Outdoor IP Camera install -- Extreme Cold ??

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sdkidx

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I have been looking at IP cams, like the Vivotek IP8332, or possibly the Axis m1113e

These will be installed in South Dakota. It could easily be -30F for several nights in any given winter. Anybody have experience with cams in EXTREMES of cold? I am going to spend about $1,000 for two cams + cabling, etc. running into a PC to record video events.

EDIT: (The PC is not part of that $1,000). I know there are an abundance of outdoor enclosures with heat and fan, but I have never dealt with this stuff before. I also want to have night vision capability-- looking at seperate IR lamps. Meh... this is getting complex...

and advice appreciated.
 
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-30F with windchill?

Non-living things most of the time don't feel "windchill." For those you deal strictly with the absolute temp, which I'm going to assume is around -5to-10ish?

For example...

If you have a 100F block of aluminum and the room temp is 5F, then the 100F block will cool to 5F. In doing do it will form a boundary layer of heated air around it, this will partially insulate it and delay the cooling to 5F (the room temp). But it will not cool lower than 5F (the room temp) under any circumstances.

Now if you have the same 100F block and same room which is 5F and you blow a fan on it say going 50mph, then it will still cool to 5F. The differences in these cases is that the block with the 50mph wind will cool to 5F (the room temp) much quicker than the block with no wind because that boundary layer of partially heated air is being disrupted.

So in both cases the absolute lowest temperature the block will experience will be the room temp (5F) regardless of the wind velocity.

Now living things have ~60%+ pure water in their bodies. When wind blows on a wet object it can cool it below ambient temperature via evaporation.

But this scenario will never apply to this camera because ice and snow are considered "dry", therefore you will never have the camera getting naturally "wet" in the coldest parts of winter.
 
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Now to answer your question:

I have an el cheapo wireless camera that I have kept outside for 2 winters with real temps of around -12. Not in any housing or anything, and it has done just fine.

However, it was fixed focus.

And that's what you would need to watch out for, some of these higher priced cameras have auto focus lenses and that means they have lubricants in them to facilitate their inner lens movements. These oils and greases can harden at low temps and cause malfunction ranging from a focus motor blowing out to simply not working.

So if you wanted to you could probably just go with either of those models and disable auto focus when temp goes below zero and you would be just fine.

The alternative is spending a considerable amount on a heated enclosure.
 
staticlag said:
Now to answer your question:

I have an el cheapo wireless camera that I have kept outside for 2 winters with real temps of around -12. Not in any housing or anything, and it has done just fine.

However, it was fixed focus.

And that's what you would need to watch out for, some of these higher priced cameras have auto focus lenses and that means they have lubricants in them to facilitate their inner lens movements. These oils and greases can harden at low temps and cause malfunction ranging from a focus motor blowing out to simply not working.

So if you wanted to you could probably just go with either of those models and disable auto focus when temp goes below zero and you would be just fine.

The alternative is spending a considerable amount on a heated enclosure.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I was talking actual AIR temperature-- not windchill. Without a doubt, there will be several nights of around -20F (with windchills that could go to -80F -- not that it matters for the camera) ;)

Now I see how part of the temp ratings on these cams are evaluated--- those with moving parts (like focus rings--as you said) have low-end operating temps around 32F. Those without any moving parts are usually rated to just below zero. So... that Vivotek IP8332 is rated to -4F... would -20F jack it up or not? Seems I may be finding out...

There are housings with heat and fan for under ~$50... Of course, you DO get what you pay for typically-- but perhaps someone else has some experience with those? One question on a heated housing with a glass plate in front: Wouldn't that glass reflect IR light (like from the built-in IR-LEDs in the IP8332) back into the lens.?? I Would have to buy something that the IR can be disabled, then use an exterior IR flood light-- right?
 
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I would recommend the axis cam over that other one. Axis makes quality cameras. However personally I would try to find a camera whose operating tempature meets what you are looking to do or you should look into heated enclosures. The extreme cold can not only effect the zoom and focus functions of the lens but also the electronics themselves. Electronics operate better in the cold but only to a certain extent, once the temperature drops too low it is actually just as hard on the circuits as heat.

This axis cam says it is good down to -22 ºF when powered via POE or -40 ºF with high power POE.

http://www.axis.com/products/cam_p1344e/index.htm
 
schnell said:
I would recommend the axis cam over that other one. Axis makes quality cameras. However personally I would try to find a camera whose operating tempature meets what you are looking to do or you should look into heated enclosures. The extreme cold can not only effect the zoom and focus functions of the lens but also the electronics themselves. Electronics operate better in the cold but only to a certain extent, once the temperature drops too low it is actually just as hard on the circuits as heat.

This axis cam says it is good down to -22 ºF when powered via POE or -40 ºF with high power POE.

http://www.axis.com/products/cam_p1344e/index.htm
Click to expand...

That cam is awesome... but it's around $1,000... too rich for me. I need to come in at about $850 total for 2 cams.
 
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