I've always experienced pretty poor night vision with my outdoor cameras.

they are revo RCBY12-1 bullet cameras that came with my Revo 16 ch system.

day lights pictures are pretty good, but at night Im experiencing bubbles on the image which look like glare maybe?

looking for some opinions from more experienced members on what I can do to improve.

here is what it looks like:

The images here are very reminiscent of a poltergeist. I'm not 100% certain however.

It is glare, from the IR LEDs reflecting on the inside of the glass, and apparently from dirt, smudges, and/or fingerprints on the glass. There's normally a foam or rubber gasket around the lens that needs to be snug against the glass to prevent this. This is a common problem with cheap "night vision" cameras.

Looks like there's enough ambient light there, *decent* day/night cameras would work well without the cheap IR.

Even better cheap cameras offer better lens isolation than that. I thought you had domes with IR, before reading. I can't believe those are bullets. Whether it's good news or not, you need to take those cameras down and toss them right into the trash. That's the worst bullet IR I've seen. Most will recommend a CNB which is a great choice, but those cameras aren't exactly cheap @ around 165 bucks a pop. For a six camera upgrade, 1k can be hard to swallow. To upgrade to at least a USEABLE inexpensive camera if the budget is tight, I would consider either these from Gadspot-

GS907CM @ 50 bucks-
560TVL High Resolution Rugged 1/3" Sony CCD True Day/Night Dome Color Camera with Smart Light Control

• 560 TVL with full motion True Day/Night plus color images in low light without ghosting
• Provides 3D-Noise Reduction to improve picture clarity while enabling DVRs to improve disk storage utilization
• 3-axis for wall for ceiling mounting with flexible angle viewing
• Lens: 4mm fixed
• The infrared project distance is up to 30 meters (100 ft)
• True Day/Night feature
• Operation Temperature: -20°C ~ +55°C

GS4030SM @ 60 bucks-

650TVL High Resolution Day & Night w/ IR cut filter (removal) CCTV Dome Camera with Smart IR

• 650 TVL 1/3" WDS High Res. CCTV Camera
• 3.5~8mm Varifocal Lens
• Built-in powerful IR LED illuminator
• True Day/Night feature with IR cut removable module
• Weatherproof (IP66 standard)

Good luck.

You can try and explain it away all you want. I still say there is a poltergeist in those shots. Plain as day.

IR Glare , I had this happen with a Gadspot bullet that was mounted under a eve, I just had to adjust the angle. But the Poltergeist idea sounds cool.

Or it could be a succubus trying to come & visit.
Try tying some garlic around the camera.

Gremlins I tell ya, gremlins.

I dont mind replacing some of the cameras that are REAAALLLY crappy. My issue is I went through a big project getting all these RJ12 wires run for the cameras ( they look like a cat5 ethernet cable )

If I buy a camera that is BNC, are their converters for each side of the cable? So I can utilize the RJ12 cable and have BNC ends on each side.

Thanks

Here's the best way to get rid of poltergeists, succubi, and gremlins:

Take the camera apart, and clean both sides of the front glass. Remove the lens, and carefully clean the front and back surfaces of it as well. It's not a bad idea to hit the sensor with a quick sideways blast of canned air, in case there's dust floating around there too.

Lots of inexpensive cameras come with smudges or dust on a variety of the optic surfaces, and cleaning them is always helpful, as they reflect a lot of IR. You have to keep up with the front glass cleaning, but the rest should stay clean once re-assembled.

Next, it's good to direct the camera such that the IR doesn't reflect off the walls, but that's not always possible while maintaining a good field of view, so do what you can there. I've tried extended shields (like a sunshield, but on the side where the IR hits the wall), and they didn't do much good.

Another option is to disable the built-in IR and use a separate IR illuminater, which can run from $15 to $500 and up. This is a lot more flexible when you're dealing with wall reflections.

Seriously, though, lots of people use IR to hunt ghosts, so you may well be infested.

In theory, sure, but I don't know how far I'd trust the QA of the assembly process of cheap cameras - they may simply not be put together properly.


Ahh, see, this is the other common problem with these cheap bundled systems: the connectors are semi-proprietary, not in the connector type itself, but in the pinouts used. Even with just four wires, there are 24 possible combinations... if it uses all six, you have 720 possible combinations. If you want an adapter, you're limited to either getting one from the manufacturer, possible specific to that model... or building your own.