looks like they have a return policy so you could try it. If you search here you'll see lots of examples if cheap IR illuminators. Most seem to have a focused beam, which equates to a bright spot. To get decent coverage, you may have to try two or three cheaper ones around the area.

 

I'll be interested to hear what you come up with, since I have the same camera and area I may want to light up someday.

[mike_va 0]

You could look at the CNB MIR 1000 and 3000. I have the 30 deg and it's a nice unit, would be nicer if the power was adjustable like Raytec/Axis but it's less expensive.

[thewireguys 3]

The small Ratec's are not that bad. The White LED units throw a lot of light.

[rory 0]

The White LED units throw a lot of light.

IMO They are a total waste of money, definitely NOT a lot of light and I used 2 models.

 

The light they emit is hardly useful for CCTV cameras and yet its so bright on the eyes its painful, better off using Infrared, a Dusk to dawn or motion lighting.

[NotoriousBRK 0]

The White LED units throw a lot of light.

IMO They are a total waste of money, definitely NOT a lot of light and I used 2 models.

 

The light they emit is hardly useful for CCTV cameras and yet its so bright on the eyes its painful, better off using Infrared, a Dusk to dawn or motion lighting.

 

What spectrum of visible light is not usable by CCTV cameras? I'm curious what camera(s) you tested with, my results with the Raytec units have been similar to Thewireguys', they've worked well.

[thewireguys 3]

The White LED units throw a lot of light.

IMO They are a total waste of money, definitely NOT a lot of light and I used 2 models.

 

The light they emit is hardly useful for CCTV cameras and yet its so bright on the eyes its painful, better off using Infrared, a Dusk to dawn or motion lighting.

 

Roy I think you have got defective units because the the units that I have more then enough light for the 2MP camera I was using.

[rory 0]

The White LED units throw a lot of light.

IMO They are a total waste of money, definitely NOT a lot of light and I used 2 models.

 

The light they emit is hardly useful for CCTV cameras and yet its so bright on the eyes its painful, better off using Infrared, a Dusk to dawn or motion lighting.

 

Roy I think you have got defective units because the the units that I have more then enough light for the 2MP camera I was using.

 

Not defective, just a waste of money for a driveway or carpark.

[rory 0]

The White LED units throw a lot of light.

IMO They are a total waste of money, definitely NOT a lot of light and I used 2 models.

 

The light they emit is hardly useful for CCTV cameras and yet its so bright on the eyes its painful, better off using Infrared, a Dusk to dawn or motion lighting.

 

What spectrum of visible light is not usable by CCTV cameras? I'm curious what camera(s) you tested with, my results with the Raytec units have been similar to Thewireguys', they've worked well.

CNB monalisa's.

Raytec's support materials do mention that their White light is nothing near as good as IR.

$700 and it barely pushes beyond 50' // got to be kidding me.

I was using Extreme CCTV IR for a decade at a lot less $$ and it worked 10 times better.

[thewireguys 3]

The White LED units throw a lot of light.

IMO They are a total waste of money, definitely NOT a lot of light and I used 2 models.

 

The light they emit is hardly useful for CCTV cameras and yet its so bright on the eyes its painful, better off using Infrared, a Dusk to dawn or motion lighting.

 

What spectrum of visible light is not usable by CCTV cameras? I'm curious what camera(s) you tested with, my results with the Raytec units have been similar to Thewireguys', they've worked well.

CNB monalisa's.

Raytec's support materials do mention that their White light is nothing near as good as IR.

$700 and it barely pushes beyond 50' // got to be kidding me.

I was using Extreme CCTV IR for a decade at a lot less $$ and it worked 10 times better.

 

Rory I had a demo of the Raylux 25 and that unit pushed light well beyond 50ft and that is the smallest LED unit they make. Maybe analog cameras can't see the white light as good as MP cameras

[rory 0]

Rory I had a demo of the Raylux 25 and that unit pushed light well beyond 50ft and that is the smallest LED unit they make. Maybe analog cameras can't see the white light as good as MP cameras

I used the 50 and the 100, in fact they are still actively at an install but we are switching back to IR as that goes alot further plus client is tired of the light (dont ask). Neither were satisfactory for the distances they claim, even if it really is 70' or 100' (thats not all usable light though) its still ridiculously short for the cost compared to IR. Then again I used Extreme IR for 10 years so I could be spoiled, but then explain the much better night image with a dusk to dawn with less actual light glare? You could be right, anyway Im not spending $1000 on an MP camera and $700 on the raytec and another $1000 or so on the network infrastructure and nvr etc to find out when we dont need an MP camera for that application and I know what does actually work for alot less.

 

I still lean towards what Raytec themselves say which is the White LED distances is much less than IR (it shows this in the specs for both), plus when the camera switches to BW and the IR cut is removed which is in the case of IR it will no doubt do a much better job anyway as it is then much more sensitive for the areas where otherwise darker areas might exist with color and white light.

 

from my other thread on the raytec white light install:

"at 75% power approx and barely covering 3/4 the width of a 3mm fov and around 70' or so distance with what seems is just really dim light to the cameras (2 different types) .. the first thing the client said was GOD THATS BRIGHT, CAN YOU TURN IT DOWN??!"

[SEANHAWG 1]

I bought a 140 led IR illuminator off of eBay for $55 with free shipping from Hong Kong and the thing lights up my whole driveway like a charm. I've had it up for 6 months now with no problems. I tested it on a Sony Effio camera that we bought a sample on where you can go into the OSD and turn the gain way up and doing that you could see the IR past 100' easily. Of course the closer you get to the IR, you get totally whited out but its great for far away objects.

[rory 0]

Sean I need to get some of those from you

[Nimrod 0]

“I bought a 140 led IR illuminator off of eBay for $55 with free shipping from Hong Kong and the thing lights up my whole driveway like a charm. I've had it up for 6 months now with no problems. I tested it on a Sony Effio camera that we bought a sample on where you can go into the OSD and turn the gain way up and doing that you could see the IR past 100' easily. Of course the closer you get to the IR, you get totally whited out but its great for far away objects.”

 

Can you post a picture of the unit so we know what one you are talking about.

[SEANHAWG 1]

Its been a while but I believe this is the one I bought:

 

 

 

 

Fleabay special. I'll try to get some screenshots posted up this weekend.

[EarlT 0]

Been looking at those fleabay specials too. How wide is the usable light at say 75'?

[timsa 0]

I have one of the low cost SAMSUNG SDE-4001, 8 camera setups you can get from SAM's Club. It's working well enough but I need more IR range for my driveway. The IR illuminator in the camera only lights out to about 20 feet or so and I need about 80. I purchased an IR24, 150' IR illuminator from Supercircuits.

 

I can see the red glow from the IR24 so I know it's working but the camera does not see the IR light from it. I'm assuming the IR illuminator frequency of the IR24 and camera IR frequency response are mismatched. Another note is that I can NOT see the IR from the illuminator which is in the camera (which indicates it's at a different, lower IR frequency).

 

Can anyone recommend an IR illuminator that will work with the cameras provided with the SDE-4001?

 

Does anyone know which IR frequency these cameras respond to?

 

Thanks for any help.

[Kawboy12R 0]

If you can't see the IR from the cameras and you're sure they're working then it's probably 940nm IR. I put a 940nm IR floodight under my deck to shine up my driveway. It is really dark at night under my deck where it is mounted and I can't see even a hint of red coming from the LEDs. I don't have Samsung cams but it works fine with my CNB VCM-24VF dome and cheapo Lorex bullet. $80 from Amazon.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-IR-200-940-CMVision-Wavelength-Illuminator/dp/B004PLOPDS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352984241&sr=8-1&keywords=940+cmvision

[timsa 0]

Thanks Kawboy...

 

Yes after a bunch of research I believe you are right. The camera has a 940nm illuminator. Unfortunately the IR illuminator I purchased is an 850nm. I also found out that 850nm is more popular because they have better range than a 940nm. A longer range 940nm illuminator is way more expensive than an 850nm of the same range also.

 

So now it's up to me to decide if I should replace the camera with one that responds to 850nm or keep trying to find a longer range (80 -100 ft), inexpensive 940nm illuminator.

 

... maybe I'll just mount a regular motion light out at the end of the driveway...

 

Thanks much for your help.