nightshot?

[olegrock]

I'm a surveillance investigator and I recently broke my sony camera that i used for night surveillance (it was over 10 years old).
Currently I use a JVC HDD MG555U camera for day surveillance.
I wanted to upgrade since i want more optical zoom and stabilizer control (make it less shaky) then my current daytime camera. I was hoping to find a camera that can do both - day and night. I need something with at least 20X optical zoom and good stability. I would also prefer it to work as my night camera. Hard drive is also the preference. $1000 is the max spending limit.
Any suggestions?
i was looking at this site maxmax.com/aXRayOrderIRCamera.asp ... but the camera's are kind of pricey... as they seem to only be good enough to work as my night camera. Would this be worth it?
Also looked at this site batmanagement.com/Ordering/irlight/irlight.html ... and am not sure if it's worth it as well. Also not sure what camera's this stuff would work with.
anyone have any other suggestions?

thanks!

[aedipuss]

the sony ir light that their cams use for night mode is only good to about 10 feet. those add on lamps might work better but i disdn''t read them saying how far it will illuminate.

currently i think only a few sony models have the mono green colored ir night mode. some other manufacturers use a low light mode that slows down the shutter to gather more light in full color but any movement will be blurry.

[redwudz]

For IR illuminators, you could check here: http://www.supercircuits.com/search?keywords=ir+lights&Catnavname=Infrared+Illuminators
Most of them run on 12V and some are usable up to 200' or so. You could use a 12V gel battery in a fanny pack for power.

I've used a couple of their low light cameras and micro DVRs for surveillance: http://www.supercircuits.com/Security-Cameras/Fixed-Security-Cameras/PC164CEX-2 It gets a clear video by moonlight, but not much use if you need a camcorder.

Most newer consumer cameras are HD now and have very limited night vision/low light capabilities. You may be stuck with getting a more specialized camera with true night vision. $$ But maybe a tax write off.