Best BI Camera Replacements

[Blisstick]

I have been using Blue Iris to record stock car racing for playback of finishes and review of incidents for a few years, but unfortunately am only able to reliably record 2 cameras at a time because they're fed using USB3 connected Elgato streaming cards and connecting more than 2 seems to overload my USB controller bus.

I'm thinking 4 wired POE IP cams should be able to stream 1080p or more without choking my BI machine. The problem is I spent too much money on the current solution which doesn't work very well, so I'm hoping some of you folks could tell me if I'm on track and to select cameras that are good to view at a distance (finish line is about 125 ft from cameras and far end of track is about 425 ft away), have clear images when viewing frame-by-frame in BI (currently they can be blurry especially after dark), and hopefully are not hugely expensive.

I'm currently looking at various brands on this site and others as it seems many cameras are just rebranded for resellers but prices vary a lot. One possible option would be to pick up 4 Lorex LNB8005B's from Costco to try - at least if I purchase from them and they don't work well I can return without much fuss.
They also have a Q-See Archer kit I could try (more for the cameras as BI would likely work better for frame-by-frame replays than the NVR).

Any advice/recommendations would be very much appreciated as I need to order parts soon for the upcoming season. Thanks!

 

[aristobrat]

A faster shutter speed should help with the blurry frame-by-frame. But increasing the shutter speed can cause images to look even darker in low light (i.e. night), as the sensor has time to collect light.

Do your current USB cams have a lot of zoom? I'm trying to get a feel for how tight of a shot you had at the finish light / far end of the track.

You mentioned "especially after dark". Dahua and Hikvision both make some good low-light cameras that use a 2MP 1/2.8" image sensor that I haven't seen any of the rebranded OEMs (like Amcrest, Lorex, etc) use yet. I prefer Dahua because they seem to have more shapes/sizes, and there is a forum vendor here (Andy, @EMPIRETECANDY) that makes ordering them a breeze... for some reason, Dahua North America doesn't import many of the available low-light models (so you're not able to find them through normal Dahua US resellers), but Andy is able to get just about any of them.

If you want something tight on the finish line (125ft away), you might check out this model. I'm going to link you to a thread that specifically talks about using this model specifically for capturing license plates, but has some good pictures of what the image quality looks like at over 100ft. Don't pay too much attention to the night-time shots where the camera only shows the license plate and you can't see the rest of the car... you won't be tuning your camera settings to get those results:
IPC-HFW5231E-Z12 LPR from 137 feet

As for the "far side of the track", if you have a sample pic you can share, I'm sure we can try to recommend something!

Here's a link to that camera on Andy's AliExpress store, to give you an idea of pricing:
US $223.25 5% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy IPC HFW5231E Z12E 2MP Full HD WDR Network IR Starlight Bullet Camera replace the IPC HFW5231E Z12,free DHL shipping from Reliable bullet camera suppliers on Empire Technology Co., Ltd

That one is on the high-end because of the 12x optical zoom.

 

[bp2008]

Those cameras recommended by @aristobrat should be perfect for you. Note there are several different starlight models to choose from. Look at the Angle of View row in the specifications to determine the field of views you can get from each camera. The Z12E camera linked above is capable of the most zoom (narrowest field of view) and is good for distant subjects. If you need a wide field of view, choose the standard model: US $169.09 5% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy IPC HDW5231R ZE 2MP WDR IR Eyeball Network Camera IPC HDW5231R ZE ,free DHL shipping from Reliable network camera suppliers on Empire Technology Co., Ltd

If the cost is a bit high, there's also a cheaper version which sacrifices its microphone and a few motion detection options you wouldn't be using anyway. It also has a frame rate limit of 30 FPS compared to the 60 FPS possible with the more expensive starlight cameras: US $125.0 5% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy IPC HDW2231R ZS 2MP Starlight IR Eyeball Network Camera 2.7~13.5mm varifocal lens IPC HDW2231R ZS ,free DHL shipping from Reliable Surveillance Cameras suppliers on Empire Technology Co., Ltd

If you don't need a variable-zoom lens, consider IPC-HFW4239T-ASE instead. These are a little better at operating in low light, though I don't think you'll have a problem either way if you set the shutter speed appropriately in each camera's web config.

 

[Blisstick]

Wow thanks for the info guys! I'm not sure whether it'll help, but here's a shot of my plan for how cameras would be aimed with distances in feet.

Note they will probably be just inside a window fastened to tripods, so I may need to disable any IR in case they cause glare. The track is lit but current cameras do struggle with low light and seem to suffer from motion blur especially after the sun goes down. I'm sure newer tech will improve this at least some.

 

[bp2008]

For a field of view like you've shown there, the standard models will be fine. They've got a range of about 101° to 31° and so it looks like you'd be setting them well within those limits.

At that kind of distance the IR built in to a camera would be close to worthless anyway. Keep in mind when mounting behind a window that the camera will see reflections of itself and the contents of the room very strongly if there is much light in there. Far better to mount them outdoors.

 

[Blisstick]

The lights are typically off in the room while we're scoring races as the reflection is distracting even for the naked eye, so that shouldn't be to much of an issue. Besides, we may need to transport the cameras to use at other facilities, so temporary mounts would be great. Good that they're good for outdoors though as at other locations they may need to be mounted outdoors. So, I guess I'll need a POE switch and Cat5E cables and should be off to the races - pun intended.

I know BI usually takes some playing to get it to work properly, but is there a particular resolution I should record at? The finish line cam will be zoomed in on that with as high a frame rate as I can record at, the other 3 cameras will probably just be recording at whatever zoom covers their section of track and we can play back in slow motion as needed.

Thanks again for all the info - I'm so glad I found this form and reached out!

 

[bp2008]

Just record native resolution using direct to disk. Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage | IP Cam Talk -- Ignore the part about FPS obviously since you aren't using this for security anyway.

 

[Blisstick]

I'm just looking through Andy's store and think maybe the bullet cams would be easier to mount on tripods. I've looked through the specs and this one appears to have similar specs to others you mentioned. Any thoughts on these?
New Arriving IP Camera IPC-HFW2231T-ZS 2MP Starlight WDR IR Bullet Network Camera PoE+, free DHL shipping

I'm thinking maybe 3 of those to cover whole track plus 1 of these to zoom in close on the finish line
IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E 2MP Full HD WDR Network IR Starlight Bullet Camera replace the IPC-HFW5231E-Z12,free DHL shipping

Am I right that the cheapest 4 port POE switch Andy carries can handle the 4 cameras plus my laptop which doesn't require POE?

 

[bp2008]

Sounds like a good plan. Bullet models are equivalent to turrets, for the most part. Being indoors and temporary you won't have to worry so much about spiders which are more of a pest on permanently mounted bullet cameras. As a reminder, the 2231 does up to 30 FPS, not 60 FPS like the 5231 series.

You can get a lot better price on a PoE switch. You don't need 8 ports or extended range as Andy's switches offer. How about this? https://www.amazon.ca/BV-Tech-Switch-Ethernet-Uplink-Function/dp/B075G2PM17/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=poe+switch&qid=1556598495&s=gateway&sr=8-5

 

[Blisstick]

Hi all. I'm reviving my old thread as I did purchase the Dahua cameras recommended back in 2019 and they've made due for the past 4 seasons. There is one nagging problem I'd like to resolve and that is they also suffer from blurriness snapping pics of racecars after dark - daytime they're great. I'm considering building a new system and management just wants to go buy an off-the-shelf security system DVR with cameras, but I'd like to consult you experts.

Has the camera technology improved over the past few years? Is there anything we could be confident will give us clear frame-by-frame shots of fast-moving vehicles even after dark? Thanks in advance!

 

[Blisstick]

Another thought - Maybe there are even settings that could be tweaked to help? The cameras I have:
HFW2231T-ZS 2MP Starlight WDR IR Bullet Network Camera PoE+
HFW5231E-Z12E 2MP Full HD WDR Network IR Starlight Bullet Camera

 

[wittaj]

As previously mentioned you need a faster shutter. What is your shutter setting at night or is the camera on auto/default? Those cameras are older but are still very capable.

And of course the faster the shutter, the more light is needed.

 

[Blisstick]

It must be on auto as I dont think I’ve played with shutter speed. I’ll see what I can find and play with it this season.

Has the technology improved over the past few years? My boss is wondering if there are better ones for low light? TIA!