Help! Eyeonet CAM-IP5022, can't configure IR/image settings

[FlashEngineer 0]

Does anyone have this camera?

 

http://www.aartech.ca/domeip5022-eyeonet-ip-dome-2-megapixel.html

 

I was able to do a image flip somehow but now I looked through every menu and can't find ANYTHING on this?? Is this camera's firmware buggy as hell or what?

 

The night time view is horrible, IR reflects the dome and very grainy/noisy, like shot in ISO5000.

 

I originally bought this for my backyard because it's wide angle and the day view is superb.. but night is total waste.

 

Not sure what to do, I don't want to take this down, it's good where's it mounted.. should I just buy a low light camera to supplement this view? Sort of a waste now...

 

Had to resize to upload, these are 1080 resolution.

 

 

NIGHT:

 

 

DAY:

 

[buellwinkle 0]

Ooh, that's bad LED light bleed. You can see the halo of the IR light ring. Can you return the camera? This is a problem with poorly designed domes. You can get away with poorly design bullets as the glass is flat, but not domes. Also, having an unpopular brand makes it hard to find software for recording.

[FlashEngineer 0]

I think I can return it but problem is I cut off one of the connectors.. plus I really don't want to take it down after all the work I've put in.

 

Is there a way to just shut off the IR's? or I can physically unplug the IR.

 

The firmware seems buggy or something, when I log in to the interface, I still cant' find any image settings which I swear I did an image flip before...

 

The funny thing is, the night before, there wasn't any IR bleed like this, I don't know why today there is, has to do with that light sensor or something...

[MaxIcon 0]

Some cams have the light sensor for switching between day/night on the IR LED board (like Vivotek), so you can't disconnect the IR board without losing the photocell as well. If yours doesn't have a photocell, or if it's mounted separately, it might work.

 

Other options would include putting something over the LEDs, cutting the trace on the board, etc.

 

If the IR bleed wasn't there before you mounted it, you might be reflecting off of the wall and back onto the dome. I have a cam that works fine out in the open, but gets terrible IR hazing when mounted near a wall.

[FlashEngineer 0]

if the gasket is touching the dome, it should prevent this right? Should I get some thicker gasket material and put it on the original gasket to make sure it presses against it?

 

I wonder if I tilted the angle too much and some IR led are hitting the dome cover and reflecting back... that sucks because I need that sharp angle... I guess that's why they tell you to use the L bracket

[buellwinkle 0]

That's usually where IR domes have issues, when you push the lens to the very edge and the gasket can't seal properly.

[FlashEngineer 0]

So I've checked, that is my issue since it's tilted so much against the wall, the gasket does not touch anymore.

 

I have few options, which I would ask which is best?

 

1. Add some circle foam gasket if I can find somewhere at hardware store like homedepot etc, so it's thicker and will push against the dome

 

2. Unplug the IR led, I can do this but not sure if the photocell sensor will still work or does it need power even to change into night mode, I can add some IR illuminators or white light

 

3. L bracket mount this camera, which means the camera is more exposed and less conspicuous but the IR problem will be gone.

 

4. Point it to different angle which means reworking my whole camera setup and adding other cameras to different locations = time + money

[buellwinkle 0]

See if you can find a wall bracket for the camera. It's what I have to do sometimes when I can't get the angle I want and believe me, it's a last resort as it's not pretty.

[FlashEngineer 0]

There is one for $40, problem is it sticks out a lot and doesn't look that great:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYhh6cAbbZo

[FlashEngineer 0]

Found out the issue, I think...

 

I think it was facing too close to the wall which has aluminum fascia (which where the cam was mounted on)

 

So I think it reflected too much or something, not sure, but facing away it didn't have this issue anymore so basically if I care about night vision, I need to face this away. The L bracket is too much work, I have to drill into the brick wall and fish the cable out and I don't really want to drill a 3/4" hole in the fall weather 12 feet high up.

 

Guess gotta buy more cameras.....

[buellwinkle 0]

Bullet style camera is the way to go, less problems than domes.

[FlashEngineer 0]

Yeah, that won't go well with the wife or neighbors, especially a good bullet, which is not tiny like those crappy ones you find in a bundle 4x at costco for $500.

 

Honestly for a residential area, unless you're pointing at your home, bullets are just asking for trouble when people complain about privacy and camera's facing toward's them. I'm even a bit iffy on the red IR LED's..

 

I'm either getting some more of those mini dome from Dahua or some more ACTi 7111... it's just really too bad those vivotek FD8134v are such a crappy 56 degree horizontal view. Some say you can change the lens, not sure if it's hard or worth it to do so, I'm not even sure which lens to buy.

[MaxIcon 0]

Found out the issue, I think...

 

I think it was facing too close to the wall which has aluminum fascia (which where the cam was mounted on)

 

So I think it reflected too much or something, not sure, but facing away it didn't have this issue anymore so basically if I care about night vision, I need to face this away. The L bracket is too much work, I have to drill into the brick wall and fish the cable out and I don't really want to drill a 3/4" hole in the fall weather 12 feet high up.

 

Guess gotta buy more cameras.....

 

Yeah, I struggled with this with an analog cam before I switched over, and never really got it under control due to being close to the eaves. I tried taping over the LEDs closest to the eaves, mounting a shield that stuck out 5" to keep the IR spread away, and it never helped much. It's one of the downsides of onboard IR.

 

One of my Vivotek bullets has the same problem, due to reflection from a fence, and the solution is the same as yours - buy more cameras (or modify the field of view). It's worse with domes in general, though.

 

I'm either getting some more of those mini dome from Dahua or some more ACTi 7111... it's just really too bad those vivotek FD8134v are such a crappy 56 degree horizontal view. Some say you can change the lens, not sure if it's hard or worth it to do so, I'm not even sure which lens to buy.

 

It's pretty easy to change the lens, but you have to remove the IR board the first time. On mine, I removed the lens setscrew and wrapped the threads with teflon tape to hold it in place, which allows me to change or focus the lens without removing the IR board any more.

 

The 8134 comes with a 3.6mm lens, so you'd probably want to go to a 2.8mm lens for a wider FOV.

 

You want to check 3 things on the lens you buy:

- Make sure it's IR compensated (not IR blocking), or the image will be out of focus when it switches to IR. If it's IR blocking, you won't see much when the IR switches on!

 

- Get a 1/4" sensor lens. 1/3" or 1/2" will work, and the quality will be better since you're further from the edges of the lens, but a 1/3" 2.8mm lens gives a different field of view with a 1/3" sensor than with a 1/4" sensor, and it may not change your view at all.

 

- It's a good idea to get a MP rated lens, since many of the inexpensive board cam lenses are designed for D1/VGA sensors, and don't have as good resolution as your sensor. This isn't an easy thing to be sure of, as vendors use all sorts of marketing terms.

[FlashEngineer 0]

So I should get a 1/4" sensor then?

[MaxIcon 0]

I'm a fan of using larger lenses than the sensor, since lens quality is poorer at the edges than at the center in all but the most expensive lenses, and a 1/4" sensor in the projected view from a 1/3" lens is a lot more in the sweet spot.

 

It complicates things, though, and I believe it would reduce your f-stop equivalent some as well, since a lot of the light misses the sensor, but I haven't worked through the details on that.

 

Here's a link to a PDF that gives a general guideline to putting a larger lens on a smaller sensor. Not all sensors are the same size as they use in their matrix, but it's a good guideline. Look at the Sensor Size section.

 

http://www.ptgrey.com/support/downloads/documents/TAN2010002_Selecting_Lens.pdf

 

I haven't found any lens calculators that cover the field of view changes for using, say, a 1/3" lens with a 1/4" sensor. If anyone knows of any, I'd love to see the links.