Help me piece out a system

[Rx38-]

Good morning everyone, new member here and introduced myself on the new member thread.

Asking for advice to help me piece out a system. I’m a total newb when it comes to this and I was just going to get a Costco Lorex kit but I’m hoping with your help I can get the confidence to piece together a better setup.

I saw Annke has a sale for good cameras at $140 so I thought I’d start asking for suggestions now before the sale ends if that’s a good piece to work around on.

Needs:
I have a 2 story home. Access points are front courtyard leading to the front door. 2 car garage opposite the front door location if you’re facing the house. On one side of the house there’s a door that leads to the garage. And lastly I have a sliding door access in the back.

So I’m thinking at the very least, I would need 4 cameras for each entry points in the house. Prefer something that has good low light camera for night time.

My internet modem/router access points are all downstairs.

I would prefer something that has iPhone access to be able to view things conveniently. I don’t know which is better between dvr and nvr and what is preferred.

The words hikvision, dahua, blue iris are all new to me. So I would appreciate someone just basically telling what to get setup wise for hardware and software.

Thank you all.

 

[Sammyf]

I’d recommend (as would probably many others too) reading the wiki and cliff notes. Check some threads in pictures & videos section.
At least:

The Typical picture of a Perp on Nextdoor-type Apps with Consumer Grade Cameras like Ring, Nest, Arlo, Canary, Wyze, etc.

Love these posts on Nextdoor type apps LOL. This thread will be used for members to post the poor quality consumer grade type camera images that we see people post to the Nextdoor type apps. Can anyone make out this person that went thru their cars LOL.... And this thread is where members...

ipcamtalk.com

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

At the urging of several folks here, I created a thread to show the importance of focal length and how focal length can be more important than megapixels (MP). I mentioned some of this in the post regarding The Hookup’s latest video demonstrating different cameras, including one sold from a...

ipcamtalk.com

Read threads about installation. Both generic topics and ones where others are looking for help on their setup. It’s a good way to learn things and get inspiration for your own setup.

Then define what you want to achieve around the house (DORI is nice concept for this, you’ll learn it in the wiki). Only then get one camera to test focal lengths at different locations (night & day) and possibly how well the AI on camera works, if you intend to use it.

This way you might miss the sales. But also, you might save in long run by not making uneducated purchases. Though eventually you might end up buying a lot of cameras
I spent around two weeks reading stuff here, before ordering my first serious cam (had some consumer grade kit before and this forum was an eyeopener).

 

[Ri22o]

I have a good thread as well, documenting my progression from being a beginner to being a little better.

"I want 2.8mm cameras everywhere to see everything..." - This is why you need specific FOVs with purposeful focal lengths.

I have gained a lot of knowledge since I signed up and wanted to share my experience and examples of improvements and changes for others who are coming from a "I want 2.8mm cameras everywhere to see everything" system mentality. My ongoing "build/looking for advice" thread can be found here...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[mat200]

Good morning everyone, new member here and introduced myself on the new member thread.

Asking for advice to help me piece out a system. I’m a total newb when it comes to this and I was just going to get a Costco Lorex kit but I’m hoping with your help I can get the confidence to piece together a better setup.

I saw Annke has a sale for good cameras at $140 so I thought I’d start asking for suggestions now before the sale ends if that’s a good piece to work around on.

Needs:
I have a 2 story home. Access points are front courtyard leading to the front door. 2 car garage opposite the front door location if you’re facing the house. On one side of the house there’s a door that leads to the garage. And lastly I have a sliding door access in the back.

So I’m thinking at the very least, I would need 4 cameras for each entry points in the house. Prefer something that has good low light camera for night time.

My internet modem/router access points are all downstairs.

I would prefer something that has iPhone access to be able to view things conveniently. I don’t know which is better between dvr and nvr and what is preferred.

The words hikvision, dahua, blue iris are all new to me. So I would appreciate someone just basically telling what to get setup wise for hardware and software.

Thank you all.

Welcome @Rx38-

Many members like running Blue Iris on a used Business Class PC ..

The Annke $139.99 for a 8MP "4K" 1/1.2' sensor camera is a good deal ( remember to look for that additional 5% discount code in the deal thread .. it may still work to reduce your California sales tax )

If you are new to this, perhaps picking up 1-2 to start off is a good way to get started ..

Remember you can paint the black turret case to match your home .. so I don't worry too much about the case color ..

Look for a small PoE switch and a nice good cat5e/6 cable with real copper wires of 23 or 24 awg ( better for PoE ) and start to play around with it.

Search here for "test rig" and see what others have done ..

Remember to check out the DORI section of the cliff notes, and note that you will need to mount these about 6-8 feet high to get the best results for ID image capture.

 

[kjinxx2]

I started my journey by living in the wiki - I would suggest reading through the cliff notes - click every single link, read every single word. It's a lot, but by the time you come out of the wiki you'll come into the forum with a much much much better understanding of the questions you should be asking and where you need help

IP Cam Talk Cliff Notes

Information in this section was contributed by [URL='https://ipcamtalk.com/members/mat200.29441/'][COLOR=#0000b3]@matt200[/COLOR][/URL] and [URL='https://ipcamtalk.com/members/giomania.36271/'][COLOR=#0000b3]@giomania [/COLOR][/URL] [/LIST] Any dedicated manufacturer NVR should match...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[mat200]

Good morning everyone, new member here and introduced myself on the new member thread.

Asking for advice to help me piece out a system. I’m a total newb when it comes to this and I was just going to get a Costco Lorex kit but I’m hoping with your help I can get the confidence to piece together a better setup.

I saw Annke has a sale for good cameras at $140 so I thought I’d start asking for suggestions now before the sale ends if that’s a good piece to work around on.

Needs:
I have a 2 story home. Access points are front courtyard leading to the front door. 2 car garage opposite the front door location if you’re facing the house. On one side of the house there’s a door that leads to the garage. And lastly I have a sliding door access in the back.

So I’m thinking at the very least, I would need 4 cameras for each entry points in the house. Prefer something that has good low light camera for night time.

My internet modem/router access points are all downstairs.

I would prefer something that has iPhone access to be able to view things conveniently. I don’t know which is better between dvr and nvr and what is preferred.

The words hikvision, dahua, blue iris are all new to me. So I would appreciate someone just basically telling what to get setup wise for hardware and software.

Thank you all.

Feel free to share the layout of your home and proximity to the street and places you think you want cameras.

 

[Rx38-]

Feel free to share the layout of your home and proximity to the street and places you think you want cameras.

Like a 2D floor plan? Would that work?

 

[Keizer]

The Annke $139.99 for a 8MP "4K" 1/1.2' sensor camera is a good deal ( remember to look for that additional 5% discount code in the deal thread .. it may still work to reduce your California sales tax )



View attachment 165417

That is a really good deal. Wonder how this model compares to the 4K T?

 

[Rob2020]

As mentioned read the Cliff Notes. I like the idea of starting slow and building. The following is a good budget approach to start slow and add cameras as your needs are better understood of what will work the best.

A 2MP Dahua varifocal rebrand can be purchased for $125 from the IPCamtalk store, this is better than anything mass marketed you will find as part of a kit. Assuming you have a modern PC a Blue Iris license runs another $63 also from the IPCamtalk store. You will need Ethernet cabling and a switch that supports POE, Netgear is one good brand and there are others. A Netgear GS305p V2 will support 4 cameras and is currently $40 at Amazon.

https://store.ipcamtalk.com/shop/blue-iris-software/

2MP Starlight Turret Varifocal IP Camera - IP Cam Talk Store

Dahua re-branded StarLight 2MP IP Varifocal Camera, turret style.

store.ipcamtalk.com

 

[Gimmons]

There will always be another sale.

Along the DORI line of thought, for each main approach to your house (i.e. not the side yards, where you have a neighbor house close by), you want an overview camera, for which I like the Dahua Color4k-t, which gives me a 180 degree view, and sees beautifully in the dark. I have that on the second story balcony. Down below, you'll want the cameras that will ID people. Think Dahua 5442s. In my case, I use a less-common combination of an IPC-HDBW5441F-AS-E2 and the camera on my Intercom, a VTO2202f-p- something. The downsides of these is they need more light than a 5442, but I happen to have enough light. I like the HDBW5441 boobie cameras because you can put one in the middle of an area you want to cover and you get two cameras in a neat package with a single cable. Good for narrow side yards, but again, they need light, and the built-in IR is difficult to use without getting glare. Wittaj knows how to do it, but I can't figure it out, so I use low wattage hardscape lights.