For best results, you really need to manually adjust the camera settings, and not depend on the factory defaults.
Thats' the only way you can determine which IR is the best.
And location of the IR in relation to the cam is important as well.
For best results, you really need to manually adjust the camera settings, and not depend on the factory defaults.
Thats' the only way you can determine which IR is the best.
And location of the IR in relation to the cam is important as well.
I agree. The 10 Watt sees further but looking near the camera at the leaves, it blows the detail out by over exposure. It's safe to assume it would probably do the same with faces. There's no gain from the 20 over the 10.
So the 8 is the best balance between field of view and exposure.
Great for farther away but depending on what you're using it for, you may find faces blown out and unrecognisable near to the camera based on the screenshots above.
Sorry to hijack, has anyone found a good 'spot' external IR ? I am at the max zoom for my 5241 that does LPR duty and I could use a more focused IR beam in the area where cars go by.
I (and I'm sure others) would be very interested in seeing some new screenshots or video after dialing things in manually (presumably with a faster shutter in the 1/60 to 1/100 range, as we are frequently advised to do to avoid motion blur). Even your original on-camera IR illumination (on exactly the same cameras as mine) look vastly superior to my results. I just pulled the trigger on ordering the same "new" series 10W Tendelux as you, but haven't received it yet.
One thing that might be degrading my setup is the way I mounted my cameras up under the eaves, below the gutter line (barely) but only a few inches back from those gutters (single story house, and the FOV is 25-35 feet back, so shallow angles). Obviously they are low enough not to be visibly blocked by the gutters in the FOV, but I might be getting some IR bounceback than is darkening (and possibly "clouding") the scene overall.
Can you add any insights into distances from the camera (or IR light) out to some of the objects in your FOV in these scenes? It would be helpful to know how far out the building behind the fence is for example.
Hi @jrbeddow, objects shown are ~30 from the camera to begin with and come closer. The camera is mounted to a tree inside a birdhouse I built. The IR illuminator is about 8' away from the camera mounted to another tree. You can see the attached pictures and settings I use at night. Hope that helps!
Hi @jrbeddow, objects shown are ~30 from the camera to begin with and come closer. The camera is mounted to a tree inside a birdhouse I built. The IR illuminator is about 8' away from the camera mounted to another tree. You can see the attached pictures and settings I use at night. Hope that helps!
Thanks, pretty standard settings, and very close to my own. Are there other sources of visible light (looks like there might be a light on that building I mentioned previously)?
Fingers crossed that what I have been seeing will be greatly improved with the external IR light "in place of" the original on-camera IR. I do hope that is what we are seeing in all of the shots, not "in addition to" to the on-camera IR.
I'm not home right now to grab screencaps and show just how mediocre the scenes look currently at night, maybe later.
Still would like to see some screencaps of your setup now that you dialed it in manually...TIA.
@jrbeddow, I think you'll see a noticeable difference using a separate IR illuminator. I don't use the onboard camera for any of my cameras, they all use a separate IR. In this location, there is no other light, unless that house you see leaves their flood lights on, which is rare. Next time I get a wildlife capture, I'll post a new video.
So I purchased one of the new redesigned Tendelux Ir Illuminators to give it a try. You can see it here I have two other older Tendelux IR illuminators that are still running strong after almost 3 yrs in use. One is an 8 watt model, and the other is a 4 watt model. And they've done a fine job...
