Color Video Cameras for LV2
CCD Camera
We wanted a good quality NTSC output CCD camera for a reasonable price. Supercircuit's (http://www.supercircuit.com/ 800.335.9777) PC-33C camera seemed like a reasonable thing to use.
PC33C - http://supercircuits.com/ and search for "pc33c"
- 420 lines
- 0.45 lux low light rating
- auto BLC = automatic Backligh compensation
- Size: 2.3" x 2.0" x 3.77" @ 220g
- Power: 10-14VDC @ 350mA
- Features: C mount lens, 0.45 lux, big case (that's a feature?), auto shutter.
$169.95
Switches on the PC-33C and what they do:
- "V.D." and "D.D." stand for "video driven" and "DC driven". This switch is for the auto-iris feature; it selects whether the "iris out" signal is based on the video signal or a DC level. Since we're not using the auto-iris, we don't care what it's set to.
- "E. Shutter" stands for "electronic shutter" and this takes the place of light level control if you don't have an auto-iris. Since we don't have an auto-iris, we've turned this on.
- "Normal" and "BLC" - "BLC" stands for "BackLight Compensation". If you're looking into a dark corner, you can turn on BLC and it'll lighten up the picture. Since we're in an dynamic outdoor environment, we've turn the switch to "normal" (i.e. BLC off).
WHAT WE DID:
We hacked it to bits. We wanted to just take off the rear panel and connectors since they're big and bulky, but we :
- removed the power connector. BNC video out, RCA audio out
- removed all the boards to remove the power LED (and to poke around a bit)
- wrapped wire through the eye hole washer and holes in the PCB to make the board mounting more stiff
- removed all the annoying white conectors on the boards (except for the right angle one on the CCD board)
- soldered all the wires directly in, including coax directly to the audio and video holes on the boards
Here's the final product before we mounted it:
Lenses:
Wide Angle lenses only:
- CML2.5MM $29.95
- CML4MM $24.95