Low light camera recommendation?

[jtech1 0]

I have used Speco Intensifier dome cameras (standard def) for many years and gotten good results in low light residential situations without IR.

 

I just picked up a few of their TVI versions (7246T) to give them a try, expecting even better performance. The day time image is great, but the low light performance seems to be inferior to the old standard def versions. Many old settings are missing. Intensifier only goes up to 32X instead of 256X with an Auto mode on the old models. To get even close to the old image, I have to crank up AGI and noise filtering, and it still does not match the old one... and the TVI camera then has a 1-2 second frame update rate in the live image (30 in full daytime light)... assuming from all the processing and long shutter time. The old standard def version gave 5-10 frames/sec even in highest Intensifier setting mode. Has anyone else used these and had a better experience? Am I missing something?

 

Many of my applications are for residential yards that are 100-150 ft. The "No IR" cameras work pretty well with just a porch light on and the moon... whereas I don't believe IR would show much at that distance especially with grass/yard background. I use IR versions for up close cameras like door cameras, etc. But for whole yard views the Intensifiers fit the bill better... just the new ones don't seem to be as good or flexible in settings.

 

Is there another brand of low light dome camera that gives better results in outdoor residential use where no IR red glow is wanted?

 

Thanks!

[jtech1 0]

Well, I will provide some more info that I believe explains the difference between the old Speco 7246IHR standard def and the new Speco 7246T TVI camera. Both are Intensifier cameras.

 

I had just assumed that all aspects of the camera would be comparable in quality with the additional resolution. Not the case. And I spoke to people at Speco who assured me the new camera should perform as good or better than the old one. Well, it is not possible... and here is why... I went and dug into the specs.

 

The old 7246IHR Intensifier is a CCD based camera... and is rated down to 0.00002 lux without any IR. While the new 7246T is a CMOS camera and only rates to 0.001 lux. So, stupid me...I should have looked at the specs before I assumed.

 

I believe the drastically different low light performance is due to the CMOS sensor instead of the CCD... which, also means that the WDR is not done in the sensor, but in software instead, and is not as good... so, at night with light sources, the dark areas do not have as much detail with the inferior WDR in the CMOS camera. If anyone feels I am wrong here or have missed something, please tell me.

 

And, if anyone knows of a CCD based TVI dome camera that can match the 0.00002 lux rating without IR, I would love to know about it.

[MistaTony 0]

The IR cameras are not much more expensive than the non IRs, they are just in black and white.

 

We helped our client installed some starlight cameras from EasternCCTV, they get good color images at low light. I don't know how much you plan to spend but if I were you, i wanna get some new cameras with new technologies that will last for a good number of years.

 

And the ones we were using were IPC, but I know they also have TVI starlight cameras.

[jtech1 0]

Excellent! Thank you very much for that info! I checked out their cameras... their no IR Starlight sensor camera gets very close to the 0.00002 lux rating the old Speco I am replacing has. And it looks like it is available from a few other vendors also (a chinese made camera resold by a few US companies). Looks like the Panasonic Starlight sensor and a new Sony StarVis sensor have some promise in getting good low light performance. Speco customer service has been poor... telling me they don't think they will have anything better than the current model. I will give one of these new Starlight camera a try and see how it compares. They are actually cheaper than the inferior Speco 7246T I tried already. Thanks!

[MistaTony 0]

You are welcome.