Old story. Full color with perfect pics always at good light place. Deep dark place IR ones still work better at low light places, so you think the old models are better than the new , full color LED at low light place in the night at summer will bring lots of bugs, not everyone like the led always on at remote and silent places.
Full color fans and traditional IR fans they both right based on their own situation.
They are both good cams.
I think
@EMPIRETECANDY has nailed it in one.
If nothing else I've learned a few valuable lessons from this exercise.
1.
Take Hivksion's stated performance specs with a grain of salt.
The LUX specs in particular. When there is no stated basis for the specified LUX levels assume it is at the lowest exposure speed or at the very least the default exposure that the camera ships with. Having said that, there is no way of knowing how a camera will perform in low light conditions without trialing.
There is no definitive answer to how Hikvision rates low light performance. In the days of B&W cameras, minimum LUX specs were usually quoted at IRE50 which was at the very least a standard baseline that allowed different cameras and manufacturers to be compared.
It seems now that there is no standard/baseline being used by Hikvision. The claimed minimum illumination levels are therefore no longer comparable between manufacturers or even between different products from the same manufacturers.
2.
Color is not always the best option.
When I started out looking at the Gen2 ColorVu 2.0 I was attracted by the low light specification of 0.0005Lux @ F1.0. On the face of it, it was the best low light turret style camera. I was not particularly chasing a night time full color image. Color will have been a bonus. What I wanted was a good quality night image that did not need additional artificial lighting and could work with the little ambient light available.
From testing in my particular application it appears this was achievable using the 2CD2347G2 but it requires either unreasonably low shutter speeds in the range of 1/12th sec or needs the onboard LED illuminators switched on which defeated my reasons for selecting this camera in the first place.
That's not to say that this camera does not perform well in low light conditions. As can be seen from the previous posts there are dozens of amazing full color night scenes showcasing the capability of this camera.
I've tried this camera in a few other locations and have been impressed that it was able to hold a full color and detailed image in locations where the existing cameras had long since switched to B&W mode needing IR illumination.
3.
IR Illuminators and IR cut filters are still very useful.
I found out the hard way that not having an IR-cut filter or IR illuminator integrated into the 2CD2347G2 as an alternative to low light color can be very limiting. Where light levels are not sufficient to maintain a useful color image, there is no option for switching into B&W mode or switching on the IR illuminator since there isn't one.
Adding external visible illumination or using the integrated white LED's in the camera obviously solves the problem of insufficient light but visible light from any source will attract insects and also brings attention to the cameras. It can also be annoying for neighbors if the light shines anywhere in their direction.
IR illumination is invisible to the human eye therefore it can be used without impacting others or highlighting the camera. They also allow the camera to operate down to 0 LUX (IR on).
The 2CD2386G2 which I have in my possession has proven to have excellent night sensitivity but it also has an integrated IR illuminator and IR cut filter which means I have the option of switching to IR if the light levels are too low.
Unfortunately, I didn't appreciate that the ColourVu is a full-time color camera only and in spite of having Day an Night modes in the image settings it does little more than switch to a different parameter set but is always in color.
After all this, I've decided to switch out the 2CD2347G2 for a 2CD2386G2.