Cheap camera as a night vision device

Not many people know that regular camera can be used as night vision device because it's able to take pictures in infra-red spectrum. If scenery will be lighted by source of those rays, for human eyes it will be dark, but camera will be able to take pictures.

Sensitivity to IR rays depends on many factors, from manufacturer, model. I tried with poor results SONY and Kodak cameras, but cheap mp4-player worked great. IMO it's because better equipment comes with infrared blockers.

camera as a night vision device

The easiest source of infra red rays I could find was pilot remote control, but it could be also made with a couple of inexpensive IR diodes. Here are some pictures (original and computer treatment).

camera as a night vision device camera as a night vision device camera as a night vision device

2 comments:

  1. Even if the sensor is sensitive to IR, most if not all, consumer camera have a IR filter in the lens somewhere to prevent IR from going through. If it's not the case, you'll see very rose-ish colours, because almost all Bayer filters are sensitive to IR spectrum, and as such you can not tell anymore if the response from a green pixel is due to green light or IR. So, it's not the way to go for night vision.

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