SteveCA

Do you have a night shot in relatively dark conditions that show the night vision quality of the Brickcom bullet? I'd hate to go that route but maybe when I need to add a camera or two.

This is why using built-in IR is useless. If you must use built in IR look for cameras that support intelligent IR if you want a useful pic. I have rapidly arrived at that same conclusion. For me the real question is whether these cameras can provide a good night shot using a good quality standalone IR illuminator. I've had a little better luck with the Vivotek IP8362 than I've had with the dome FD8361 by playing with the exposure settings. Have any of you had any luck with vivoteks for night use with external illuminators?

Here is a night shot from my Vivotek IP8362. The detail is a bit better, but still not very good imho. This is with the exposure set to auto which has a bit more detail than the default setting.

Here is a night shot from my Vivotek FD8361. The detail is poor imho and the flashlight affect makes it worst. Has anyone managed to get good night shots from this camera? If so, please share your settings. I also have the Vivotek IP8362 bullets and have managed to get a decent night shot by playing with the exposure settings but the FD8361 has different settings and lacks the one that made a big difference (auto exposure). Apparently, these two cameras have totally different UI's

I am referring to the Vivotek FD8361. The illumination will work okay if you zoom the camera a bit, but if you are going to use it at full wide angle, you will still get a spot effect. The biggest problem is that anything in that spot tends to be washed out and lacks detail. I cannot ID a person (in the spot at night) on my cameras. It kind of defeats the purpose of owning high resolution cameras lol...

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into it but suspect they cost hundreds each. The vivotek cameras have are great by day and horrible by night. Even with my porch lights on the B+W picture is crap!

I am referring to the Vivotek fd8361. I also have the IP8362 bullets and they are not much better at night. i need separate IR illuminators, at least 3 or 4 of them... Any suggestions for a good floor IR illuminator?

I just had a few of these cameras installed and I would not recommend them for night use. The IR illuminators are very poor. They are not flood illuminators but more like a spot. The video quality at night is inferior to some cheap analog samsung cameras I had. The spot overexposes the middle of the picture and leaves the edges very dark. Practically worthless if you are trying to ID intruders at night. Daytime pictures are very good. I may be installing IR flood illuminators to see if I can get a decent picture out of these cameras. So far, I am not pleased and would suggest trying another camera.