I'm having problems with my CCTV camera when filming at night

It is important to remember that whilst the human eye can't see infra red illumination to a CCTV Camera it is an extremely bight light source. Think of those small bright LED torches with a couple of LEDs in them. Now multiply that up many times and you can imagine what the camera sees. The reason it's important to keep this in mind is to avoid common mistakes or problems when filming at night using I/R.

The first common mistake we see is people positioning their camera so the lens is too close to a surface which can reflect light back into the camera lens. During the day all is well because the light is the subject side of the reflective surface, at night though when the CCTV camera Infra red lighting turns on the light source is the camera side of the surface and light reflects back into the camera. What confuses people is that they can't see the surface through the camera during the day but even though it's out of camera view it's still close enough to reflect light back into the camera. Symptoms to look out for are a general white haze across the screen or in extreme circumstances a totally white screen.

Day night vandal dome cctv cameras equipped with built in Infra red illumination have their own unique set of problems to overcome. The infra red light source is inside the same clear plastic dome which houses the camera lens and electronics. This means that under normal circumstances the plastic dome would reflect light back into the camera lens. To get round the problem there is a small soft sealing ring that fits snugly between the camera lens and the inside of the clear dome. Make sure it is fitted properly otherwise you will have I/R light reflecting back into the camera lens. Symptoms to look out for are a white fog over all or part of the image.

Spiders webs cause no end of problems with CCTV systems at night. During the day they are invisible but as soon as darkness falls and the camera’s infra red lighting turns on they reflect light back into the camera and a single strand can make a huge impact on the camera’s image. The trick is to ensure cameras are kept clean at all times and consider using our Spider repellent spray on a regular basis. Symptoms are a white line or lines running across the screen, often moving as the wind blows.