Greetings from the Northeast

[Madflamethrower]

Hey everyone, and Happy New Years

While I do have experience with security cameras, both brands were consumer grade. A friend referred me to this site because I am in need of a camera system that will allow me to keep a close eye on my rural 600' driveway, specifically at night. >>Recently had an unknown visitor pull in late night, shut off their headlights at the entrance and slowly creep in on the lower level,, park at the base of the incline to my house, then turn on their lights before driving up to my house to turn around and leave.<< My current Nest cams did capture the whole event, and while sufficient for most of my needs, do not cut it for night vision in the pitch black of darkness. Its time to step up to the level of cams the pros use. I have been lurking for the last few days and it appears I have found the answers to most of my questions. Outstanding and informative site you have here!!

As I continue to increase my knowledge by reading here, I'm sure I'll have more questions. The 2 brands that I am most interested in right now are Hikvision and Dahua. Deciphering the specs and how they apply to my needs, is still a bit of a challenge. But from what I have recently learned, its not that difficult to understand.

Looking forward to participating here.

 

[wittaj]

Welcome!

Most here find that between Dahua and Hikvision, Dahua currently has the best overall selection and easier to use interface.

You will find these are better than Nest LOL. But a bit more work to set up as well.

No consumer grade camera will provide anything useful at 600 feet.

Unless you have a ton of light, you are looking at a $2k PTZ to hit that distance.

But provided you want to capture IDENTIFY closer to your house, there are a lot more options.

If you care about night performance, you will want a MP/sensor ratio in green:

Many people here purchase from trusted member @EMPIRETECANDY with his Empiretech cameras (Dahua OEM - you are buying them cheaper without the logo) on either his website, amazon or a DM to him here.

To get you started, see this thread for the commonly recommended cameras (along with Amazon links) based on distance to IDENTIFY that represent the overall best value in terms of price and performance day and night.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

Enjoy the new hobby!

 

[Madflamethrower]

Thanks for the welcome. Yeah lol, I know the Nests are kids toys at best. But at the time, I was sold on the ease of setup. Having 8 of them gives me a birds eye view with detail during daylight around my 4 acres. The house sits on a hilltop. Its just the lack of sufficient lighting at night that hurts. With the flood light on out front, or a full moon, I can see plenty of detail.

The amount of info I have learned just from your posts recently, was a godsend and well received! Now that I've become a member, I can see the thumbnail pics that you and others have posted. At this point, I'm looking at 4mp with optical zoom and 1/1.8 image sensor as a starting point. That may change tho. I expect it won't be inexpensive to get the detail I want. 2k is within budget for a single cam. For 2 it might be pushing it right now, but if I need 2 to accomplish what I want, then I'll spend the 4K. I'd add more in the future. Lic plate id at night would be nice, but not necessarily a requirement. I would like to have clear and reasonable detail for the lower driveway. I would think with the proper camera, when the vehicle passes close to the camera, I could read the plate. But that would be a moving vehicle, not stationary. In my favor tho is my driveway just about limits you to a slow speed... ~5mph

My thoughts currently are 2 cameras, one at the base of the incline...which is at 300'. The 2nd cam I would place at the road entrance at the 600' mark. Would a single PTZ cam placed at the midpoint be sufficient to monitor the entire 300' lower driveway level with detail?

Lastly, I know you mentioned security cameras and wifi don't mix. And I understand why. But currently running leads to both cameras is somewhat of a problem. Lack of time to install mainly. My hopes are solar wifi will be sufficient for now. If it proves otherwise, I'll run the wiring underground like my utilities are next summer.

 

[TonyR]

Lastly, I know you mentioned security cameras and wifi don't mix. And I understand why. But currently running leads to both cameras is somewhat of a problem. Lack of time to install mainly. My hopes are solar wifi will be sufficient for now. If it proves otherwise, I'll run the wiring underground like my utilities are next summer.

Welcome to IPCT!

So no 120VAC power at the entrance at 600 ft. ?

 

[Madflamethrower]

Welcome to IPCT!

So no 120VAC power at the entrance at 600 ft. ?

Thanks

No, there is nothing there. Underground enters on the other sire of property and poco pole is across the road. So that limits me to solar and wifi for now. I am going to upgrade for driveway cams no matter what, so hopefully it'll work well enough until I can hardwire them.

I have some pics and a short video that shows what pushed me to upgrade, but don't want to jack the intro thread. I'll start a new thread in a bit after I tend to the dogs.

 

[SIR VEYOR]

Welcome to IPCT!

So no 120VAC power at the entrance at 600 ft. ?

Definitely consider a couple solar powered floodlights down along the drive.

Light up at random points along drive and even the pole across the road.

If they were nefarious, the lights will demonstrate you saw them and how they creeped you. And they’ll be back before the month is out, if not this weekend. Casing who might not be back from vacation and worth hitting.

And it’s a bit of an early warning system. If duty cycles are quick, they’ll have lots of eye adjustments for confusion, and you can track them in and out.

Plus easy to range them in full backlight with a scoped rifle.

 

[TonyR]

I have some pics and a short video that shows what pushed me to upgrade, but don't want to jack the intro thread. I'll start a new thread in a bit after I tend to the dogs.

Looking forward to seeing it/them soon at:

Camera Captures

Let's see what your camera captured!

ipcamtalk.com

 

[Madflamethrower]

Looking forward to seeing it/them soon at:

Camera Captures

Let's see what your camera captured!

ipcamtalk.com

I put them here

 

[Madflamethrower]

Definitely consider a couple solar powered floodlights down along the drive.

Light up at random points along drive and even the pole across the road.

If they were nefarious, the lights will demonstrate you saw them and how they creeped you. And they’ll be back before the month is out, if not this weekend. Casing who might not be back from vacation and worth hitting.

And it’s a bit of an early warning system. If duty cycles are quick, they’ll have lots of eye adjustments for confusion, and you can track them in and out.

Plus easy to range them in full backlight with a scoped rifle.

I did that when I placed the alarms (I've since fixed the adjustment). Just some cheap ones that stay on for 30 secs after no motion. I figured they would alert someone..."I know you're there". I may have to invest for something better if it'll benefit the cameras view. But I'd like to select the 2 cameras to be effective in total darkness without the concern for backlighting, for now if possible. With clear night vision being the main objective for these cameras, I will heed any suggestions to achieve that goal.