Attempting to add IR LEDs for night vision, but not sure if Polar camera has an IR filter.

2021/09/28 Update: 
Asked Caddx customer service about this, they said Polar is NOT IR sensitive. 

Additionally, tested indoor in the dark with OSRAM IR Emitters SFH4717AS (850nm) and SFH4727AS (950nm) @ 3.0V 2.0A.
With 850nm, visible distance for obstacle avoidance is about 10 meters, image is purplish and grainy.
With 950nm, sensitivity is even lower, visible distance is less than a quarter of that.

Also tested with Caddx Nebula nano camera, the sensitivity is much worse, zero visible distance.

2021/09/30 Update:
Took off Polar's lens and found the IR filter. Removing it causes color shift (trees are white with a hint of pink now) but not too bad during day time, and IR visibility hugely improved!
Will be sharing videos after some components arrive so I can fly.



2021/10/16 Update:
Short video shot 30min before dawn, showing image of Caddx polar without IR filter and 850nm LEDs (SFH4717ASx3) driven at 1.5A (~12-13W total power), turning on/off intermittently. The dark ring around the edge is caused by TPU lens protector. Color shift after removing filter isn't too bad.
I flew in angle mode, please excuse my poor flying.

I don't know the answer but an easy way to find out if a camera has an IR filter or not is to take it into a pitch dark room and shine an infrared light directly at the lens while looking at the live camera feed. A good infrared source that most people will have is a TV remote. Just point the front of the remote at the camera lens and hold down one of the buttons on the remote to activate the IR led on it.

Thank you SnowLeopardFPV for this method. I can see TV remote's LED light up, but its quite dim, honestly can't tell whether thats because of weak LED or IR filtering.

Anyway, I ordered a few high powered IR LEDs, and will try it out once arrived and share my findings. Cheers!

Day night cameras do have an IR filter that switches at dawn dusk, usually if you want a good image in the dark it's in black and white. info on that here: https://www.2mcctv.com/day-night-and-ir-...e-cameras/

Usually the small IR leds on inexpensive cameras don't really throw light very well so great to light up a small room but not several feet that a flying object could use. The IR illuminators that do light up the yard would need a lot of power and would be too heavy to carry.

You could just strap a good IR flashlight to a quad. I've thought about it before.

I still have a few Streamlight Sidewinder 14000 IR flashlights around from the military. I always thought their square shape would make them perfect to mount to a quad but they weight 124g.

I also use a Surefire M1 as my helmet-mounted IR illuminator, and that weights 84g. A 5" could carry an extra 84g. It would be noticeable, but would be fun to try it out.

I have always wondered what it would be like to fly at night. I think for me it would be something I would probably try once, just for the novelty, so it's not something I have put any effort in to. But every once in a while I see a post like this that makes me want to try it.

(18-Sep-2021, 12:24 AM)sevro Wrote: Usually the small IR leds on inexpensive cameras don't really throw light very well so great to light up a small room but not several feet that a flying object could use. The IR illuminators that do light up the yard would need a lot of power and would be too heavy to carry.

I ordered some 5W infrared LEDs, if Polar is IR sensitive, hopefully it could light up a basketball court, fingers crossed. Power wise its not a problem, only a tiny fraction of what a motor consumes.

(18-Sep-2021, 02:24 AM)MrSolo Wrote: You could just strap a good IR flashlight to a quad.  I've thought about it before.

I still have a few Streamlight Sidewinder 14000 IR flashlights around from the military.  I always thought their square shape would make them perfect to mount to a quad but they weight 124g.

I also use a Surefire M1 as my helmet-mounted IR illuminator, and that weights 84g.  A 5" could carry an extra 84g. It would be noticeable, but would be fun to try it out.

I have always wondered what it would be like to fly at night.  I think for me it would be something I would probably try once, just for the novelty, so it's not something I have put any effort in to.  But every once in a while I see a post like this that makes me want to try it.

Sir can you be so kind to test the IR flashlights on the Polar camera to see if it is IR sensitive?

(18-Sep-2021, 03:26 AM)leestrong Wrote: I ordered some 5W infrared LEDs, if Polar is IR sensitive, hopefully it could light up a basketball court, fingers crossed. Power wise its not a problem, only a tiny fraction of what a motor consumes.

Sir can you be so kind to test the IR flashlights on the Polar camera to see if it is IR sensitive?

These are what I meant for IR lights that light up at distance. Light up a basketball court, no problem. 

https://www.a1securitycameras.com/raytec/

Found this description on the CJLTech IR4+ V2 IR Module's product page:

Quote:you can point a TV remote at the camera while you are viewing the video feed through goggles or on a screen. If you see a bright white light when you press a button, you are good to go and can use the IR module to see in the dark.

If you see a dull purple light from the remote when you press a button, it does have an IR filter and the camera is not suitable. This means the infrared light is being cut out by your camera and you will need to change the lens or camera in order to use the IR4+ module.

Basically this is what SnowLeopardFPV suggested, with additional hint that an IR sensitive camera should see white light from an IR LED.


Caddx Polar does render a brighter white color, as opposed to my smartphone camera that renders red-purple color, so we are in luck!

Someone posted a video last year where they removed the IR filter from a DJI camera on a whoop and added an IR LED. It's pretty cool and kind of creepy:

(19-Sep-2021, 03:48 PM)V-22 Wrote: Someone posted a video last year where they removed the IR filter from a DJI camera on a whoop and added an IR LED. It's pretty cool and kind of creepy

This is very exciting, amazing footage. Can't wait to see what can be achieved with Polar+IR!

Original post updated to reflect latest progress.

Nice! How was the lens removal? Really looking forward to see the IR footage.

(29-Sep-2021, 09:27 PM)V-22 Wrote: Nice! How was the lens removal? Really looking forward to see the IR footage.

Lens removal was actually easier than expected, just used pliers with moderate force to unscrew the ring on the lens.
The IR filter was glued on to the lens. I used a hot air gun to soften up the glues and then lifted it up from under using a box cutter. Left some scratches and smudges on the filter though.

Will be flying either this or next weekend, depending on when the components arrive, stay tuned.

THIS is “the cool” stuff!!! And I thought my Ratell cameras were good in low light! This is REAL impressive!

(30-Sep-2021, 01:27 PM)Rob Axel Wrote: THIS is “the cool” stuff!!!  And I thought my Ratell cameras were good in low light!  This is REAL impressive!

Thanks! Just updated short video, hope it will be interesting to you guys.