Help With Placement & Lens Suggestions

Tikiman1

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I would like some input on placement & focal point for my setup. I have 1 Hikvision DS-2CD3132F-IW 2.8mm mounted as shown in pic in red. I want to add a few more cams (2 for now). One (2.8mm?) on the front corner where the yellow dot is to cover the front door & partial driveway & sidewalk. And another in the back where the green dot is to cover the rest of the back. I'm concerned with the IR of one camera blinding the other in the back.

Any input would be great.
 
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Kawboy12R

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I like a wide lens like 2.8mm mounted directly over and just to the side of each door just a hair above head height or at face level if you don't mind the camera being right in people's faces. That should give you decent ID shots of people who come right up to the door plus "what" is going on in your yard but not necessarily "who" is doing it. The yellow dot's placement should be moved to wherever exactly the door is. My guess is that the door isn't on that exposed corner but the sheltered corner just above the yellow dot.

"Who" is doing stuff in your yard/driveway, particularly at night, is better handled with a longer lens and preferably an illuminator. 2.8 is lousy at night and depending on lighting I'd think your ID quality will fall off terribly at 10', maybe 15 depending on lighting. 6mm is good for cars parked very close to but not right under the camera unless you've got either really good lighting or a really good night cam. I wouldn't worry about the green and red cams blinding each other unless they're pointing almost directly at each other. Even down on the ground should be fine. Each cam is different though, and domes are likely to be a bit worse than turrets or bullets for catching light. If it were me, I'd also stick at least a 6 but probably a 12mm at the yellow dot and point it directly out the driveway. A varifocal would be good so you could tune it to catch the width of the driveway to catch faces and plates of everybody who enters. Two would probably be needed to get plates at night. Hiks tend to be bad at night plate shots unless tuned so fast that you can't see faces. I never had problems with plates and faces in colour with my Axis P3364VE in the driveway but my Hiks won't do that and the Axis cams are on door jobs now.
 

Tikiman1

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The front door is where the blue line is and is only 15 feet from the yellow dot. The tree is not there anymore either. Anything of value has to be taken through the yellow or red zones. There are no other access points. I'm only budgeted for 2 cameras right now, otherwise I would have them everywhere. Burglaries & vehicle theft in the area have become a problem in the last year. Worse is that they are happening while people are home. I will add more cameras in the next few months but right now the limit is 2. I wanted the green one because there is a gate on the north side of the house & I want to make sure that if someone tries to escape that way that is covered also. Shed is the black square & I want that covered also. I don't care how visible the cameras are either. The wife leaves for work early in the morning. With the snow flying the car has to warm up. That's why I placed the yellow where I did. That would cover the front door & the car. There is a flood light in the front where the orange/brown dot is.
 
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Kawboy12R

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Wouldn't this placement cover the car as well, provide a closer shot for anybody coming in through the door, and take better advantage of the floodlight shining in the same direction as the camera rather than looking into that light towards the front door from the yellow position? It might also see farther and more of the property and into the road for a bit better situational awareness.
 

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Tikiman1

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Also, the question of: Do I use a domes or bullets for these. I'm thinking bullets for the adjustable shield. That dome that I have on the back is good but the IR reflects off of the under hang if aimed to tight along the wall.
 

Kawboy12R

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You may be right on the driver`s door, especially with it being on the side away from the house if you happen to park nose in all the time. This guy chose the passenger door when stealing my GPS, but it was on the side away from the front door. We forgot to click the doors locked after bringing in groceries and we probably remember to lock it 98% of the time. This picture and me posting it on social media ID`d him and bought the guy a two year sentence. He was a repeat offender and this was part of a stealing spree.

In general, domes with IR have more problems with internal and external reflection than bullets. Turrets are a blend of both and might be a bit more wife and visitor friendly, but don`t have the top shield that can shade light (low sun or floodlight) from the lens of a bullet. Domes also sometimes have problems using their IR with the lens pointed close to horizontally such as when mounted on a low soffet. Some of the upper LEDs reflect off the internal camera casing just above the lens or the soffet itself and the rounded dome makes it worse. Bullets are more easily banged out of adjustment, but I suspect that happens more by accident in residential settings so it`s less of an issue. Nobody I`ve seen on my property without invitation has ever so much as glanced at my cameras when prowling.


GPS_thief.png
 

Tikiman1

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Good job on the bust. As far as locking the car doors, sooner or later we all mess up on that one. The one time that we were hit when we left them unlocked we were lucky, only change was taken. Nothing else in the car. After the guy loosing his truck the other night as soon as he walked in his house I want a camera on the vehicle all the time. My luck it will get taken the one time that she forgets to lock it when it's warming up in the morning.

I've experienced everything with the dome that you've described. The front of the back garage really needs a bullet instead of a dome. Too much reflection from the overhang with the dome at the angle that it needs to be. Bullets in the front of the house will definitely be visible from the street & be a deterrent. Maybe I'll do something with the flood lights then. Wonder if they make IR bulbs for them.
 

Kawboy12R

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You can get IR LED floods but if deterrent is wanted then why not just a bunch of visible light LED floods?
 

Tikiman1

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Wouldn't the floods cause a delay in the video when they come on? A white out of some sorts for a second or 2?

Also, the floods haven't been a deterrent in the past. That's why I was wondering about IR bulbs for it. When they went through the car & got the change the floods were a on.
 

Kawboy12R

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I have motion activated LED floods and they don't cause any significant problems, just almost instantly better picture unless maybe going from almost complete black to well lit but that just means weak IR. Any very short overexposure would be a small price to pay for better picture. Seems to me that Dahuas used to have big problems with motion lights but my Hiks and Axis cams don't. Always-on light is better than motion activated because it helps even before the PIR is tripped, plus there's always a slight chance that a crackhead will skip a lit house and go for an unlit one, but they usually don't care. My choice would be to not eliminate white lights in favour of IR but add standalone IR illuminators to the best white LED lighting you can manage. I sometimes aim IR OVER the target area to brighten the background so a well lit close subject doesn't get blown out white when the camera averages the exposure because of a blackish background.
 
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