Camera positions on my home

[ipcamshopper]

I'm in the process of revisiting my whole camera system. Currently, I have two Logitech 700e cameras that are POE. They are mounted on the second story of my home. Any unmounting and mounting would require hiring a camera installer, so probably expensive. I'm also not certain these are the best positions for their eventual replacements - Dahua Turrets. I was thinking it may be easier to rewire everything and mount them at 10 feet. This would allow probably a better angle for viewing and I could easily maintain these if there's a problem. Being afraid of heights and not owning a super-tall ladder limits my ability to manage the existing cams. I thought about the convenience of Arlo Pro, but damn convenience. I also have a Blue Iris setup, so I'm half-way there.

Here's the current view from the Logitech cams and a photo of the front of my home. I'm open to any and all suggestions.

 

[slowmod]

that's a tough one as it looks like it would be a struggle to wire, short of running wires down the side of the house which would look tacky, you are going to be likely pulling baseboards and fishing cable through the walls. the height of the cameras now give a decent general overview of the property but look to be too high to be able to actually identify someone on the property if need be unless they looked up directly at the camera. if you are going to through the struggle of a rewire/wall fishing I personally would put to 3-4mp dome cameras under the front porch awning. one in the corner by the front door pointing toward the driveway, and a second on the other side of the porch facing the other corner of the property, that would give you complete coverage of the front of the house with overlap including the front door at somewhat eye level. it looks like your backyard is set up the same way for the most part. that's just my opinion...

 

[blake]

If you're not against it, run 3/4" emt around the exterior. You can even paint it to match your house color. It all depends on what you want to accomplish. I prefer running conduit on a two story home . Easier, cheaper on labor cost, the cameras get mounted in the exact location's they need to be and it let's everyone know that your property is monitored 24/7.

 

[looney2ns]

Don't use Domes outdoors, all sorts of problems with light reflection, and gets worse as they age.

If you care about Iding faces, keep cams at 8ft or lower.

Use this to help with picking locations: Keep PPF> 100 Camera Calculator / Design Software

The camera of choice at this time is: Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

If need be, hire an electrician to run the network cable for you. There is always a way to get wires where they need to go neatly.

The field of view of the current cams leave lots to be desired. Way too much wall and roof in the views that don't do you any good.

 

[tangent]

It's always a good idea set up a temporary test rig where you think you want the camera before you commit. In many cases moving the camera a few inches can have a big impact.

I agree with @looney2ns lots of wall and roof doesn't help you at all. It can cause lots of IR reflection issues.

The easiest place to actually install cameras would be in the vicinity of your covered porch.

 

[bababouy]

agree and agree with the last two posts. Keep your cams down low so that you can get a nice long capture and not a straght down capture.

 

[tWeEzY]

Why not leave those cameras in place for a good overview and add to them? Depending on where your ethernet switch is or CPU, would you able to do run the wires then?

 

[fenderman]

I'm in the process of revisiting my whole camera system. Currently, I have two Logitech 700e cameras that are POE. They are mounted on the second story of my home. Any unmounting and mounting would require hiring a camera installer, so probably expensive. I'm also not certain these are the best positions for their eventual replacements - Dahua Turrets. I was thinking it may be easier to rewire everything and mount them at 10 feet. This would allow probably a better angle for viewing and I could easily maintain these if there's a problem. Being afraid of heights and not owning a super-tall ladder limits my ability to manage the existing cams. I thought about the convenience of Arlo Pro, but damn convenience. I also have a Blue Iris setup, so I'm half-way there.

Here's the current view from the Logitech cams and a photo of the front of my home. I'm open to any and all suggestions.

The starlight turrets are a great choice, as other have said avoid domes. ....hire a professional to run the cable inside the walls, this can easily be done for 100-150 per drop-its a fixed cost and will run the life of the house - use quality copper (not CCA copper clad aluminium cable)...dont muck up a nice house to save a few dollars...no need to run emt or exposed wiring..you can also run the cables to the attic then down behing the siding edges/corners..

 

[ipcamshopper]

Thanks for all of the wonderful feedback. Some really great suggestions here. I do have an existing location under the porch, so I'll start by replacing that camera. There's access to the basement from the garage (left of the porch), so that's probably easy for an electrician to wire additional locations. I may just leave the old Logitechs up in their current place and add to the system.