I just figured out something tonight that will hopefully help you all out. I was playing with a bullet low light IR camera that had a "halo" effect. I always wanted to figure out why. Well, I played with different lenses, different cleaning solutions, mounting, ect. and never got rid of the "halo" until tonight.

All I did was move the sun shield back so that the IR did NOT reflect off of it back into the lense/lense glass. Freak'n worked in a second.

Hope this helps. Please post any results. I'm removing all/any sunshields I have to eliminate this problem.

I have a before and after clip if you want to see the results. PM me.

but when it rains, it will get dirtier quicker, and then get the rain drop effect under IR illunination :lol:

Actually what commonly causes that halo effect, is the IR glare on the glass. If you had a rubber ring around the camera lens, right to the glass, so no IR comes through, then wont get that halo effect either. Some have that but they dont work that well half the time.

Another solution that has worked for me all the time, no matter how cheap the camera, is to put a very light tint on the glass itself. The cuts the IR light right out and the camera actually performs better, I have seen some cameras even give me a crisper color view during the day, when normally, I would see the colors a little washed out.

tint? are u talking about the window tint like on cars? The sheet film? If so, what % of film do you use?

Rory....ring does make a difference. The decent ones are soft rubbery plastic and the bad one is a foam type which deteriorates over time.

Rain? I only see a sun shield as a sun shield, nothing less. Rain is going to get onto the camera shield anyway. It might protect a small percentage but it will get the lense wet. Maybe we need a bullet with wipers? Rory.is there a Mercedes CCTV camera out there yet?

Is there a paintable or film like substance that could be applied to the underneath surface of the shield to eliminate the reflection?

In anycase it worked out and now that I got rid of the ring the pics are even better and I have a new respect for bullets.....as I thought I would never use them because of the halo issue.

ya i think that the halo affect can be both happeanings. I just so happeaned that yesterday i did the same thing that you did vst-man. The only thing different was usually I believe the reason is the reflecting off the glass. But It can also be the sun shield. I had a ir bullet a while back that did not have a sun shield (was inside) and had the halo affect. Anyways all that to say you are both right.

VST-Man

Did you take a couple of snapshots before the shield was removed and then after?

I would be interested to see the difference.

PM me if you want to see it via a clip. I saved it...........

I checked out your video and I did see a big difference. You were getting reflection.
What I don’t know is what model camera you were using?

Did the sunshield have any non-reflective material on the underside of it?
Or was it a reflective surface of uncoated plastic? This would explain why it made such a difference for you.

My bullet camera has a non-reflective coating on the sunshield near the lens.

they were different crands, not just one manyfacture. I guess it amazes me that one manufacture will apply a nonreflective coating the some won't, and the differences can make or break repeat sales, unless you correct the sun shield issue.

What type of coating is used? Anyone know.....