Customer Reviews

Mini In/outdoor Color Bullet Camera

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this camera to replace a wireless unit that had terrible reception. In my fairly well lit living room it had a good picture with nice color. When I installed it at the customer site, their fluorescent lit studio produced an extremely overblown picture and the camera had no idea what to do with it. The iris was probably stuck between low light and regular mode. Unfortunately the room lighting never changes so I was unable to use this camera. I brought the camera back home and was amazed by the sharpness of it's lens in strong light. Under the right lighting circumstances, this is a great camera. This camera is not useful in low light, in a dimly lit room all i got was static. Also, there seems to be an IR filter as it could not pick anything up from another camera's emitter.

Pros:
Tiny, about the size of a laser pointer
Comes with everything you need except a monitor
Excellent high res image with good color
Pre focused lens from about 2 feet to infinity
Reasonably wide lens

Cons:
Small body heats up indoors, may not be suitable for outdoor mounting without being shaded
Terrible wall anchors provided, barely able to support the weight of the camera itself
Iris doesn't like moderately lit rooms
Doesn't work with IR emitters
Bad with very low light

I would like to see the testing breakdown on this camera because it does not work well in low light conditions. It works perfectly fine in regular light conditions but not in low light. The device is smaller then one would think. The mount is made out of cheap metal and the ball joint for adjusting it was not smooth at all. One last note for now. The picture implies that the wiring for the camera is through the mount but that is not true the wiring comes out of the side of the camera (on the cylinder). If you need something secure where someone could cut the wire I would buy something else.

UPDATE: A quick review of the other negative review. Any camera, no matter how expensive is not going to work as well at night. This camera compared to other cameras is very, very good at night --- COMPARED to other camera.

I've bought a number of different cameras for my HIDDEN security setup and this is by far the best hidden camera. One thing I learned when buying a camera for low light situations is that you have to look for the LUX rating. The lower the number, the more light the camera lets in. I have 2 cameras pointed at the street. One has a LUX rating of .05 (this camera - the Lorex) and another camera with a LUX rating of 3. They both work the same in the day, but at night the Lorex camera sees like it is day, and the "3" rated camera sees NOTHING, the picture on my screen is totally black. (One camera is pointed up the street and the other down the street - I bought the "3" rated camera first - mistake)

NOTE! If you want a camera for low light, don't buy a 1, 2 or 3 LUX rating. Buy .5 I guess the optics for a .5 camera are more expensive to for the company to make and most people don't understand the LUX rating so the companies cut costs in making a low LUX camera. It took me a while to catch on to that. This Lorex camera has the .5 rating and for a small bullet camera it sets it far above the other bullet cameras that look exactly the same but have a 1, 2 or 3 LUX rating.

I have bought and returned many cameras, and this camera is by far the best for its size (all my cameras are hidden).

If you are looking to have hidden cameras. For around 100 dollars, this is the best camera. I really think I have tried them all. I'm actually buying this white one with plans on painting in black because all the black ones are out of stock.

A note on cameras with LEDs. They really don't put out that much light for the camera to pick up. To make them work, you really need the 100 LED lights that you buy separately. If you have 8 or 16 LEDS around the lens, they might throw a little light 5-10 feet, but beyond that they are useless. And a 100 LED light is really easy to spot if you are trying to hide them. (Even 1 LED light is makes the camera useless if you are trying to hide them, because the LEDs glow at night) I did have a camera with 16 LEDs inside my apartment, but because of the light they put out, small bugs would be attracted to the light and set off the motion sensor constantly. I think companies put LED lights on cameras to sell them because they seem like a good idea. But in reality, I found them to be useless if you want to hide a camera or use a motion sensor.

This camera works fine in good light, but is absolutely useless in low light situations. At night, I aimed it at my yard which is lit with a flood light, and this camera showed nothing but colorful static. I refuse to believe it is .5 lux. My 10-year-old Radio Shack black & white camera is .5 lux and it blows this camera away. This camera should be reclassified as a daytime spy cam. I wouldn't use it for anything else.

My home security system consists of 4 cameras and a 4 channel digital recorder. I recently decided to install a roof top antenna for digital broadcasts, and decided to add a panning camera to the mast. Having suffered with poor performance with inexpensive CMOS technology cameras, I decided to install a better quality CCD camera. I mounted the Lorex Bullet camera on a used antenna rotor. The specification rating states that this camera is rated nearly immune to the effects of high wind, blowing dust, and gale force rain. This camera has been in service for 2 months, with full exposure to several rain storms, high winds, and temperatures ranging from 21 to 88 degrees fahrenheit with no problems. Color balance is very good, and the aperture control is excellent. Light sensitivity for a good picture is acceptable to very deep dusk, and objects can be recognized beneath street lights. Aimed sharply downward, I now have a good view of my immediate yard, and can easily identify objects such as a small cat. I am now considering replacing my entrance cameras with this fine and affordable Lorex.