If your Nightwave video is grey, grainy or over-saturated, but stable (not flickering on and off), it might be the IR Filter getting ‘stuck’ in between day and night mode.
There is a mechanical Infra-Red cut filter that moves in front of the sensor when it measures too much light coming in through the lens. The amount of light triggers the IR Filter to move, setting the camera into day or night mode. In this way the camera operates well in full sunlight, low light, or at night.
This mechanical filter movement can be heard when the camera powers on and when the light level changes significantly. A lag is designed into this function to prevent unwanted rapid switching of the filter.
Whenever the Nightwave camera is powered on, it performs a systems check that includes IR Filter cycling. If there is a disturbance in the voltage supplying the camera during this systems check, then the filter can sometimes pause in between day and night, which affects the resulting output video.
To test / fix this:
If safe and easy to get to, with the Nightwave powered on, hold your hand in front of the lens for 4-5 seconds to reduce the amount of light entering the camera.
You should hear a mechanical 'click'. This is the IR Filter changing position to Night mode.
By forcing it to 'click', you are also resetting the filter control function.
Check to see if that fixed your grainy image. If it did, then you may wish to update the Nightwave firmware, as improvements were made to the filter control functionality in firmware version 2.66.
It is also recommended to install an On / Off switch in series with the Nightwave and (supplied) 2A fuse to isolate the Nightwave from voltage dips that can cause the filter to pause in the wrong position. More details on this here.
Nightwave firmware can only be updated via the SIONYX mobile app.
Please follow these instructions to download the app and connect to the Nightwave. If your camera is running on an older version of firmware, you will be prompted to update it.