I was curious if IPVM has done any testing on flashlights and washing out cameras. An audio forum discussion a while back got me into 4Sevens flashlights. I wanted a nice flashlight that accepted AA batteries (so I could use Eneloop batteries) and something with dual modes. I wound up with a 270 lumen flashlight which was fairly bright and I have a headband that I use to wear the flashlight. This was before the brighter headlamps were available. This Christmas I had asked for another small 4Sevens flashlight that was rechargeable via USB, had dual modes and was brighter. I now have the 800 lumen flashlight. It has a really long-throw spot beam. When I got home a couple days ago at night, I decided to see the effect of aiming it at the camera as I walked from my van to my house holding the flashlight near my head aimed at my cameras. Once the flashlight was on from about 10-15' away with Dahua 2.8mm 3MP cameras I looked like a floating white light from my van until I turned the light off to unlock my door.
Is there anything one can do to combat a relatively inexpensive bright flashlight from defeating a camera of any details. I realize that multiple vantage points come into play but I could really attach three more to my head and it would seem that no one would be able to come close to identifying me. I haven't tried this during the day but I would assume a much different outcome given the brightness of daylight.
There is always the obvious point that instead of a flashlight, just wear a mask and you won't need a light to draw attention to yourself.