Cameras VS. Monitors/TV's

I wrote this blog in order to educate some people and to keep people from falling prey to a huge money making sceem. I'll try not to get to technical as most people like to keep things simple. Most of the people in the paranormal community, whether they watch all the TV shows and think its cool to go ghost hunting, try to help people by investigating in there home and telling them yep it haunted or those that do this to try and find proof, always want the newest gadget out there. And there's nothing wrong with that, but as I have said before and will always repeat myself...RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH.

With that said, there are a number of cameras out there that shoot in numerous resolutions. The most common are HD, 4K and 1 paranormal TV show actually claims to shoot in 6K. Now there are also a lot of HD cameras out there that are labeled 4K when they really are only HD cams with that label in order to up the price a bit. A true 4K camera will cost a bit more true. Now you can't purchase a 6K camera, if you could it would be ridiculous in price, especially since there are no 6K TV's or monitors on the market, so I won't even get into the whole "we use a special 6K full spectrum cam to film with" paranormal TV/Soap Opera/Reality show.

Now to get to my point (finally huh), No matter what resolution camera is used to shoot the footage, it will only be as high of resolution as the monitor/TV it is being watched on. Example: if your using a 4K camera to shoot footage, and the monitor it is being seen on is 1080, then it will only be 1080, not 4K. Another example: if your using an HD camera to shoot the footage, but the monitor/TV is 4K, it is still only going to be seen in 1080 because that is the resolution of the camera. And if you really believe the scenario about the 6K camera, it will only be as good as the TV you are watching the program on.

So to sum things up: cameras are being labeled as 4K just as a way for some companies to make extra cash don't get fooled. I'M NOT SAYING THERE ARE NO 4K CAMERAS OUT THERE, just use your common sense and RESEARCH, RESEARCH RESEARCH.

USING A DRONE WITH A FULL SPECTRUM CAM FOR DAYTIME INVESTIGATIONS

My drone used for daytime investigations.

This is a picture of the drone outfitted with a full spectrum modded camera, I use for my daytime investigations. I recently started a Daytime Paranormal Society, and investigate cemeteries, historical property and historical buildings.

Drones would be a great tool for any investigation day or night. Outfitted with a full spectrum camera, one would get a great birds eye view of the property being investigated, get great shots of the outside of windows (instead of standing out front taking pics from a distance), if the rest of the team is investigating indoors have 1 person and the drone watching the perimeter of the building to capture any movement outside. 

There are endless ways of using it, basically it would do the job of 1 or 2 team members. I'm going to use mine not only as a investigation tool, but also to document the property being investigated.

Using IR, UV, IR/UV and many other combinations of filters for investigations.

I own the online paranormal equipment store Paranormal Investigations Equipment, but I am also an investigator. I have done daytime investigations as well as night time investigations. Using camera filters not only let you have multiple cameras (IR, Full Spectrum, UV etc...) but also lets you change on the fly or set up different cameras on location with different light spectrums.

I have several different filters, and not only can you use them as one, but you can also combine them (as they screw together) for even more light spectrum filtration. During day time investigations with the ambient light being super bright and illuminating everything they work extremely well.

I"m not saying everyone should drop there modded cams and go 100% filters, but I am saying if your new to paranormal investigations, filters are a less expensive way to go other than buying all those different cams.

The Battle Of The Illuminators, An Investigators Opinion About Which One Wins Out And Why.

First the introduction of the top 3 illuminators. The IR illuminator, the IR/UV illuminator and the Full Spectrum illuminator. These seem to be the top illuminators and there are many varieties of each one. Below I am going to give MY opinion about the illuminator I prefer when investigating and the research I have found.

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.

Do People Do Research Before Purchasing Paranormal Investigation Equipment?

I can't speak for everyone, but it seems that there are people out there doing paranormal investigations that buy equipment just because it was seen on tv, the newest thing out or its something they think may help them on investigations. There are a lot of companies out there that mis-advertise things, say its one thing when just doing some research will show that it's clearly not, re-brand an item and sell it for more because its "for paranormal investigating" oh and by the way, its illegal to re-brand something that's already re-branded or slap the word ghost in front of it and claim its for paranormal investigating.

Yes I own an online paranormal equipment company, but I am not writing this so people will buy from me and not the other guys. I am writing this as a paranormal investigator myself and am tired of seeing people get ripped off. To many paranormal equipment companies are using the tv ghost hunting shows to sell there items. It doesn't matter if there's a better item, or less expensive item just like it out there, if the "pro ghost hunters on tv" use it, it must be good, or if the word ghost is put in front of the item, hell it must be something special and will attract spirits, lol.

99% of paranormal investigators don't charge to investigate a home, piece of property or building, so why wouldn't they do a little research on the equipment they are interested in and not just buy something caused they saw it on tv or there is the word ghost in front of the name?

I don't know maybe its just me, but before spending $100's of my hard earned money, I want to do as much research on the equipment I'm looking into. And actually purchase something that will be useful.  I understand that we know nothing about the paranormal and yes it may be a tool made for something besides paranormal investigating that catches the best evidence yet. All I'm saying is, just know a little about what your purchasing first, I mean you wouldn't purchase a tv without doing some research on brands, different things it can do or accessories, all I'm saying is treat your paranormal equipment purchase the same way.

FULL SPECTRUM CAMERAS CAN DETECT VISABLE, NEAR INFRARED, AND NEAR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT

These modified cameras are taking over the ghost hunting world because of there size and abilities. Either of the two cams come in regular or wifi versions, on the wifi versions the wifi can be turned on/off . There is also a 1.5" screen on the back of both versions that are great when using the cam as static or mobile to see what the cam is shooting. Both fit a wide assortment of accessories. Personally I use these for static cams as I don't like to carry a cam around with me, but I may in the future get a shoulder harness. A lot of teams (including the one I am affiliated with) have set there dvr's aside using these cameras strictly. These cams record both audio and video to an sd card and is easily review-able without having to download anything. Also there are no wires to run or having to tape wires down so they don't get tripped over making setup time much faster. If the wifi version is being used, there is a free app that can be downloaded to an Android phone, tablet or iPhone or tablet that lets one not only control the recording of the device but each wifi cam has its own ip address so there is an option to view up to 4 cams at a time.They do need a light source either ambient light, full spectrum light or IR light. Below is an adapter and filter that let the full spectrum modified camera act as an un-modified camera making the one camera act as two by just sliding on the adapter and screwing the filter to it.

With this filter adapter one can place the hot mirror filter or many other 37mm filters. The adapter can easily be slid off and on. The camera (both versions), the adapter and the hot mirror filter as well as many IR filters can be found and purchased by clicking this link and going to Paranormal Investigations Equipment. 

Here is a video I did of the filter working.

www.paranormalinvestigationsequipment.com