I wasn't real sure where else to put this. I'm in need of a good quality low light camera, most likely some type of security camera. I'm having a hard time actually finding information on what models are good, and what aren't so good. It looks like the [1/3" sony super had ccd color sensor] is used quite a bit in these types of cameras. Anyone with actual experience in these matters?

I don't really want to spend a ton of money if possible. I'll be hooking it up to a little 8" lcd for real time viewing, and assumed i'd just need to get a BNC to rca cord, or adapter. Basically, I'll be attaching this camera to an eyepiece of a microscope, and using infrared light to light the objects. The light needs to be off, so I am forced to use infrared. hope that makes sense.

Would this one fit the bill? Its seems like a decent price, and realize there are no cables or AC adapter. http://webtronics.stores.yahoo.net/sosuhadccdco2.htmls

I've seen a decent number of them on ebay. I'm not sure if most of these security cameras are actually pretty sensitive to IR already, or if I'd need to remove a filter first. I'm guessing the first.

thanks for any help you can provide.

The Sony line of camcorders comes with built in infrared systems... granted they're not built for great distances, but you could subsidize the built in ir light with some additional ir lighting. But the point is that these cams are already set up to work with infrared. It's called NIGHTSHOT and I'm not sure if they have this feature on their DV cams, but it is on their HD cams (which might be a bit of overkill for your application).

You can connect these cams to a laptop or computer and capture real time if need be.

I would suspect however that using a cam corder for night watching purposes may be a bit expensive and inefficient to say the least.... it is an avenue for you to check out though.

thanks for the input.

looks like an extremely low lux (0.0003) may be the way to go.

If you don't need color and can do with the greenish night vision picture, most Sony's have 2 modes of nightshot like blackbill said and work very well. I had it on my old TRV-20 DV camcorder and now on my HDR-SR1 HD unit.

For instance, I filmed in nightshot on several Disney rides (Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.) with both cameras over the years and got an amazing amount of things on film that are not seen at all with the naked eye in the darkness.