hopefully a quick "need advice" thread :)

E

eleazar

n3wb
Sep 17, 2018
9
0
USA
Hey everyone, thank you in advance for letting me pick your brains on these questions.

I've been in discussion with Andy at Empire Tech about replacing/upgrading some cameras for my house.

Thanks to Andy's recommendation and the excellent reviews by @wopi82 and @Burton_Flooring I've decided on the IPC-HFW1831E for my driveway cam. My current driveway cam is an Amcrest 954-E, so I'm thinking 4mm lens for the driveway to get 87degrees, compared to the 81degrees with the amcrest. It's an upgrade across the board. So this seems like a no brainer. :)

First Question-Interior Garage Cam:
I'm wondering if you guys would agree that another HFW1831E @ 2.8mm lens is a good fit for indoor mounting in my garage. It would be mounted right above the interior garage door, hopefully getting the entire garage and also outside whenever the garage door is open. I was originally planning on a turret, but from my understanding there is no turret version of the HFW1831E. Would you guys recommend a mini-bullet indoors like that? I'd love something lower profile and less noticeable, but the cost:benefit ratio seems extremely high on the HFW1831E.

I'm currently using a cheapo $25 720p wifi camera in the garage. I've attached a screenshot of what it captures currently to give you guys an idea of the garage layout (I know the mounting location and camera angle is horrible, but I was limited by needing normal power since the camera doesn't have POE).

Last Question-Front Door Cam:
I'm currently running an IPC-HDW4431C-A-V2 turret that I purchased on eBay for $80. It's running firmware from 2016 and is not update-able. I'm honestly not even sure it's the actual model they claim it is. If I run it at max resolution 2592x1520 and max bitrate 10,240kbps at 20fps, I get dropped frames constantly. None of the video is smooth, if a car is driving by, they constantly skip across the screen. So I've had to move to a lower resolution and lower bitrate.

Since I was asking for a turret, Andy recommended the IPC-HDW4831EM-ASE 8MP turret camera, but I saw it only supports 8MP at 15fps. I'm wondering if I should get yet another HFW1831E since it supports 8MP at 25fps, which is a really nice bonus to me. I know people say 15fps is plenty for security footage, but I would really prefer to have 25-30fps at max resolution. I've read that front door cameras should be turrets if possible, so I'm torn on what to do here.

Is there a turret that supports 8MP at 25fps in the same price range? The HDW4831EM is $155. If I have to go a little higher to get a newer turret with 8MP at 25fps, I will do that, but my hard limit is probably around $200.

I think that covers all of my questions. :) Thanks again!

Quick Edit:
My budget is around $150 per camera ($200 if a huge increase in quality/features). If there are other cameras that you would recommend. I'd love to hear which cameras and why. :)
 

Attachments

  • garage-20180919-0945290059.jpg
    garage-20180919-0945290059.jpg
    425.5 KB · Views: 38
Last edited:
After doing some more research since posting, I think I'm leaning towards getting a 2MP Starlight for the front door. Now I just need to figure out which starlight model :facepalm:
 
looney2ns said:
This for front door. IPC-HDBW4231F-AS | Dahua Technology in 2.8mm lens. Mounted next to the door, at 5-6'
Click to expand...

Thanks! My only question, per the Cliff Notes, it sounds like the best practice is to not use domes outside, due to glare, IR reflection, and dome degradation over time. Should I not be concerned about that?

I was kind of leaning towards a turret, but I'm flexible if I should be considering something else. :)
 
I've attached a picture of my current front door mounting location.

I'm thinking I might need to split the POE cable coming in at the current front door camera, and run a new line from there to the front door. I was trying to have it be very discreet (it's hardly noticeable in it's current location), but it's also not good for face detection, or seeing the entire front yard.

Running a full new line for another front door camera would be very labor intensive, which is why I'm thinking I might have to split it, if I can. But now that I think about it, splitting it outdoors seems like it will be a bad situation (electronics exposed to the elements)
 

Attachments

  • front door-20180919-113351.jpg
    front door-20180919-113351.jpg
    907.8 KB · Views: 38
If you want something small and inconspicuous, you should use the non-varifocal (fixed lens) turrets such as the 4231EM-ASE, 4631EM-ASE, etc. Those should be around $140

I would debate with you whether you actually need an 8MP cam (unless you're trying to see what's going on in the street, and depending on your lighting, would most likely need the HFW1831E anyways).

Honestly the HFW1831E is going to be the most cost effective solution either way, except it's not a turret. I don't know of any 8mp Turrets, in that price range, that will provide the kind of recording you are looking for.

What's your target distance? (are you trying to ID cars and people on the street)

I would second the motion, that 15fps is plenty good (if having a turret is important). I use the HDW5631R-ZE (a 6MP vari-focal turret) for reading license plates at the driveway of our parking lot, with the framerate set to 8fps, and it gives me about 16-20 frames with which to scroll through and ID the vehicle.

If your subject crosses through the cameras field of view faster than a second, you're dealing with too much speed to properly capture at night time anyways. :-) (unless you're just grabbing the license plate, which would move you an entirely different direction)
 
Burton_Flooring said:
If you want something small and inconspicuous, you should use the non-varifocal (fixed lens) turrets such as the 4231EM-ASE, 4631EM-ASE, etc. Those should be around $140

I would debate with you whether you actually need an 8MP cam (unless you're trying to see what's going on in the street, and depending on your lighting, would most likely need the HFW1831E anyways).

Honestly the HFW1831E is going to be the most cost effective solution either way, except it's not a turret. I don't know of any 8mp Turrets, in that price range, that will provide the kind of recording you are looking for.

What's your target distance? (are you trying to ID cars and people on the street)

I would second the motion, that 15fps is plenty good (if having a turret is important). I use the HDW5631R-ZE (a 6MP vari-focal turret) for reading license plates at the driveway of our parking lot, with the framerate set to 8fps, and it gives me about 16-20 frames with which to scroll through and ID the vehicle.

If your subject crosses through the cameras field of view faster than a second, you're dealing with too much speed to properly capture at night time anyways. :) (unless you're just grabbing the license plate, which would move you an entirely different direction)
Click to expand...

Thank you for the response! You're right, I didn't really detail out my priorities for the cameras. It might be less common around here, but my primary use it to keep an eye on my kids when they are playing outside (all of them are 5 and under). So the higher resolution the better to see what all is going on near and far (that and I'm just a pixel peeper at heart). I definitely agree that I don't need 8MP. :D At night, just like anybody else, if there are nefarious activities, I want them recorded, so I can use the footage later, if necessary. I've attached a shot from my current driveway camera to give you an idea of the distances I'm dealing with.

I've never worried about reading license plates, but maybe I should prioritize that.

Also I'd really like 25fps, if anything because sometimes the kids get hurt, and it helps to see what exactly happened. It's not required, but just makes it easier to tell what exactly is going on at faster frame rates. Obviously this is open to personal judgement, it's just my opinion. :)

I'm definitely ok with fixed lens models, as that is all that I am currently using. So I haven't been spoiled by varifocal models yet. :cool:

Based on your agreement that the 1851E's are such a great value given my use case, I'm thinking maybe 3 of the 1851E's (1 Garage, 1 Driveway, 1 current front door location). Then maybe try to get another POE line for a starlight camera at face height next to the front door?

Thanks again for the advice!
 

Attachments

  • driveway-20180919-140437.jpg
    driveway-20180919-140437.jpg
    612.1 KB · Views: 18
@eleazar
Before you go with 1831E just remember it has a problem with resetting date and time. This can cause problems when using day/night profiles. When the clock resets, it might suddenly change to day mode during night or vice versa. You can of course synch the clock with NTP, but I haven't tested it, and don't know exactly how it works.
 
@wopi82 I'm using mine w/ a Dahua NVR and have not had any issues w/ the time resetting. Been as stable as the other Dahua cams. But I also have the camera syncing to a time server (and it's on the correct daylight savings zone) so maybe that's what the difference is.

These are my settings for all my cameras.

Capture.PNG

Edit: In my testing, the camera only switched to Day/Night mode when it got dark, regardless of the time. (newer firmware enables automatic day/night switch).
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom