Is there a good small camera for front and rear doors?

[SyconsciousAu]

it would not be so obvious.

I've gone the other way. I've got a 4mp Dome mounted on the wall next to the door and about 1500mm high. As you approach the door it's obvious and EVERYONE stares straight at the thing. Perfect ID Shot every time. Even my regulars cant help looking at it despite the fact they've been here dozens of times since I installed it.

 

[nbstl68]

The IPC-HDBW4231F-AS I see is not arifocal but comes in 3 FOVs of 2.8, 3.6 and 6.
Which would be best suited for front door placement discussed here? (Especially if doing a corridor mode which seems more appropriate.)

 

[TheSuperServer]

My front door is near a corner. One wall is perpendicular to the wall with the front door. That perpendicular wall is about 18" from the door's frame.
So I have a 90 degree situation. Imagine standing in a corner where two walls meet, and looking outwards. 90 deg H FOV.

No need for a 2.8mm lens, with 110 degree H FOV. I bought my 2.8mm cam as a newbie, so I'm making the best of it. The cam is mounted near my front door. The 110 deg FOV has both walls in the recorded image. Wasted pixels, left and right, to make sure my siding stays safe and sound? lol.

Even a 3.6mm, w/ 87 degree FOV, would have wasted pixels. The 1.5 degree slice of missing H FOV by both walls doesn't contain valuable coverage.

Re: Vertical FOV: There are 2 steps leading up to my front door. Even with the 2.8mm lens, it was a study in compromise to aim the cam vertically. If I aimed high, to see long, I'd crop the bottom of the FOV near the door. Well, that means I couldn't see packages that were left by UPS, Fed Ex, etc. If I aimed low, then people's faces were clipped off in the medium distance. Nevertheless, I'm happy with the result.

If I were to do it again, it would be 3.6 or 6mm

Suggestion:
Consider "corridor mode", and rotate the cam 90 degrees. The VFOV angle becomes your HFOV angle.

I have yet to follow my own advice, lol. Some experimentation is needed. I use Smart PSS on a clamshell in the kitchen to keep an eye on things. I'm not sure how a rotated rectangle (corridor mode) would fit inside the multi-camera Smart PSS display....

Fastb

Do you have a photo of what's yours looks like? I'm interested in getting the 2.8.

 

[Gilles0181]

@Fastb to cover a walkway of 10 feet, with the camera mounted at 2 meters high; would you advise 3.6 or 6mm?

 

[dfhawk]

My porch is roughly a 90° angle (door + adjoining wall) and my camera sits in the corner roughly 2 meters high. I did end up changing my camera to the corridor mode, and believe its a bit of an improvement as it captures (for the most part) floor to ceiling, however the field of view on the horizontal is only 58° which for me is the tradeoff (from the 110°). While I understand the arguments in favor of a 3.6mm lens I'm still glad I chose the 2.8mm lens that gives me 58° vs. 48° (in the corridor mode) since this satisfies more of my requirements for a front door camera (keep in mind I have other cameras for identification purposes in the front) i.e. view of persons at the door as well as packages left on the ground, as well as the broadest fov possible of the 90°.

 

[Gilles0181]

and you have the 2.8mm?

 

[aristobrat]

My porch is roughly a 90° angle (door + adjoining wall) and my camera sits in the corner roughly 2 meters high. I did end up changing my camera to the corridor mode, and believe its a bit of an improvement as it captures (for the most part) floor to ceiling, however the field of view on the horizontal is only 58° which for me is the tradeoff (from the 110°). While I understand the arguments in favor of a 3.6mm lens I'm still glad I chose the 2.8mm lens that gives me 58° vs. 48° (in the corridor mode) since this satisfies more of my requirements for a front door camera (keep in mind I have other cameras for identification purposes in the front) i.e. view of persons at the door as well as packages left on the ground, as well as the broadest fov possible of the 90°.

Do you have a snapshot you could share of what the 2.8 looks like in corridor mode? My front door is setup almost exactly like yours, and I'm looking to mount a camera in pretty much the same spot you did.

 

[dfhawk]

Here are some 2.8mm snapshots:
1 - Corridor Mode: Postman approx. 6 feet from the camera (erased my neighbor's home across the street and as well as the postman's face). Note how the left walkway/grass is cut off vs. the standard fov photo.
2 - Standard FOV mode - subject is approx. 8 feet from the camera. Broad horizontal fov but doesn't pick up full view of subject, or packages left on the ground.
3 - Standard FOV mode - subject is approx. 4 feet from the camera.

 

[Gilles0181]

I am expecting my cam this week

 

[nbstl68]

This definitely works better at a front door..

View attachment 16246

My only issue is that in the web UI, and on gDMSS it doesn't look very good at all.
View attachment 16245

Would you be able to post a video capture sample of someone walking up in this corridor mode?

I also imagine you would need to run BLC, I think it is called, in a lot of these situations because of the subject always having backlighting.
Has anyone experience with that in this type of setting?

 

[Tygunn]

Would you be able to post a video capture sample of someone walking up in this corridor mode?

I also imagine you would need to run BLC, I think it is called, in a lot of these situations because of the subject always having backlighting.
Has anyone experience with that in this type of setting?

Sure I'll have to make an example of that later on. Honestly, I wish the camera was BESIDE the door. If you can mount it lower than above the door, you'll be MUCH happier with the results. I don't often get clear faces of people walking up to the door. Thankfully I've got 2 other cameras on the front of the house that should catch people pretty much face-on as they approach.

 

[ilrider78]

This definitely works better at a front door..

View attachment 16246

My only issue is that in the web UI, and on gDMSS it doesn't look very good at all.
View attachment 16245

Is this with the 3.6 lens?

 

[Tygunn]

Here's a sample of me walking up to the door:
https://goo.gl/photos/6Pn5ArgG87tMfFwM7

This is the 3.6mm one.

 

[rufunky]

Those MiniWedges IMHO are the best indoor camera you can get, excellent image in all lighting conditions, discrete, great audio pickup, wall to wall coverage.. They would work okay outside but be prepared to deal with all the shit domes throw at you.. reflections, uv degradation, bugs.. it is a compromise outside, and front door at head height is really only place I could justify it.

Curious, what do you use at your front door? If nothing would you suggest the IPc-HDBW4231F-AS despite the dome?

 

[Toadpops]

I just got two of the IPC-HDBW4231F-AS and I am trying to get the night time settings down. Someone that is happy with their settings mind posting some screenshots so I can copy and see if that helps me tune these in.
Really appreciate it

 

[ThomasPI]

Going to follow this thread going for a couple of 4231's as well. Thanks for vids and pics!

 

[flynreelow]

Here's a sample of me walking up to the door:
https://goo.gl/photos/6Pn5ArgG87tMfFwM7

This is the 3.6mm one.

Thanks for the video. Can you take a picture of the camera and your front door. Would like to see how you mounted it?

Thanks

 

[Tygunn]

I've got the camera mounted right over the door.

I used 1/2 electrical PVC to run the wire into an accessible wall. I used a Dahua junction box to mount the camera. Turned out reasonably well.

 

[stizzymack]

SuperServer - the overall movement is a bit like a turret, but officially: Pan:0˚~60˚; Tilt:0˚~80˚; Rotation:0˚~360˚

Here is the install, freshly painted! The FOV, and picture / clarity is amazing compared to the camera it replaced.

Did you paint the cam?

 

[dfhawk]

Yes. I used: Krylon K04293000 Camouflage Made with Fusion for Plastic Technology Spray Paint, Olive, 11 Ounce - - Amazon.com