HI folks, newbie with lots of questions, so please bear with me.

[ALLEGAL]

I've been lurking here for some time, so I've gone through a lot of the wiki stuff and the notes, but I am having a hard time piecing together a setup that will work out for me and not cost me a million dollars. Any help is greatly appreciated.

So I am looking to set up a 4-6 camera system to keep an eye on my house for various reasons (my wife wants to know who is eating her flowers too), but my biggest issue seems to be camera placement. Not positioning, but actual placement. My house is constructed with all sorts of twists and turns, with some parts jutting out over others, which makes running wires to the outside pretty impossible - especially with the insulation and all the other existing wiring. I was able to run CAT8 cable from my router, straight to the attic, where I put a switch to run hard-wired connections to the individual bedrooms. Great. Now, in looking to set up a security system, I have seen all of the advice about NOT mounting cameras above 7-8 feet if you want them to be of any use for identification, etc. My problem is that I can ONLY mount cameras outside, under the overhangs, which is around 30 feet up. Is there a camera system that would be functional, reliable, and cost-effective to mount at that height, or am I doomed to a world of long-distance, unusable footage?

Thanks in advance to all who reply.

 

[bradner]

Shouldn't be a big problem. Use varifocal cams where you can adjust the zoom. You may lose some field of view (width of view) as you zoom in but you can look up the camera specs and estimate what you'll see at the different focal lengths. I'd get the IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera, it has a large 1/1.8" sensor that will do better than others at night - when it counts. It's 2.7mm to 12mm optical zoom. Around $210USD each. I have one of them currently.

A great review is here.

 

[sebastiantombs]

From 30 feet up even a varifocal will give you wonderful shots of the top of their heads.

 

[samplenhold]

It is all going to depend on how far away you position the focal area of the cam. You need to get a low angle of attack. See diagram.



For 30' high, the focal area will have to be quite far. You may not be able to achieve that depending on how much room you have. You can use the IPVM cam calculator:

IPVM Designer / Calculator

Using Google Maps, layout and design cameras, choosing from 10,000+ models, delivering FoV and image quality previews plus export to PDF, Powerpoint and more

calculator.ipvm.com

Here is a model at 60' away and it looks like getting a face will be tough.

 

[samplenhold]

My problem is that I can ONLY mount cameras outside, under the overhangs, which is around 30 feet up

Is there no way to drop down from that height? May be post some pics and we can give you some ideas?

 

[mat200]

..

So I am looking to set up a 4-6 camera system to keep an eye on my house for various reasons (my wife wants to know who is eating her flowers too), but my biggest issue seems to be camera placement. Not positioning, but actual placement. My house is constructed with all sorts of twists and turns,.. My problem is that I can ONLY mount cameras outside, under the overhangs, which is around 30 feet up. Is there a camera system that would be functional, reliable, and cost-effective to mount at that height, or am I doomed to a world of long-distance, unusable footage?

Thanks in advance to all who reply.

Welcome @ALLEGAL

30 feet high is far too high to get a good angle for a facial ID image for any suspect within 24' of the camera...

Best way to really understand this is to get a good varifocal camera as a test camera and start to play with it.