Infra-Red Camera Set- up

Following a workshop at the National Bat Conference on Infra-Red (IR) filming of bats, I decided to set-up my own system. A quick trip to ebay and a little research later I came up with the below.

Most of the set-ups I have seen to date have relied on external battery packs and lots of connecting leads. Although the footage was excellent and the systems seemed fairly simple to set – up, I was looking for something that would be self-contained.

I found IR lights called ‘bullets’ on an ebay shop, produced by SpectIR components, these seemed ideal as they take batteries. The added bonus was that they were cheap, being £30 for both lights. Each light takes four ‘AA’ batteries to the rear. These are expected to last at least 2- 3hrs of continuous use. The two lights can light an area of approx. 15- 20m. This is generally good enough for most roosts that I have tested the system on.

Equipment –

1.    Sony Handycam DCR-SR35 HDD ‘Nightshot’ (already owned and more importantly has the night shot facility).

2.    Camera Tripod (I opted for a small tripod that could be used internally in barns and small loft spaces).

3.    2 x Infra-Red (IR) lights, Bullets (produced by SpectIR Components).

Figure 1: IR set-up

Figure 2: IR set-up

Figure 3: IR set-up

Now I have had a chance to test the system and the results can be seen here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89343861/BLEB%20Stockgrove%20no%20sound.wmv

This piece of footage was taken from a known roost in Bedfordshire.