I investigate both during the day and during the night. When I investigate I solely use Full Spectrum cameras, for the simple reason they record pictures and video from the entire spectrum of light. From the UV side to the IR side and everything in between. This is also important to my investigating because if I were to use an IR camera, I would only record the IR side of the spectrum, the same for using an IR camera with a UV illuminator.
So with that said and out of the way, let's get right into the illuminators. I have had a lot of people ask me "if I have an IR camera do I need an IR illuminator"? Or "if I have a Full Spectrum camera do I need a Full Spectrum illuminator"? My answer :NO, it all depends on what you want to record. If you want to record in the IR side of the light spectrum then use a IR illuminator, A IR illuminator will work for either an IR camera or a Full Spectrum camera. The camera is the one that actually does the recording, the illuminator just provides illumination.
As I said above, I do both daytime and night investigations and only use cameras that record the full spectrum of light. We have now come to the point of the blog that I offer MY OPINION, this MY OPINION only and I'm sure everyone has there own opinion and that's great in this field, I don't think people in this field should follow the opinion of one person. Anyway I use IR/UV lights with my cameras during night investigations. During daytime investigations, obviously no illumination is needed as the ambient light provides plenty of Full Spectrum illumination. The reason I use UV/IR illumination is because of the research I have found by reading, watching and trial and error. I have found that IR illumination amplifies the IR end of the light spectrum as it should. Using strictly UV illumination amplifies the UV end of the light spectrum as it should. Full Spectrum illumination uses red, blue, green, IR and UV light for illumination. The red, blue and green light emitted from the light is a lot brighter than the IR or UV light, therefore it drowns out those spectrum's of light and amplifies the visible area of the light spectrum.
In my investigations I use the Full Spectrum cameras as it covers the full spectrum of light. Therefore I don't want the IR, UV or visable part of the light spectrum amplified, I want a smooth spectrum of light all the way across the light spectrum.
