Ansice - 2.1mm Lens Wide Angle Mini Cmos Board Camera CCTV 1000TVL with IR-Cut Board Security Camera

Good day camera and even works with semi low light but don't expect it to work with IR lights in darkness unless the IR filter is removed. My recommendation is to move along if night vision is desired as the IR filter is glued or epoxied to the top of another flat lens on the sensor and nearly impossible to remove without damage to the sensor lens. The 3.6mm lens is good balance between wide field of view and zoom but does neither well.

This camera is great for close-in viewing of relatively tight spaces - like small rooms, porches, etc. It allows broader viewing of nearby areas, although the other side of the coin is that it is not so useful for viewing things beyond perhaps 25'-30' (due to size distortion). Due to the relatively severe wide angle lens, there is some "ballooning" (image distortion), as would be expected - but I didn't find it to be excessive for my purposes. This camera has an IR Cut filter making it compatible with IR illuminator boards (which must be purchased separately. Because of the wide-angle lens, a wide-angle IR LED board is needed to provide illumination over the entire viewing field). The IR Cut filter operates ONLY when an IR LED board is connected to it. Without an IR LED board attached, the camera still gives good performance under visible light, but it's performance in low-light conditions suffers. With an IR LED board attached, it gives very good low-light performance under IR illumination. (Of course, it switches to black-and-white mode during IR operation). I had some difficulty finding information about how to properly connect an IR board to the camera, and the unexpected difficulty of obtaining this information is the main reason why I gave this camera only a four-star rating. The camera gets connected to an IR illuminator board via one pin in a 2-pin "CDS" connector on the camera board, wired to one pin of a similar 2-pin "CDS" connector on some generic IR LED boards. I also discovered that some IR LED boards do not even have any "CDS" connector - nor even any instructions for the proper spot to solder the "CDS" control lead onto the IR LED board - even though those IR LED boards are sold as being intended for connection to a camera board having an IR CUT filter. (This is no fault of the camera design, but rather a peculiar omission on the part of those IR LED board manufacturers). Anyway, it's something to watch out for when selecting an IR LED board for use with this camera. In any case, only one pin of each connector actually connects the control signal for the camera's IR CUT filter. But because there seems to be no "standard" as far as which pin is used for this signal on any given camera or IR LED board, some experimentation may be needed in order to get the correct pins connected. Also, I had a bit of difficulty in finding suitable connecting wires that have the correct 2-pin connector attached. I did find some generic "pig-tail" connectors that have both pins wired in one 2-pin connector, but a pair of these pig-tails would need to be soldered together appropriately to make the "CDS" connection. Some of the IR LED boards came with a short wire with the needed 2-pin connector on each end, but the wires seemed to have been inserted into these connectors at random - that is, inserted into Cavity 1 in some cases, but inserted into Cavity 2 in other cases - so it was necessary to do some "cherry-picking" of a wire that happened to be inserted into the correct cavities of each connector as needed, or else to CAREFULLY remove the wire from the wrong cavity and re-insert it into the other cavity in the connector. I also notice that when these 2-pin connectors have a wire/pin inserted into only one of the two cavities, they do not have enough "grip" on the mating connector header, so they tend to pull off very easily. Due to all of these reasons, making (and keeping) the "CDS" connection between the camera and an IR LED board can be very "fussy". In summary, this camera is designed to have an IR LED board connected, although it will work under adequate visible light conditions without any IR LED board attached. Either way, it produces good images - of course it does not support low-light IR mode (and its IR CUT filter does not operate) unless an IR LED board is attached. Finding the applicable connection information for a particular IR LED board can be sketchy.

Cannot believe how impressed I was with this mini spy cam. Not really a spy cam having a 2.1mm Lens, but it is small enough to be discretely hidden. I purchase a PI Manufacturing ABS Plastic Project Box (5.30" (L) x 2.95" (W) x 1.92" (H)) and drilled a hole in it the same size as the lens and then with a couple drops of hot glue to hold the board in place I then put a clock mechanism from walmart on the front and with a little decorating , it just looks like a clock unless you look at it closely so for the price and the quality of this camera and a little bit of creativity, it turned out to be a spy cam after all that I was able to hook right up to my DVR.

Great wide angle camera. Have installed these in ceiling tiles at some of my customers places of business to watch over their cash registers. Cannot beat the picture for the money. Good low light sensitivity as well. No IR, so don't expect a picture unless you have some sort of ambient light around.

had to fiddle with old bnc cable and 12v power plug connections from 16 yr old system but finally got working. would buy again and will as I continue setup home apt sec system. bought these specifically cause montana local criminal druggies are vandalizing my truck at night. corrupt prop mgr says can't have cams outside of apt exterior , liability ... so these now hang off my exterior window screens. can barely see them. just perfect for my situation. if yours do not work check cable and power connections. i unplugged mine 5 times. then they worked. * seller should post bnc cable and power adaptor on product sell page. sell those as well.

At some point they updated the CCD and it is now a widescreen output. This is not a big deal with the modern monitors but some of the legacy security systems may not work correctly, for example a motion detection or recognition function. I have a number of these Ansice cameras in use now and while they claim its 750 lines a resolution chart confirmed only 350 total horizontal lines and 120 color lines on a 16:9 chart. Overall they're great for non-technical uses and have a good low light sensitivity if you can stand the noise floor. I give it 4-stars as the description doesn't mention the aspect ratio and the resolution is misleading. Just an update: ALL of the widescreen cameras have failed within just a few months of each other. Some have lost color while two are completely dead. Best I can recommend is to keep looking for better quality and spend the extra if needed, these are not worth the time or effort to replace with the same.

Well made and the autofocus work perfect. You get a sharp clear image and low light

This camera has been in use for a couple of months now and continues to work fine. The picture is nice and clear, but not quite HD. I had to build a bracket to mount it on (it comes as shown) but this is what I wanted as I was using it in a very small, specific location. It fit inside of a 2-gang electrical box with ease. It does have a good, extra-wide view (fish-eye) and color and focus are satisfactory. The only quirk is that the camera light receiver behind the lense must have been installed a bit off center because I had to aim the camera 15 degrees off to get it to center on the desired field of view. This creates a miniscule amount of warping of the picture that you really have to study to discern. Not a big deal, just a little odd. Overall I am quite pleased with the camera. Realize that this is coming slow-boat from china. It took about 2 1/2 weeks to arrive. Considering the price I can't complain at all.

Love it ......

nice little cam

Dim picture. Clear when area is well lit.