I am building a camera-based motion tracking for visitors of a sound/light installation in quite a classic manner: Two sony ps3 eyecams hang 4m high on a 6m long ledger. They point straight downwards tracking an area of around 6x4m. I need to use IR-light as some of the projected video image of the installation is right where the cameras look at.

To make the cams infra red capable I will remove the IR blocking filter as can be seen on youtube. There is no daylight in the room. The patcher will only track presence in 5 zones splitting the image in 5 similar dimensioned slices - so it's neither too sophisticated nor do I need a specially high precision image. Now I need suitable infra red light attached beside the cameras and am hoping to get some advice here on which ones to buy. The IR light needs to go as far as about 4m.

Here are a few solutions I found - would be happy if anyone who has used any of them could tell about his experience - or recommend alternatives (preferably available in Berlin/Germany/Europe).

Monacor IR-28PLATE http://www.monacor.de/index.php?id=126&L=1&artikelid=5736 angle of 160° and 3,5m distance looks good to me but IR wave range of 940nm seems to be not ideal (if i understand it correctly it should be more around 850-890nm)

IR 48 LED InfraRed Illumination Light for Night Vision http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ir-48-led-infrared-illumination-light-for-night-vision-dc-12v-500ma-15235 dead cheap - I would chain maybe 4 of them (or 3 pairs to extend the angle). They seem to emit 850nm and reach 20m (well...). According to a customer comment they seem to be very spotty with a 1m field from 3m distance.

96-LED InfraRed Illumination Light http://www.dealextreme.com/p/96-led-infrared-illumination-light-for-night-vision-dc-12v-41108 I would use 2 (or 3) of them. 45° angle sounds sufficient

http://www.amazon.com/YY-Trade-Inc-WideAngle-Illuminator/dp/B001P2E4U4 In a thread one year ago this one was recommended. Anyone experience with this?

All advice is greatly appreciated...

peter