Sony IR illuminators don't cut it.
If you purchased a Sony NightShot camcorder and tried it out, you discovered that the built-in infrared (IR) light doesn’t give much of an image except at very short range. So maybe you looked at Sony’s accessory catalog, and ordered their "high brightness infrared light" that is advertised for viewing at up to 100 feet. Again you tried this out, and were disappointed. You certainly couldn’t see your subject at 100 feet, unless it was very large. Is this technology just not up to expectations? The answer is that you still do not have sufficient illumination to utilize the full capabilities of the NightShot feature, even with the supplementary light from Sony. In short, the camera is just fine, you simply need more light.

So how do you know when your IR light is bright enough?

This is easy to answer if you know exactly what your subject is and exactly where it is. You have sufficient light if the entire subject is visible and details are clearly seen. It is harder to answer if you're not sure what or how many things you're looking at. One of the problems with inadequate lighting is you don't realize how much you are missing until you compare the scene using better lighting (as we illustrate below).

When your job is to count bats exiting from a roost, you need to be able to see the entire area, and you need enough light to clearly see and distinguish each and every individual bat. For larger entrances or other applications, the Sony light is insufficient. You will fail to see all the bats that are there, and your count will be inaccurate. The only real way to ensure sufficient lighting is to keep adding brighter light until you no longer see an improvement in image quality.

The following three still images illustrate the differences between light sources. The scene is an abandoned mine portal, about 10 by 5 ft. The distance from the camera to the portal is about 20 feet.

IRLamp6 - Light for consumer DV cameras
IRLamp6 is an incredibly bright IR source for field use. It offers 40 high performance IR LEDs in a specially designed heat sink case. At less than three inches in diameter, the lamp takes up very little room in a backpack. This lamp is exclusively sold by Bat Conservation and Management, Inc.

A dramatic improvement on our IRLamp3 Array, we have use a totally machined case to improve both the ruggedness and manufacturability of these lights. This case also offers better heat sinking capability so can run these brighter than our original IRLamp3 design. Otherwise the design is much the same as our original IRLamp3.

Design elements of IRLamp6 arrays:

• Compact and field rugged.
• Completely solid state, no filaments to burn out.
• LEDs with 10,000 hour lifetime.
• Efficient use of battery power, puts far more of the energy into light, waste as little as possible so you carry a smaller battery.
• One lamp draws 500 millamps from a 12VDC source
• Produces bright light with an even beam angle suited to most video cameras.
• The wavelength of the light is just long enough to not be visually disturbing to most wildlife, but short enough to fall within the sensitivity of most video cameras. Peak wavelength is 810 nm.
• Input voltage designed to use common and easily charged 12V sealed lead-acid batteries or vehicle power systems
• An under voltage lockout circuit (~8V) turns off the lamp when the battery is exhausted, avoiding over-discharge of the battery.
• Mounted with a common 1/4"-20 thread standard on photographic tripods
• Optional hot shoe adaptor allows the lamp to be mounted on top of some (non-Active Interface) video cameras. Lamp is not powered thru the camera, an external power source is required.
• 5 Ah battery will run one illuminator for 9 hours, 2 illuminators for approximately 4 hours.
• The 20 degree light will resolve bats up to about 60 feet. This range is highly dependant on which camera you use (Sony cameras vary with the NightShot quality; the larger the CCD the better) and the zoom setting of the lens.

Why we're impressed:
Bat Conservation and Management, Inc. has been using IRLamp6 illuminators for several years now. Coupled with appropriate Sony NighShot-enabled cameras, this system actually provides sharper images than when recorded thorough our $5,000 ITT G3 nightvision scope. We are proud to offer these devices along side our other high end, hand selected bat survey equipment. There is no brighter IR illuminator in the world specifically designed for the NightShot system, period.

Why two lamps?
Adding a second lamp does not increase the size and weight of your pack, but it doubles the amount of light available to the camera. It is like gaining a whole extra f-stop on a still camera. However, to realize another increase in light, you would need to double again: four IR lamps. That is getting a bit unweildly in the field. Also be aware that newer "widescreen" aspect HD cameras are shooting such a wide landscape image, you may need two IR lamps to feather across the field of view and fully fill the frame. If you are shooting standard 4:3 aspect video, one IR lamp will fill the frame.

Price
IRLamp6: $299.00 USD
Each IRLamp6 ordered includes one 12v power cable terminating in a male cigarette lighter-type plug.

Additional system gear, buy only what you need:
In stock for immediate shipping.

5Ah sealed lead acid battery: $69.00
Includes custom carry pouch with 12v quick connect prewired and can also hold 1- IR6Lamp

Plug Expander: $14.00
Allows 2 IRLamp6 lights to be plugged into 1 battery

Battery Charger: $49.00
Charges 1 - 12v battery at a time, prevents overcharging

Light Bar Kit: $24.00
Light bar kits allow 2 lamps + any camera to be attached to a tripod quick release. Includes 3 knobs. Must be used if you intend to attach 2 lamps to a camera.

See shopping cart for shipping charges.

Show me the (infrared) light
Below are several examples of NightShot video using dual IRLamp6 illuminators running off 1 battery pack. The lamps and illuminators are held in place using the 2 Lamp Bar. Please note that footage captured by your camera and played on your HDTV will be sharper and brighter than any of these examples due to compression and computer monitor settings. If the video does not play, upgrade your free Quicktime software.