My security cameras work fine at night. Most hand held cameras have a filter, and aren't very sensitive to low light either. One thing you should know, too much IR can be bad too. One of my early lamps was much too bright, and everything looked white up close, reflective surfaces were extremely bright. I moved it up on the roof, still a little much I think. B/W cameras or more sensitive I think, but always looked for low lux numbers... Lamps aren't complicated to make, but tedious soldering all those leads. I use all-holes perfboard, and the leads for connections. Think they work a little better with some space between the LEDs, rather than trying to pack them tightly. They do get a little warm, so helps a little too. 940nm is invisible at night, 880 nm, you can see a dim red glow if you look straight on to the lamp, 850 nm is pretty noticeable. 940 nm doesn't show on the camera as well, as the 880 nm. The 850nm appears about the same as the 880 nm.