Hi everyone, this looks like a great sure and I am glad to have found it.
I have a question regarding a new camera request. We have been getting some vandalism in our driveway lately so i am looking for a good IP camera with excellent night vision. The distance from the end of the driveway to the garage where I will mount the camera is only about 30 feet. (3 cars wide) I want to be able to view the video feed remotely as well as locally. Can anyone recommend a camera for me? I am thinking of getting a NAS for recording the video also, and will likely add a few more cameras down the road.
Thanks
Welcome Steve!
I had similar issues when I recently started looking for security / surveillance camera options - I've tried a lot of less than effective solutions, and this site is a TON of great information from numerous members with a lot of experience.
It's easy to get swamped with information here, so I wanted to share some notes with you
Please check out
@giomania 's notes:
Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)
I have also made which are a summary of a lot of the reading I've been doing here,:
Looking for some advice and direction!
Now for your particular situation -
@looney2ns points to a critical item you need to look at 100ppf - which means a camera from 30ft away will be a bit of a challenge to hit those numbers unless it has a good zoom to it. Thus in that particular case I would look at various varifocal starlights to cover that spot. You may need more than one camera to get a good set of views.
Here's what I personally like in terms of a good compromise between a budget and features:
FYI - Some local Costco B&M have a Lorex / Dahua OEM 4K 6x camera kit and 8 port NVR for $800
I would recommend seeing if your local Costco has that kit - and if they do pick it up and test it, AND THEN add 1-2 Starlight cameras to it to cover your darker spots around your home. ( est cost $1200-1300 w/o wiring - a significant savings going this way. )
Example of a Dahua starlight bullet with a good zoom ( 7mm ~35mm 5X zoom lens ) which I would also consider for the garage location to cover 30ft away. ( do try it with the Camera Calculator which Looney2ns mentions, as well as the Starlight Turret he mentions - I picked up a few of those and they are very nice and solid units. )
IPC-HFW5231E-Z5
IPC-HFW5231E-Z5 | Dahua Technology - Dahua Technology
Also consider the IPC-HFW8232E-Z - it has an even better night time performance! ( est $320 vs $170-200 for the other varifocal starlights )
IPC-HFW8232E-Z | Dahua Technology - Dahua Technology
Checkout Nayr's thread on starlights
Dahua 2MP Starlight Lineup
Note if you have a tight budget you can just purchase ONE Dahua Starlight Camera and put in a micro-SD card into it and get a POE injector. Remember which ever way you go, you can always start smaller and add more later. For me the wiring job was the hardest part of it, and thus I wanted to get all of that done in one major push.
Also, if you have a larger budget there are a lot of variations to what you can do. Check out the notes above, and remember we're happy to help here if you have any questions after reading the notes.
Lots to learn, and I am still learning.
Have Fun setting it up!
