Camera Recommendations

[Spiffypixels]

Hello,

Looking for some SOLID camera recommendations to run with Blue Iris. Willing to pay $300+/pc if they're great cameras.
I think I'm set on Dahua, but still overwhelmed with all the different opinions I'm reading around, so I'd love to get some fresh opinions.


First cameras will be INDOOR DOME cameras for a warehouse, low light conditions. Don't really care about color too much. I'd love 4MP.
Currently I was looking at the Night Color 2.0 cameras, model N45EYN2 and N45EYNZ.
But reading around some more, I see recommendations for the 5442 series?
What's the general consensus on Night Color 2.0 vs Starlight+? Or should I go for the 5442 series? Is there anything newer I should be looking at now?
They will be recording at various distances, so we will purchase some fixed, and some zoom lenses.

Would also love some recommendations for 6MP/8MP cameras in a similar price range as well.

Will also need one camera for capturing plates, from the edge of a building at around ~100ft from the gate where cars will drive in. I see there are options from both HikVision and Dahua. Been leaning towards the Dahua ITC237-PW6M-IRLZF1050-B.

Appreciate all the help.

 

[wittaj]

Starlight, ColorVu, Full Color, etc. are simply marketing terms, so don't be sold on those names.

Domes and IR are a bad idea. It is hard to get the lens seal correct and then you get IR bounce back into the lens and wash out the image.

There are no ideal MP/sensor ratios for a 6MP camera. It will be on the same sensor as a 2MP and thus the 2MP will outperform it.

To capture plates at 100 feet, you need a camera with the focal length to do so. The camera you referenced is right on the cusp of obtaining that, so do not go any smaller than 50mm focal length capacity.

You need to identify the areas you want to cover and pick a camera designed to cover that distance. In some instances, it may be a 2MP or 4MP that is the right camera. DO NOT CHASE MP!!!

It is why we recommend to purchase one good varifocal and test it at all the proposed locations day and night to figure out the correct focal lengths and cams.

A few other tips....It is simple LOL do not chase MP - do not buy a 4MP camera that is anything smaller than a 1/1.8" sensor. Do not buy a 2MP camera that is anything smaller than a 1/2.8" sensor. Do not buy a 4K (8MP) camera on anything smaller than a 1/1.2" sensor. Unfortunately, most 4k (8MP) cams are on the same sensor as a 2MP and thus the 2MP will kick its butt all night long as the 4k will need 4 times the light than the 2MP... 4k will do very poor at night unless you have stadium quality lighting (well a lot of lighting LOL).

To identify someone with the wide-angle 2.8mm lens that most people opt for, someone would have to be within 13 feet of the camera, but realistically within 10 feet after you dial it in to your settings.

My neighbor was bragging to me how he only needed his four 2.8mm fixed lens 4k cams to see his entire property and the street and his whole backyard. His car was sitting in the driveway practically touching the garage door and his video quality was useless to ID the perp not even 10 feet away. Meanwhile my 2MP varifocal optically zoomed 60 feet away to the public sidewalk provided the money shot to the police to get my neighbors all their stuff back. Nobody else had video that could provide anything useful, other than what time this motion blur ghost was at their car.

Here are my general distance recommendations, but switch out the Dahua 5442 series camera to the equivalent 2MP on the 1/2.8" sensor or equivalent Hikvision works as well.

• 5442 fixed lens 2.8mm or the 4K/X - anything within 10 feet of camera OR as an overview camera
• 5442 ZE - varifocal - distances up to 40-50 feet (personally I wouldn't go past the 30 foot range but I like things closer)
• 5442 Z4E - anything up to 80-100 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 60 feet but I like things closer)
• 5241-Z12E - anything from 80 feet to almost 200 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 150 feet because I like things closer)
• 5241-Z12E - for a license plate cam that you would angle up the street to get plates up to about 175 feet away, or up to 220 with additional IR.
• 49225 PTZ - great auto-track PTZ and in conjunction with an NVR or Blue Iris and the cameras above that you can use as spotter cams to point the PTZ to the correct location to compliment the fixed cams.

You need to get the correct camera for the area trying to be covered. A wide angle 2.8mm to IDENTIFY someone 40 feet away is the wrong camera regardless of how good the camera is. A 2.8mm camera to IDENTIFY someone within 10 feet is a good choice OR it is an overview camera to see something happened but not be able to identify who.

One camera cannot be the be all, see all. Each one is selected for covering a specific area. Most of us here have different brands and types, from fixed cams, to varifocals, to PTZs, each one selected for it's primary purpose and to utilize the strength of that particular camera.

So you will need to identify the distance the camera would be from the activities you want to IDENTIFY on and purchase the correct camera for that distance as an optical zoom.

If you want to see things far away, you need optical zoom, digital zoom only works in the movies and TV...And the optical zoom is done real time - for a varifocal it is a set it and forget it. You cannot go to recorded video and optically zoom in later, at that point it is digital zoom, and the sensors on these cameras are so small which is why digital zoom doesn't work very well after the fact.

 

[Spiffypixels]

Starlight, ColorVu, Full Color, etc. are simply marketing terms, so don't be sold on those names.

Domes and IR are a bad idea. It is hard to get the lens seal correct and then you get IR bounce back into the lens and wash out the image.

There are no ideal MP/sensor ratios for a 6MP camera. It will be on the same sensor as a 2MP and thus the 2MP will outperform it.

To capture plates at 100 feet, you need a camera with the focal length to do so. The camera you referenced is right on the cusp of obtaining that, so do not go any smaller than 50mm focal length capacity.

You need to identify the areas you want to cover and pick a camera designed to cover that distance. In some instances, it may be a 2MP or 4MP that is the right camera. DO NOT CHASE MP!!!

It is why we recommend to purchase one good varifocal and test it at all the proposed locations day and night to figure out the correct focal lengths and cams.

A few other tips....It is simple LOL do not chase MP - do not buy a 4MP camera that is anything smaller than a 1/1.8" sensor. Do not buy a 2MP camera that is anything smaller than a 1/2.8" sensor. Do not buy a 4K (8MP) camera on anything smaller than a 1/1.2" sensor. Unfortunately, most 4k (8MP) cams are on the same sensor as a 2MP and thus the 2MP will kick its butt all night long as the 4k will need 4 times the light than the 2MP... 4k will do very poor at night unless you have stadium quality lighting (well a lot of lighting LOL).

To identify someone with the wide-angle 2.8mm lens that most people opt for, someone would have to be within 13 feet of the camera, but realistically within 10 feet after you dial it in to your settings.

My neighbor was bragging to me how he only needed his four 2.8mm fixed lens 4k cams to see his entire property and the street and his whole backyard. His car was sitting in the driveway practically touching the garage door and his video quality was useless to ID the perp not even 10 feet away. Meanwhile my 2MP varifocal optically zoomed 60 feet away to the public sidewalk provided the money shot to the police to get my neighbors all their stuff back. Nobody else had video that could provide anything useful, other than what time this motion blur ghost was at their car.

Here are my general distance recommendations, but switch out the Dahua 5442 series camera to the equivalent 2MP on the 1/2.8" sensor or equivalent Hikvision works as well.

• 5442 fixed lens 2.8mm or the 4K/X - anything within 10 feet of camera OR as an overview camera
• 5442 ZE - varifocal - distances up to 40-50 feet (personally I wouldn't go past the 30 foot range but I like things closer)
• 5442 Z4E - anything up to 80-100 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 60 feet but I like things closer)
• 5241-Z12E - anything from 80 feet to almost 200 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 150 feet because I like things closer)
• 5241-Z12E - for a license plate cam that you would angle up the street to get plates up to about 175 feet away, or up to 220 with additional IR.
• 49225 PTZ - great auto-track PTZ and in conjunction with an NVR or Blue Iris and the cameras above that you can use as spotter cams to point the PTZ to the correct location to compliment the fixed cams.

You need to get the correct camera for the area trying to be covered. A wide angle 2.8mm to IDENTIFY someone 40 feet away is the wrong camera regardless of how good the camera is. A 2.8mm camera to IDENTIFY someone within 10 feet is a good choice OR it is an overview camera to see something happened but not be able to identify who.

One camera cannot be the be all, see all. Each one is selected for covering a specific area. Most of us here have different brands and types, from fixed cams, to varifocals, to PTZs, each one selected for it's primary purpose and to utilize the strength of that particular camera.

So you will need to identify the distance the camera would be from the activities you want to IDENTIFY on and purchase the correct camera for that distance as an optical zoom.

If you want to see things far away, you need optical zoom, digital zoom only works in the movies and TV...And the optical zoom is done real time - for a varifocal it is a set it and forget it. You cannot go to recorded video and optically zoom in later, at that point it is digital zoom, and the sensors on these cameras are so small which is why digital zoom doesn't work very well after the fact.

Thanks for the reply. I read your post in another thread about Dahua 5442 models, but wasn’t sure if there was something better for a few extra bucks that I should be looking at.

I had called a local Dahua dealer and he raved about Night Color 2.0 being the absolute best, but watched some YouTube videos and felt like it was really trading off video quality for the color.
I had brought up the same point you made about IR reflection on domes and he said it wasn’t an issue, but I feel like you’re right. Would u recommend turrets too, or just bullets then?

Loryta Ultra Smart 4MP Starlight+ Low Light Bullet IP Camera WDR IR 8mm–32mm Motorized Lens, Smart H.265+/ Smart H.264+,POE and ePOE Support, IP67,IK10 Protection IPC-B5442E-Z4E Amazon.com

Is this the correct 5442 Z4E you were referencing?

 

[wittaj]

Turrets are fine.

Yes that is the 5442-Z4E I was referencing, It is Dahua OEM sold by @EMPIRETECANDY here.