GE 45231 Deluxe MicroCam Wired Color Security Video Camera with Night Vision, Black

I bought this at Lowes home store and I was impressed at first at the value.

Good: Clear video in well lit conditions has microphone that works pretty well comes complete with a 60ft long cable and power supply comes with two mounts

Bad: The box says it is indoor/outdoor the instructions say it should not get wet and needs to mounted in a sheltered location (semi-outdoor?) it cannot be mounted behind a window or screen for nightime use because the infared LED's will reflect back into the camera rendering it useless

This is a great camera for indoors for the money. It is not a great camera for outdoors. You'll need to spend more for that.

GE 45231 Deluxe MicroCam Wired Color Security Video Camera with Night Vision, Black

I am running several of these GE 45231 Security cameras on my Ubuntu/Zoneminder system configured 320x240, black and white. These do color reasonably well, but color is a waste of system resources. They are providing excellent results (reasonably sharp image) during daylight hours. However, "unaided" night vision is severely limited and grainy. With the "aid" of extra outside lighting, however; they are plenty adequate. Facial features are easily recognizable up to 30 feet during the day, although "license plate" recognition will not be possible with these cameras. These cameras are fairly small and are easy to install. They come with a power cube. Video and power is contained in one cable. I had to cut the cable from the camera during installations to past the cable "through-the-wall, otherwise a fairly large hole would be required to pass the video and power connectors. Cutting the cable enabled only a 3/16th hole versus a 1/2in or larger, otherwise. I use these as outside cameras and have crafted a tin shield to keep the weather off them. I have had NO issues with condensation or moisture during adverse or wet weather operations. If you need good night time illumination during operations, these are NOT your cameras. You would be better off spending a few more dollars and purchase cameras with 30 or more IR LEDS. However, if you have supplemental lighting during night operations, these cameras work well. These cameras do have a few IR LEDs, but realistically, are barely useful for anything other than catching critters flying in front of the lens, maximum of 5-10ft distance at their very best. This camera NEEDS good interior/exterior lighting to function well.

2/18/2013

After two years since my last comments on the GE 45231 video camera, I felt I should add a few more comments regarding my experiences with it. I still have the original GE45231 cameras running on my Zoneminder camera system and they are doing exceptionally well to this day. I must confirm that the camera works far better if used in conjunction with some outside lighting source such as a security light. I have purchased several "very" expensive $150+ cameras with 30 or more LEDs. The problem is that the expensive cameras are "far" more sensitive and pick up minute bugs, dust and fog causing excessive false imagery. I have found the back lighted GE 45231 to be far superior in night time operations. Daytime operation has never been an issue. Moral of the story is, if you desire minute detail, then the GE 45231 is not your camera. If, however you wish general video monitoring, the GE 45231 does an exceptionally good job. Yesterday, I purchased two more GE 45231 cameras from Amazon to replace two cameras I burned up due to experimentation.( grin ). I discovered they are "very" sensitive to voltage spikes.

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I used to have a security camera system that had a small 7" B/W monitor and a camera so I wasn't expecting to much from this camera at first. Well, I was very pleasently surprised. I have a front porch that has a good protected area on it and I wanted a camera that would face toward the drive and street I live on as the trailer I live at has a front door that faces away from my street. Installation wasn't to bad. I ran into one small problem as the instruction book indicated that there were a template included as to where to place the holes to mount the camera base on, but I couldn't find one included as mentioned in the instructions. This was solved by taking a piece of paper and placing the camera base on it and trancing the outline of the base on it and then lifting it up and carefully punching two holes where the screw mount holes narrowed down. After this it was a matter of drilling two small holes with my drill and driving home the screws. The camera's base allows setting the camera in any position you need even upside down if you need to. Running the cable wasn't that hard. I suggest that you don't plug in the 60 foot cable before you need to. Since the 60 foot cable contains A/V and power your not limited to where you place the power supply and it can be at the end of the cable. I ran my cable from the front porch to the Computer Room which is at the front of my trailer about 50 feet from where the camera was. I had more than enough cable for this. I plugged it into a VCR I had and when I plugged it in, the camera worked the first time withj no problems. The picture is much better than the old camera I used to have and the audio is good too. I did noticed a very small amount of hum on the audio but it wasn't all that bad. I have a small night light on my front porch and it seemed to help the picture at night. I also noted and when a car turns in to my street at night, the color comes back on for just a second when the light reaches the porch from the road so it seems to adjust well to changing light conditions. To this time, I can little to complain about and it seems to work fine and without any problems so far. I'm glad I got this.

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This camera certainly transmits a high definition picture to my monitor and it has very sensitive audio . The audo is very important to me in that I do not have to be viewing the monitor constantly. When I hear a noise (vehicle, human or non-human) I am alerted to look at the monitor.

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Bought so i could watch the front door because i dont have a peep hole and i love it easy to install good picture even in the dark and has good audio i can here people talking across the street! LOVE IT

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