Camera installation location help needed

N

nikleb

Young grasshopper
Jan 4, 2015
91
4
Hi,

I would like to install a camera in front of my townhouse.
Primary purpose to watch if someone walks in and out to the front door (e.g. parcels ). And a bit of driveway.
Ideally I could install the camera pointing out by the door. However, due to the construction of the front entrance that seems difficult. ALso, considering concealing the wiring.

I thought I could put to the right at the bottom of the bay window front. Pointing to the entry door? I would like to stick with a small cam. e.g. a Hikvison compact dome.

IMG_1322.JPG
 
I might put a 4mm in corridor mode (1080P or 4mp with the longer axis set vertically) at the upper left of the door angled towards the driveway. It could show packages on the ground, anybody approaching the front door, plus a decent angle on cars and people coming in the driveway. 4mp would give a significant advantage IDing things in the driveway that don't come right up to the front door.
 
So, corridor mode is a setting in the camera? Do the Hikvisions' compact dome'
s support this? Or do I need to get a particular model?

Also, regarding the placement. I have a wall light inside entry and one outside that is on during the night. Will the camera be able to cope with that light source in front of it?
 
It's a 90 degree rotation of the video. Some brands call it corridor mode because it covers corridors so well. It fits a bit strange on a screen if you're spending a lot of time watching the video but it's the best fit and coverage for long thin areas, particularly in skinny entranceways like yours. If a wide angled lens is used with a widescreen format like 16:9 then you usually get a lot of the walls and nothing directly below the camera if you want to see if a package is on the ground. I don't know if the particular cam you're thinking of supports it in camera or not. I don't have one to try and don't really know which model you're talking about anyway. You didn't mention a model number. Look up the specs or manual for whichever model you're interested in and see if it says anything about 90 or 270 degree video rotation. I've seen some older Hik cams like the rebranded Swann 820 (Hik 2032 mini bullet rebranded as Swann) that don't but Hik's newer cams do. If the camera itself doesn't support it then your NVR or computer software might. I know older versions of Blue Iris (3.66) would rotate some cams properly but not others. I expect the the newest version (4.x) to have those kinks worked out.

If you posted which exact cam you had and which NVR solution (if any) you were thinking of using, then someone with that cam or setup might be able to comment if you can't find what you want in the camera specs.
 
Specs say it has rotate mode in the image settings so you should be good to go. BI had some issues rotating the new 4mp Hiks a few months ago but I believe that has been ironed out by the developer. If you have the same cam out back it's easy to try even without touching the cam. Rotate it in the firmware and see if BI picks up the rotation and changes it automatically. If not, then rotate it in BI as well and either way you should get a tall skinny window in BI with your back yard cam's view with the long axis set vertically but still sideways because you didn't rotate the sensor. Clear as mud?

As for WiFi, I don't own any wifi cams. Give me wired or give me death! Or, preferably, a proper wifi Ubiquiti bridge. I've got a whole lot of fun left to have before I kick off this mortal coil. :)
 
+1 on a rotated wide-angle (2.8mm lens) above the front door. here's mine: (hik 2332 turret 3Mp)
frontdoor 2016-5-5 11.29.22.172 AM.jpg

for more coverage on the front side, a couple 4mm (less wide) under the bay windows pointing across each other
would be pretty comprehensive. red dots are where i'd think about putting 'em...

26802454056_35810f58c5_o.jpg
 
I mentioned 4mm @pozzello because his entrance is narrower than yours. Some of the extra view of your 2.8 sideways would be wasted and the wider (taller) format of the 16:9 1080P or 4mp versus your 4:3 ratio 3mp should still give pretty much complete floor to ceiling coverage. Your pic gives him a really good idea what to expect though. If he could find a varifocal version with the wifi he wants built-in he'd be laughing. He could tune the lens to as long or short as he wants to balance FOV in the entrance vs pixels per foot quality out in his driveway. The best is a two camera solution though. A 2.8 in the entrance to catch everything possible near the door plus another outside the entrance to monitor the driveway.
 
Warning: Armchair Engineer. I am not an installer, nor do I have decades of experience in this category.

...but... for some reason my mind defaulted to this location as an idea, aimed in a fairly downward position. (or perhaps even to the left of the arrow, directly above the entrance to the door)
IMG_1322.JPG
 
sure, for an overview of what's going on in the street around your house. but you're not going to ID anyone approaching your property from there seeing just the tops of their heads... :-)
 
Will the camera be able to cope with the two lights that go on for the night? Or will it blur the picture?
 
Which two lights? If there are lights on the entranceway that I can't see then adjust the cam so they aren't directly in the picture. You'll probably get a little glare off the dome after that but not bad. If there is a light close and unavoidably directly in the FOV you'll get a big white flare and the rest of the picture will darken down to compensate.
 
right, adjust the cams placement/view so the lights are not in the picture.
But in general the more illumination in the field of view, the better,
whether that is white light (from existing night lites) or IR (from the cams or other external IR source)...
 
There is a light on the inside wall right (hidden), similar to the one in the front.

I am thinking this model: DS-2CD2542FWD-IW 4mm
 
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