Lamp post in middle of frame

[reflection]

Looking for some suggestions. The front of my house has a lamp post that stays on when it gets dark. Unfortunately it's in the middle of the frame. I didn't think about it when I installed the camera. I like the location of the camera, but I wish there was a way to eliminate the glare from the lamp. I'm thinking about putting some opaque material on the inside of the lamp to block the light. Other than that, do you have any recommendations?

 

[alk32116]

A strategically placed shepherds hook with a hanging plant basket, maybe?

 

[reflection]

A strategically placed shepherds hook with a hanging plant basket, maybe?

Oh. That's not a bad idea. Let me check to see if that will pass the WAF. Thanks!

 

[samplenhold]

Not sure that you need to worry about it. That camera is fairly high so you are not going to get a face ID from it anyway, but it is a good overview camera and the light really does not obscure the scene much.

 

[djernie]

Or place something on the inside to block the light form coming towards the back hitting the camera.

 

[bp2008]

Beware that objects like a hanging plant in front of the camera can make IR light from the camera reflect back and cause glare. Not a problem if you don't use the camera's IR.

 

[wittaj]

a tiny, tiny piece of tape strategically placed worked in my similar situation lol

 

[reflection]

a tiny, tiny piece of tape strategically placed worked in my similar situation lol

Did you place the tape on the bulb or on the glass case? Was heat an issue if you have LED bulbs? Did you use black electric tape?

 

[reflection]

Not sure that you need to worry about it. That camera is fairly high so you are not going to get a face ID from it anyway, but it is a good overview camera and the light really does not obscure the scene much.

I was thinking that the bright light my be changing the exposure. If I block that light, maybe my image overall might get brighter. Also the light is very annoying

 

[reflection]

Beware that objects like a hanging plant in front of the camera can make IR light from the camera reflect back and cause glare. Not a problem if you don't use the camera's IR.

I'm going to try some black electric tape first. The lamp post is about 6ft high, and the camera is mounted higher. The hanging plant will look odd up around 7-8 ft.

 

[wittaj]

A tiny piece of black tape on the camera lens did it for me. It is tiny and took trial and error to block it, but it knocked the halo right out.

If you put it on the light though, I suggest reflective tape or foil on the inside to bounce the light back towards the street. That works too and gave a little bit more light for the camera to operate, but the significant other didn't like how it looked with half the light being taped up, so I had to get creative, thus trying it on the camera LOL.

 

[samplenhold]

@reflection : your user name is appropriate for this post, no?

 

[Old Timer]

I use the silver aluminum tape used by HVAC contractors (not the vinyl duck tape).
Put a piece inside the glass blocking the light from the camera. this will reflect the light out another way and not heat up.
You can play with smaller and larger pieces even adding small pieces if more then one camera sees the light.

 

[bigredfish]

Have you tried the HLC setting on the camera?

 

[reflection]

Have you tried the HLC setting on the camera?

I did not before, but I just gave it a try and it got darker overall but the glare from the lamp is still there. So it didn't help but thanks for the suggestion. It was worth a try.

 

[reflection]

I use the silver aluminum tape used by HVAC contractors (not the vinyl duck tape).
Put a piece inside the glass blocking the light from the camera. this will reflect the light out another way and not heat up.
You can play with smaller and larger pieces even adding small pieces if more then one camera sees the light.

Ahh. Thanks for the tip. I have some of that too. I will give it a try tomorrow. There was a major thunderstorm that rolled by tonight so I didn't get a chance to try.

 

[bigredfish]

In BW with IR on? Or are you forcing color at night? If so, my bad

 

[reflection]

@reflection : your user name is appropriate for this post, no?

haha.... sorta is I guess

 

[reflection]

In BW with IR on? Or are you forcing color at night? If so, my bad

The camera on auto IR mode but it doesn't kick in because it's bright enough at night so it stays in color. The settings are default. This is an IPC-HDW5442TM-AS. Not sure if there are any other settings that might help but I'm inclined to try aluminum tape tomorrow.

 

[reflection]

A tiny piece of black tape on the camera lens did it for me. It is tiny and took trial and error to block it, but it knocked the halo right out.

If you put it on the light though, I suggest reflective tape or foil on the inside to bounce the light back towards the street. That works too and gave a little bit more light for the camera to operate, but the significant other didn't like how it looked with half the light being taped up, so I had to get creative, thus trying it on the camera LOL.

Thanks. Will try some aluminum tape.

Seems like a tiny dot of tape might be tough. It's a pain because the camera is mounted on a corner about 15' high. The ground for the ladder is an uneven flower bed which makes it even tougher.