Advice Needed on Camera Selection

zcline

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Hey All,

I've been lurking on this forum for a while. I'm a network engineer, specifically technology integration for various professional sports. I have an understanding of multicast video, focal lengths, aperture, FoV, CMOS, but I am green when it comes to evaluating IP Cameras and would love to get it right the first time.

I'm looking to have coverage of all the windows of my house with either dome or turret style cameras, but I'm not sure if I've come up with the best solution. I'm leaning towards turrets but would be thrilled for any advice. This is what I'm battling with:
  • Is 4MP enough or jump to 4K? If a person crosses the red shaded area (see below) I want to have a clear view of who they are.
  • Is there a preferred style camera/lens to cover the narrow sides of the house? Would >4mm be recommended or could I simply rotate the turret in "portrait mode" in order to utilize the field of view.
  • Looking for something that excels at night.
  • Any advice on a garage camera? I would assume 4MP or even 2MP would be enough.
Coverage areas are shaded in red:

Home Survelliance.png

Thank you all for your help!
 
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zcline

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To add:

I am looking into purchasing from Nelly's as the reviews from this forum are very positive. My plan is to use Blue Iris in a Virtual Machine and wire each location back to my network closet's PoE switch. I feel confident in my network plan but lack the experience with these types of cameras. Any help with pointing me in a solid direction would be appreciated!
 
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mat200

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Hey All,

I've been lurking on this forum for a while. I'm a network engineer, specifically technology integration for various professional sports. I have an understanding of multicast video, focal lengths, aperture, FoV, CMOS, but I am green when it comes to evaluating IP Cameras and would love to get it right the first time.

I'm looking to have coverage of all the windows of my house with either dome or turret style cameras, but I'm not sure if I've come up with the best solution. I'm leaning towards turrets but would be thrilled for any advice. This is what I'm battling with:
  • Is 4MP enough or jump to 4K? If a person crosses the red shaded area (see below) I want to have a clear view of who they are.
  • Is there a preferred style camera/lens to cover the narrow sides of the house? Would >4mm be recommended or could I simply rotate the turret in "portrait mode" in order to utilize the field of view.
  • Looking for something that excels at night.
  • Any advice on a garage camera? I would assume 4MP or even 2MP would be enough.
Coverage areas are shaded in red:
..
Welcome Zcline,

I recommend taking some more time to determine what you want to accomplish with your cameras.

Decide what is most important to you and what your threats are. Night time? Day Time? Threats from the street? Over the fence in the back yard?

Here's a clipping from notes I have been sharing with others on another forum:

Common mistakes:
  • Too few cameras installed. Plan for at least 6-8 cameras. Have 2+ cameras covering the approach to and including the front door area.
  • Cameras mounted too high. Mount cameras < 8 feet high to get a good angle for potential ID purposes.
  • Poor quality, resolution, and wide angle cameras resulting in short ID distances.
  • Over estimating the quality of motion detection and video snap shots and thus no recording full time ( 24/7 )
  • Over estimating the reliability of wire free and wifi cameras, as well as cloud connectivity.
  • Placing cameras indoors behind windows looking out. Window glass typically will reflect IR signals, thus rendering PIR motion detection and IR base night vision nearly useless.
  • Installing dome cameras outdoors. Dome cameras have more glare and IR reflection issues as well as over the long term direct UV exposure will decay the plastic dome. Turret / Eye ball form factor cameras are often better options.

It's easy to get swamped with information here, so I wanted to share some notes with you

Please check out @giomania 's notes:
Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

I have also made notes which are a summary of a lot of the reading I've been doing here,:
Looking for some advice and direction!

Have fun joining us here.
 

zcline

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@mat200 Thank you for taking the time to combine your clippings, very informative. Especially your post explaining DORI and linking the MONSTER Dahua Starlight turret thread! The varifocal lens could really help me dial in my first batch of cameras and allow me to determine areas of weakness once I have them installed.
  • I'll likely start with 5 cameras.
  • Cameras will be mounted on soffits. I will have to plan for IR reflection issues but hopefully turrets will perform well
  • Varifocal look to be a good solution for solving wide angle
  • Planning to record full time, likely 15fps
  • Wired cameras, wired house, very few exceptions!
  • Cameras will most definitely be outside.
  • I'm interested in turrets, especially the eye ball Dahuas. Potentially bullets if I have to.
Would anyone recommend the 8MP Dahua IPC-HDW5830R-Z over the 2MP IPC-HDW5231R-Z? Night time images look very similar between models, though daytime images offer better results. A $50 difference means I could purchase nearly (7) 5231's for the price of (5) 5830's.

Thanks again.
 
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