Best night and day setup under 1000?

[tmbm50]

I currently have several mini ptz camera that have been serving us well for a few years. But it's time to step it up.

I've looked at the 2mp starlights for good night performance but I feel like they are getting long in the tooth. Read about 400 pages on this forum but still not sure.

If I had a 1000 budget, would be the best setup? At night I have very little ambient light other than open sky. During the day and night I need to read license plates at about 100ft

Is the 2mp starlight still best? Or a higherres with an ir canon to make up for low light performance on a higher res?

Also, I really need a ptz as the camera is mounted really high and occasionally needs rotation.

Suggestions?

 

[IAmATeaf]

I went round this again and again and in the end settled on the 2Mp starlight cams. Higher res cams that are as good may just be round the corner but nobody knows for sure so I reasoned that having these installed and working right now would afford me some peace and security.

If and when better cams come out I’ll replace a few and as these have such a high reputation I should be able to sell them, hopefully.

 

[aristobrat]

The tech in the Starlights that makes them so good in low-light (the 2MP 1/2.8” Sony sensor) may feel old, but it’s hard to find outside of top-tier Dahua and Hikvision cameras. Ubuiquiti has a recent Unifi camera model that uses it, but it MSRPs for $399, IIRC. Popular consumer OEMs like Lorex, Amcrest, Qsee, etc don’t have any camera models that use it.

I’ve never seen anyone post a video where a higher MP camera with a lot of IR has worked well, outside of confined areas (like a front porch) where the IR literally is bouncing off of walls and really lighting the place up more evenly than expected. Even then, the biggest challenge is not washing out the person as they get closer to the IR source.

Both Dahua and Hikvision have newer, higher MP models that are getting closer to the Starlights, but aren’t quite there yet. Look for cameras with 1/1.8” sensors (like the Dahua 4K 1831/2831 models <excluding the PIR model>) or 1/2” sensors. I’d stay away from higher MP models with 1/2.5” sensors.

Reading license plates at night is more art than science. There’s a whole sub-forum here dedicated to it. Generally speaking, you’ll have to make exposure setting changes to the camera at night, and after that, the camera will pretty much only see license plates. Everything else will usually be too dark for the camera to see.

Dahua has soooooo many Starlight models that it’s really hard to recommend specifics to you without more info. A 5231 varifocal Z5/Z12 bullet should have enough extended zoom to do well for license plates. The 5231 varifocal turret is typically the most popular/versatile model. There’s a lesser-expensive 2231 varifocal turret that’s newer, but it doesn’t have a built-in mic. The 4231 mini-dome is sometimes used on porches due to its smaller size, but since it’s a dome there are some potential IR reflection concerns to think about.

There’s a cool tool here:
IPVM Camera Calculator V3

Punch in your address, drop and position as many cameras as the free version will let you, take a screenshot then mark it up with where you’d put additional cameras, post it here and I’m sure you’ll get some specific recommendations!

 

[aristobrat]

At night I have very little ambient light other than open sky.

Also FWIW, as good as the Starlights are in low light, it can still be challenging to get blur-free video of motion when the lighting is this low. They should do significantly better than other models, but it may take some exposure tweaking (and maybe even extra light) to smooth out motion.

 

[tmbm50]

Thanks. I know once I out these cameras up they will have several years to go, hence if I can get ahead of the curve.

And dahua has soo many models and the naming convention doesn't tell you sensor size.

I see little reviews of this unit HF8835FN?
It needs a lens and a box but might be able to revival the current 2mp low light Champs.

 

[mat200]

Thanks. I know once I out these cameras up they will have several years to go, hence if I can get ahead of the curve.

And dahua has soo many models and the naming convention doesn't tell you sensor size.

I see little reviews of this unit HF8835FN?
It needs a lens and a box but might be able to revival the current 2mp low light Champs.

Thread:
8MP Starlight+

link to review here:
8MP Starlight+