Comparing real pro cameras to home grade. More than resolution specs.

I should clarify that the PTZ employed in the prev example would be positioned at the rough center point of the fence so the furthest shot would be about 250ft. I planned to have additional cams backing that up as overview/spotter cams.
 
Here is what the "manual" says about it (with no number provided):

View attachment 206385

And here is what pops up on some cameras when it happens:

View attachment 206391


My understanding from folks that had that pop up is that it was autotracking that was disabled, but they could manually move the PTZ.

Someone here claims they hacked the firmware to remove the disabling of the PTZ, but despite repeated attempts asking to share or show how to do it, they refused to do so.
They delete this warnning on new PTZs and i see the latest new firmware will not show this warnning anymore.
 
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It would still be great for life cycle predictions to actually know how many "miles" these are good for, and a counter on how many you got! Now, being an automation guy, I could understand this being a pretty open question as things like being in the desert could be quite different than some other locations. Maybe they trip out in high heat or cold?
 
It would still be great for life cycle predictions to actually know how many "miles" these are good for, and a counter on how many you got! Now, being an automation guy, I could understand this being a pretty open question as things like being in the desert could be quite different than some other locations. Maybe they trip out in high heat or cold?

Yeah, so many variables would come into play. That is why I equated it to a timing belt on a car. They tell you to replace it every X-thousand miles. But some break before that and others go twice the recommended amount.

The way I look at it is if the camera is bought thru authorized Dahua Distributors, it has a 5-year warranty, so one would hope you are getting at least 5 years out of the camera.

But as I said before, one has to be careful with paralysis by analysis LOL. Where do you stop - how many hours are the infrareds rated for as an example LOL.

At some point you have to accept enough research has been done and buy one LOL!
 
Yeah, so many variables would come into play. That is why I equated it to a timing belt on a car. They tell you to replace it every X-thousand miles. But some break before that and others go twice the recommended amount.

The way I look at it is if the camera is bought thru authorized Dahua Distributors, it has a 5-year warranty, so one would hope you are getting at least 5 years out of the camera.

But as I said before, one has to be careful with paralysis by analysis LOL. Where do you stop - how many hours are the infrareds rated for as an example LOL.

At some point you have to accept enough research has been done and buy one LOL!
I agree but as I struggle to get up to speed as fast as I can, you gave some critical advice regarding constant patrol routines. Making me wonder what else I don't know.

I do have a very rookie question on IP cams in general. Does the camera constantly send video back to the NVR regardless of any triggered events? In my head, I am thinking of this like sort of a "sleep mode" where a camera could be active in the software and doing it's thing, but just no point in dumping countless boring hours of video to an NVR. I guess at least in MY head. Could something get missed? Oh, probably, but quite literally we will have thousands of hours looking at a boring open field of nothing.
 
I agree but as I struggle to get up to speed as fast as I can, you gave some critical advice regarding constant patrol routines. Making me wonder what else I don't know.

I do have a very rookie question on IP cams in general. Does the camera constantly send video back to the NVR regardless of any triggered events? In my head, I am thinking of this like sort of a "sleep mode" where a camera could be active in the software and doing it's thing, but just no point in dumping countless boring hours of video to an NVR. I guess at least in MY head. Could something get missed? Oh, probably, but quite literally we will have thousands of hours looking at a boring open field of nothing.

You can set your VMS system to record 24/7, only record on AI triggers, only record on motion, lots of options.

Most here would suggest 24/7 recording because as good as the AI is, it does sometimes miss.

These are some great threads if you haven't seen them:




 
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Good stuff! Curious, since you are good with all these thread linkies, I am wondering if there is anything out there on real work done AT NIGHT with a PTZ? You go look on YT and it's nothing but YT fairies with perfecting lighting. Haven't seen one real event at night. I have concerns that zoom coupled with night time will equal very poor lighting in images. Just my experience with even pro level rifle optics, and as you point out. As that zoom rolls in, that light goes away.
 
Yeah the YouTube stuff is always with perfect conditions LOL.

Here was a snapshot I got of some mailbox checkers with my PTZ. 110 feet away. PTZ forced in color. Just coach lights on house:

1730775804367.png


Here was one from @tech101







Here are some video reviews by a well respected member here @Wildcat_1 and you can see his testing and setups for many cameras



Here is a video of 2MP PTZ from 4 years ago and they have only got better:




And that $2K bad boy posted by others here!






Here is a great thread that will show you what you are getting into - PTZs are not plug-n-play and takes a lot of trial and error iterations to get it to track properly for your field of view and lighting. But this shows what is capable at 600 and 300 feet.