Newbie needs help - Which camera?

[JayUK]

Hi all,

I have an existing camera (cheap/unbranded 2MP) mounted under my eave (2 story house) with an external IR illuminator next to it (I installed this initially to stop spiders building webs over the cameras internal IR (this is disabled now). The image quality at night is quite poor (the day time image isn't too good either) so I'm looking to replace/upgrade it. I use BI as the NVR.

I have attached a picture of the area it currently records, with some dimensions overlaid (basically it's about 41' to the furthest points from the camera at eave level).

I don't know how to chose between focal length/lenses or aperture/etc?

I believe the IPC-Color4K-X / DH-IPC-HFW5849T1-ASE-LED is meant to be a good camera? If so, which version?

Or is there a better choice of camera?

Thanks for all your help

 

[looney2ns]

If you need night time performance, these are hard to beat.

Review-OEM IPC-T2231T-ZS Ver 2, 2mp Varifocal Starlight Camera | IP Cam Talk

Review-OEM IPC-T3241-ZAS 2mp AI Lite series Varifocal | IP Cam Talk

Review-OEM Loryta IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal 4mp camera (Dahua) | IP Cam Talk

More info: Camera Suggestions

 

[wittaj]

The 4K/X is a great camera, but it needs light or you are willing to use the built-in white LED (which many don't want to do) or it will be blind at night.

Further it doesn't see infrared, so your external IR will be useless for that camera.

In addition, 41 feet away is way to far for IDENTIFY for the 4K/X. You need to decide do you want to IDENTIFY at 41 feet or 10 feet? One camera cannot do both, especially at night.

See this thread where we point out the most commonly suggested cameras based on the distance to IDENTIFY (which are the same ones recommended above). These represent the overall best recommendations based on price and performance day and night.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

At the urging of several folks here, I created a thread to show the importance of focal length and how focal length can be more important than megapixels (MP). I mentioned some of this in the post regarding The Hookup’s latest video demonstrating different cameras, including one sold from a...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[garycrist]

At that height you will be able to identify the top of one's head!

 

[mat200]

Hi all,

I have an existing camera (cheap/unbranded 2MP) mounted under my eave (2 story house) with an external IR illuminator next to it (I installed this initially to stop spiders building webs over the cameras internal IR (this is disabled now). The image quality at night is quite poor (the day time image isn't too good either) so I'm looking to replace/upgrade it. I use BI as the NVR.

I have attached a picture of the area it currently records, with some dimensions overlaid (basically it's about 41' to the furthest points from the camera at eave level).

I don't know how to chose between focal length/lenses or aperture/etc?

I believe the IPC-Color4K-X / DH-IPC-HFW5849T1-ASE-LED is meant to be a good camera? If so, which version?

Or is there a better choice of camera?

Thanks for all your help

Hi @JayUK

What is the functional purpose for the camera?

To see if parking spot are taken?
To see if you have a visitor?

 

[JayUK]

Hi all,

I really appreciate all your replies

The camera will be used for detecting people and ideally capture their details/face (I appreciate 41' is a long way to do this).

There is some background light at night, it's not pitch dark, so if a camera's night vision is good enough without IR then great.

From the camera's current location you can actually see a person's face, not their bauld patch

There is a possibility I could mount the new camera in a different position.

I have attached a crude drawing showing the current field of view that I have/that I'm interested in (with the current mounted high under the eave). The yellow area signifies the field of coverage. Hopefully this tallies up with my first post's video/image capture.

I have also attached a crude drawing showing a possible location for the new camera (in blue). This could be mounted about 15' up. The green area signifies the new field of view/coverage area. My concern is the purple area that won't be covered by the new camera (but could/would be by the existing one if I kept it).

If I was to mount the camera in the exiting location (under the eaves, 41' distance, etc) how would I know what lens I would need?

Similarly, if I mounted the camera in the new location, which one would be best?

Thanks again,

J.

 

[looney2ns]

Don't try to do too much with one camera.
If you expect good face captures, avoid mounting cams higher than 8ft.
ANy of the 5442 series of cams would suffice, such as the one I listed above.

 

[samplenhold]

It really is no good to ask about mounting locations and expect to get the final resting place from a thread. The best thing you can do is to buy a good varifocal, like the 5442 mentioned above, and test out different positions and FOV's. Walk the FOV daytime and nighttime. Critique the video and decide if the FOV is giving you what you want. Use a test rig as described in the WIKI. Below is my test rig. Every one of my cams (23 of them) were tested BEFORE I ran cable and mounted them.