Some of us may run in to an unforeseen dilemma during the holidays... that perfect spot to string the Christmas lights puts a few bulbs right in front of a camera lens. In my case I have some cams mounted under the eves, and lights hung 2' away on the ends of the rafters. Four of the bulbs were destroying the image on one of my cameras.
I came up with a solution that results in an even better image, thanks to no glare with more lighting, and it preserves the look versus relocating the strand or unscrewing bulbs. I cut 4 reflectors out of some aluminum HVAC duct tape, and applied them on the lens facing half of each troublesome bulb. This way all light from the bulb that would hit the lens is reflected back toward the bulb, and the other side of the bulb still spreads joy.
I happened to have some $30/roll very thick high temp aluminum tape lying around that I used, but I think most aluminum hvac tapes would work the same. I made some extras once I got the cutting pattern decent. I suspect the 4 fixed bulbs may not last as long due to reduced heat dissipation (Al conducts heat well, but there's lots of air trapped between the tape and glass). However there is no real danger as the bulbs are only on when it's freezing cold outside. If you've got this problem might want to give this a try. It took me all of 10 minutes to do, the lights still look great from the street, and it offers restored/improved security at a time when the packages won't stop showing up on the doorstep.
Now, what to do about flickering LED strands... glad I don't have that problem I use old school 5W incandescent bulb strands!
Before the fix:
After the fix:
Merry Christmas,
Kev
I came up with a solution that results in an even better image, thanks to no glare with more lighting, and it preserves the look versus relocating the strand or unscrewing bulbs. I cut 4 reflectors out of some aluminum HVAC duct tape, and applied them on the lens facing half of each troublesome bulb. This way all light from the bulb that would hit the lens is reflected back toward the bulb, and the other side of the bulb still spreads joy.
I happened to have some $30/roll very thick high temp aluminum tape lying around that I used, but I think most aluminum hvac tapes would work the same. I made some extras once I got the cutting pattern decent. I suspect the 4 fixed bulbs may not last as long due to reduced heat dissipation (Al conducts heat well, but there's lots of air trapped between the tape and glass). However there is no real danger as the bulbs are only on when it's freezing cold outside. If you've got this problem might want to give this a try. It took me all of 10 minutes to do, the lights still look great from the street, and it offers restored/improved security at a time when the packages won't stop showing up on the doorstep.
Now, what to do about flickering LED strands... glad I don't have that problem I use old school 5W incandescent bulb strands!
Before the fix:
After the fix:
Merry Christmas,
Kev
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