Customer Reviews

Low-Light 1/4-Inch Color Video Camera with Sony CCD (Silver)

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I keep buying more of these for nighttime security recording. When my porch motion light comes on this CCD camera provides a bright picture compared to the dim picture my old CMOS camera. Even without the porch light I can easily make out people walking down our poorly lit street. It has been working good in daylight too without contrast problems I had with the CMOS camera.

Considering that this is the least expensive color CCD camera that I could find, the downside is that the colors do not seem as vibrant as some of my other color cameras.

A plus is that there is a protective lens, which was good because when it got dirty my porch light affected the image but cleaning it fixed that. I would worry more about a camera with an exposed lens which could get ruined outside. (I guess you could make your own protective lens but that is more work.)

The IR LEDs are faintly visible so I took off the lens and covered them with a layer of black garbage bag to make the camera less visible at night and it still picks up ok in dark without catching the eye of a criminal so easily. (Friends have visited me several times before noticing the obvious camera. Perhaps I am overly worried about criminals seeing it and trying to avoid it or destroying it or stealing it.)

For the price I think this is a great CCD security camera for a tight budget. I use the cameras with a IP Video 9100A Plus Network Video Server which is a low cost way to do security with a computer running Blueiris software or other compatible video security program.

With these cameras I have already recorded people looking in my vehicle in my driveway for stuff to steal and someone who lost control driving, busting in the outside of my porch while I was gone. I thought I might record an accident someday but not with my own house! (I was gone when they hit my porch, so the security video let me know what happened before I was finally contacted.)