Lens Flare

[Richard Aman]

Question,
I've installed several of these Speco full sized, 3mp, dome cameras. They work great except for at night. Once it gets dark and the IR's come on, it impossible to see what going on. Is there a way to correct the crappy images coming from these cameras? The domes are clean. It happens on more then one camera. I've posted some examples.

Thanks

 

[aristobrat]

I'd try taking one of the domes off at night for a bit and see what that does to the image quality.

You might also try aiming both cameras down a bit (esp the 2nd) as to completely remove the roof/soffit from the the image... if the IR is beaming on to that and then bouncing back to the camera, that can cause problems.

 

[alastairstevenson]

The domes are clean.

If they are getting regularly cleaned they may have accumulated some micro-scratches or haze.
It takes very little on a dome camera to really ruin the night-time picture when the IR is reflected and refracted through a scratched or hazy dome.
Do you have any chance to get a good magnified close up view of the dome in good lighting conditions to check the state of the surface?

And as @aristobrat suggests - the effect is also often due to IR reflection from bright surfaces outside the field of view.

 

[J Sigmo]

Built-in IR illuminators are always a problem, but especially-so for dome type cameras. If the manufacturers would mount the IR LEDs outside of the dome, that would help. Because it would eliminate the internal reflections from the dome itself, and reflections from dust and grime on the inside and outside.

Is there a black foam ring that fits around the front of the lens, and is meant to fit tight against the inside of the dome? Sometimes those go missing, or get pushed back so they're not in good contact with the inside of the dome.

When that happens, light from the LEDs can shine on the inside of the dome right in front of the lens.

Having the LEDs right near to the lens regardless of camera style causes problems with or without a dome. The LEDs light up dust, spiderwebs, rain, snow, fog, etc., and it can dominate the view that the camera sees. For that reason, separate external lights are better. If you can switch off the internal LEDs and use a separate light or lights, mounted not too close to the camera, that will always give better results.

 

[Richard Aman]

Is there a black foam ring that fits around the front of the lens, and is meant to fit tight against the inside of the dome? Sometimes those go missing, or get pushed back so they're not in good contact with the inside of the dome.

There is a foam ring around the lens in the dome. The inside of the dome is treated with a special anti glare coating.

 

[fenderman]

There is a foam ring around the lens in the dome. The inside of the dome is treated with a special anti glare coating.

This is common with domes, more so with crappy cameras. It can be poor installation near something that is reflecting IR. Use turrets.
Hikvision Foggy as ***