Box 2 Camera
| After the first year's experiments, this
was designed in order to achieve high quality pictures day and night. The
camera is a JVC TK-C1460B, 1/2" CCD type with switchable IR filter. A 3.5mm
fixed aperture lens, stopped down to about f11, gives a good depth of field.
Three Luxeon, 3W, white, LEDs are fed from a constant current source. The 12 IR LEDs have resistors to set their current. A photocell based light switch turns the appropriate set of LEDs on and switches the camera day/night mode. We found that the heat from the lights raised the temperature in the box too much. We added a control so that the lighting can be switched between ~150 lux, for normal viewing, and ~2000 lux. for higher quality recording. |
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The colour of the Luxeon LEDs is quite good but a professional camera, such as the JVC, is required to achieve a good balance. There is no substitute for good lighting and a high resolution camera.
