If you are like me, there have been many times when you’ve wanted to be able to take video that captures what happens in the dark.
Things that go bump in the night may not always be frightening, but you wish you could find out what is happening and clear up the mystery. Whether it is something making noise in the garage, or somebody or something out in the garden or yard, or someplace in the house, these mysterious happenings are puzzling.
And you know that if you keep the lights on when you set up your night vision camcorder that you will never solve the mystery.
If there is any light at all, either from moon light or from ambient light such as street lights or other partial illumination, your first reaction would be to try to slow the shutter speed down on your infrared video camera. This will allow it to capture more light per frame.
You may get some video that you can use this way, but usually the video is blurry and shaky if you are holding the camera by hand. Even when using a tripod, whatever you are trying to film always seems to stay in the darkest areas where you can’t record what is happening.
What you need to do is the same thing the military has been working on and improving for years. You need to add some type of light to illuminate what you are trying to record. But this light needs to be something that the camera can see but regular human or animal biological vision can’t. This ‘secret’ light is called infrared.
An infrared video camera or camcorder can see infrared light, even if we can’t. Some even have a built in infrared illuminator but it is usually low powered and won’t do the job if you really want to light up an area with invisible light.
But what you can do is to add additional sources of infrared light. By using additional units that give out infrared you can invisibly light any area you desire.
There are basically two different types of add on illuminators. One type typically is attached to your camcorder and uses it’s built in power supply. These units are highly portable and have the advantage of always lighting the direction in which you are shooting.
The second type of are stand alone units with their own power supply, either battery powered or AC. These can typically put out much more light. You can position these lights near the area where you want to record and stand far away with your infrared video camera and still get excellent shots. A powerful infrared floodlight is usually AC powered and these will be less expensive than a battery powered unit that has equivalent infrared output power.
If you are like me, there have been many times when you’ve wanted to be able to take video that captures what happens in the dark.
Things that go bump in the night may not always be frightening, but you wish you could find out what is happening and clear up the mystery. Whether it is something making noise in the garage, or somebody or something out in the garden or yard, or someplace in the house, these mysterious happenings are puzzling.
And you know that if you keep the lights on when you set up your night vision camcorder that you will never solve the mystery.
If there is any light at all, either from moon light or from ambient light such as street lights or other partial illumination, your first reaction would be to try to slow the shutter speed down on your infrared video camera. This will allow it to capture more light per frame.
You may get some video that you can use this way, but usually the video is blurry and shaky if you are holding the camera by hand. Even when using a tripod, whatever you are trying to film always seems to stay in the darkest areas where you can’t record what is happening.
What you need to do is the same thing the military has been working on and improving for years. You need to add some type of light to illuminate what you are trying to record. But this light needs to be something that the camera can see but regular human or animal biological vision can’t. This ‘secret’ light is called infrared.
An infrared video camera or camcorder can see infrared light, even if we can’t. Some even have a built in infrared illuminator but it is usually low powered and won’t do the job if you really want to light up an area with invisible light.
But what you can do is to add additional sources of infrared light. By using additional units that give out infrared you can invisibly light any area you desire.
There are basically two different types of add on illuminators. One type typically is attached to your camcorder and uses it’s built in power supply. These units are highly portable and have the advantage of always lighting the direction in which you are shooting.
The second type of are stand alone units with their own power supply, either battery powered or AC. These can typically put out much more light. You can position these lights near the area where you want to record and stand far away with your infrared video camera and still get excellent shots. A powerful infrared floodlight is usually AC powered and these will be less expensive than a battery powered unit that has equivalent infrared output power.
Photography has often been compared to painting with light. But now new technology allows us to see in the dark with night vision cameras and camcorders. There are many situations where you might want to be able to take a picture or film in the dark or when there is not enough light for a regular camera. Those who camp or hunt have many situations where night vision technology would be especially useful.
We all have heard about the military’s use of night vision equipment but have always thought that it is out of reach for the average person. New technology and mass production has now put this technology in the price range that anyone can afford.
Understanding how night vision works requires that we have a definition of what seeing in the dark means. What we call dark is a condition where we as humans have difficulty seeing. But many animals can see much better in the ‘dark’. That is because there is always some light at all times of day and night. It might come from the moon and stars, or from distant street lamps or other man made sources, but the problem is that our eyes can’t gather enough of the light rays to be useful to us like an animal can.
While animals eyes have evolved to have better night vision, we can use technology to see in conditions that most people would consider to be totally dark. There are two different methods that night vision cameras use. The first type uses all available light, and also some infrared light from the lower end of the spectrum that we cannot see. That is why these types of cameras are called ‘infrared’. The sensors are much more sensitive than our eyes are, and it is amazing the images that these cameras can record. The second type uses thermal imaging. This type of sensor records the heat given off by a body or an object. These heat readings are converted in a thermal scale to images that we can comprehend.
Both types of imaging have many different uses and applications. Night vision is now built in to not only cameras and camcorders, but also to binoculars, gun and rifle scopes and night vision goggles. The cost of these items varies, but consumer priced models that have excellent performance are now available for all these types of night vision equipment. And there are also many types of accessories such as an infrared illuminator or infrared floodlight that can be used in addition to your equipment to add more ‘light’ but still keeps everyone else in the dark.
If you are thinking about getting your feet wet with a night vision camcorder or camera, it looks like the time is finally here where you can do it without breaking the bank while getting excellent quality results.
Photography has often been compared to painting with light. But now new technology allows us to see in the dark with night vision cameras and camcorders. There are many situations where you might want to be able to take a picture or film in the dark or when there is not enough light for a regular camera. Those who camp or hunt have many situations where night vision technology would be especially useful.
We all have heard about the military’s use of night vision equipment but have always thought that it is out of reach for the average person. New technology and mass production has now put this technology in the price range that anyone can afford.
Understanding how night vision works requires that we have a definition of what seeing in the dark means. What we call dark is a condition where we as humans have difficulty seeing. But many animals can see much better in the ‘dark’. That is because there is always some light at all times of day and night. It might come from the moon and stars, or from distant street lamps or other man made sources, but the problem is that our eyes can’t gather enough of the light rays to be useful to us like an animal can.
While animals eyes have evolved to have better night vision, we can use technology to see in conditions that most people would consider to be totally dark. There are two different methods that night vision cameras use. The first type uses all available light, and also some infrared light from the lower end of the spectrum that we cannot see. That is why these types of cameras are called ‘infrared’. The sensors are much more sensitive than our eyes are, and it is amazing the images that these cameras can record. The second type uses thermal imaging. This type of sensor records the heat given off by a body or an object. These heat readings are converted in a thermal scale to images that we can comprehend.
Both types of imaging have many different uses and applications. Night vision is now built in to not only cameras and camcorders, but also to binoculars, gun and rifle scopes and night vision goggles. The cost of these items varies, but consumer priced models that have excellent performance are now available for all these types of night vision equipment. And there are also many types of accessories such as an infrared illuminator or infrared floodlight that can be used in addition to your equipment to add more ‘light’ but still keeps everyone else in the dark.
If you are thinking about getting your feet wet with a night vision camcorder or camera, it looks like the time is finally here where you can do it without breaking the bank while getting excellent quality results.
We continue to hear about the rise in the popularity and use of a personal night vision camcorder. Camcorder technology is constantly improving and hardly a day goes by without another new announcement of a new improvement in current technology, or a completely new discovery.
The design of CCD image sensors used in night vision camcorders is a highly researched field. Companies all over the world are constantly looking for new and more effective methods of capturing video in low light or no light situations. Making the sensors more effective while finding new means of keeping the cost of manufacture as low as possible has been driving a number of new innovations.
The current market for these sensors exceeds one billion units worldwide, and predictions are that it will top the two billion mark by 2012.
More and more manufacturers are making advances in sensors that use only the available visible light to record in what the eye perceives as a no light situation.
Ultra low light performance is enhanced when the sensor in the camcorder or camera either increases the accuracy of its photon capturing ability, or enhances the sensor performance to enable faster capturing of photons. Both these measures are factors that determine the quality of the final video image. High quality internal sensors with fast performance allow filming in ultra low light using only existing visible light without the need for some other type of illumination.
This ability for a night vision camcorder to be able to ‘film in the dark’ using only the small amount of available visible light is coming closer and closer to being marketed at pricing that will allow mass sales in the consumer market.
Many current camcorders use sensors that are sensitive to infrared light. Infrared is invisible to the human eye, so it is possible to augment the lighting with infrared illuminators that are either built into the camera or by using a separate infrared light source. While this allows filming in the dark the cost of providing the extra IR light is a factor that has to be considered.
This makes the news of new visible light technology sensors very interesting. While you may not find a consumer priced night vision camcorder that truly gives high performance filming in near total darkness on the shelves of your local electronics store today, it will probably not be that much longer before affordable units will be available.
A few years ago, the idea of having an affordable night vision camcorder was unthinkable. Now it seems that units that will have amazing capabilities are only a few years, or perhaps a few months, in the future.
We continue to hear about the rise in the popularity and use of a personal night vision camcorder. Camcorder technology is constantly improving and hardly a day goes by without another new announcement of a new improvement in current technology, or a completely new discovery.
The design of CCD image sensors used in night vision camcorders is a highly researched field. Companies all over the world are constantly looking for new and more effective methods of capturing video in low light or no light situations. Making the sensors more effective while finding new means of keeping the cost of manufacture as low as possible has been driving a number of new innovations.
The current market for these sensors exceeds one billion units worldwide, and predictions are that it will top the two billion mark by 2012.
More and more manufacturers are making advances in sensors that use only the available visible light to record in what the eye perceives as a no light situation.
Ultra low light performance is enhanced when the sensor in the camcorder or camera either increases the accuracy of its photon capturing ability, or enhances the sensor performance to enable faster capturing of photons. Both these measures are factors that determine the quality of the final video image. High quality internal sensors with fast performance allow filming in ultra low light using only existing visible light without the need for some other type of illumination.
This ability for a night vision camcorder to be able to ‘film in the dark’ using only the small amount of available visible light is coming closer and closer to being marketed at pricing that will allow mass sales in the consumer market.
Many current camcorders use sensors that are sensitive to infrared light. Infrared is invisible to the human eye, so it is possible to augment the lighting with infrared illuminators that are either built into the camera or by using a separate infrared light source. While this allows filming in the dark the cost of providing the extra IR light is a factor that has to be considered.
This makes the news of new visible light technology sensors very interesting. While you may not find a consumer priced night vision camcorder that truly gives high performance filming in near total darkness on the shelves of your local electronics store today, it will probably not be that much longer before affordable units will be available.
A few years ago, the idea of having an affordable night vision camcorder was unthinkable. Now it seems that units that will have amazing capabilities are only a few years, or perhaps a few months, in the future.
