Best ~$100 camera for monitoring driveway/mailbox

[Mark Frank]

New Blue Iris user here. I'm converting from a crappy NVR system and need to add 1 camera with thoughts on eventually replacing the others down the line. This particular camera will be mounted on the corner of my garage. I've scrolled through a ton of posts on this forum and it seems that Dahua and Hikvision seem to be the most recommended and I've seen lots of references to "Andy's Store" for good prices.

1. Can someone confirm that this is Andy's store?
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2. Is this the camera you'd recommend for my situation?
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It's priced a little higher than $100, but if that's considered the absolute best "bang for the buck", that will justify it in my mind.

Thanks in advance!

 

[looney2ns]

1-That is Andy's store.
2-Great cam, but. How far away is your mailbox from where you will be mounting the cam?
You want to know who did it, not just what happened.

 

[mat200]

Hi Mark,

Here's the ID distance I calculated based on H res and H FOV - base on 100 ppf.

Dahua IPC-HDW4231EM-AS starlight fixed lens 1080p 1920x1080
w/2.8mm lens FOV H 110 degrees: 10 feet { area covered 95.94 sq feet covered }
w/3.6mm lens FOV H 87 degrees: 12.65 feet { 121.43 sq feet covered }
w/6mm lens FOV H 51 degrees: 21.58 feet { 207.16 sq feet covered }

 

[giomania]

In addition to what my esteemed peers said above, be sure to check out the cliff notes: IPCamTalk Cliff Notes 2018-02.docx



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[tangent]

1 camera may not cover both your driveway and mailbox all that well. I suggest you play with IPVM Camera Calculator V3

 

[Mark Frank]

Thanks guys! I hadn't ever played with IPVM before. Very cool!