Camera selection and placement suggestions

[EyeOfSauron]

[Moved the thread from the cameras forum]

Hello,

I am looking for some advice regarding camera placement at my house. I have some limitations as to where the cameras can be reasonably placed, so I am looking for feedback to get the decent coverage and ID ability. The idea is to get decent coverage without a ridiculous amount of super obvious cameras.

Below is the front of the garage, which faces a 47' long (30' wide) driveway.
The soffit height of the garage is 10'.

At location #1, I already have a Dahua IPC-T5442T-ZE (4MP 2.7 - 12 mm varifocal turret). It blends in super nicely and hardly noticeable from the street.
My other mounting locations are 2 and 4, with a possibility of mounting a cam at #3 (but I need to find the right form factor, so it can blend in while being pointed straight out).

I was thinking another 544T2-ZE at #2, and adjust them both to cross each other and both "zoomed in" a bit.
But that will leave a large gap right by the garage doors.

I have 2 existing ethernet drops going to garage attic, with a possibility of maybe adding 2 more (1 has to service the backyard though).

Challenges:

• At night, bright lights are present from 3 garage coach lights and the post light. Post light mainly affects the camera at #1.
• The third garage bay is set back from the front elevation, creating a blind spot

Here is an image from #1 it at 2.7 mm.

And here is #1 zoomed in to cover only the drive

#1 2.7 mm at night

The porch has a Nest Doorbell for now, and I can live with it for now.

Back of house pics

View from location #8, at half of the mounting height:

For the back, I am thinking.

1. Another IPC-T5442T-ZE at location #8, zoomed into towards the gate. That location is services via garage attic drop. I can potentially run more drops to the garage through conduit I installed.
2. TBD cam at location #7, which will point towards the other gate. This location is services by house attic drop, of which I have two. This might be a 5442T-ZE bullet equivalent.
3. TBD cam at location #5, looking down side of the house, basement window, AC. Possibly another 5442T-ZE bullet equivalent, or even turret mounted sideways.

What will be missing is any sort of an "overview" cam for the back yard.
Options here are to trench some ethernet from the basement (where the switch is), and mount a wide angle lens cam at/near the fence looking at the house.
Alternatively, I can run the same cable from a the basement location, behind the downspout, and up to a wide angle lens cam at location #7. Would have to use conduit to protect the cable, but that depends on the looks.

I also have 3 Ubiquiti G3 Bullet cams from the previous house. That's before Ubiquiti pissed me off and I went to Blue Iris .
They have a wide angle lens with a FOV just slightly narrowed than the Dahua cam I have.
For those, I am probably going to use those inside (1 in garage facing side door, 1 in mechanical room), though one of the bullets has an IR extender and could be used as an "overview" cam.

Wow, this came out to be a long post and a lot of pics. I hope I did not lose everyone.

Any feedback or suggestion are really appreciated, going to be placing an order with Andy soon .

 

[EyeOfSauron]

I think I may have put in too much info into a single thread . I hope I can get some feedback in time for @EMPIRETECANDY's Dahua promotion .

My main issues are deciding the form factors for the cameras on the rear corners of the house, as well as what 1-2 cameras to add to the 5442T varifocal I have up front to cover the drive.
I think I am going to pan the existing 5442T-ZE to the left and maybe leave it as overview cam. Then try to add some sort of a small form factor cam at the top of the garage door and zoomed into drive entrance?
( I have since adjusted the 5442T to color mode at night, it performs great but my lights wash it out, hence the need to pan it to the left. I expect great performance after that!).

For the back, I am not sure yet! Turrets with wall mounts (ugly?). Or bullets?
Probably going to stick with varifocals, but wondering how much of an improvement the fix lens would be in terms of lens speed?
I saw that the fixed ones are F1.0 (though I assume that's only for the wide angle ones?). @wittaj I know you reviewed a bunch, do you know of a performance difference between the fixed and varifocal - is it noticeable?

 

[wittaj]

There is an improvement in picture of fixed over varifocal, but the key is to get the field of view and image you need. If a 3.6mm, 4mm or 6mm fixed gives you the proper field of view for IDENTIFY purposes then it makes sense to get the fixed. Anything else where you may need to adjust the focal length or you may ant to move the camera later to a spot that would be suited for a varifocal, then go with the varifocal.

 

[The Automation Guy]

I would also recommend using the IPVM Camera Calculator. It is a great site which allows you to change the location to your actual address and then overlay different cameras on the satellite image. It is pretty darn accurate and it is very helpful in having a visual reference to what a 2.8mm or 3.6mm or 6.0mm camera might cover at a specific location on your home. It is also very good at showing the PPF (pixels per face) number which is helpful determining how well you can identify a person at any selected distance. There is also a great "blind spot" function which is also very helpful in showing the true capture capabilities of each camera. Cameras do have blind spots near the camera. The more zoomed in a camera is, the larger the blind spot. This site accurately displays that potential blind spot.

 

[looney2ns]

If you care about face identification, mounting cam any higher than 7-8ft defeats that. The goal is to know who did it, not just what happened.

As your number 1 cam shows, it's too high, for one, it's so high that the IR is shooting almost straight down, instead of out towards the street.
You want a view more like this:
This is my 5442, mounted at 7ft next to my garage.

If you lower cam 1 down to 7ft or so, that will take care of your blind spot.
You will need three cameras on the front of your garage. Mount each between the coach lights and the door. Looking across each other.
Paint cams to match the brick, most people will never see them.

On a real computer study this and the imbedded links therein.

 

[EyeOfSauron]

You will need three cameras on the front of your garage. Mount each between the coach lights and the door. Looking across each other.
Paint cams to match the brick, most people will never see them.

Thanks for the tips. Wow, your 5442 looks great! Is it a fixed lens unit? Would be curious to know what settings you have used.

I don't think I can get away with mounting on the brick. But I have previously mounted cams in corners of the garage door opening with good success at the old house. Would you suggest sticking with turrets for that application?

Previously I had the G3 Ubiquiti bullets mounted like that, and they were fairly sleek looking (not looking to reuse those outside though). Only issue was all the spiders and bugs attracted to the IR .

 

[looney2ns]

Thanks for the tips. Wow, your 5442 looks great! Is it a fixed lens unit? Would be curious to know what settings you have used.

I don't think I can get away with mounting on the brick. But I have previously mounted cams in corners of the garage door opening with good success at the old house. Would you suggest sticking with turrets for that application?

Previously I had the G3 Ubiquiti bullets mounted like that, and they were fairly sleek looking (not looking to reuse those outside though). Only issue was all the spiders and bugs attracted to the IR .

To each his own, but I think the turrets are just fine in most locations.
You can drill in the mortar, and easily get an unterminated cat5e through the hole and from the garage to outside.
A 12" electricians drill bit makes it a piece of cake. DEWALT Black and Gold Drill Bit 3/8 in. x 12 in.-DW1610 G - The Home Depot
From the outside, Drill mortar with 3/8" masonry bit, stop, then drill the rest of the way with the electricians bit. The E bit will have a small hole at the tip where you can attach the cable and pull it out with the bit.


Same 5442 turret you have, varifocal, zoomed in a little towards the street.
Keep in mind, each location is unique, and my settings may or may not work for your location.
Be sure to read this: Common issues with camera image | IP Cam Talk





Back light off.

 

[EyeOfSauron]

Thanks @looney2ns, this gives me some reference for gain etc. I am running WDR right not even at night to deal with the bright lights.

When you said to "Mount each between the coach lights and the door", did you mean to mount the cameras under the lights?
I am having hard time visualizing in my mind how this would look. Would you flush mount a turret/bullet, or use a box/wallmount?

 

[looney2ns]

Thanks @looney2ns, this gives me some reference for gain etc. I am running WDR right not even at night to deal with the bright lights.

When you said to "Mount each between the coach lights and the door", did you mean to mount the cameras under the lights?
I am having hard time visualizing in my mind how this would look. Would you flush mount a turret/bullet, or use a box/wallmount?

Mount as shown above on my garage with a wall bracket.