Impact of varifocal on light requirements and focus? (IPC-T8542T-ZE vs Color4K-X)

[BrockSamson]

There is a corner of my property where I'd like to add additional camera coverage at recognition quality of approximately 125ppm. I have 3 potential camera locations but they are 80-105ft, 90-110ft, or 125-140ft distance from the target zone and would need 45-60° horizontal FOV to cover the area. The distance and FOV requirements are a bit of a challenge and with 8MP/4k 1/1.2" varifocals nowhere to be found I've narrowed things down to:

• IPC-T5842T-ZE turret, 8MP/4k 1/1.8" sensor, 2.7-12mm varifocal lens, f1.4 max aperture, 3.3ft close focus distance, not sure of WDR dB, and claimed 0.004 min lux.
  • I'd be at or near maximum zoom. How would the varifocal lens and aperture impact the lighting requirements and close focus distance?
  • If possible I'm trying to stay in full color mode as I have no other IR-capable cameras nor supplemental IR lighting and those tiny LEDs aren't going to do much at 100ft+.
• IPC-Color4K-X bullet, 8MP/4k 1/1.2" sensor, 6mm (55°) lens, f1 aperture, 42ft close focus distance, 140dB WDR, and claimed 0.0005 min lux.
  • With a 42ft close focus distance would a secondary target zone in the 20-40ft range be slightly fuzzy or a complete blur?
  • I've heard that these 1/1.2" f1 cameras can have a narrower DOF. If true, would this be a huge impact or barely noticeable considering various distances of 20ft, 40ft, 80ft, 120ft?
  • We don't particularly like how bullet cameras look on our house but the turret versions don't (yet?) have 6mm lens options.

I currently have some Hikvision ColorVu DS-2CD2387G2P-LSU/SL panoramic cameras with dual 4MP 1/1.8" sensors, 4mm lenses, f1 aperture, unknown close focus, 130dB WDR, and claimed 0.0005 min lux. For the most part they are great and with mostly default settings, untuned, LEDs off, I get an excellent color night image at 1/60 shutter, very good at 1/120, good at 1/200, acceptable image but gradually increasing noise between 1/225 and 1/400. My understanding is that due to sensor ratio the Color4K-X should be roughly comparable in sensitivity to my Hikvisions while the 5842 would need around twice the light. So the 5842 at 1/60 would be about as sensitive as my Hikvision at 1/120?

Normally you'd pick the Color4k-X for the better sensor ratio but light levels permitting I'd rather have a turret format with 45° FOV than a bullet format with 55° FOV especially since I still have the Hikvisions as another layer of coverage up close to the house. If I have things wrong though and it's not just 2x light due to sensor ratio but 4x, 5x, or more due to varifocal lens, aperture, etc then it's not going to be a usable image anyways and I'd have to bite the bullet (sorry) and go for the Color4K-X. Wildcat and others have great reviews and videos with comparisons and I also saw a very similar thread on the same subject but with zoom levels and lighting conditions unique for each situation I'm not certain.

Any thoughts? Other options I'm not considering?

 

[Perimeter]

Other options I'm not considering?

As it is available from Amazon.com, you could find out risk free.

 

[wittaj]

As it is available from Amazon.com, you could find out risk free.

Yeah but that isn't nice to do to @EMPIRETECANDY and not something we recommend to do to a strong supporter and member of this forum.

Since the nearest point is 80 feet, none of the fixed cams are a good choice if you want to IDENTIFY and you would need at least 5442-Z4E or PTZ.

 

[wittaj]

See this thread for camera recommendations based on distance to identify

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

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

Yes, those cams can't work for such long distance watching.
If prefer 4K can check the IPC-B5842E-Z4E. Or just 4MP IPC-B5442E-Z4E. Bullet one no build in mic.

 

[BrockSamson]

Since the nearest point is 80 feet, none of the fixed cams are a good choice if you want to IDENTIFY and you would need at least 5442-Z4E or PTZ.

Yes, those cams can't work for such long distance watching.
If prefer 4K can check the IPC-B5842E-Z4E. Or just 4MP IPC-B5442E-Z4E. Bullet one no build in mic.

I'm not trying to zoom in on a choke point for IDENTIFICATION of unknown subjects but rather to RECOGNIZE as best I can known subjects in a large unfenced section of my yard. Depending on camera location 45-60° FOV is as much as I can zoom in without leaving gaps.

I believe DORI recognize is 125ppm so if my math is correct then an 8MP/4k camera at 55 FOV and 90-110ft distance would give me 119-146ppm which would be right in that zone.

The purpose is that I get a lot of neighborhood foot traffic near or through this part of my yard. I'm don't mind, the vast majority of people are respectful, but every once in a while somebody will do something where it would be nice to know who. Almost everyone is from the neighborhood so if it's somebody I can recognize then great I can have a casual chat with them. If not then oh well, it's not that big a deal, I still have observational coverage over the entire yard and there is appropriate identification coverage closer to the house if somebody was really causing trouble.

 

[wittaj]

Based on what you are saying, I would consider the 5442 series.

The 5842 is 8MP on the same sensor as the 5442 (4MP) and at 100 feet at night, staying in color will be much more difficult for the 5842, especially if you are hoping to be able to run the camera off of default/auto shutter and try to use faster shutters to minimize blur. Heck even the IR will be a stretch for the 5442, but the 5842 would need at least double the amount of light.

At night the extra MP will not help and will be hindrance, especially as you zoom in and the fstop gets smaller, it will need more light. Folks that have both the 5842-ZE and the 5442-ZE have all said the 5442 is better at night.

Real world experiences of DORI is that those numbers are established by the manufacturer and are based on best case scenarios. Real world you should cut them in half during daytime and cut that half in half or more at night time.