Camera Placement/Recommendations

[athornfam2]

Running Blueiris v5 on a virtual server with 5 4K (8MP) existing cameras. Unwise me bought dome 8MP cameras for outside use. They were and still are okay during the day but the night has gotten worse and almost unbearable.
I've added some pictures of the house to get ideas for placement. 2 are already placed in the back in the center highest point of the back house. The front has 3 cameras mounted on the brick. Don't think they are placed right at all and want to start over.


I'm thinking (6) IP4M-T1044EW-AI cameras with this mount

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LYMFN6V/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A29NOTF5ZF50L&psc=1

. 2 on the front of the house (one point towards the pine trees & 1 pointed towards the top road/driveway), 1 on each side (widest field of view), and 2 on the back of the house (again cross pointing one another pointed down by the trees and one pointed up towards the shed/back concrete slab).
House is almost center to the property as well on .47 acres of land.

 

[wittaj]

The pictures are not showing, but generally based on your description I can tell you that cameras higher than 8 feet, especially 2.8 and 3.6mm cameras you are looking at, will only let you observe and not IDENTIFY.

Very rarely do all of the same camera, especially 2.8mm fixed lens, do the job you need.

You need to select the proper camera for the location, goals, and objectives of that placement.

That dual lens serves a purpose for a specific need, and unless you don't meet every one of them, you will be getting the wrong camera as the focus tends to be soft.

The dual lens will work well in the following conditions:

• An overview camera where IDENTIFY is not the primary purpose, but want the ability to obtain color video without a lot of ambient light. I can run this at a much faster shutter than other overview cams and get color with minimal/no blur.
• A camera with light sources that are way in front of the camera and behind the person. Any situation where a backlight situation happens that would provide a dark/black silhouette. Perhaps an offset of a house where the floodlights would be well ahead of the camera. My last example and Wildcats are great examples of a situation that this camera would do very well in.
• An area that you want color, have a little bit of ambient light, but do not want the LED camera lights on like what is needed for the 4K/X.
• Those wanting a turret version for the smaller form factor.

If you don't meet all 4, then it is the wrong camera.

See this thread that highlights the most commonly recommended cameras based on distance to IDENTIFY and represent the best overall value in terms of price and performance day and night.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

At the urging of several folks here, I created a thread to show the importance of focal length and how focal length can be more important than megapixels (MP). I mentioned some of this in the post regarding The Hookup’s latest video demonstrating different cameras, including one sold from a...

ipcamtalk.com

Further, you will get better pricing and service buying from @EMPIRETECANDY on his Amazon store or his website. That Amcrest is made by Dahua but stripped down. Andy's cameras are Dahua OEM without the logo.

If you do decide on that dual lens camera, here is the review thread on it so you can see if you think it would meet your needs:

Worlds First Review - Dahua DH-IPC-HFW5449T1-ASE+D2 - Dual Lens Full Color 2.0

Intro I’m pleased to announce we have another worlds first review to kick off, this time on the new HFW5449T1. So whats better than 1 camera (lens), well 2 of course. This camera makes some bold claims of Full Color regardless of low light environments utilizing 2 lenses. Lets jump into it but...

ipcamtalk.com

He also has a sale coming up:

EmpireTech 2023 Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday Sales Nov.20-24th

Hey Guys This year's Thanksgiving Day Sales is coming soon, thanks for all guys support here and we can keep moving on, this year too fast, like nothing happen and have lots of crazy things happen everyday. The Traditional IR models are selling good, the whole 5442 series., long range...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[athornfam2]

@wittaj re-added the pictures

 

[athornfam2]

@wittaj I think you can see the pictures now if you have some time for further advice