Need to buy a camera system to detect 1" long insects in a room with no lights.

[ryu]

Did you find a camera that works? I also want to find where insects are entering into my kitchen. I made a thread but only got dumb replies for some reason.
If anyone has a serious reply, please recommend a camera that can find small insects at pitch dark. I bought some cheap Tapo C210, didn't work, im going to need higher quality. Thermal may be needed. I just want something that will work.

 

[ryu]

+1 to deploying the Amcrest IP2M-841's indoors.

I suggest you run Blue Iris on a PC, set to record "continuous + triggered", review the timeline to see when triggered. You can also have BI skip to the the next motion-triggered event that was recorded with one mouse click or play at 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x or 64x speed as well.

You can install and run a trial of BI for 15 days to see how it works for you. Basic "motion zones" can be set for min. object size and contrast. I run 4 of the 841's with Blue Iris now.

When I set an 841 one outdoors on the next-to-bottom step of 6 steps leading up to my front porch 2 summers ago to spot armadillos at night it would pick up millipedes, crickets and spiders crawling in the summer grass 6 feet away....no joke!

Additional, external IR emitters can also be added if needed to supplement the IR coming from the IP camera(s).

Hello, I am looking to find were insects are entering into my kitchen. The cam you suggested is a 1080p cam, but the cam I bought at 2K res does not pick bugs, so how is a camera with less resolution supposed to detect them? This is how it looks on the camera:

I tested it yesterday and I woke up in the middle of the night. There was silverfish there in the second tile, it did not pick it up. So how im supposed to see where they come from? No way I can sit throught 8 hours of footage trying to find anything manually, and like I said not even at mid distance you could see a bug, it would need to be sitting next to the camera basically. I looked at thermal cameras, I asked AI:

• Thermal Cameras: Some users on IPCamTalk suggested thermal cameras for detecting small insects, as they pick up heat signatures. However, thermal cameras are expensive ($500+) and may not provide the visual detail needed to identify entry points. They’re less practical for your use case unless budget is no concern.
• IP Camera Superiority: High-resolution IP cameras (4K or 5MP) with infrared night vision and motion detection are better suited for continuous monitoring and detecting small insect movements, as confirmed by user experiences on IPCamTalk.
• Specialized Insect Monitoring Systems: Research-grade systems like the Rana system use AI and high-resolution cameras for real-time insect tracking, but these are not consumer-friendly and require technical expertise. Stick with high-resolution IP cameras for a practical solution.
• Pest Control: While identifying entry points is key, consider sealing gaps, using traps, or consulting a pest control expert to address the root issue once you locate the entry points.

So im not sure if I want to invest $500 for a single camera. I already called pest control, waste of money, they just put traps, some gel and powder, they don't find out where they are comming from. The problem will only be fixed if I can find out the entry point.

 

[wittaj]

Higher MP doesn't equate to better performance.

Sensor size matters more than MP.

A higher MP on the same sensor as a lower MP will be outperformed by the lower MP camera in lower light.

As I said in your earlier post before the dirty delete, these types of cameras are not really set up for this type of situation.

Even a thermal camera would be hard to identify, as AI is suggesting to you. You would have to get lucky with it close up to the spot at the time of entry.

 

[tigerwillow1]

With Dahua, this is a case where a lower end camera is a better choice because the better cameras won't trigger IVS on anything but humans and vehicles. Pus, while basic motion detection is close to useless for most cases because of horrendous false triggering, it might work ok in your situation where the image is static, with nothing like moving tree branches or shadows. I think either dumb IVS or motion detection have a chance of working in the setting of the picture 2 posts up. On the other hand, silverfish are awfully tiny and they might not have much contrast against the floor with the IR light. I'd be more confident if you were looking for roaches or mouses. I once had a house with a lot of silvertfish. When we changed the roof from wood to asphalt shingles, the silverfish disappeared.

 

[ryu]

With Dahua, this is a case where a lower end camera is a better choice because the better cameras won't trigger IVS on anything but humans and vehicles. Pus, while basic motion detection is close to useless for most cases because of horrendous false triggering, it might work ok in your situation where the image is static, with nothing like moving tree branches or shadows. I think either dumb IVS or motion detection have a chance of working in the setting of the picture 2 posts up. On the other hand, silverfish are awfully tiny and they might not have much contrast against the floor with the IR light. I'd be more confident if you were looking for roaches or mouses. I once had a house with a lot of silvertfish. When we changed the roof from wood to asphalt shingles, the silverfish disappeared.

There's roaches too, the camera actually picked up one, the IR light made it bright, but it only appeared when it got closer to the camera, you cannot see where it came from because the resolution is not good enough.

 

[ryu]

Higher MP doesn't equate to better performance.

Sensor size matters more than MP.

A higher MP on the same sensor as a lower MP will be outperformed by the lower MP camera in lower light.

As I said in your earlier post before the dirty delete, these types of cameras are not really set up for this type of situation.

Even a thermal camera would be hard to identify, as AI is suggesting to you. You would have to get lucky with it close up to the spot at the time of entry.

I didn't delete the thread, just edited it to make it shorter. I don't understand how better resolution doesn't help. The insect cannot be seen on the horizon due lower res.