First camera install, $1000 budget

Jimmy, have a look at this for low lght. I just did a screen cap of my 2231. It's about 7PM and my other, non Dahua, cameras have switched to night mode (BW) already. All of my Dahuas are on a utility to switch them to night mode a half hour after local sunset which is why it's still on color mode.

2231_dusk_color.JPG
 
That looks like way better quality than i was expecting.

How about the doorbell cameras. Are they all wifi? How are they powered? I would much prefer to hardwire.
 
My own opinion of doorbell cameras, at least most of them, is that they're not yet ready for prime time. Too many WFi problems, most are cloud connected and that introduces lots of delay...even more than IP cameras already have, the cloud services don't seem to be reliable, firmware gets to be a real PITA, quality of the cameras seems to be a little on the questionable side in terms of being weatherproof and smudges/dirt on the inside of the dome. They use power from your doorbell and digital doorbells can be a problem while mechanicals can end up humming constantly due to the constant current through the coils of the doorbell.

Doorbird, at least I thik that's the one, is a hard wired PoE camera and seems to be better as a result. Looney tested the Dahua offering and found it, shall we say, seriously lacking. You're better off with a real PoE camera covering the door and a standard intercom, at least to me.
 
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awsum140 said:
My own opinion of doorbell cameras, at least most of them, is that they're not yet ready for prime time. Too many WFi problems, most are cloud connected and that introduces lots of delay...even more than IP cameras already have, the cloud services don't seem to be reliable, firmware gets to be a real PITA, quality of the cameras seems to be a little on the questionable side in terms of being weatherproof and smudges/dirt on the inside of the dome. They use power from your doorbell and digital doorbells can be a problem while mechanicals can end up humming constantly due to the constant current through the coils of the doorbell.

Doorbird, at least I thik that's the one, is a hard wired PoE camera and seems to be better as a result. Looney tested the Dahua offering and found it, shall we say, seriously lacking. You're better off with a real PoE camera covering the door and a standard intercom, at least to me.
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I think i will mount a camera on the wall around eye level, near the door. This seems like it would be a good option
Review-Dahua IPC-NB5531P 5mp Fisheye Camera

If im understanding how that works, the camera records a huge panoramic picture and then you can chose what part is displayed, for it to look normal. Would i be able to chose what is displayed on the mobile app? If someone knocks on the door, i want to have the option of looking at my phone and getting a decent picture of who's at the door.
 
We'd all like that option of getting a notification on the phone and instantly looking at the live video. Keep in mind IP cameras have an inherent delay between the live action and what is displayed/analyzed, say at least a second and maybe as much as three seconds. Now, add in the time needed for a notification to be generated by a program and get to your phone from your network device, whatever it is. Next add in the load time for the app on the phone. Now add in the round trip times between your phone, your mobile provider, your cable provide and your own LAN. By the time you get the notification, open the app and respond, just a guess but 10-15 seconds or more isn't out of the realm of possibility, whoever was at the door is gone.

I know Ring shows instant response in their commercials, but those are commercials, not "real life" and, IMHO, are very misleading. Sometimes it's tough being a skeptical curmudgeon so I like to think I'm a realist. :)
 
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awsum140 said:
We'd all like that option of getting a notification on the phone and instantly looking at the live video. Keep in mind IP cameras have an inherent delay between the live action and what is displayed/analyzed, say at least a second and maybe as much as three seconds. Now, add in the time needed for a notification to be generated by a program and get to your phone from your network device, whatever it is. Next add in the load time for the app on the phone. Now add in the round trip times between your phone, your mobile provider, your cable provide and your own LAN. By the time you get the notification, open the app and respond, just a guess but 10-15 seconds or more isn't out of the realm of possibility, whoever was at the door is gone.

I know Ring shows instant response in their commercials, but those are commercials, not "real life" and, IMHO, are very misleading. Sometimes it's tough being a skeptical curmudgeon so I like to think I'm a realist. :)
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i don't think the delay would be an issue. I'm not talking about a notification. Just that if im taking a dump or in bed or something and someone knocks on the door. id like to be able to boot up my app and see who is/was there. Basically, just that what i see on my app wouldn't be completely distorted. But reading through the thread on that camera, i would choose what part of the picture i want to see on the NVR and then whatever i chose, the app would display that.
 
Again, the delays involved are kind of significant even on your own WiFi. I'm just trying to explain the realities of the situation. You're still talking about the basic delay of an IP camera, the VMS analyzing the event, sending a notification, your phone alerting you, grabbing your phone, clicking on the app, the app loading then loading the video stream. Even if you eliminate the VMS sending a notification, assuming you hear the doorbell locally, the delays are still significant. All of that takes time and it accumulates quite rapidly.

The consensus of the true experts here seems to be that if you want a video intercom style setup, buy a video intercom which isn't part of a VMS system.

As far as selecting the view from that camera, sure that's doable. Just don't get hung up on high megapixel cameras if you want a decent low light picture.
 
i think im ready to order some stuff. Whats the best way to get ahold of Andy. Im assuming its cheaper to order through email vs ordering through one of the websites.
 
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He also may be a little backed up due to, I think, a national holiday over there earlier this week...but don't quote me on that since my sense of time can be a little muddled.
 
It may be a holiday and I hope he's OK. It's always worked for me in about a day. You can try a private message here as well...EMPIRETECANDY
 
I just saw a post in another thread from Andy saying he's "back". So I suspect you'll hear from him in short order if you haven't already.
 
I don't own an NVR but would hazard a guess that you can adjust the focal length from the NVR. I use Pale Moon, 32 bit version, browser and access the camera directly for setup purposes. The 32 bit version of Pale Moon allows the "plug ins" needed that are being blocked in newer, 64 bit, browsers.
 
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