Do solar garden-style lights help?

Covy

Covy

Young grasshopper
Jun 16, 2022
38
18
United States
I have decent cameras right now (IPC-Color4K-X) and will likely be adding a few cheaper cameras. The LED on the camera is ok to bring in some light, but I was curious if adding some edge lighting around the house would help get a better night picture? The 2 areas now are:

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I was just thinking maybe some solar pathway lights or something simple that would turn on from dusk until dawn. Has anyone used this type of lighting to improve the performance of their cameras? If so - which lights?
 
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If it helps, this is a crop from a 4Kt near a 5w led wall lamp (400 lumens). 400 lumens is all the light there is. Otherwise it would be near pitch black.

Rear Yard Night.jpg

Shutter speed is high at 4ms (1/250th) and gain pegged to 50 max.

Could probably get a perfectly good shot at that level, but more light will help further. I have a 40w (3,500 lumen) led flood on a sensor that activates on a pir and if triggered, it's like daylight on a 4kt.

Lowering the shutter to 1/125 would significantly boost the birhgtness but I prefer 4ms to eliminate any blur especially as I have the flood light to boost levels if anyone intrudes.
 
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There is a thread somewhere with a back to back comparison.

However, beware. The latest 5442's have uprated firmware and a new lens that has reduced the required light to near 4kt levels on paper. It remains to be seen if one of the new 5442 models can match the 4Kt in practice. Waiting for a test or a member to buy one and do a comparison of the new vs old vs 4kt.
 
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CCTVCam said:
If it helps, this is a crop from a 4Kt near a 5w led wall lamp (400 lumens). 400 lumens is all the light there is. Otherwise it would be near pitch black.

View attachment 169120
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Lovin' the razor spikes atop the fence and gate...OUCH! :headbang::lol:
 
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Pricka strips. Harmless but sharp enough to hurt and stop you climbing. There are no points to them - they're blunted at the very tip. Very strict rules in the UK on stuff such as barbed wire these days and topping walls with broken glass etc is unlawful as is any kind of trap and you can liable for injury to trespassers in damages!

Googled and found an article on the strips here with close up photos:

Why Homes and Businesses Love Prikla Strip Anti Climb Spikes

Homes and Businesses love Prikla Strip Anti Climb Spikes for a variety of reasons including cost, effectiveness, easy of installation and more.
www.insight-security.com
 
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I installed some garden lighting at the start of this year and use the AI person detection on my cameras to turn them on.
My suggestion would be to use this style of path lights because it would not aim light directly towards the camera.
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I personally bought cheap solar powered lights and put a high-power 12v LED module inside, then control the garden light zones with a Shelly RGBW2.
Many on here have used the Shelly IoT devices to trigger from Blue Iris.
 
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CCTVCam said:
Harmless but sharp enough to hurt and stop you climbing. There are no points to them - they're blunted at the very tip.
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Great idea.

After watching "Cops" and the like all these years I wonder how they would handle it...they'd have to carry a super-thick blanket on their belt to toss over them. But then if the perp the're chasing preceded them the perp is likely not doing too well from the experience.

prikla-strip.jpg
 
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TonyR said:
Great idea.

After watching "Cops" and the like all these years I wonder how they would handle it...they'd have to carry a super-thick blanket on their belt to toss over them. But then if the perp the're chasing preceded them the perp is likely not doing too well from the experience.

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They hurt, trust me I've tried putting downward pressure with a hand on them.

That said, as with anything, they can be bypassed. As you pointed out, a super thick blanket or a thick coat would probably do the job. They work against the casual burglar though

I always seen home security as a layered defence. One thing alone won't stop anyone, but have enough layers and it becomes enough of a deterrent that your homes not worth the effort or risk and a neighbours beomes far more attractive. That might seem callous, but the aim is to protect your property. Your neighbours have the same option in which case your neighbourhood becomes less attractive in favour of another.

As my layers I have:

1. CCTV
2. Lighting
3. High Security Locks that are anti-snap (the most common UK method of entry)
4. High Security Door Handles that resist snap attacks
5. Dog Warning Signs etc
5. Alarm

No of those are impossible to overcome. But if I were a burglar, I'd rather pick a neighbouring house with none or maybe 1 of those than have to deal with and risk detection at all those stages to gain entry.
 
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