Separate IR source

Yes, in this link from above. Last item.

HA! My bad! Right in front of my eyes!

lol, no problem. I try to be thorough. Also note, even though the description of the IR lamps may say wide angle or flood, they are not really that wide. Some more than others. I tried to point that out where possible.

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Has anyone used or been able to find an IR illuminator that’s battery or solar powered and cheap? I didn’t want to have to go and dig out all of the silicone I used to seal up the hole I drilled to mount the camera.
I bought one of these so I could mount my pan cam under my eve and have it be outside, the downside as I found out, the white reflexes the dam IR and it’s a washout. I could return it for a black one but my siding is a white/cream color and I didn’t want a black box just hanging there…
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JVCJMM3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

What about painting just the underside/insides of the housing’s visor black? You could test with electrical tape first.

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I read in the reviews that paint won’t stick, but I was thinking about putting electrical tape on it first, that is if it would stick.

use sandpaper and rough the plastic up just a bit, then do the paint in light coats, it will stick. it just needs a slightly rough surface.

I am using the Tendelux 850 nm illuminator with a v2 outside and it gives me the exact amount of extra illumination I need.

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pictures needed :slight_smile: before and after.

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You can’t use the V2 cam night vision looking through a window, but can you turn off the cam IR and use an external IR illuminator mounted outside? In this case the camera would be inside looking though the window,

Night vision is actually a passive mode where the camera is more sensitive to Infrared. So you definitely CAN use night vision looking thru a window. The IR lights are a different matter. Those you CAN’T use thru a window, but you can put IR lights outdoors instead.

@OverWatch

I got my first WyzeCam yesterday. We’re going out of the country in December and was looking for a solution that you solved in this thread. Except I want to mount my camera inside because on my front porch you can touch the eaves just standing there.

I am going to mount my IR source outside. My question is how did you mount yours? Do you have a picture of how it’s mounted? Thanks for the research by the way.

Hey, sorry for the delay. My IR sources are mounted on the eaves, which are two stories up and the power cords are simply run through nearby windows. The lights are not heavy and screwed (single screw) into the plywood in the eaves. One on the side of the house is run through the same hole as the motion light wire and mounted to the concrete between the bricks. That was a pain to fish through.

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It does have some concerning issues if you read the 1 star reviews, which are 28% of the current reviews. Referring to this one: https://www.amazon.com/Infrared-Illuminator-Degree-Waterproof-Security/dp/B07CP66631/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1546618416&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=850nm+led&psc=1&pldnSite=1

That’s actually not the one I purchased and reviewed. Looks to be a cheaper version.

Here is what I have.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G6K407Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I’m still pleased. In fact, bought another one. Of the lights I have from above, this one is the brightest IR light, yet least obvious even though it has 6 LEDs vs. 4 in the others. I’m guessing it is further up the nano-meter scale and less visible to the human eye.

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I’ve been using the Tendelux IR light mentioned by @OverWatch for about a month now and had an issue with the light being too bright (I’m not trying to illuminate a very large area). The light was blowing out the facial features of anyone approaching the camera (faces looks like a solid ball of white). Today I tried various methods to diffuse the light a bit so I could still make out faces and found that white parchment paper for baking seems to work.

https://www.amazon.com/Reynolds-Kitchens-Parchment-Non-Stick-Square/dp/B07F6F631N/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=parchment+paper&qid=1576392970&sprefix=Parchm&sr=8-3

I put two layers over the light and faces are much clearer now. I might try 3 layers later.

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Nice tip. I may try this for a totally unrelated purpose – I’ve got LED bias lighting, behind my TV, but the TV gets thicker at the bottom, which makes the LEDs way closer to the wall. So while it’s a nice smooth glow on three sides, I can see the glow from individual LEDs on the bottom. So I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to diffuse that. I think I’ll give this a shot!

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I’ve found most of the IR lights are overly focused. Too much spot and not enough flood. I suspect the manufacturers have pushed the spot light issue because of the drop-off of the IR’s range. I have a need for a good old fashion light bulb style for an IR, but everything seems to be spot light style. I may try to ‘bounce the light’ to achieve this, just haven’t had the time. Parchment paper could act as a light diffuser.

This all requires the light source to be near the camera, so I suspect bugs triggering motion detection will be an issue. The IR light would have to be connected to a motion sensor. In my case anyway.

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I’ve got both a question and a potential solution.

Q: has anybody used a long IR LED bar or strip instead of a point source? that might eliminate the “hot spot” issue and make the light more diffuse. That’s what I’m thinking of doing. I really don’t need the light that shoots out above the horizontal plane of the camera, so a lot is “wasted.”.

A wider dispersion would seem to make sense. Plus a long narrow strip would be much less conspicuous.

Potential solution:. FYI, they make IR LED strips that are SIDE-FIRING. So if all you have is a vertical mounting surface they can aim the light mostly DOWN where you may need it most. Or put them on the underside of a horizontal surface and they point OUT . Might be helpful to someone.

I’m really glad that outside IR light works through the glass, I didn’t want a visible light on the side of my house lit all night. In fact I think I’ll use a photosensor to toggle them on and off.

I would like external IR source due to bugs, but all I can find are enormous. V3 has 4 IR lights, and illumination is sufficient - I’m dismayed that I can’t find IR source that is the size of a V3 or preferably smaller. I may have to get an additional V3 with all notifications and recording turned off, to use just as an IR source. I would also like the IR source to be powered by the same flat USB cables as the V3.