Re: Colour security cameras?

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

Am I right in assuming that you're not in the US?  (Colour)  That might make
my advice less useful because I have NTSC (never the same color) equipment
and you may need PAL/SECAM.

I'm *mostly* satisfied with the Sony HAD based IR bullet cams I've purchased
from Supercircuits for about $150 made by KTC.  I add a little bead of
silicone sealant all the way around the end caps, wire exit point and other
seams to prevent moisture from entering.  If your cameras fog after a rain,
there's water getting into them and that's not good.  Many bulletcams use
O-rings to keep out the water and after a few years, they fail to seal
properly.  Weatherproof doesn't mean waterproof, as I have found the hard
way.

Remember that IR cameras are only black and white at night, and the
resolution is much poorer at night than during the daytime.  Mount them
where they won't get rained on.  One real problem with IR cams is that the
illumination is coaxial to the lens.  Any dirt that gets on the lens will be
lit at full intensity and will not only interefere with the sharpness - it
will cause the lens to "stop down" because of the brightness of the dirt
reflected back into the lens and the camera will become virtually "night
blind."  The same layer of dirt, ironically, is invisible to the color
sensor in daytime because it's out-of-focus and because the internal IR
illuminator is shut off during daylight, hence no light is being reflected
back into the camera.   I'm thinking of using separate IR illuminators aimed
at critical areas to help eliminate the reflection problem.  I live near a
big city and a superhighway and that puts a lot of dust in the air which
eventually settles on the camera lens.  Choose a camera with a lens shade if
you've got "dirty air" because it will help to lessen the amount of dust
that settles on the lens.

Another problem I've found is that my IR cams attract insects.  I have a
neat video of a giant spider almost covering the lens with a web it was
spinning.  I have to clean them off at least twice a year, sometimes more,
depending on the fauna.  Birds will occasionally perch on them as well,
especially when it's cold because the cameras are warm to the touch,
especially if the LEDs are lit.

Oh, and one more weirdness I've found is that green grass shows up as gray
during the daytime.  The color rendition of the IR cams I use is not
anywhere near as good as a normal bullet cams.  In fact, I use two
bulletcams to monitor critical areas - one normal, one IR.  I like seeing
green grass and cars in their natural color.

Supercircuits also has a new line of high res cameras that are probably
designed for people who are using HDTV setups.  More costly, to be sure, but
it might be something to consider if you're going to monitor the cams on
your HDTV.

PS. WTF is WIDGAFA?  Google turns up nothing except this post when searching
on that acronym.

--
Bobby G.

"Bill Stock" <me7@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:485f7rFii5reU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> I've got two older B&W cameras that I'd like to replace, as the resolution
> is not as good as the other cameras and they're starting to get some burn
> in. I've been happy enough with the other cheapie ($100+) B&W IR bullet
> cams, except for the fogging after a heavy rain. I thought I'd go colour
> with the new cams and eventually replace all the older cams.
>
> I know when I looked a few years ago, the colour cams were not recommened
> due to poor resolution. I'm looking at the day/night IR colour cams using
> the Sony 1/3" CCD @ 420 TV lines. A varifocal lens would be nice, but not
> necessary. There seems to be quite a price range on these, anywhere from
sub
> $100 to $400. I know some of this is due to the branding (WIDGAFA), but
why
> the wide price range? Anything in particular I should be looking for?
>
> TIA
>
>
>