Thread: Night Vision in Car

hehe, i figured THAT out, but WHY???

congrats on being post...wait a second, !"M post 200...yay for me. but the thread things said othyou were...someone's lying...no wait, its counting different things, nm.

Hey mark, are you still hellsihly busy, i don't see you on line anymore (not away i mean)? Show me some love!

Originally Posted by adaminc

I was wondering, couldnt you use just any IR camera, even those cheap $20 ones that are ALL over eBay, then just find some visible light filter glass, the kind that only lets IR pass through, and mount that glass infront of some fog lights or something, so you have SUPER BRIGHT IR Illuminators? just a thought.

The nitemax is a CCD camera... those are probably not.

Originally Posted by amthar

Couple of things.

1. I've seen some "Auto-Iris" f1.2 lenses on ebay. Can anyone expand on what "Auto-Iris" is, and if it's worth it? I found that it is some sort of ability for the lens to close a cover of some sort to adjust how much light comes in...

2. I'm looking into f1.2 lenses as they seem to be the best for the nitemax and night vision setups in general. Does anyone know what focal length would be optimal as well?

3. Do I need to create some sort of "visible light" filter for the nitemax so that my headlights and other headlights do not "blind" the camera?

1 and 3, please PLEASE refer to my review. I know its long, but that's all covered in there. The camera adjusts automatically FOR you. As a IR camera, its not bounded by the same rules as "light enhancement" imagers. I've got a short video taken at night (the only diffence you can see between day and night is that there is greater contrast between light and dark). Headlights are NOT a problem. 2) was covered in one of the two nitemax threads very nicely by mark. I'm thinking we're going to need an FAQ section for this device...

Also, i'll be back in full nitemax swing in a bit. I'm trying to sell things to raise funds, paintball season is only months away, and my weapon is in disrepair, and i'm trying to fix and get rid of a few things to keep my damaged little brain working and speed up recovery, not to mention a few family issues. Things are painful on my end and money is tight.

Updates for me: I think i've found two suitable film candidates for an HUD. In the end, polarized tints are a must, but nmore for interior-> exteriro light transmission versus the other way around. Also, a computer may be neccesasary for image processing, but ofcourse, my dreams are a little more developed than simply an overlayed IR B&W view of the world...than again, that's going to take lots of research, time and development, and i'm short on cash and brain power (literally). I also have a secondary project, that has little to do with cars, for the nitemax, but i really need a good motorized zoom lens (1-2 would be perfect for now). Shotgun, you'll LOVE this one, i promise you.

I have a shot of nitemax in the dark and how it brings the image out in a dark area, but it really is blurry. i just won the updated camera to the one i had on ebay, so lousy shots and crappy movies will be hoepfully replaced by decent goodies.

I think we need to start an FAQ becuase i've been asked questions that i know are answered in the thread, and even I am having trouble finding them. Simple things, from lenses to IR. Amthar's questions, while valid, show a bit of confusion on the nitemax. Maybe i should edit the review to be a bit more informative than just a journal of experiences and tests? I thought it was rather long, and covered most of the bases, but i could be mistaken...

If you guys don't hear from me in a while, my internet has been cut. You guys are able to email me, not PM me, through the forums. I'll try to reply when i get access. Most likely, i'll get a sympathetic neightbor to get me on in exchange for a wifi router or something...

Originally Posted by Genesisfactor

...
Updates for me: I think i've found two suitable film candidates for an HUD. In the end, polarized tints are a must, but nmore for interior-> exteriro light transmission versus the other way around. Also, a computer may be neccesasary for image processing, but ofcourse, my dreams are a little more developed than simply an overlayed IR B&W view of the world...than again, that's going to take lots of research, time and development, and i'm short on cash and brain power (literally). I also have a secondary project, that has little to do with cars, for the nitemax, but i really need a good motorized zoom lens (1-2 would be perfect for now). Shotgun, you'll LOVE this one, i promise you.
...

Haven't been able to get in touch with him unfortunately. I'll keep trying though.

What are you thinking for the HUD? You might want to google "NTSC overlay" some aren't that expensive.

Originally Posted by amthar

He told me to look at the videos and pictures, but none of them are up. He posted in another thread just today that he has been "lazy" about getting the videos and additional pictures up. I'm all for reading and doing research, but this thread is a cluster f*** and the "review" is barely extremely incomplete and does not address any of the questions I asked. Unless there is another review someplace other that in the "Review" forum... in which case I have been unable to find it by doing a search under GenesisFactor's username and the keyword "review".

Granted the thread is huge...

There is a large writeup somewhere in here.

1. I've seen some "Auto-Iris" f1.2 lenses on ebay. Can anyone expand on what "Auto-Iris" is, and if it's worth it? I found that it is some sort of ability for the lens to close a cover of some sort to adjust how much light comes in...

Auto-iris controls how much light is coming into the lens. Cant' use it. Need hardware to do it that isn't on the board camera inside. This is somewhere in one of the two threads.

2. I'm looking into f1.2 lenses as they seem to be the best for the nitemax and night vision setups in general. Does anyone know what focal length would be optimal as well?

F1.2, this is somewhere in the heap as well. F2 = bad.

3. Do I need to create some sort of "visible light" filter for the nitemax so that my headlights and other headlights do not "blind" the camera?

No. Also covered somewhere.