Camera Recommendation - 100' target distance, low natural light

[Kevin Doe]

I am considering mounting a camera to the side of my shed, to view the parked car next to my house. It is about 100' away from the camera mounting location on the shed. That side of my house does not have any exterior lights and it not lit well by any other ambient lights. So far my camera system is all EmpireTechAndy/Dahua stuff (cameras and NVR). Maybe a preference, but not required to stay with Dahua. I would like to be relatively zoomed in on the parking area. Field of view would only need to be 15' wide at the car area, to see on both sides with a bit of margin. At that distance, any built in IR lights I'm guessing wouldn't be sufficient. That side of the house is on the north, so no good sun exposure for solar lights (IR or otherwise). What focal length would be good from that distance to achieve my goals? Any particular camera suggestions for this type of application?

 

[sebastiantombs]

Check out the IPVM calculator here - IPVM Designer / Calculator

I would say a 24mm lens is going to be needed. A 5542-Z12 should do the trick.

 

[Alaska Country]

This is a comparison of the HFW-5242-Z6E set at 48mm max zoom vs the HFW-7442-Z4 at 32mm max zoom. Both bullet cams use the 1/1.8 sensor with one camera at 4MP with the other at 2MP.

Cameras are mounted on the same wall one above the other. The 5242 is lower than the 7442 and thus provides a better LPR view. Distance to the center of the road is about 100 feet.

Uploaded images have not been reduced or processed in PhotoShop.


Above image is 32mm. (7442-Z4)


Above image is 48mm. (5242-Z6E)

 

[wittaj]

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
• T5449H-ASE-D2 2.8mm fixed lens - anything within 10 feet of camera where the object would be in a backlit condition at night
• 5441F-AS-E2 (AKA Boobie cam) or E3241F-AS-M- great choice for a front door camera. The boobie cam can have one lens pointed down for packages
• T5241H-AS-PV - Great little active deterrence camera with two way talk. Good for anything within 10 feet of camera or as an overview camera
• 5442 ZE or 5842-ZE- varifocal up to 13mm- distances up to 40-50 feet (personally I wouldn't go past the 30 foot range but I like things closer)
• 5442 Z4E - varifocal up to 32mm - anything up to 80-100 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 60 feet but I like things closer)
• 5241-Z12E - varifocal up to 64mm - 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.

 

[Kevin Doe]

Check out the IPVM calculator here - IPVM Designer / Calculator

How have I never seen this site before! What a fantastic way to compare cameras. Thanks for the link!

 

[wittaj]

Just keep in mind it is a tool like anything else. I would not expect to see the quality you see here much after 30 feet, especially at night. But it is a good tool to see how bad a lower focal length is compared to a higher focal length.