Vivotek IP8332 - lost focus

[benf 0]

Picture quality on my IP8332 was excellent when I installed about 3 months ago but have noticed the picture's gone soft and mushy. I read another recent post where a Vivo is losing focus in the afternoon sun but mine is like this all the time. It does get afternoon sun and sits near the top of a metal roof so gets toasty (and is going to get even toastier soon soon here in AZ). I noticed this about 3 weeks ago and was pretty much all of a sudden rather than gradually getting worse over time. I haven't messed with it at all and isn't subject to any sort of impact.

 

My assumption is the heat has changed something internally to cause the camera to go out of focus so am curious if this is normal. I have no problem re-focusing it but hoping this isn't going to become a regular occurrence.

 

Maybe I just got a lousy one but between this and the IR halo effect I've been thoroughly unimpressed with the cam so far, but challenging to find something with this feature set that doesn't cost significantly more.

 

For whatever it's worth I had an analog cam sitting in the same spot for 4 years before this one that never had an issue. Oh how I miss the simple days of analog...

[MaxIcon 0]

The Vivotek's lens threads into the IR cut filter housing, which is plastic and held in place by some snap-in tabs. If the filter housing isn't firmly snapped together, the lens can move around, losing focus.

 

It's possible the heat has caused the plastic housing to loosen up. The only way to tell would be to open it up, remove the IR board and lens, remove the rubber cover for the housing, and see if it's stable.

 

Also, if anything's getting on the glass (either inside or outside), that will soften up your view.

 

Older IP8332s didn't have a setscrew for the lens, so it may have vibrated loose if there's any motion where it's mounted. A layer of teflon tape on the threads will help keep that from happening. Sounds like yours may be too new for that, though.