How can I get better definition at further range when camera is next to porch light?

AveryFreeman

AveryFreeman

Getting the hang of it
Jan 24, 2019
122
50
Near Seattle
Hey,

I have this IPC-HFW1831C-PIR mini-bullet. It's a nice little camera, I like its features as a front-door cam. But the picture at night really sucks for any distance further than the porch. A lot of that I think is because it's next to the porch light. The porch shows up well, but anything beyond that is dark and too washed out to see. Here's an example at midnight:

Client_uCI3LBoMTh.jpg

What would people recommend to do to be able to see beyond 8-10 ft at night?

By comparison, here's one of my IPC-T5442TM-AS cameras about 20 ft away:

Client_FnXnwUa3i5.jpg

I don't expect the IPC-HFW1831C-PIR to look as nice at night, as the IPC-T5442TM-AS has a ridiculously nice sensor, but if I could get it a little closer, that would be awesome.

Any recommendations? Thanks
 
Have you considered trimming the dickens out of that bush this side of the front step? :idk:

I could be wrong, but I don't think with it grown up that much that the camera can see beyond 8-10 feet in broad daylight anyway.
 
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TonyR said:
Have you considered trimming the dickens out of that bush this side of the front step? :idk:

I could be wrong, but I don't think with it grown up that much that the camera can see beyond 8-10 feet in broad daylight anyway.
Click to expand...

Lol yeah it's definitely due for a trim! Maybe I could cut tf out of it and see if that alone helps.

Any ideas about exposure or anything like that?

Edit: This is the same camera during the day - if you can see beyond 10 ft or not, you be the judge ;)

Client_njtYHj4ari.jpg
 
Best bet is to move the camera where it can't see the porch light or any static object that is brightly lit by it.

You certainly could try adjusting the exposure and gain to brighten the other surroundings, but that will make your bright spots even brighter. See if the WDR option makes any difference. Try WDR at 50 or higher.
 
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bp2008 said:
Best bet is to move the camera where it can't see the porch light or any static object that is brightly lit by it.

You certainly could try adjusting the exposure and gain to brighten the other surroundings, but that will make your bright spots even brighter. See if the WDR option makes any difference. Try WDR at 50 or higher.
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Cool. I will definitely try the WDR, that sounds easy. AFA moving it, it's on some 20" arm thing so I could definitely play with that a bit, but I kinda want to have it close to the door so I can yell at people through its tiny little speaker. If it's too far away, I'll be relegated to just flashing IR strobe lights at them since they won't be able to hear me.
 
or branch the porch light circuit/fixture and add a security flood light for the lawn. I was going to say IR illuminator but that's not going to work if the cam stay in color mode, which would need white light
 
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Maybe just change the camera's point of view to get the porch light out of the frame? The excess light is making the camera darken everything else.
 
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+1^^.
Trim the bush and rotate the cam a hair...easy peasy.

EDIT: after reading my post (bush, hair)......gotta say it...calm down now, @bigredfish :highfive:
 
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sebastiantombs said:
Maybe just change the camera's point of view to get the porch light out of the frame? The excess light is making the camera darken everything else.
Click to expand...

re: lamp's excess light, that's a good point, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe I could put it closer to the house, pointing further right at a sharper angle to avoid the lamp.

It'd avoid the lamp and look out towards the street better, but it also wouldn't get as much (if any) of the car in the driveway. Trying to do too much with too few cameras (if you hadn't noticed the F 2.8s lol).
 
Bitslizer said:
or branch the porch light circuit/fixture and add a security flood light for the lawn. I was going to say IR illuminator but that's not going to work if the cam stay in color mode, which would need white light
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm not really sure what kind of IR performance it would have with that lamp right there. I don't imagine it'd be pretty.

In the same vein, though, I suppose it'd be entirely possible to put an illuminator behind the camera so the damn glare wouldn't f-up the shot. Are you talking about something like this?
This is interesting cuz it runs straight off of PoE, but not the right shape (and expensive): 20 Watt LED Wallpack, PoE Outdoor Floodlight Dusk/Dawn Bright White 2000 Lm with Power over Ethernet or Low Voltage Wiring - - Amazon.com
 
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Stick the external IR on the OTHER side of the bush LOL....then you get zero IR bounce and better opportunity to observe what is happening on the other side of the bush!
 
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wittaj said:
Stick the external IR on the OTHER side of the bush LOL....then you get zero IR bounce and better opportunity to observe what is happening on the other side of the bush!
Click to expand...

Maybe I could do it from the bottom like one of those garden flood lights (?)

ppl'd be like, "wtf is this red glowing thing doing in the grass?"

That might freak people out enough not to come in the yard by itself
 
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