Where is YOUR IP Camera?

Send me your info I'll review it and I may share it with the readers!

What is a SWIR camera?

Government and military technology eventually seems to find it way to consumer markets- GPS and night-vision being two great examples.

There is a new technology in early development called SWIR, or Short Wave Infrared camera technology.

Users want to use camera to see in darkness, and the ubiquitous technology uses IR sensors (often arrayed in a ring surrounding the lens) to detect Infrared waves. Being outside the spectrum of visible light, these waves can be detected in darkness, but often with very limited range. A typical IR range might be 10-30 meters for a home camera, and IR detection tends to consume a lot of power.

Along comes SWIR which actually still uses IR, but at the fringe of visible light. Instead of detecting classical IR wavelengths (aka, HEAT), these detect reflected IR energies. They offer advantages in power consumption and perhaps even camera range. The technology is new, using GaAs detectors (which few semiconductor companies can produce).

Watch for SWIR technology to start finding it's way into consumer camera in the next few years!

Can I FOCUS an IP Camera?

..not really. Like point-and-shoot cameras, most IP cameras do not have a manual focus. This is generally not a problem however, since the objects in view are distant enough to not require focusing.

And also like point-and-shoots, you cannot vary the depth-of-field, aperture or F-Stop settings, so a shot like this would not be easy!

You can, in some cases, find alternate lenses for your camera. I've seen wide-angle, fish-eye and other options. Note that since these lenses tend to distort the photo geometry, they may not be useful for details like facial recognition, license-plate legibility, etc.

You can also sometimes find interchangeable lenses which offer other lens diameters.

What WOULD be nice, but I haven't seen, are UV or other filters.

I have noticed that some IP Camera controls do offer focus- so I tend to think that some manufacturers probably offer it. I haven't seen one yet, however.