Night vision in pitch black area

I have a pet feeder set up in a pitch dark barn, and for two nights now, the food is getting eaten, but the camera is not recording. It does work during the day light … when I go to check the food tray, it records me.

Window glare is not a concern, the cam is just mounted on the wall beside the pet feeder in the same area.

How do I adjust my settings to video record what is making the food go away? I want to make sure it’s the cat and not a racoon.

Cam Pan v3 is the camera.

If you have an SD Card, put it in and make sure you set it up for Continuous recording. That will allow recording 24x7.

Also make sure you setup the IR for Night / Auto

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As recommended turn the IR lights setting to Auto, Animals/critters/birds don’t care. about the IR lights.

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Bugs seem to like IR lights. Here is my Cam v3 in my pitch black garage.

Here are my Night Vision settings.

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Thank you, this is helpful. I had set the Mode to On, and got all the activity but you’re right, there were many many bugs who set it off. On NV IR Lights however, I do not have a choice of ‘Far’, only Off or On. Perhaps just toggling the Mode to Auto instead of On will reduce some of the insect triggers.

I use external IR floodlights mounted above and away from camera, bugs are attracted to the IR light.

Far less bug triggered detections and far better illumination to area.

I use this 20 watt IR floodlight but you will probably want less light so maybe a 10 watt or less. The 20 watt illuminates around 200 square feet.

Clip of IR off/on on my driveway

Driveway-1 cam (non-zoom lens)

Driveway-2 cam (zoom lens)

Camera has 2 lenses, one has zoom

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Not true, when I went to a 20 watt IR floodlight I noticed the animals behaving differently at the IR lightcasting line. The deer avoided it for a while but after time became used to it.

I didn’t think they could see it but found out after installation they did :smiley:

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This is because you’re using Cam Pan v3, which doesn’t have that option. @StevenA was showing part of a settings screen for (non-Pan) Cam v3.

Regarding the issue with attracting bugs, an easy option for IR illumination away from your Cam Pan v3 would be a spare Wyze Cam, like the Cam OG that occasionally goes on sale. You could potentially install one of those near or behind your Cam Pan v3 (you’d want it in some position where the Cam Pan v3 wouldn’t be looking directly at the Cam OG’s IR LEDs) and use it as a second source of video capture but primarily for the illumination, and in that case you’d set the Cam Pan v3’s  Settings ➜ Advanced Settings ➜ Night Vision IR Lights (off). For the application you’re describing, where I imagine the camera is close to the pet feeder, I’d expect something like that to show you what you want to see.

Welcome to the Forum, @peg.riou! :wave:

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Thanks so much! For the tip and the welcome. I really like this cam and may get more.

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You’re welcome! A potential bonus that I didn’t think of before with Cam OG specifically (and some other Wyze Cams) would be the built-in spotlight that could trigger with motion (or with “Pet” detection if you’re using subscriptions). At the risk of spooking whatever is visiting the food tray with bright light, that would also allow for color image capture if that’s of any interest.

One additional thought: I use my Cam Pan v3s indoors in a room that gets dark at night, and I have simple night lights in the room with 4W-equivalent LED bulbs in them. Setting Night Vision Mode to Off, I get enough illumination from the night lights for the cameras’ starlight sensors to produce decent color images. That might be another option if you want to try that and don’t absolutely have to capture video with regular night vision.

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I am still using an older version of the Wyze App (version 2.50) because I like the interface better.

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You’re also using a different camera model. I believe that’s the main difference.

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I see Spotlight is built in to my cam, so will definitely try the night light too. That is a great idea. TYVM.

Oh, so you’re not actually using Cam Pan v3 then? That model doesn’t have a built-in spotlight.

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