Additional Infrared Lighting

[grege 0]

Hey all,

 

I've been really disappoint with the coverage of the IR LED's on my ACTi E42 cameras at night. I have a motion light on the side of my garage so was wondering if anybody has tried something like this.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LIGHT-BULB-940nm-120-IR-Infrared-IR-led-ILLuminator-Invisible-Glow-/150721373553?pt=US_Security_Cameras&hash=item2317b1a571

 

The camera is not mounted right where this light would be coming from and I didn't know if that mattered. Would it work or would I still be disappointed? Would I need the light to come from pretty much the place the camera is mounted?

 

I also saw this so I could try this one.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/INFRARED-ILLUMINATOR-940NM-NIGHT-VISION-NO-RED-GLOW-WEATHERPROOF-USA-/221217036800?pt=US_Security_Cameras&hash=item3381901a00

 

Thanks

[MaxIcon 0]

This would work just like a visible light in the same location would. It doesn't need to be where the camera is, but needs to illuminate the area the camera's looking at, just like a white light spotlight.

 

Two things to consider:

 

- You probably want to verify if the first one with the standard E27 connector is rated for outdoor use, unless your motion detect fixture is enclosed. It doesn't look outdoor rated to me.

 

- 940 nm has much less red glow than 850 nm, but cameras are a good bit less sensitive to 940 nm, so for the same IR power output, you'll get less effective illumination, and it'll cost more as well.

 

Nobody specs the actual IR output of their devices, which is not necessarily related to the LED power. That is, the 18W LED power of the 140 LED fixture doesn't mean it puts out 6 times the IR of the 3W LED power of the E27 120 LED lamp assembly. You can't tell until you test them, unless the vendor can tell you the actual IR output of the LEDs.

[grege 0]

Good to know about 940 vs 850. This might be better then.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140-Led-IR-Infrared-Lamp-Illuminator-Light-850nm-for-CCTV-Camera-High-Quality-/350783096543?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51ac4d46df

 

If I have a house and a detached garage facing it and a camera on both, would the illuminator mounted on the garage shining between the buildings assist a camera on both the house looking out and the garage looking back?

[MaxIcon 0]

Yeah, it would be pretty much like a regular light shining in the same area. Like with a white light, if it's shining too directly toward the opposite camera, you'd get a lot of glare.

 

It's unpredictable how the beam spreads; some fixtures have a flood effect, others have more of a spotlight, depending on what kind of LEDs they used. This is another thing you can't tell much about until you get it, since they don't say.

 

Also, when vendors spec a distance range for IR LEDs, you can usually cut it in half to get a more realistic estimate.