Replace ColorVu with a darkfighter turret for better night vision?

[saunders1989]

Hi,

I have recently installed a DS-2CD2387G2-L(U) down my alley way of my house. The issue I am having is that because it is close to a brick wall the supplement light reflects off of it. The obvious solution is to move the camera further round but then I am essentially pointing my camera into my neighbours house which I wouldn't personally like to do. If I turn off the supplement light completely in the middle of the night it is just too dark to see anything. The first image is what it looks like in the middle of the night. The second image is what it looks like with the supplement light on.

The camera is a 2mm lens, I was wondering should I switch this to a 4mm camera and get this camera instead - DS-2CD2386G2-I(U)?

any other ideas welcome too

 

[cymruchris]

Have you mounted the camera directly to the wall? If so - you could try using a bracket to edge it away from the wall - and if you're concerned about seeing the neighbours - you could set up a privacy screen - and show the neighbours that you have no interest in seeing into their kitchen.

 

[saunders1989]

I havent mounted it onto the wall directly i have mounted in to a soffit like this which is just in front of the gutter

I was thinking of moving the camera to out of the soffit and onto the wall but i was trying to avoid having like that kinda bracket. ideally id like to keep a camera in the position it is.

I did move it but due to the colorvu part where it turns the light on they said it was too bright and shone into the windows.

 

[cymruchris]

Fit an LED PIR floodlight up on the top floor gutter as another option - but if you neighbours walk up and down the other side of the fence - they might trigger it (which probably won't bother them). Even if you change for a darkfighter camera - you're going to get infra red burnout from having so much close wall in the picture., so you'll likely be no further forward.

One other option is that you fit your darkfighter, keep the IR light set to 'OFF' and then fit an IR lamp up on that top gutter on a dawn/dusk sensor - so that as the light falls, the IR will cut in - and coming from a different angle shouldn't cause you whiteout on the walls.

Something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08N51VS27/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_093JCPPTB9BJYS0NNQV6

 

[saunders1989]

would fitting a PIR floodlight just halfway down the alley same sort of level as the soffits work? would getting a camera with a higher mm of lens work at all?

 

[cymruchris]

Whenever you have a large proportion of wall in an image fairly close - you'll get infra red blowout on the majority of cameras on that surface. How cameras then cope with the other half of the non-wall image can be very variable. So you either need to come out from the wall on a bracket (will help a little - but if you still have lots of wall - not much), turn the camera, or look at an alternative lighting source. You'll have to use trial and error to see what works for you. Like I said - I'd go high with either a PIR floodlight if the camera doesn't have night mode for IR illumination - or change the camera to one that does have night mode IR - keep the IR off and add an independent IR lamp from above. What I'd do is likely different to what every one else would do - but you'll have to find the best compromise for the situation you're in.

 

[saunders1989]

Okay thanks. Just gutted that I’ve got this issue and no easy way out of it. As I don’t have any power down there I’d have to get battery operated ones.

 

[daveb]

I don't know if this is a sensible option, but the ColorVu cameras are pretty good even with a low level of light. Have you thought about some battery powered PIR lights you could mount on the fence (maybe the wall) to light the alley?

I bought some of these back in July for the darker end of my garden where they is no power and my cameras can't see well and they are still on their first set of batteries:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B010NEW16I/

Obviously it depends how often they are activated as to how long they last.

 

[saunders1989]

That is another good idea having a few of those down the fence line on the concrete posts. i guess this would mean if there is an intruder it would then light up and camera able to see