ELP2.0mp USB Camera Module with Day&Night Compatible with Windows/Linux/Android/mac for House/car/Machine Video Use

Perfect plug-and-play no complaints. I use this for 3D had tracking.

I bought this camera to use as a low cost full spectrum USB video camera. It's works very well as both a full spectrum camera and a visible spectrum camera.Pros:* Works as a UV camera* Works as an IR camera* Works as a visible light only camera (has a mode to cut UV and IR)* No drivers needed for Windows XP and up* Good clear colors, crisp contentCons:* The lens is screwed on so tight that I broke the lens when changing itThe camera has 2 glass filters built in. One is for night video, the other is for daylight video. These filters are behind the lens and move automatically depending on the light sensor on the IR LED circuit board. The night filter is a full spectrum filter which allows visible light, infrared light, and ultraviolet light to pass to the camera. The day filter is a UV/IR cut filter, which effectively prevents nearly all infrared and ultraviolet light from entering the camera. This daylight filter allows normal color video to be taken in daylight without UV and IR content messing up the colors.Used as a full spectrum camera, I'm able to take pictures containing non-visible ultraviolet and infrared content. I tested UV photography at 350-400nm and it is very decent, picking up all content in this UV range. It's also very effective for IR photography, but I didn't test how far into the infrared spectrum the camera is capable of going.Setup was very easy on a Windows XP machine. No drivers were needed. I just plugged it in and it worked.The stock lens is the kind you can focus by screwing it in or out. However, on this camera the stock lens was stuck. It was screwed on too tight and could not be moved by hand even after completely removing the lens lock screw. I was not that happy with that. The focus was off. I needed to adjust the focus. Also, it was too wide angle for my needs.I had a standard CS 1/3" zoom lens I wanted to use. I tried to unscrew the lens it came with after removing the lens lock screw. The lens would not unscrew by hand. It was stuck. I had to use a wrench to unscrew the lens. It was so hard to unscrew that the lens broke in the process. I had no intention of using this lens so I didn't really care that it broke. I put my own lens on and now the camera takes fantastically clear video. I only used the lens it came with for a few tests.This is a great little USB camera. I like everything about it so far. I would rate it 5 stars, but I removed 1 star because the removable lens was screwed on so tight that I broke the lens while trying to remove it. The lens it ships with is a pretty basic lens, and because it was stuck, I couldn't adjust the focus. It was stuck out of focus. The manufacturers should not screw the lens on that tightly. People will need to adjust the focus. Some people like me will replace the lens. The lens should be hand tightened when attached, no harder than that.

The media could not be loaded. I suspect it will not be clear to many potential buyers that this is not a standalone camera that you'll be able to use straight out of the box for video surveillance. First of all, it has very little brains of its own -- it's a fairly dumb device that needs to be connected via USB to a computer of some kind. That computer will provide the application for controlling this camera, and also provide the storage for saving videos. If you want a surveillance camera in the room where you happen to keep your PC, then you're golden. If, however, you want to use this anywhere else, you'll have some design work ahead of you.The photos make it pretty clear that there is no housing -- the buyer is responsible for coming up with a mechanical housing or mounting solution. If your solution allows the USB cable to move around, you can see in my pictures that you'll need to also implement some sort of stress relief solution for where the USB cable attaches to the circuit board -- those small wires are eventually going to break if they are subjected to frequent bending. It seems kind of silly to me that ELP didn't at least wrap those wires in heat shrink tubing.The main intelligent action (perhaps the only one other than autofocus) that is the responsibility of the camera is switching between daylight and night time mode. You can see in my video that the transition from daylight to night time is not exactly smooth. In good light, everything is in color and looks fine. As I dim the light in the room, you'll notice there's a light level where the camera rapidly toggles between day and night mode. Eventually, the room gets dark enough that the camera permanently switches into black-and-white night mode.Similar cameras exist which straight out of the box, talk to some app via wireless or blue tooth, and which can store video on a local TF card. And they start at prices as low as the $48 price tag of this ELP camera. I think most users will be much better served by that style of camera rather than this camera component that doesn't include those comprehensive features. This camera needs to be much cheaper to justify taking on the design chores that are required to create a functional surveillance solution.

I purchase this camera about 10 months ago and I finally got around to using it. I installed the camera in an owl box with the purpose of making a live "Owl Cam", in a Screech Owl box. The night-time photos and video are pretty good, much better than I was anticipating. The daytime photos (in an enclose, nearly dark box) are less than I would like to see, but its mostly dark inside the box (and its first use is on a cloudy day). The camera does not have a body case, so I had to make one first. I used a 6 oz Minute Made juice bottle, it was almost the perfect size (I cut it into pieces to make the camera case and sealed the camera in it. The camera's USB interface with Windows was great, I had select the camera from your camera options. For a MAC, you have to use PhotoBooth & select the USB camera. For an Android cellphone, I used my "endoscopic camera app", choosing the USB camera option. I have a type C USB port on my cellphone, so I had to get an USB C to USB A adapter. I have the owl box camera attached to my computer using a 12 foot USB A extension cord.

Very nice that it can automatically switch from day to night mode. Clear picture, day or night. It is compatible with android, but won't work with onboard app, must download a " usb" camera app.