Camera placement & set up - any answers at all appreciated!

[jeremylatz]

I started by looking at some Hikvision cameras and was about to bite the proverbial, but am now considering Dahua due to the recommendations here. I'm quite new to everything technical but am trying hard to work it all out so thanks for the help.

Wondering if you can please give feedback on my plan:

4 cameras

1. Facing out the front side of the house - I need to see out to 30-35 feet (where the street hits). I want to see cars and faces. Also want to detect when someone crosses a line into property. But also see close - less than 5 feet (same: faces, activity) - what angle lens would work?

2. Front door - I can't decide where to place the camera. I want it out of reach of theft/breaking but if it's too high (say 7 feet), the person just has to duck their head down and I would miss their face. If it's too low, can't they just break it? I presume this is 2.8mm

3. Front side of the house Cam 1 cannot reach. I can do a wider angle and try to capture the front door and the other side. I'm thinking 6mm

4. Backyard. Can the camera capture this whole area? 35 feet by 35 feet. Again I am looking for motion detection, face detection. Would it be 6mm here or more?

Questions on setup

1. Is it OK if I get cat5 cables and run the wiring along the eaves of the property as opposed to inside? This would make it a bit easier for me as I'm dreading the installation of the cables.

2. Is it better to get an NVR or POE switch? And how do I then store to NAS? If I get BlueIris does this forfeit the need for an NVR? I'm having a bit of trouble understanding how these all fit together

3. Also with the NVR is there a preferred location for it? I was told I have to plug camera cables into NVR or POE switch and THEN connect it to my network router - is this correct? If so, should I just put the NVR into the same room as the network router? Saves cabling??

4. For actually viewing the cameras, does anyone here used a fixed monitor? Can I just set one up in a separate room from the NVR and router? If so, how do I maintain connectivity?

Thank you so much for any and all assistance. I'm very grateful!

J

 

[mat200]

I started by looking at some Hikvision cameras and was about to bite the proverbial, but am now considering Dahua due to the recommendations here. I'm quite new to everything technical but am trying hard to work it all out so thanks for the help.

Wondering if you can please give feedback on my plan:

4 cameras

1. Facing out the front side of the house - I need to see out to 30-35 feet (where the street hits). I want to see cars and faces. Also want to detect when someone crosses a line into property. But also see close - less than 5 feet (same: faces, activity) - what angle lens would work?

2. Front door - I can't decide where to place the camera. I want it out of reach of theft/breaking but if it's too high (say 7 feet), the person just has to duck their head down and I would miss their face. If it's too low, can't they just break it? I presume this is 2.8mm

3. Front side of the house Cam 1 cannot reach. I can do a wider angle and try to capture the front door and the other side. I'm thinking 6mm

4. Backyard. Can the camera capture this whole area? 35 feet by 35 feet. Again I am looking for motion detection, face detection. Would it be 6mm here or more?

Questions on setup

1. Is it OK if I get cat5 cables and run the wiring along the eaves of the property as opposed to inside? This would make it a bit easier for me as I'm dreading the installation of the cables.

2. Is it better to get an NVR or POE switch? And how do I then store to NAS? If I get BlueIris does this forfeit the need for an NVR? I'm having a bit of trouble understanding how these all fit together

3. Also with the NVR is there a preferred location for it? I was told I have to plug camera cables into NVR or POE switch and THEN connect it to my network router - is this correct? If so, should I just put the NVR into the same room as the network router? Saves cabling??

4. For actually viewing the cameras, does anyone here used a fixed monitor? Can I just set one up in a separate room from the NVR and router? If so, how do I maintain connectivity?

Thank you so much for any and all assistance. I'm very grateful!

J

Hi Jeremy,

iirc a lot of this is covered in the notes..
Can you please help me with set up planning for our property?

Probably worth it for you to get a varifocal model to allow you to customize the FOV to what you would like.
Example the IPC-HDW5231xx cameras

 

[jeremylatz]

Hi Jeremy,

iirc a lot of this is covered in the notes..
Can you please help me with set up planning for our property?

Probably worth it for you to get a varifocal model to allow you to customize the FOV to what you would like.
Example the IPC-HDW5231xx cameras

Thank you Mat! Maybe I need to re-read the notes then. I read it the other night and am still deciding which cameras, and still had these questions.I did plan to go with Hikvision but am still deciding now..Dahua seems more expensive but the help is helpful on these forums regarding Dahua

Anyway thanks

 

[mat200]

Thank you Mat! Maybe I need to re-read the notes then. I read it the other night and am still deciding which cameras, and still had these questions.I did plan to go with Hikvision but am still deciding now..Dahua seems more expensive but the help is helpful on these forums regarding Dahua

Anyway thanks

Hi Jeremy,

When I first came here to learn - I quickly found out that my expectations of price / performance was vastly out of touch with reality thanks to the complete misrepresentation and distortions of what security cameras are capable thanks largely to popular entertainment media as well as seeing poorly placed and poorly chosen cameras. ( domes mounted too high and used outdoors, and not trusting Hollywood I figured they were deceiving me - but I didn't realize by how much they did. )

Recommend picking up that one Dahua OEM starlight camera the IPC-HDW5231xx and a PSE ( power sourcing equipment * ) along with a microSD card and start testing it out. Even if you decide to buy other cameras, that is a excellent camera to have in your mix, useful to help decide what other cameras you may want as you can play with the angles, and you'll learn a lot more using it while you're reading the notes.
( Andy, @EMPIRETECANDY is recommended as a vendor by many of us thanks to his customer service, feel free to read the reviews by people who have purchased from him here )

Also, feel free to look at the notes I made while learning here ( much of the info here should already be included in the referenced notes - just organized differently )
Looking for some advice and direction!

( * - PoE switch, PoE injector, .. )

 

[jeremylatz]

Thnks mat200 for being so helpful/ There's a lot to digest so appreciate the input of people like you Cheers.

 

[jeremylatz]

PS Wow Mat - just saw your post in the other thread - that should be a sticky in itself! I will go and eagerly read it now.