Yawnder 0 Posted December 6, 2012 Hi all, very new to the CCTV / security camera scene, and for the past couple hours I've been doing a lot of reading here as I plan on buying a camera within the next couple of days. Can you guys recommend me some good outdoor cameras in the $150 range? I'm willing to spend a little more for something that's that much better. Dome is preferred but I'd consider a bullet too. (I'd also actually prefer a network camera for convenience but there seems to be quite a premium attached to this feature, and the video quality is more important to me.) The CNB 24VF looks like it gets pretty good reviews here, and it's one I'm strongly considering. But from what I read here, it apparently doesn't really switch to black and white mode if there's any visible light, and when not in B&W mode at night, the image can be very noisy. (Unless I read wrong.) Well, the area that I plan on having in the FOV is fairly well lit by a street lamp that's almost directly overhead. I believe it's a sodium bulb (looks pinkish and orangeish). So all that being said are there any cameras in particular you think would do a better job in my situation than the 24VF? I just would hate to get it only to have to leave it in B&W mode all the time, in which case I could've gotten a B&W-only camera that is superior in low light. But I kind of want color capability because I personally think it can aid in IDing people by the color of their clothing, etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yakky 0 Posted December 6, 2012 The switching issue is overblown. If there is enough light, it will be in color. The 24VF series is as intelligent as any camera in its price range if not more. If you shop around they can be had for $110-125, I personally like CNBdealer, they are great to work with and they will hook you up if you are buying several. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yawnder 0 Posted December 12, 2012 Thank you. As you might have seen from my other thread, I ended up buying the VBM-24VF. It's all set up. I left all of the settings at default, and tonight it was still on color mode -- probably thanks to the street light -- until I put something in front of the camera and heard it "click" to B&W mode. Since then it has remained in B&W mode, even after turning on a 40 or 60W porch light, located about 8 feet behind and below it. I noticed that in the darkness (with street light, house lights, of course) that it was harder to see faces when in color mode compared to black and white... so ideally it would switch automatically. Tomorrow I'm going to switch the D/N level from the default setting of "middle" to its lowest setting and see if that makes any difference. According to the manual at the middle setting it'll switch from color to B&W with .5 lux, and at the lowest, at .2 lux. So we'll see what happens, my fingers are crossed though. If it still doesn't change automatically with the lowest setting, do I have any other options besides setting it to always be in B&W mode or moving the mounted position (which I won't do)? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kawboy12R 0 Posted December 13, 2012 My front door camera is mounted so that light from the porchlight shines directly into it. To shade the cam from light pollution I lined the inside of the lampshade with tinfoil on the house/camera side. That made a big difference in camera performance at night but barely affected how the light worked for people coming and going. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
G_M 0 Posted February 14, 2013 I would suggest against going with the CNB I am running 12 of them spread across 3 separate locations and have had 4 die on me so far. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
