Backyard camera orientation suggestion

[tibimakai]

I'm planning on installing some cameras in my backyard, but I'm clueless on which way should I point them.
Toward the two sliding doors(one at the kitchen and one at the master bedroom) or toward the yard?
At the back of my yard, there is a tall brick wall and behind it, is a main street. Not much walk traffic, it's a residential area.
I have a fully covered patio, exiting the dining sliding door. Should I install a camera, at each of the corner columns of the patio, pointing toward the sliding door and maybe one pointing toward the yard?
I'm planning to run Ethernet cables and I would like to figure out, how many cameras should I have and where should I place them.
Any suggestion would be appreciated.

P.S. My house, is less than 1200sq/ft.

 

[SLC]

I would personally mount the cameras near the entry points and have them pointing out so they would capture anyone approaching the doors. If you mount the cameras away from the doors and point them back toward the doors you will be able to see someone there but may or may not do you any good for an ID shot. Cover your entry points and maybe one or two overview cameras for your yard or anywhere else you want to be able to see. You could always post some pics of your house and yard, might give us a better idea.

 

[tibimakai]

Thanks, I will post some pictures, but it may be dark, by the time I get home.

 

[looney2ns]

Use this to help determine views: IPVM Camera Calculator V3 keep PPF>100, tutorial on right.

 

[tibimakai]

That is good for the front of the house, but in the backyard, I can't use that. Thanks though.

 

[tibimakai]

Finally I have managed to take some shots.
The first shot, is taken from the sliding door.

 

[tibimakai]

A bit off topic here, but I'm trying to get a camera(s)(today) for my front door and I was wondering, if I should go with the tiny wedge dome camera(IPC-HDB4231F-AS) or with a different camera(maybe the fixed lens 5231?) and which one would work better in my case, the 2.8mm, or the 3.6mm?
Do you have any other recomendation, for a camera at the entrance? I already have on the right side of the porch a 5231R-Z, with the IR on. I'm a bit afraid, that the IR beam will "bother" the wedge camera.
Thank you in advance.

 

[CountZero]

For your back porch, I would suggest pointing them out towards the yard. If you point them towards the sliding door, all you are going to get is the back of someone's head if there is an intrusion attempt.

Using your last picture as reference, I'd probably put a camera to the left of the sliding door, angled slightly across towards the center of the yard. That would give you a clear face shot for anyone that approached the sliding door, as well as also cover the yard and the patch that goes off to the right.

I'd also probably put a second camera on the wall in the center facing over towards your shade structure that that side gate. That would give you a nice face view of anyone that came around that corner through the gate, and it would also cover that second sliding door. You might have to keep the plants up near the sliding door trimmed so they didn't interfere with the view of the door. A camera could also be mounted on the corner of the porch on the right side. (Almost from where your 3rd Photo was taken from.)

As for the front door, I've ordered the exact wedge camera that you are looking at, and I went with the 2.8. Its a contained area, and the ID distance even with the wider lens isn't an issue. (Once they are on the porch, they are in ID range of the camera.) I figured I'd rather have the view a little wider than I needed rather than risking being a little narrow and leaving a blind spot. From your photo, the opening onto the porch is narrow, but the porch itself is wider. You want to cover the path and as much of the porch as possible. Its easy to jump the railing. So a nice wide view will give you some protection for front windows as well.

Hope that helps!

 

[tibimakai]

Thank you very much. I was thinking the same as you, just wanted a confirmation from somebody else as well.
At the front porch(front door), as you look at that picture, on the right side of the porch I have the garage, and on that wall, I have an 5231R-Z installed(temporarily).
I'm worried about the IR light, that emits during at night, that the wedge camera will pick that up and all that I will see is glare.

 

[CountZero]

Unless the IR is aimed directly at the wedge camera it shouldn't be a huge issue. You *may* get a little wash out if the 5231R-Z is in direct view of the wedge cam, but adding the IR to the scene only helps at night. If they are both going to be pointed out towards the street, I doubt you will even notice it. I have 2 cams mounted on the ends of a porch aimed at each other, and they work just fine. I just make sure they were adjusted down far enough that the IR emitters weren't visible on the opposite cam.

 

[tibimakai]

The 5231 is viewing across my porch(perpendicular to the wedge). Most likely, the IR light would hit it.

 

[CountZero]

It might be something that you need to just try. You might be able to angle the wedge slightly to the left to move the 5231 out of frame to eliminate the issue. The Wedge has a 11 degree field of view. In theory your front wall would be a full 180. So you should be able to mount the wedge so the 5231 isn't in the frame. The IR light should be fine, you just don't want it aimed right into the cam.

 

[tibimakai]

Thank you, for your help.
Do you like the wedge camera, do you recommend it?

 

[CountZero]

My Wedge camera is arriving this week, so once I get it installed, I'll let you know. I have 8 of the 5231's installed already though, so I can't imagine that the wedge is going to be horrible. All the starlight cams have good image quality.

 

[Tibor Makai]

Oh, I thought that you already have one.
I would like to get at least two cameras, as soon as possible.
I will wait for your "review".
Thank you.

 

[SLC]

Oh, I thought that you already have one.
I would like to get at least two cameras, as soon as possible.
I will wait for your "review".
Thank you.

Here are a couple of threads you can check out regarding your front door camera you are looking at.

Is there a good small camera for front and rear doors?
Front door ID camera IPC-HDBW4231F?

 

[tibimakai]

Thank you for those links, they are great.
I should use the same wedge camera, at my sliding door as well?
Patio is fully covered, so there is no rain or sun to damage the dome.
It also has a mic build in.
Would I really need a variolens 5231r-z in the backyard?

 

[SLC]

Thank you for those links, they are great.
I should use the same wedge camera, at my sliding door as well?

If you are placing it in an area that is well covered and the dome won't be exposed to direct sunlight, rain, or excessive dirt you could use the wedge camera. However, as others have pointed out in various other threads domes can degrade over time and seem to attract bugs more then the turret cameras. Also, the domes are more prone to IR reflection and even more so when they are wet or dirty. With the wedge camera you are working with a fixed lens option so they are not flexible like the 5231-Z varifocal. Personally I would use the 5231-Z.

You could also look at the IPC-HDW4231EM-ASE - Dahua Technology (Dahua Starlight Fixed Lens Turret (IPC-HDW4231EM-AS)) These are also fixed lens so if you were going to consider these I would use your current 5231-Z as a test camera to determine where you would place the camera and determine if you want the 2.8mm, 3.6mm, or 6mm fixed lens. These are about $40 dollars cheaper and I believe the wedge camera is as well compared to the 5231-Z. I'm sure most members would pay the extra $40 for the 5231-Z as it is more flexible and you can fine tune it to your specific needs. All depends on what you are comfortable with and your budget.

 

[tibimakai]

Anybody has any experience with the 4MP version? It would be a better option, for the front door?
IPC-HDBW4431F-AS

 

[CountZero]

That cam is less sensitive at night, so your performance after dark will be worse than the 4231F wedge camera. Sensor size and sensitivity is more important then megapixel count. The Starlight cameras are a much better overall value.