Fixed lens out of focus, with every re-start

[Kees Draaihuis]

Hello,
I have a very strange problem with my IP-Camera.

When I got the camera, I installed the software on my phone which was very easy. When I saw the images on my phone they looked out of focus. The seller told me to open up the camera and adjust the lens so the image would be sharp. Although I'm not very technical I managed to do this. It is a 'fixed' lens but there is a possibility to adjust the lens by turning it a little bit. At first I thought it couldn't be done but I saw some "screw thread". So I thought it was possible. And it was, although it looked like the lens was 'fixed' by some glue. But I managed to turn the lens (removing the glue) and get a sharp image. I was happy.

Untill the next day. I wanted to look at the image again and saw that the image was blurry again. At first Ithought that I turned the lens when putting the camera together. So I opened up the camera again and turned the lens until the image was sharp. By the way, this 'turning' needs some power so it's not the case that the lens is very loose. You really have to uses some strength to turn the lens. After having a sharp image again, I put the camera together again. Then after a few hours I wanted to see how the image was when it was dark outside. To my surprise,.....the image was blurry again. But I thought that I was maybe wrong because it was dark outside. The next morning although I looked again by daylight and the image was blurry again. I couldn't imagine that I had turned the lens by accident again when putting the camera together so, after turning the lens again to a sharp image, I 'marked' the position of the lens to the piece where it was mounted to. The next day I started up the camera again and guess what?...........Blurry image. I opened up the camera again ( I was getting quick with that) and saw that the lens was exactly on the same spot as the day before when it showed a sharp image. So the lens had not been turned.

How is this possible? It's a fixed lens so it has no autofocus or whatsoever. But every time I start up the camera I get blurry images. Although the lens is exactly on the same spot as before when it was giving me sharp images.

Anybody has an idea?

 

[Sphinxicus]

This is a really wild guess but its the first thing that popped into my head. Take what you will from what that says about my thought processes

Is it possible that the variation in temperature from daytime to night is causing slight movement in the lens? I dont mean rotation of the focus ring, perhaps something else is causing the distance between the fillament(s) of glass that make the lens up and the sensor to change. (Poor build quality plastic components expanding/contracting with temperature?). It wouldnt take much to put it out of focus. Yuo didnt say what camera it was.

Could try bringing it inside and leaving it in a room with a stable temp for 24hrs, focus it and see if it goes out of focus again...

 

[sebastiantombs]

Out of curiosity what brand and model camera is that?

 

[wittaj]

Post the brand and model and some images so we can see what you are talking about.

Are you sure when pulling it up you are not bouncing back and forth between substream (blurry) and mainstream (clear)?

Is it a dome - some have experienced a focus issue between the dome on and off?

And if you altered the optimal focus distance a fixed camera was designed for and you have IR at night, you may now require two different focus points for color and IR B/W.

 

[Kees Draaihuis]

To be honest, I don't know the brand of the item. On the box it says ICSEE.

Here are some pictures of the item. You can see the 'screw thread' where I draw the red arrow.

 

[Kees Draaihuis]

@Sphinxicus , the item is still on my desk, so I haven't installed it yet. So it hasn't been outside.

@wittaj, Sorry, English isn't my native language. What do you mean with "Pulling it up"?

And the problem excist also during daytime, so it's not that it occured during the difference between night and day. I adjust the lens in the morning to see a sharp image on my phone. Then disconnect the camera. Wait till the next day, plug it in, and than the image is blurry. But for me, the strange thing, is that there are no 'movable' parts in there other than the lens. But as already mention, you really need to put some strength to it, to turn that little lens. So it's not that there is a motor which can adjust the lens or so.

 

[wittaj]

Is your app alternating between the substream of the camera and the mainstream. Substream is a lower resolution and thus a little blurry.

It's a wifi camera so when the signal is not as strong, it will show the substream...

Can you plug it into POE and confirm that it is a wifi issue?

 

[Kees Draaihuis]

@wittaj , but when I look at the image on my telephone, thie image is sharp, all the time. It's only when it's unplugged (and there are some hours between) that the image is unsharp. So the WIFI-signal is perfect, there is no change in the quality of the WIFI-signal.

 

[wittaj]

That is a no-name camera so it could do weird things.

Do you have advanced analytical equipment to know 100% certain that the wifi signal is absolutely the strongest it can be?

This stuff will cut to a substream the moment a wifi packet is lost so that the user has some video instead of no video...and that could still be with full bars of wifi signal.

 

[Kees Draaihuis]

@wittaj , I know, it wasn't the most expensive one. But that's fine with me. I know that I can't compare it with higher priced systems. But I'm trying to find out, WHY this problem occurs.

The WIFI is fine, believe me. It's not that the whole image is blurry when the problemoccurs. Let me try to explain it. When the image is blurry, the things which are within 1 meter are sharp, everything further away is blurry. Then I adjust the lens by turning it and everything is in focus, even the trees in our garden which are 20 meters away. The next day, when I startup the camera, everything within 1 meter is sharp en everything further away is blurry again. So if the problem was the WIFI, the items within 1 meter would be blurry too, I think.

 

[samplenhold]

This sure looks like a PTZ cam...Pan Tilt Zoom. If so, then the zoom lens is motorized and has a motorized focus. When you remove power from the cam and then power it up, it probably reverts to some startup position, which is in your case is focused at some pre-determined distance.

 

[holiday]

this is another xmeye.

please post a pic of the sharp image and another pic of a blur image.

also, there is no motorised zoom here and this is a board lens sitting on a ircut filter.

its possible that the clear glass or plastic on the casing is causing blur since op says image is blur again after reassembling the camera.

It is also possible that the lens itself is causing the issue and the clear plastic on the casing is exacerbating the issue.

In any case, i am quite certain that the lens is of inferior quality of plastic/plastic construction, so suggest you remove the glue and unscrew it totally and replace with a good quality glass/metal lens. Any M12 board lens will fit.

Also give the clear surface of the glass and lens a good rub using a good quality microfibre cloth before doing anything further.

 

[Kees Draaihuis]

@holiday and others, first of all, thank you all for replying to this thread and taking effort in trying to solve this problem.

@samplenhold, as @holiday mentioned, this is not a motorized lens, 100% sure it's a fixed lens.

@holiday, I have taking some footage today after I adjusted the lens to a sharp image, you can see the footage here:
As you all can see, it's not the best quality but for me this is sufficient. And I think I can see that the footage is not all too bad. So the possibility of no clear glass, or plastic causing a bad image, I think it's fair to say that those are not the problems, looking at the video I have posted. That is, when you can see what the video looks like when it's blurry, you will understand what I mean with a 'sharp' image and a 'blurry' image. So I will startup my camera tomorrow again and if it's a blurry vision, I will post it here as well so you all can see the difference.

Again, thank you all for joining this thread to see if we can find a solution for this 'problem'.

 

[holiday]

the video look good and ok to me..
the only thing i can think of is the that the glue (at least for my xm camera) is some kind of black rubbery substance that is highly stretchable. so it could be the lens rolled back to the original position after some time.

so if it comes back again, what you can do is to scrape off everything of this glue.
unscrew and remove the lens completely and screw it back again.

 

[Kees Draaihuis]

@holiday, but the strange thing is, the lens can be adjusted by turning, but.......you really have to use some strength to do this. So in my opinion I find it hard to believe that the lens can turn 'itself'. If the lens would be loose I could imagine this to happen, but the lens is really tight in the screw-thread so I really can't imagine it turning by itself (and there is no motorized part there so that can't be the cause as well).

I know, it's a very strange problem, and if somebody else would post it, I would have thought ; "You probably are doing something wrong, or the lens is loose, or ......". But as I am experiencing the problem myself, I know that the problem is very strange. No loose lens, no motorized parts, no dirty glass or plastic, no sensor that can be moved, if I turn the lens the image is good,.... and still.........

But as soon as I have a blurry image again I will post it. Unfortunately I'm not always at home right now so I can't post a video. This weekend I'm home again.

 

[IAmATeaf]

It looks like you may have fixed the issue but what I reckon happened is that you didn't clean all the glue off so when you turned the lens the glue was acting like a rubber band and slowy turning the lens back from where you had set it. Does that make sense?

 

[Kees Draaihuis]

@IAmATeaf , yes that could possibly be a good reason why the problem occured. I have to wait and see if I get a blurry vision again. Wow, so that would possibly mean that I myself solved the problem, haha,...without knowing it.

 

[IAmATeaf]

What you should have learned is don’t buy crap cams

 

[Kees Draaihuis]

@IAmATeaf, if I really needed a good camera for this, I would have bought a quality one. But for my needs, this camera is, when in focus, all I need. Believe me, in my photocamera-bag there's equipment for over $15.000. So it's just where your priority is. ;-)

 

[iceblue]

Is normal for SD50225U-HNI to look like this at maxed zoom? Automatic or manual focus not resolve anything.