Camera in the woods, filming into the light

[Podagrower]

One of the locations I want to film on our property is our 300ish feet of driveway. There is a 45 degree bend that would make a great location to hide a camera for filming a front and back view of any vehicle that uses the drive. The problems I think are: The camera would be hidden in the woods, in the dark, trying to film the driveway which is pretty bright. And a lot of IR would probably be required for night filming.

I think I can fix the first issue by forcing the camera IR off and forcing the balance/contrast to prevent a complete white out? I think the second issue can be fixed with an IR panel (which also fixes the third issue-camera IR would make it impossible to hide the camera at night).

This is a future project to add to our BI system. Since I would be running POE to the area anyway, adding 120V isn't an issue if needed. Recommendations/suggestions?

 

[bababouy]

Try a starlight there first. How far is it from your possible camera location to the driveway?

 

[Podagrower]

How far is it from your possible camera location to the driveway?

Complete variable. Closer to drive would mean fewer trees, further from the drive would give better concealment without added camouflage. I would say no closer than 10' and anything further than 25' is going to just filming the woodland creatures.

 

[looney2ns]

Complete variable. Closer to drive would mean fewer trees, further from the drive would give better concealment without added camouflage. I would say no closer than 10' and anything further than 25' is going to just filming the woodland creatures.

So, are you wanting to capture license plates? If so, see the LPR subject area.

 

[mat200]

One of the locations I want to film on our property is our 300ish feet of driveway. There is a 45 degree bend that would make a great location to hide a camera for filming a front and back view of any vehicle that uses the drive. The problems I think are: The camera would be hidden in the woods, in the dark, trying to film the driveway which is pretty bright. And a lot of IR would probably be required for night filming.

I think I can fix the first issue by forcing the camera IR off and forcing the balance/contrast to prevent a complete white out? I think the second issue can be fixed with an IR panel (which also fixes the third issue-camera IR would make it impossible to hide the camera at night).

This is a future project to add to our BI system. Since I would be running POE to the area anyway, adding 120V isn't an issue if needed. Recommendations/suggestions?

Welcome @Podagrower

Let us know what you end up getting and your experiences with it. We always enjoy members who share their setups and experiences.

 

[Podagrower]

So, are you wanting to capture license plates? If so, see the LPR subject area.

License plate capture isn't the goal, it would be a bonus if it happened.

Let us know what you end up getting and your experiences with it. We always enjoy members who share their setups and experiences.

The driveway cam is a long term project (good for planning, bad for forums). Right now, I would say I am playing with cameras and planning the layout. I have 2 cameras on WiFi and 2 on ethernet over powerline adaptors. I need to run power and ethernet or POE to a variety of locations and summer is here so I'm not going in the attic anytime soon.