Camera options for front door

[mephisto_uk]

I've been reading a lot here about front door cameras, most recommendations have been around dome cameras or the boobie camera (still dome) which I also read a lot about, and the dome form factor seems to be a bit problematic. I had a few Unifi G3 dome cameras, all of them giving IR reflections and I ended up just getting rid of all of them and getting Unifi G3 Flex in place, much better, but still far from ideal.

After some research, I started narrowing down my list to T5241, T5442 and the HDW5849H (aka IPC-Color4K-T), but then I noticed the Close Focus Distance of these cameras and realised the HDW5849H would not work as the focal distance is 5 metres (16 feet). I really wanted to buy the best performance camera (HDW5849H), but it seems the wider the aperture and bigger the sensor, the more distant the focus distance will be.

That is me testing my existing Unifi G3 Flex at 0.6 metres (2 feet), pretty out of focus, which I was not expecting to be the case considering how big the aperture is, and how small the sensor is. Fov is 80v and 56h. This is the minimal focal distance for the
IPC-T5241TM-AS



Now at 1.2m (4 feet), the focus still crap, and I'm just wondering maybe the camera is just plain crap. The cars behind me look better than me!



So with these tests in place, I think 1.2m (4ft) will do the job just fine as I should have identified the person on the way to the door, and knocking the door at 0.6m (2ft) a bit out of focus should not make that much difference in the end. So instead of the 2MP
IPC-T5241TM-AS, I could go for the 4MP IPC-T5442T-ZE at 2.7mm. The 8MP IPC-Color4K-T (IPC-HDW5849H-ASE-LED) would not be a viable solution at 5m (16ft) focal distance, right?

Sorry about all the lame questions, there is so much I'm learning from here and I'm loving the journey, it is making me understand the physics behind optics so much better.

 

[wittaj]

If you have the light, you could always go with the 4K/T and take it apart and manually adjust the focus to fit your field of view. It isn't that hard and their are several threads here discussing how to do it.

If the area is protected, the boobie cam is a good cam for that situation. The 2MP cams tend to have a better "infinity" type focus than the 4MP and 8MP. But any of the fixed lens you can open it up and manually adjust the focus. The boobie cams are the easiest since when you take the top plate off to adjust the camera angle, it is right there to adjust.

 

[CCTVCam]

Simple question. What are they going to steal, your cars or your camera?

I know where my focus priority would be.

 

[mephisto_uk]

If you have the light, you could always go with the 4K/T and take it apart and manually adjust the focus to fit your field of view. It isn't that hard and their are several threads here discussing how to do it.

If the area is protected, the boobie cam is a good cam for that situation. The 2MP cams tend to have a better "infinity" type focus than the 4MP and 8MP. But any of the fixed lens you can open it up and manually adjust the focus. The boobie cams are the easiest since when you take the top plate off to adjust the camera angle, it is right there to adjust.

I was searching for this topic about manually changing the focus of the 4K-T but I could not find one. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction please? I may be using the wrong search term.

The area is covered, but the existing cameras got sprinkled with rain several times due to high winds, no not totally protected I would say.

As I'm a newbie when it comes down to cameras, I'm a bit uncomfortable opening them and manually adjusting the focus. I'm concerned about changing it and if something goes wrong I would never be able to dial back to stock settings again. I'm leaning more towards the 2MP and 4MP with IR, I'm not sure I have enough light for a colour camera in there, I'm getting a IPC-Color4K-T180 to test a bit higher up than the front door camera.

I'm even thinking if I should get a T5442 vari focal to play around and a 5241 as well to compare at the same location.

 

[mephisto_uk]

Simple question. What are they going to steal, your cars or your camera?

I know where my focus priority would be.

50/50 I guess, I want to identify parcel thieves as well and random people walking around to check for patterns, but the 4K-T focal length may not even be enough to focus on the cars, they are about 3m (10ft) away. What are your thoughts?

 

[wittaj]

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[actran]

@mephisto_uk You may want to think about the height of the camera. Intruders may wear a cap or hoodie. If camera is too high, you're going to get the top of their heads, especially if they walk towards your front door looking down.

If you install your camera lower, you can point camera slightly up to have higher chance of getting their faces.

 

[mephisto_uk]

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I read all of them, it seems doable, but I could easily mess it up. I may just get one 2MP 5241 and one 4PM 5442 to test.

@mephisto_uk

You may want to think about the height of the camera. Intruders may wear a cap or hoodies. If camera is too high, you're going to get the top of their heads, especially if they walk towards your front door looking down.

If you install your camera lower, you can point camera slightly up to have higher chance of getting their face.

Height is about 2.1m (7ft), it may look higher on the picture. I can't put it any lower than that. I think where it is it should work well to identify, right?

 

[actran]

@mephisto_uk If you want to identify, you need to get their faces. Put a cap on and walk towards your door in the middle of the night with your head slightly down. Do you get a face shot?

 

[mephisto_uk]

@mephisto_uk If you want to identify, you need to get their faces. Put a cap on and walk towards your door in the middle of the night with your head slightly down. Do you get a face shot?

What other options do I have then? Or what do you suggest doing? Not worrying with close focus distance?

 

[tibimakai]

I have installed a 5442 in a birdhouse on my porch column.

 

[actran]

@tibimakai What's in the box? (quote from movie Seven)

P.S. Quality face capture. Do you mind sharing a picture of your birdhouse, and its construction details?

 

[mephisto_uk]

I have installed a 5442 in a birdhouse on my porch column.

what 5442 model and lens size is it?

 

[tibimakai]

6 degree(narrow field of view).
It is a cheap Michaels birdhouse.
It is a snug fit, and I had to come up with some ingenuity on hot to mount it in it, but it works great.
Paint is fading away, I will have to use a different paint next time when I will repaint it.

 

[tibimakai]

I need ideas, on where to install a camera at the entrance

I have a Jaguar XJ6 Vanden Plas Canary Red paint for example. I'm thinking, that it may work for the roof section. Some paints require primers first or else it will peel off. I believe automotive paint would be in this category. When you first said your daughter was going to paint this, I...

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[actran]

@tibimakai Again, nice job on birdhouse. Thanks for sharing.

P.S. Different camera, I'm curious where you've mounted 1x SD49225XA-HNI. That must be very visible to neighbors?

 

[tibimakai]

I have made a "special" mount that brings the camera into the roof(no soffit cover here).
I'm a machinist, so for me it is easy to make something like this.
That mount has a(two half circles) round slot, to be able to orient the camera in a horizontal position. It is not adjustable after install, that is the bad thing about it.

 

[actran]

@tibimakai With a camera with that much zoom at street level, man, that's awesome for looking around the neighborhood --- minus any obstructions from landscaping stuff.

I don't know how you convinced your wife to agree to this. No way, this would be approved with my wife.

 

[tibimakai]

I'm lucky, she doesn't care. I have Klipsch surround speaker sticking out from the ceiling, in the living room(!).
In the box is a glass scale for my mini lathe.