Fixed vs Vari Focal

[a500drvr]

Ok..Because of this forum I have decided Dahua NVR and cameras. My question is around lenses. I pretty much have read stay away from 2.8... I had thought a couple of 4mm and Nayr's Blackface PTZ... If one is unsure of the lens needed...should I just get a varifocal and then adjust for the location. Is the image quality that much less than fixed? needing about 5 to cover what im looking for..

 

[nayr]

https://ipvm.com/calculator and keep ppf > 100

keep an eye out for an upcoming review of the new dahua starlight varifocal turret from yours truly.. varifocals are nice but with enough planning, research and calculation fixed lenses are usually more cost effective... but its hard to beat the convince of varifocals, especially if your locations are not concrete and/or your intending on trying out a few different install choices to determine what works best.

the varifocals are coming down in cost; used to be you could buy a fixed camera in just about every lens option for the same price of a nice varifocal.. but for the last year or two that gap has been closing fast.

 

[randytsuch]

As a newbie, I'm glad the first (and only so far) camera I bought is a motorized vari focal. I was playing with it last night, mounted my camera on a 2x4 and put it in one potential camera location. It was great to be able to zoom in and out and see the effect. For $90 from aliexpress, not much cost difference to fixed.

 

[dorcse]

I have multiple cams on order right now. All varifocal. A few are PTZ. Only 1 fixed. I am far too OCD for "set it and forget it" cam installs. I'd be up on a ladder swapping cams at 10 PM if the FOV just "didn't look right." Then I'd probably swap it back to the original cam the very next day. I'm whacked. Just ask my wife...

 

[afhuss01]

I mostly used fixed and have no problems. You can usually tell during a walk through what will be needed.

I'll use manual vari for like, say, a cam that has to mounted on a bulk head at the top of a stairwell and needs focused on a door at the end of the stairs. I use motorized if it's a tough location to get to or, say, a cam mounted on a house for a perimeter shot, but there's a shop/barn across the yard they may need to focus on...or a parking lot, etc


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