I could have sworn my cam v4 and floodlight v2 were showing color in the dark. When I got up this morning around 6 a.m. and checked my phone, this is what I saw.
I was reading that you had to turn off the Night vision to see color at night. Is that right? For my Floodlight V2, in Advanced Settings, under Night Vison Mode, I have “Auto” selected. Should I turn it Off? For my Cam V4, in Advanced Settings, under Night Vison Mode, I have “Auto” selected, Night Vision Conditions set to “Dark,” and Night Vision IR Lights “On”.
If you think that you have enough ambient light than you can turn the Night Vision off on both cameras. Keep in mind that if the ambient light is not sufficient than your video will be either to dark or full of artifacts. You’ll have to be the judge of it. In auto mode the sensor picks what it deems best option. Play around and see what you like and go with that.
I would try setting Night Vision to Off and see if the results are acceptable for you. I also leave two 100 watt equivalent LED bulbs on all night on each side of my garage door. I like having my property lit up at night because I have all my SD cards set to Continuous Recording.
I can search my SD card for any time over night and get color results like the video below from 2:55AM today.
Agree with all the suggestions above. I run all my cameras with Night Vision off.
It’s amazing how little ambient you need. Case in point I have a v4 in my garage. A simple dusk to dawn night light (couple of watts) produces the following image.
I agree, and that’s one of the things that really impressed me about my first Wyze camera, a Cam Pan v3. I have it indoors in a room above a typical night light, and that provides plenty of light to keep the picture in color. I also have Night Vision Mode toggled OFF for Video Doorbell v2 because the porch light is on overnight using a Google Home routine based on sunset/sunrise times, and that gives great color, as well.
It is screw fastened to a short piece off 4X4 sitting on a small concrete slab by my side garage door. The V4 has only been attacked by the critters once, the V3 I had in the same place took a beating on a few occasions not counting the critter nose prints. Depending on the weather I just move the cam attached to the 4X4 off the slab but try for the same view of the water supply or marshmallow consumption. Still waiting for the new “Crop” of raccoon kids to show up in May, last year there were a frisky 5.
Yeah the threshold can be a bit flaky, I’ve disabled night mode (which means color night vision is enabled) on all but one of my outdoor cameras. The one that has it enabled is in a dark driveway and does need the IR at night.
My front Panv3 never went into night mode for like a year then it suddenly started doing it some nights, but not others. Probably due to the fact that CMOS sensors lose a bit of sensitivity over time so it was just enough to cross the threshold.
Last night I enabled the ambient light on the floodlight v2. I set it to a value of “1” (lowest level). I agree that having my driveway lit up a little at night is probably a good idea. It’s still a work in progress.
If I’m not mistaken the floodlight is an LED light and it draws little power. No harm having it on at night, keeps honest people away from your property.
I guess it does add to the life of the lights, but it’s probably worth it. I have a smart light on my front porch that comes on at sunset and goes off at sunrise, just like the setting for the ambient. I may bump up the volume a tiny bit more. The default was 10, and I set it to 1. I don’t want to bother my neighbors behind my house, but they also have a floodlight on all night.
If you have a light nearby that probably gives it plenty for “color night vision” so you can just set night mode to off and it will never change to black and white.
As you’ve figured out, there’s a bit of trial and error involved and seeing what works best for you. My neighborhood has LED street lights which give plenty of light for all the ones in the front of my house. The one in my driveway/back yard is the only one I have night mode set to “auto”.
marshmallow consumption. Still waiting for the new “Crop” of raccoon kids to show up in May, last year there were a frisky 5.