Front door, flat house, vinyl siding ideas? (pics)

[Dave88LX]

Next up: Front door. Trying to keep the different areas separate as to avoid confusion and crosstalk. Looking at covering my front door. No entryway or hallway or obstructions to speak of. Just a boring flat front door. Is there a method to mount a camera to the left of the front door without looking tacky?

I am thinking of perhaps the two locations shown for specifically front door coverage.

Thoughts? Dahua model suggestions?
Thanks!

 

[bigredfish]

Two seems like overkill there..? I would do the red placement, perhaps just a tooch higher- about 6-7' and a 5231R-Z Starlight.

 

[Dave88LX]

I know watching packages is a big thing, thought the blue area might give a bigger overall picture of what's going on. Plus show that angle of the yard, and if people don't use the walkway. Again, I'm new.

 

[bigredfish]

Of course, nothing wrong with that, I'm an overkill kinda guy myself.

Use the location at the door for facial ID, the other provides overview and package verification along with the yard view as you mention.

 

[Dave88LX]

Agreed, I would have to play with the height of the cam once I got it close to the house. I read somewhere between 6-7 feet or so.

Now what about the actual cam itself? What's the least tacky way to do this on vinyl siding?

 

[looney2ns]

What? You have something against Duck Tape?

Get a junction box for the cam, then get a siding trim piece like the one under your light above the door.

Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

Somewhat smaller cam:
New arrival 2MP Starlight IR Mini Dome Network camera IPC HDBW4231F AS,free DHL shipping-in Surveillance Cameras from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

NOTE: being that you have no protection over your door, the dome on the 4231F may become clouded from the sun over time.

 

[Dave88LX]

Oh I don't have a single problem with duct tape! Wife, well, not so much.

Yeah the only overhang is way up at the roof. I don't get too much sunlight on the front door though, just some morning sun. Don't think I'd want to risk it though, not sure. I wish there was a place to borrow cameras from!

I have good lighting at night, do I need a 2MP Starlight there? Or could/should I look at something with a higher resolution?

 

[looney2ns]

Higher resolution doesn't get you much bang for the buck. The 2mp Starlights are about as good as it gets.

Looking for some advice and direction!

 

[Dave88LX]

Revisiting this thread now that I've got the Dahua IPC-HDW5231R-Z running up on a test stand.
Keep in mind for this testing, the camera is about 6" further out from the house than it will be when installed.
Current lens height is 5'6" above the landing, or, 6'10" above the walkway.
For reference, I am 6'1".

I believe I have the camera settings mostly default for now.
Optical zoom setting is at "400". (What exactly is 400 in reference to?)
Currently at 30 FPS and 8192K bitrate, which I'll play with later.

Also included the way I have the lens bezel and housing oriented, just in case.

Do you think I should go with this location,or go up or down a shingle on the house?
Any other settings that I should look into?

Daytime:

 

[Dave88LX]

Night video:

 

[Dave88LX]

Here's showing zoomed all the way in, and all the way out. 2.7mm and 12mm.

 

[bigredfish]

Nice. I gotta say I like the all the way zoomed out to 2.7 myself, a bit better situational awareness and no real loss of the primary shot, unless the IR bounces off that tree too much. Anyway probably splitting hairs, the test clips are looking good!

 

[looney2ns]

Best to live with it on the test stand for a few days at the setup you think works best, you will notice any tweaks you may need.
The video test's are looking good.

 

[Dave88LX]

OK cool. I'm glad nothing is glaringly wrong or obvious then!