[elchode]

One last question:

If a spec says the minimum light is about 5 or 6 lux, would IR definitely be needed? My understanding is that 5 lux is like a room with a nightlight, and the street is definitely much brighter. However, I don’t have a good meter to say how bright.

I’m not sure I can answer that one accurately. Sorry.

As far as getting his routine down and using two nights, I guess I’m thinking about this in more of a military mindset. Like I said earlier, once I got the camera of choice in hand (DVR with nightshot), I’d do it that night. No alarm, just me, the camera, some coffee and the street, and deal with being tired the next day. Pulling an all-nighter and still needing to be functional the next day is not that uncommon in my line of work, and I sometimes forget that normal people aren’t conditioned as such.

Whatever you decide to go with, good luck to you.

No, I agree, and I’m prepared for it. The issue is that I’ve staked him out and he hasn’t done damage. He’s not totally predictable in the events, however the longer I go without parking there, the more likely he is to do damage.

I just want to be able to get him doing the damage to my car from the other car clear enough to have it be clear enough to a judge in court that it was in fact him. After I have him do it, I”m going to confront him.

Either way, I think I’ve narrowed it down to the DCR-HC52 and DCR-SR45. HC52 is Mini-DV, SR45 is 30 GB HDD. However they say that the quality on the SR 45 is only good enough for YouTube, so we’ll see. Both will work with the IR spotlight, and both will keep me within $300(ish), a little more after tax.

I tell ya what, I wish I had one right now. I live on a very steep main street and I’m watching cars try and navigate it in a blizzard.

[elchode]

One last question:

If a spec says the minimum light is about 5 or 6 lux, would IR definitely be needed? My understanding is that 5 lux is like a room with a nightlight, and the street is definitely much brighter. However, I don’t have a good meter to say how bright.

[elchode]

I have the DVR-402 and 702. The 402 is about six years old, and the 702 is three.

In LP, you can get 42 minutes on a disk, 30 in SP, and 17 in HD. The IR light will only work with IR specific cameras. The way the nightshot on the handycams works, is like you stated, it moves the IR filter out of the way and converts the signal from the CCD to a green/white/black psuedo-monochrome. It leaves visible light in the equation to prevent abuse of the fact that IR tends to penetrate wet and sheer clothing very effectively. If you use IR film or another digital camera with the IR filter removed, you can achieve the same effect and get usage out of the IR flood. Otherwise you’re stuck in a pickle, unless there’s a nightshot camera that records to magnetic or non DVR digital media.

The hunter cams are still shots. Some of them can be configured with a minimum delay, but in your case that’s probably not a desirable trait, you’d want to set it to zero. The way they work is to sit with an IR electronic eye that senses motion. When motion is detected, they fire an IR or white flash (depending on model) and take a still photo. This repeats until the memory card is full. The forseeable down side is that you’ll get lots of shots of passing cars and stray cats, but when your perpetrator does come out, you’ll have continuous shots of his activites at roughly one second intervals, which may or may not give you what you need to convict.

I also understand your point about wanting to get further use out of it, which is why I would still recomend pulling an all nighter with a video cam.

In a perfect world, I’d be able to catch enough vandalism pre-confrontation to make it clear what he was doing before I spring it on him. So all I really need is clear enough IR footage from one of those parking spots to see a person approach a car or another car hitting another car, ya know?

Pre-confrontation night, I just need enough visibility to get his routine down so I know when to set my alarm just in case I fall asleep. To do this, I’m going to need enough memory to get both. Unfortunately, I need sony to combine like 4 cameras to get what I want.

They have a 60 GB hard drive camera that has no night shot for $400ish
They have an 8 GB flash drive camera that has night shot for $500ish that also shoots in HD
They have a MiniDV with night shot for $250

C|Net says the Flash drive one has low lux/night mode but Sony’s spec doesn’t. I might spring for it if I can find it used and confirm the low lux.

[elchode]

Also, can I ask what model sony handycams you have? The newer models that are cheap don’t have the shoe for the IR lights. The HD ones all have the shoe.

And one last question: would an IR light such as that work with a camera not specifically built for IR? I read that the Sony nightshot just removes the IR filter from the lens, so if that isn’t present on the higher end models, would an IR spotlight even be effective? If so, I may just buy a refurb or used higher-end model from a few years ago if I can just set the shutter and aperture (the newer nightshots seem to have that disabled as well) and mount the IR spotlight to it.

[elchode]

Option B has been considered, however if I do engage in shenanigans such as that, I need to be prepared to engage in a campaign of mutually assured destruction, ya know? Plus, I’m in law school. I want to catch this guy so I can get some practice. And believe me, I will f*ck his life right up. I can get him on at least 3 criminal charges (harassment, malicious destruction of property, and disorderly conduct in the 4th degree). Not to mention the civil charges to recoup my expenses. I’m just not sure if I’ll be able to recoup the cost of the video camera which is why I don’t want to go all out.

So if I get you right, you’re saying that the hunter camera is better than the Sony because the Sony will run out of tape every 45 minutes and has the red light going on?

My apprehensions of the hunter cameras are also that it’s not constant video, right? I’d like to make sure that the camera can catch as much as possible. Also, when it comes down to it, I plan on doing exactly what you said and stake out the car in person. The problem is that I want to make sure I know exactly what time he comes out since the last two attempts have been a bust, and when he does come out and I catch him, I want video of it all.

And finally, if I’m going to sink money into this stuff, I’d like to have a use for it after I’m done, so I figured the sony cam would be the best bet for continued enjoyment.

So I need to make sure that the model I get has the shoe or whatever its called to use the IR floodlight attachment?

[elchode]

http://www.walmart.com/Moultrie-Spy-40-Game-Camera/ip/5933976

We considered these, but then were worried about mounting them inconspicuously and having him simply see it and take it down. He looks like the hunting type too, so he might know what it is.

[elchode]

Have you talked to local authorities about the problem?

Yes I’ve filed police reports each time, and their response is “that sucks, call an investigator”. So I figured investigating on my own is cheaper. I also staked out the car a few times but it won’t get me anywhere when I need to go to court.

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