My example of focus shifting (Vari-Focal heat issues)

[thmaxxer 0]

This is the screenshots from my vari-focal Swann bullet. The first shot is in the afternoon, second is in the morning. You can see there is a bit of fuzziness and minor blur on the cars across the street in the afternoon shot, not terrible, but I just wanted to show an example. The regular bullets are razor sharp day and night, again, this is my swann vari-focal bullet. I don't have any experience with the vf dome as it is inside.

[buellwinkle 0]

What's the temperature difference between the two shots?

[thmaxxer 0]

What's the temperature difference between the two shots?

 

Roughly 18 degrees.

[shockwave199 0]

I'm not really sure you're taking advantage of the vari focal to begin with. That looks like about what you'd get out of a fixed 3.6. I'd first adjust your fov tighter. Perhaps the top of the frame showing no more than the opposite side curb. Lose the neighbors house entirely. That will give you more of the driveway closest to your garage as well, which you don't have at the moment and should. You're probably gonna say you want some of those woods on the left because morons walk through there, so it's a hot spot. In which case, compromise between left/right view. Consider that the most useful information will be when they actually get to your driveway and the street. Anything more, especially at night, will probably yield very little useful video. So I'd probably favor nudging the camera to the right a bit as well. That'll actually give you a useful tighter shot- something a 3.6 wouldn't do, so take advantage of the tight shot, not the wide shot. You want wide, don't bother with a vari focal. This may not help your focus shift, but it's a good place to start and it might eliminate the issue by just doing that.

[joseph.chen0312 0]

Apparently is relative to Sunlight emmitting angle.

[buellwinkle 0]

18 degrees doesn't seem like much of a variance. I don't have that specific camera, but I have several brands of varifocal and fixed lens cameras in So Cal where it's not unusual for temps to vary by about 30 degrees between early morning and mid-day and I've never seen that so certainly a design defect. Hopefully Swann will be able to adjust their design and fix this.

[zikronix 0]

I have one of those domes in my garage, and its a pain in the ass compared to the fix dome, I was gettging false alerts all weekend. I need to tweak the settings to see what the hell is going on.

[thmaxxer 0]

18 degrees doesn't seem like much of a variance. I don't have that specific camera, but I have several brands of varifocal and fixed lens cameras in So Cal where it's not unusual for temps to vary by about 30 degrees between early morning and mid-day and I've never seen that so certainly a design defect. Hopefully Swann will be able to adjust their design and fix this.

 

You need to realize I was starting at about 84 degrees. "In the sun" temp was about 96. I think I am going to return the bullet and get a pair of the fixed lens bullets.

[buellwinkle 0]

Today, it's 97F in the shade here in So Cal and it was 69F this morning so I feel what you are saying and not liking it one bit.