Gadinan “Starlight” 2MP camera with IMX291 sensor

digger11

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I recently purchased a Gadinan “Starlight” 2MP camera with the IMX291 sensor
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Gadinan-Starlight-PoE-IP-Camera-Color-0-0001Lux-Ultra-low-Illumination-1-3MP-SONY-IMX225-2MP/32596562519.html
The vendor has a number of pictures of the camera in their above post, so I won’t replicate them, but I did want to provide the pic below to give an idea of the overall size of the camera, and the size of the Ethernet connector housing, which is going to need to be protected from the elements if you want to place this camera outdoors.

Gadnan01.jpg


The connector housing is ~1” across, but the diagonal is 1.24”, so you’d need to drill a pretty big hole to put it inside a wall. If I end up using this camera outdoors, I’ll probably mount the camera to some sort of junction box instead. Figuring room for the cables to bend inside the box, it would probably need ~ 4 inches of room inside to stow away the connector once a CAT5 cable is plugged into it.

I bought this camera just so that I could see how the IMX291 sensor performs in low light. I was hoping that the low light performance would be good enough that I might be able to get useable results in a few locations just using ambient lighting. In my particular case, I don’t think this is going to be possible.

To give an accurate comparison with a camera that I’m familiar with, I literally mounted the Gandinan side-by-side with a Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-IW camera with a 4mm lens.

Gadnan02.jpg

I Since the Gadinan does not have IR LEDs, or a cut filter, for most of the test period I ran the 2432F with its IR LED disabled, but did allow it to automatically switch to night mode.
Last night was a moonless night, and I’m in a somewhat rural area with very little light pollution, so the below pics are from a pretty difficult environment.
First set of pics are shortly after sunset, but with lots of light still available. The distance between the cameras and the objects in the foreground is approximately 15 feet.


Cam2.20160406_180209_1.jpgCam6.20160406_194317_1.jpg


The second set of pics is from when the 2342F decided it was time to switch to night mode.

Cam2.20160406_180209_2.jpgCam6.20160406_194317_2.jpg

The third set is from the point in time at which the 2342F was pretty much unable to resolve the license plate in the picture.

Cam2.20160406_180209_3.jpgCam6.20160406_194317_3.jpg


Set 4 is only 6 minutes later, and the Gadinan is obviously doing better than the Hik, but these aren’t the kind of results I was hoping for.

Cam2.20160406_180209_4.jpgCam6.20160406_194317_4.jpg

By 8:50 PM neither camera could resolve anything in the foreground, so I turned on the 2342F’s IR LED to confirm the Ganinan’s lack of a cut filter.

Cam2.20160406_180209_5.jpgCam6.20160406_201114_5.jpg

Set six is literally illuminated by one candle power. I set a lit candle on the ground about 5 feet in front of the cameras, positioning is such that it wasn’t in frame.

Cam2.20160406_180209_6.jpgCam6.20160406_205608_6.jpg

Set 7 is with illumination from an LED flashlight.

Cam2.20160406_180209_7.jpgCam6.20160406_205608_7.jpg


So here’s my impression about the camera and its performance…

I’m not impressed with the quality of the camera housing. If you put the cable into the wall or into a junction box you might need to do some additional weatherproofing where they provided a cutout for the cable to be routed out of the side of the mount. Adjusting the camera takes an allen wrench, which was provided, but the mount seems kind of flimsy to me.

This camera didn’t live up to my expectations. I was really expecting better low light results than I saw.
Without an IR cut filter, the only supplemental lighting you can use will have to be visible lighting.
(EDIT --- Correction: The camera has an IR Cut, but it won't switch with the camera settings the way mine was original set. See reply 8 below)

There might be a couple of situations where this camera might be a good fit. If you have a low level of ambient visible light, say indoors in a bar, or outdoors with some low level landscaping lights, this camera might work well. If you want a through-a -window camera that overlooks an area with some available light, the lack of IR LEDs and a cut filter won’t hurt.
 
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bp2008

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Does the Gadinan have any exposure or gain settings to improve the night image?
 

digger11

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It has the same NetSurveillance UI that the ESC and TOP-201 cameras use.
For last night's tests I was running both cameras with default settings.
 

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alastairstevenson

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I'm a bit puzzled -
Why didn't the Ganinan go into B&W mode in the low light? I presume it has that mode.
OK, so there is no automatic 'IR cut filter' - but why then are the colour renditions good in the daylight captures?
Could it be that the lens has a fixed IR filter, which would certainly have an adverse effect on low-light performance?
*edit* And that would explain why it did not benefit from the 2432 IR when you turned it on.
 

digger11

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The camera can be manually switched to "Black and White" mode, but it is still insensitive to IR. As you mentioned, with the accuracy of daytime colors, I'm assuming that the camera has a fixed IR filter.

I'm not sure why the camera didn't switch to B&W. The Day/Night setting was set to Automatic, and it looks like there is a photocell (or at least a place for one) below the lens.
 

alastairstevenson

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Curious why a camera with a low-light sensor would be equipped with a lens having a fixed IR filter.
That would seem to me to cripple the night-time capabilities that you'd buy such a camera for.
As you mentioned, with the accuracy of daytime colors, I'm assuming that the camera has a fixed IR filter.
And definitely the lack of benefit of having the 2432 IR LEDs turned on.

Many thanks for posting the comparisons - it's much appreciated, on a topic that I'm sure is of wide interest.
 

Kawboy12R

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The specs are a bit confusing but it says that it supports an external IR-Cut signal in the "Other Interface" specs. No clue if it supports an internally generated IR-Cut signal from the spot where the built-in photometer should be.

"1 external single, 1 IR-CUT, support photo resistor input signal and image, IR-CUT,infrared light linkage"
 

digger11

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It turns out that the camera does have an IR Cut filter, but with default settings, the camera won't switch to night mode, and even if switched to night mode manually, the IR Cut won't switch without changing additional settings.

To get the camera to automatically switch to night mode, and to get the IR Cut to switch at the same time, you have to set Day/Night mode to Automatic, and IR_CUT to Automatically switch.

As you would hope, in night mode and with the IR Cut opened up, the overall low light sensitivity is better, and the camera can make use of IR illumination.

I did a little playing around with the 2 cameras again tonight, using both the 2432F's IR, and a CMVision IR3 illuminator for illumination. That IMX291 sensor does seem to be quite a bit more sensitive than the Hik sensor. I spent quite a bit of time playing around with settings trying to come up with ones that would give a reasonable compromise between area covered, and keeping near objects from washing out completely.

In the pic below, the CMVision IR3 is aimed a bit above the objects in the foreground. The rabbit that is in the background is ~75 feet away from the camera. The fence is > 150 feet away. I've bumped the exposure up to 1/30, and played with the gain and automatic exposure and got it so that tit doesn't completely wash out a person walking ~ 10 feet in front of the camera.

The camera is starting to grow on me. :)
 

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framednlv

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Glad to hear the IR cut filter is working. Any more night pictures examples, perhaps with motion from cars or people and some more lights? I was hoping to see how it looks with a 90W flood light with some action about 30 feet away. It seems like the only examples on youtube looked patchy or blurry and were long distance.

Thanks for the information.
Chris
 

digger11

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I'll see what I can do but it may be a few days. I hate tax time :(

I have a solar powered led flood light coming in a day or 2. It has a mode where it is on continuously at a dim level, and then goes to full intensity when it sees motion. I want to see if it will provide enough light for the camera to stay in color mode.
 

framednlv

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I'll see what I can do but it may be a few days. I hate tax time :(

I have a solar powered led flood light coming in a day or 2. It has a mode where it is on continuously at a dim level, and then goes to full intensity when it sees motion. I want to see if it will provide enough light for the camera to sta y in color mode.
My flood lights worked like that, but the hikvision was to slow adjusting to the light change, so I set them for dusk to dawn. I'll be looking forward to seeing new pictures or video.
 

ENiGMA

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I'll see what I can do but it may be a few days. I hate tax time :(

I have a solar powered led flood light coming in a day or 2. It has a mode where it is on continuously at a dim level, and then goes to full intensity when it sees motion. I want to see if it will provide enough light for the camera to stay in color mode.
this from aliexpress as well? if so, link please?
 

digger11

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this from aliexpress as well? if so, link please?
No, from Amazon. I did a little playing around with the camera and the LED flood light together, and the light just doesn't provide enough light to do much good. Right now, both items are still sitting around and not permanently installed. Below is the link to the light, but I would not recommend it for much other than perhaps providing enough light for someone to see stairs by.

www.amazon.com/Litom-Sensor-Powered-Weatherproof-Outdoor/dp/B01985O9LI
 
As an Amazon Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.

ENiGMA

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for some reason I thought you were talking about an IR solar powered light, I've seen those types, you're better with electric powered lights for gloomy days
 

subkelvin

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Now you have it for a while what you think about this cam and the brand overall quality? I'm thinking about to buy some hardware from them, mostly cams but maybe one NVR.
 
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