Dahua IPC-HFW4300S Infrared Issues?

IPCamDude

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Hi guys,

I have 9x Dahua IPC-HFW4300S 3MP cameras that I just recently set up at a building and am having issues with the night vision on two of them. 7 of the cameras are in areas that do not require night vision due to the lighting at night but the two that are in darker areas switch to night vision and then I start seeing what appears to be either thousands of bugs or illuminated air currents flying across the screen. This only happens once IR is enabled. I love the cameras otherwise but this issue is making them unusable at night. Do I have a dirty lens? Something else?

Here is a 30s sample of what it looked like this morning when I logged in to check:


Thanks for any suggestions!
 

fenderman

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This is not an issue with the camera..every IR camera you put there will look like that...there is something in the air, moisture, dust etc that is causing that.
 

IPCamDude

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Fenderman, do you ever sleep!? :laugh:

Thank you for the quick response sir! That is reassuring to know that the cameras are fine. Would you say the best option here is to simply add more lighting so as to negate the need for IR at all?

Thanks!
 

alastairstevenson

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That's what we get over here in Scotland when we get 'Scotch mist'.
It's the tiny drops of water floating round very close to the camera, illuminated by the IR. Too small to drop like raindrops, small enough to float around. And doesn't need to be thick mist either.
 

fenderman

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Yes more lighting or disable the onboard ir (im not certain if you can do this on the dahua via firmware, you can on the hikvisions...or open it and disconnect the ir leds) and use an external ir source...
More lighting is best..
 

nayr

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I get this effect too when my dryer is running since the outlet is below a camera, ive got another camera on a corner with a fence right below it.. a lil vortex forms with the right conditions and the wind buffers at the fence and causes an updraft that picks up dust/dirt/etc and looks like snow on the camera... It's typically no where near as bad as your video, until the light bulb on that side of the house burnt out and it was IR only for a week... then it was much worse, but still not that bad.

On dahua cameras I believe if you set Day/Night from Auto/Photoresistor to Color it will not turn the IR on at night.. dunno how to configure it if you want IR sensitivity, black and white w/no IR, but it seems possible if you play with the settings.. I suppose unplugging the IR board would do it.
 

TechBill

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I agree with everyone here about Camera IR reflecting off some type of mist or dew.

I believe one way to fix this that is to disable the on-board IR and buy a separate IR illuminator then mount it away from the camera but aiming at the same field that the camera is looking at. So this way you don't get a reflections from IR bouncing back to the camera LEN.

Bill
 

cosmo

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On dahua cameras I believe if you set Day/Night from Auto/Photoresistor to Color it will not turn the IR on at night.[/QUOTE

Nayr is correct. If you change the "Setup", "Image", "Conditions" tab setting for "Day&Night" from "Auto" to "Color", tIR will be disabled.

Just tested it. Photos attached.

1 - Lots of outdoor spotlights - Auto (Turned out it chose B&W)
2 - Lots of outdoor spotlights - Color (Not too much difference!)
3 - Dark - Auto (B&W. Looks decent)
4 - Dark - Color (Can't see a thing)
 

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