IP Cam recommendation request.

Highline

Highline

n3wb
Jan 4, 2025
7
0
Amesbury, MA
Greetings!

I am undertaking a project to equip my condo building with IP cameras that can be used for security purposes.

There are ten units in my building and I would like to be able to allow all residents access to the camera feeds.

Any recommendations?

I appreciate you!

:)
 
Since this is your first post on the forum, please confirm that you are not a bot. No offense meant, it's just that there is an increasing number of new forum members that are bots. Maybe specify the type of access you're thinking of, such as computer in each unit, whole-building wifi, smartphone, etc.
 
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Hi, I'm not a bot.

:)

I'm thinking some type of secured website where people can log in to access the feeds. I am not sure what type of hardware is out there that has a really good backend suite.
 
I'm not a very good source for this info. I'll make a small start by saying for the most part, there are 2 types of systems widely used by members of this forum. One is an NVR from a company such as Dahua or Hikvision, with many other brands that use hardware manufactured by these or a few other companies. The other is a PC application called Blue Iris that basically turns the windows computer into an NVR. There are ways to access either remotely. Most forum members use security cameras in single family home or small business applications, and what's best for them might not be what's best for your application. I have to leave addressing that to others.
 
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Without knowing more details, there is a lot of unknowns.

How many cameras? Observe or IDENTIFY? Just the perimeter of the building/access ways or the parking lot? Plate Reading capability? Budget?

As pointed out, many here go with an NVR or BI or other type of VMS system.

Then you have concerns about access - do you use a VPN or give everyone free access to look/control/ F up LOL.

Not popular here, but for some people a consumer grade system fits their needs. Someone rings the doorbell and you want to see who it is to know if you grant access or not, etc.

Just keep in mind that NONE of the better grade systems are true plug-n-play either. At a minimum you need to manually set shutter speeds.

If you want true plug-n-play simplicity, then just go with one of the consumer brands - Ring, Arlo, Reolink, Nest, Blink, etc. They are true plug-n-play because those cameras all run on default/auto settings with very little, to no ability to change camera parameters. Just recognize nighttime motion quality will be poor.

Simply download their app and scan the camera QR code and you are up and running, with a better app experience also.

But their plug-n-play simplicity comes at a cost of nighttime performance and ability to customize stuff, but obviously many do not seem to care about that as those systems are popular and those consumer grade systems are a perfect fit for those that want simplicity and not having to learn how to use an NVR or other type of VMS system.
 
OVERVIEW or IDENTIFY and at what distances? How do you plan to store/view footage - NVR or SD cards? Or a consumer grade overpriced cloud subscription?

Contrary to popular belief, one camera cannot be the be all/see all. 2 cameras will not provide a lot of security footage outside of the 15 foot ideal range of the typical 2.8 or 3.6mm camera.

Other than chasing MP, the next biggest mistake is thinking one camera can do it all.

We were all there once LOL.

Almost every big box store, consumer grade cameras and all-in-one-box kits come with either 2.8mm or 3.6mm cameras. I started with the four 2.8mm camera box kit system and I was like "I can place one on each corner of the house and see my whole property and the whole neighborhood." A newbie loves the wide angle "I can see the whole neighborhood" of the 2.8mm fixed wide angle lens. I LOVED IT WHEN I PUT IT UP. I could see everything that would be blocked looking out the windows.

It is easy to get lured in to thinking the wide angle "see the whole neighborhood" because you are watching it and you see a neighbor go by and you are like "Look at that I can tell that is Heather out walking." and "Yeah I can tell our neighbor 4 down just passed by". Or you watch back the video of you walking around and are like "yeah I can tell that is me".

Little do we realize how much WE can identify a known person just by hair style, clothing, walking pace, gait, etc.

Then one day the door checker comes by. Total stranger. Totally useless video other than what time the door checking happened.

Then you realize that this wide-angle see the whole neighborhood comes at a cost and that cost is not being able to IDENTIFY who did it. These 2.8mm wide angle cameras are great overview cameras or to IDENTIFY someone within 10 feet of the camera. At 40 feet out you need a different camera.

I am sure @Flintstone61 can share with you his condo journey
 
I am not sure what the difference between overview and identify is.

I was hoping to dedicate a computer system to wirelessly retain the footage so I don't have to fiddle with SD cards.

Please forgive my newness.
 
Overview means you can look around with a wide angle and see that people are walking around, but you cannot identify them because they are too small in the field of view.
@Ri22o does a great job of showing this here that I copied below:

I then have these two cameras I can use to get a better idea/context of what they were doing and where they may have come from or gone to. The kill zone is between the green lines and the camera is on the fence at the bottom, center of the picture. You can see someone just entering the KZ and the 3.6mm focal length of this cam gives absolutely no details other than it might be a person.
1735831458226.png


1735831464036.png




This is the person in the above wide angle shot just next to the green line on the left, and there is no way you would have been able to tell it was a male, in a red, flannel shirt, with sunglasses, and a receding hairline.
1735831473586.png



So you need to decide do you want the OVERVIEW or the ability to IDENTIFY because one camera cannot do both.

Overview versus Identify results in different camera recommendations.

Also see this thread for more details that goes along with the pictures above:


wittaj

Thread '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 forum favorite here @EMPIRETECANDY , but this post will put it all in one place where we can point a NOOB to. The cameras I am highlighting were purchased from @EMPIRETECANDY

Almost every big box store, consumer grade cameras and all-in-one-box kits come with either 2.8mm or 3.6mm...
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Depends on the layout and what you want to cover.

Are you only looking to cover a front and back door? If so an overview camera can be used for that as it would identify as people get within 15 feet of the camera.

But are their units on ground level with windows or sliding glass doors that can be accessed? If so, then different cameras are needed.

Maybe an overhead map and some photos would help us with camera locations and selections.
 
wittaj said:
Depends on the layout and what you want to cover.

Are you only looking to cover a front and back door? If so an overview camera can be used for that as it would identify as people get within 15 feet of the camera.

But are their units on ground level with windows or sliding glass doors that can be accessed? If so, then different cameras are needed.

Maybe an overhead map and some photos would help us with camera locations and selections.
Click to expand...

Two parking lots is what I want to cover... and the main entryway.

Two cameras for each lot and one IDENTIFY for the main entryway?
 
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