Hey everyone, the following is a list of notes I have gathered in my short time on this forum.
I didn't write down the users name, i apologize, but i still want to Thank everyone who supports this forum. Hopefully this can be of help to other N3wbs.
I AM NOT TRYING TO TAKE OWNERHSIP/CREDIT OF THESE ANSWERS, SIMPLY TRYING TO CONSILDATE IT INTO A EASY TO FIND POST.
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Cameras need to be no higher than 7.5 feet, say 2 meters, maximum, to be able to get reliable identification video.
____
Unless you have a ton of light on that shed, a 2MP will run circles around a 4k or 5MP at night...
Stick to a 2MP with a 1/2.8" sensor or a 4MP with a 1/1.8" sensor. Stop chasing megapixels.
____
The smaller the lux number the better the low light performance. 0.002 is better than 0.02
The smaller the "F" of the lens the better the low light performance. F1.4 is better than F1.8
The larger the sensor the better the low light performance. 1/1.8" is better (bigger) than 1/2.7"
The higher the megapixels for the same size sensor the worse the low light performance. A 4MP camera with a 1/1.8" sensor will perform better than a 8MP camera with that same 1/1.8" sensor.
Don't believe all the marketing hype no matter who makes the camera. Don't believe those nice night time captures they all use. Look for videos, with motion, to determine low light performance. Any camera can be made to "see" color at night if the exposure time is long enough, as in half a second or longer. Rule of thumb, the shutter speed needs to be at 1/60 or higher to get night video without blurring.
____
The 5442 series of cameras by Dahua is the current "king of the hill". They are 4MP and capable of color with some ambient light at night. The 2231 series is a less expensive alternative in 2MP ($125 2MP Starlight Turret Varifocal IP Camera) and does not have audio capabilities, no built in microphone, but is easier on the budget. The 3241T-ZAS has similar spcs as the 2231 and has audio. There are also cameras available from the IPCT Store right here on the forum and from Nelly's Security who has a thread in the vendors section.
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1) the front door needs three cameras, one doorbell camera, one pointing at the package drop area, one pointing back to the front door.
2) the garage entrance Needs two cameras pointing out mounted no higher than the top of the garage door.
3) the inside of the garage need two cameras one point at the garage door and one point at the house entrance
4) each entrance to the house must be covered by a camera.
5) each camera must be covered by another camera, If i can destroy a camera it must be covered, recorded by another camera.
6) in my house all public areas inside are covered, kitchen, living room, dining room, halls, game room, den
7) all outside doors are covered by a camera inside, pointing out.
____
A POE switch powers your cams. You are going to want POE+ (PLUS) is important.
POE+ as it will be able to send more power per port – it is always better to have this extra power as you expand and not much more than a POE:
PoE (802.3af) up to 15W
PoE+ (803.2at) up to 30W (realistically 25W available to end devices)
There are additional PoE versions, standardised or proprietary, pushing the power beyond this:
UPoE (Cisco Propietary) up to 60W
802.3bt type 3 up to 60W
802.3bt type 4 up to 100W
____
TonyR Tips:
Use turret style for best results (bullets have issues with spider webs, domes can have issues with glare and IR bounce backs as dome can get fogged by moisture and dust)
• For best low-light performance, choose 2MP Dahua Starlight, Hikvision Dark Fighter or IPCT Night Eye; don't get wrapped up by more megapixels, the hi-resolution cams generally want more light.
• Choose a vari-focal cam so you won't have to be concerned about a 2.8mm being too far away/too wide or a 4mm being too close/too narrow for your various (and different) locations.
• Mount at 7 feet optimally / 8 feet max.
____
SouthernYankee Tips:
-Test the cameras placement, use a 5 gallon bucket with a 8-10 ft 2X4, place the camera on the 2x4 at the correct height and placement. Check the view.
-Test that you can Id a person with the camera placement, have a friend with a hoodie, baseball cap and sunglasses and try to break into your front door, and into your car, if you can not easily identify him, then the cops can not ID him.
-Test cameras at night.
____
BACKUP Battery UPS - Model #: APC BR1500MS
____
The 5442 series is the king of the hill at this time for night vision. Yes, I recommend.
The other choice would be the (20) Review-OEM IPC-T3241-ZAS 2mp AI Lite series Varifocal | IP Cam Talk
(13) Review-OEM IPC-T2231T-ZS Ver 2, 2mp Varifocal Starlight Camera | IP Cam Talk
Keep in mind, if your concern is to ID a face, a 2.8mm lens, the person needs to be 10ft or closer to the cam for ID.
____
Those are the best value currently. The 5442 series is my go to camera, though I prefer the bullet models especially under eaves.
The 2231 is a good value option, but they dont compare in image.
Biggest mistake by most newbs is trying to do too much with one camera. Think in terms of overlapping coverage. Wider angle shows more area but at the expense of detail. Choose choke points where bad guys will likely try to enter, and zoom tightly with good light and your best cameras to get positive facial ID. Use overview cams like the 2.8mm to see where they came from, maybe color of car etc.
Second mistake is thinking because it says starlight it can operate in color with no light. Every camera needs light. More is better. Don’t anguish over this tweak and that tweak, add more light!
Good luck
____
Depending on the Neighborhood, and whether you park in the drive way, i would recommend two 3.6 to 6.0MM cameras for the garage. You need tight camera views to get the car door checkers. Two cameras at the front door, one a camera mounted A door bell height , and one pointed at the package drop area. The front yard over view camera 2.8mm will work.
I recommend starting with one good variable focus camera to start, test you camera placement and lens selection, test each location for 24 hours, test with motion at night. Have "bad guy" wearing a hoodie at night move by the camrera, can the ID be use by the police and in court.
____
If nighttime color is what you are looking for, stay away from 4k (8MP) - especially one with a 1/2.8" sensor. It will be crap. An 8MP will need quadruple the light than a 2MP... the best combination is a 4MP on a 1/1.8" sensor. Or the 2MP on the 1/2.8" sensor. You are looking at a 8MP camera on a 1/2.8" sensor - a 2MP will kick it's butt all night long. And then you are looking at one with a 2.8mm lens - if those people are not within 10 feet of the camera, you will not be able to ID a stranger...
It is simple - do not buy a 4MP camera that is anything other than a 1/1.8" sensor. Do not buy a 2MP camera that is anything other than a 1/2.8" sensor. Do not buy into the 4K hype.
The 5442 series varifocal is a great camera - Try the 5442E-ZE and go from there.
Do not chase 4k - at night the 1080 (2MP) cams will be your better bet.
There are fixed and varifocal models of the 5442. As an overview camera, the 3.6mm fixed works good. That's what I use. You wouldn't really use overview cameras to ID faces. I have the 5442 2.8mm and 3.6mm. I would do only the 3.6mm if I could do it again. The varifocal version of the 5442 costs a little more and applies if you have a certain area to zoom in. I have a varifocal zoom into my driveway entry.
____
It is not that a 4MP cam is 'better' than an 4K cam per se. Low light performance is based on how much light gets to each pixel. So if a cam has a 1/1.8" sensor (0.555 inches), each pixel would get much more light to it if there were only 4MP spread across it than 8MP from a 4K cam. Of course other things are at play here, like shutter speed, aperture setting, and the lens used. But most 4K cams in the prosumer lines are on 1/2.8" (0.357 inches) or smaller sensors. So that 4K cam on one of those sensors will get even less light per pixel than the 4MP on 1/1.8" sensor. The wider the aperture, the more light gets in but the depth of field is less so focus becomes an issue. To get more light to the sensor, the shutter can be slowed down, but that will impart motion blur. You can up the gain, but that imparts noise. It is no different than sports photography. There are trade offs that need to be made. So getting a big sensor and less pixels is the easiest way to maximize the light to each pixel without imparting negative issues.
____
Yep, the AI alone on the Dahua cams is worth it!
____
Don't try and buy the whole system at one time. Get that 5442 varifocal and use a test rig as described in the Cliff Notes to test specific placements. Do not run wires or mount the cam until you have tested the exact position, day and night, with a person walking around in the cam view.
Put some LED bulbs in your driveway and front porch lights and keep them on all night, use a timer. I use 5000k temperature 500 lumens bulb in the coach lights and 5000k 1750 lumens in the pot lights on my porch. Even if you can't get good enough lighting for color at night, the visible light will help with the IR picture.
____
any future considerations of putting garage carriage lights on the left/right side of garage doors? I did that for my 2 car garage that only had a single flood light dead center above the door. I then put 2 cameras right under the carriage lights to cover the driveway. Just cause I had an extra camera, I put one dead center above door as well
____
For reading license Plates - The go to camera is the 5241-Z12E as it has enough zoom to make the plates large. But this camera serves no other purpose than to be able to view plates. At night the image will be completely black except for the headlight/taillight and the plate. Look at this subforum for all the details:
Here would be my general guidance for what you are trying to accomplish:
• 5442 fixed lens 2.8mm - 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.
• 49225 PTZ - great 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 and you will have a solid system.
You need to get the correct camera for the area trying to be covered. A 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.
____
Something like a used Cisco WS-C3560X-24P-L. That will give you over 400W of PoE power and it's 802.3at (PoE+). Used price for that on ebay is about $70. It's a managed switch but just use it with default settings (i.e. use it as a dumb switch). When they were new, they sold for about $5000. It's an enterprise switch, so it will be noisier than residential models. It probably won't have a warranty because it's used.
I didn't write down the users name, i apologize, but i still want to Thank everyone who supports this forum. Hopefully this can be of help to other N3wbs.
I AM NOT TRYING TO TAKE OWNERHSIP/CREDIT OF THESE ANSWERS, SIMPLY TRYING TO CONSILDATE IT INTO A EASY TO FIND POST.
____
Cameras need to be no higher than 7.5 feet, say 2 meters, maximum, to be able to get reliable identification video.
____
Unless you have a ton of light on that shed, a 2MP will run circles around a 4k or 5MP at night...
Stick to a 2MP with a 1/2.8" sensor or a 4MP with a 1/1.8" sensor. Stop chasing megapixels.
____
The smaller the lux number the better the low light performance. 0.002 is better than 0.02
The smaller the "F" of the lens the better the low light performance. F1.4 is better than F1.8
The larger the sensor the better the low light performance. 1/1.8" is better (bigger) than 1/2.7"
The higher the megapixels for the same size sensor the worse the low light performance. A 4MP camera with a 1/1.8" sensor will perform better than a 8MP camera with that same 1/1.8" sensor.
Don't believe all the marketing hype no matter who makes the camera. Don't believe those nice night time captures they all use. Look for videos, with motion, to determine low light performance. Any camera can be made to "see" color at night if the exposure time is long enough, as in half a second or longer. Rule of thumb, the shutter speed needs to be at 1/60 or higher to get night video without blurring.
____
The 5442 series of cameras by Dahua is the current "king of the hill". They are 4MP and capable of color with some ambient light at night. The 2231 series is a less expensive alternative in 2MP ($125 2MP Starlight Turret Varifocal IP Camera) and does not have audio capabilities, no built in microphone, but is easier on the budget. The 3241T-ZAS has similar spcs as the 2231 and has audio. There are also cameras available from the IPCT Store right here on the forum and from Nelly's Security who has a thread in the vendors section.
____
1) the front door needs three cameras, one doorbell camera, one pointing at the package drop area, one pointing back to the front door.
2) the garage entrance Needs two cameras pointing out mounted no higher than the top of the garage door.
3) the inside of the garage need two cameras one point at the garage door and one point at the house entrance
4) each entrance to the house must be covered by a camera.
5) each camera must be covered by another camera, If i can destroy a camera it must be covered, recorded by another camera.
6) in my house all public areas inside are covered, kitchen, living room, dining room, halls, game room, den
7) all outside doors are covered by a camera inside, pointing out.
____
A POE switch powers your cams. You are going to want POE+ (PLUS) is important.
POE+ as it will be able to send more power per port – it is always better to have this extra power as you expand and not much more than a POE:
PoE (802.3af) up to 15W
PoE+ (803.2at) up to 30W (realistically 25W available to end devices)
There are additional PoE versions, standardised or proprietary, pushing the power beyond this:
UPoE (Cisco Propietary) up to 60W
802.3bt type 3 up to 60W
802.3bt type 4 up to 100W
____
TonyR Tips:
Use turret style for best results (bullets have issues with spider webs, domes can have issues with glare and IR bounce backs as dome can get fogged by moisture and dust)
• For best low-light performance, choose 2MP Dahua Starlight, Hikvision Dark Fighter or IPCT Night Eye; don't get wrapped up by more megapixels, the hi-resolution cams generally want more light.
• Choose a vari-focal cam so you won't have to be concerned about a 2.8mm being too far away/too wide or a 4mm being too close/too narrow for your various (and different) locations.
• Mount at 7 feet optimally / 8 feet max.
____
SouthernYankee Tips:
-Test the cameras placement, use a 5 gallon bucket with a 8-10 ft 2X4, place the camera on the 2x4 at the correct height and placement. Check the view.
-Test that you can Id a person with the camera placement, have a friend with a hoodie, baseball cap and sunglasses and try to break into your front door, and into your car, if you can not easily identify him, then the cops can not ID him.
-Test cameras at night.
____
BACKUP Battery UPS - Model #: APC BR1500MS
____
The 5442 series is the king of the hill at this time for night vision. Yes, I recommend.
The other choice would be the (20) Review-OEM IPC-T3241-ZAS 2mp AI Lite series Varifocal | IP Cam Talk
(13) Review-OEM IPC-T2231T-ZS Ver 2, 2mp Varifocal Starlight Camera | IP Cam Talk
Keep in mind, if your concern is to ID a face, a 2.8mm lens, the person needs to be 10ft or closer to the cam for ID.
____
Those are the best value currently. The 5442 series is my go to camera, though I prefer the bullet models especially under eaves.
The 2231 is a good value option, but they dont compare in image.
Biggest mistake by most newbs is trying to do too much with one camera. Think in terms of overlapping coverage. Wider angle shows more area but at the expense of detail. Choose choke points where bad guys will likely try to enter, and zoom tightly with good light and your best cameras to get positive facial ID. Use overview cams like the 2.8mm to see where they came from, maybe color of car etc.
Second mistake is thinking because it says starlight it can operate in color with no light. Every camera needs light. More is better. Don’t anguish over this tweak and that tweak, add more light!
Good luck
____
Depending on the Neighborhood, and whether you park in the drive way, i would recommend two 3.6 to 6.0MM cameras for the garage. You need tight camera views to get the car door checkers. Two cameras at the front door, one a camera mounted A door bell height , and one pointed at the package drop area. The front yard over view camera 2.8mm will work.
I recommend starting with one good variable focus camera to start, test you camera placement and lens selection, test each location for 24 hours, test with motion at night. Have "bad guy" wearing a hoodie at night move by the camrera, can the ID be use by the police and in court.
____
If nighttime color is what you are looking for, stay away from 4k (8MP) - especially one with a 1/2.8" sensor. It will be crap. An 8MP will need quadruple the light than a 2MP... the best combination is a 4MP on a 1/1.8" sensor. Or the 2MP on the 1/2.8" sensor. You are looking at a 8MP camera on a 1/2.8" sensor - a 2MP will kick it's butt all night long. And then you are looking at one with a 2.8mm lens - if those people are not within 10 feet of the camera, you will not be able to ID a stranger...
It is simple - do not buy a 4MP camera that is anything other than a 1/1.8" sensor. Do not buy a 2MP camera that is anything other than a 1/2.8" sensor. Do not buy into the 4K hype.
The 5442 series varifocal is a great camera - Try the 5442E-ZE and go from there.
Do not chase 4k - at night the 1080 (2MP) cams will be your better bet.
There are fixed and varifocal models of the 5442. As an overview camera, the 3.6mm fixed works good. That's what I use. You wouldn't really use overview cameras to ID faces. I have the 5442 2.8mm and 3.6mm. I would do only the 3.6mm if I could do it again. The varifocal version of the 5442 costs a little more and applies if you have a certain area to zoom in. I have a varifocal zoom into my driveway entry.
____
It is not that a 4MP cam is 'better' than an 4K cam per se. Low light performance is based on how much light gets to each pixel. So if a cam has a 1/1.8" sensor (0.555 inches), each pixel would get much more light to it if there were only 4MP spread across it than 8MP from a 4K cam. Of course other things are at play here, like shutter speed, aperture setting, and the lens used. But most 4K cams in the prosumer lines are on 1/2.8" (0.357 inches) or smaller sensors. So that 4K cam on one of those sensors will get even less light per pixel than the 4MP on 1/1.8" sensor. The wider the aperture, the more light gets in but the depth of field is less so focus becomes an issue. To get more light to the sensor, the shutter can be slowed down, but that will impart motion blur. You can up the gain, but that imparts noise. It is no different than sports photography. There are trade offs that need to be made. So getting a big sensor and less pixels is the easiest way to maximize the light to each pixel without imparting negative issues.
____
Yep, the AI alone on the Dahua cams is worth it!
____
Don't try and buy the whole system at one time. Get that 5442 varifocal and use a test rig as described in the Cliff Notes to test specific placements. Do not run wires or mount the cam until you have tested the exact position, day and night, with a person walking around in the cam view.
Put some LED bulbs in your driveway and front porch lights and keep them on all night, use a timer. I use 5000k temperature 500 lumens bulb in the coach lights and 5000k 1750 lumens in the pot lights on my porch. Even if you can't get good enough lighting for color at night, the visible light will help with the IR picture.
____
any future considerations of putting garage carriage lights on the left/right side of garage doors? I did that for my 2 car garage that only had a single flood light dead center above the door. I then put 2 cameras right under the carriage lights to cover the driveway. Just cause I had an extra camera, I put one dead center above door as well
____
For reading license Plates - The go to camera is the 5241-Z12E as it has enough zoom to make the plates large. But this camera serves no other purpose than to be able to view plates. At night the image will be completely black except for the headlight/taillight and the plate. Look at this subforum for all the details:
Here would be my general guidance for what you are trying to accomplish:
• 5442 fixed lens 2.8mm - 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.
• 49225 PTZ - great 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 and you will have a solid system.
You need to get the correct camera for the area trying to be covered. A 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.
____
Something like a used Cisco WS-C3560X-24P-L. That will give you over 400W of PoE power and it's 802.3at (PoE+). Used price for that on ebay is about $70. It's a managed switch but just use it with default settings (i.e. use it as a dumb switch). When they were new, they sold for about $5000. It's an enterprise switch, so it will be noisier than residential models. It probably won't have a warranty because it's used.
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