Looking for recommendations for a PTZ Camera preferably with Auto-Tracking

[TheJM]

Hey guys,

This is my first post here on IP Cam Talk. This place seems like the go-to place for security cameras.

For the past few years I have been using the Ubiquity G3 cameras at my home and have been OK happy with them. The picture quality is very so-so and in my experience the NVR software can be a real PITA. I built my own NVR on a hyper-v server and it hosts the Unifi Video instance and can host any additional cameras / software.

I cam across the auto-tracking feature on a random YouTube video I was watching and I was hooked! PTZ + Auto-tracking seemed like such a cool combo. I am now looking into adding a PTZ cam to my house (1 to start out with and maybe replace the Ubiquity cameras with PTZ's as time goes on). I am not familiar with the best brands and quality so this is where I can use your help.

Heres a list of preferred specs:

• PTZ with auto-tracking
• zoom more than 4x (I have seen 20x zoom pretty commonly but im not married to 20x at all, just something more than 4)
• Ceiling Mount. This camera will be mounted to the eve of my roof so id prefer it be a dome style camera as opposed to a pole mount.
• I dont have a particular price in mind. I dont want to spend money unnecessarily but I do want a good quality camera. Im a buy nice or buy twice kind of guy.
• MUCH prefer it to have POE

Please let me know if you need any more info!

Thanks in advance!
JM

 

[Cameraguy]

Hey guys,

This is my first post here on IP Cam Talk. This place seems like the go-to place for security cameras.

For the past few years I have been using the Ubiquity G3 cameras at my home and have been OK happy with them. The picture quality is very so-so and in my experience the NVR software can be a real PITA. I built my own NVR on a hyper-v server and it hosts the Unifi Video instance and can host any additional cameras / software.

I cam across the auto-tracking feature on a random YouTube video I was watching and I was hooked! PTZ + Auto-tracking seemed like such a cool combo. I am now looking into adding a PTZ cam to my house (1 to start out with and maybe replace the Ubiquity cameras with PTZ's as time goes on). I am not familiar with the best brands and quality so this is where I can use your help.

Heres a list of preferred specs:

• PTZ with auto-tracking
• zoom more than 4x (I have seen 20x zoom pretty commonly but im not married to 20x at all, just something more than 4)
• Ceiling Mount. This camera will be mounted to the eve of my roof so id prefer it be a dome style camera as opposed to a pole mount.
• I dont have a particular price in mind. I dont want to spend money unnecessarily but I do want a good quality camera. Im a buy nice or buy twice kind of guy.
• MUCH prefer it to have POE

Please let me know if you need any more info!

Thanks in advance!
JM

Look at @Wildcat_1
He has some awesome reviews on dahua ptz cameras.. he knows his shit

 

[looney2ns]

Hey guys,

This is my first post here on IP Cam Talk. This place seems like the go-to place for security cameras.

For the past few years I have been using the Ubiquity G3 cameras at my home and have been OK happy with them. The picture quality is very so-so and in my experience the NVR software can be a real PITA. I built my own NVR on a hyper-v server and it hosts the Unifi Video instance and can host any additional cameras / software.

I cam across the auto-tracking feature on a random YouTube video I was watching and I was hooked! PTZ + Auto-tracking seemed like such a cool combo. I am now looking into adding a PTZ cam to my house (1 to start out with and maybe replace the Ubiquity cameras with PTZ's as time goes on). I am not familiar with the best brands and quality so this is where I can use your help.

Heres a list of preferred specs:

• PTZ with auto-tracking
• zoom more than 4x (I have seen 20x zoom pretty commonly but im not married to 20x at all, just something more than 4)
• Ceiling Mount. This camera will be mounted to the eve of my roof so id prefer it be a dome style camera as opposed to a pole mount.
• I dont have a particular price in mind. I dont want to spend money unnecessarily but I do want a good quality camera. Im a buy nice or buy twice kind of guy.
• MUCH prefer it to have POE

Please let me know if you need any more info!

Thanks in advance!
JM

Study this if you haven't. Cliff Notes

 

[mat200]

Hey guys,

This is my first post here on IP Cam Talk. This place seems like the go-to place for security cameras.

For the past few years I have been using the Ubiquity G3 cameras at my home and have been OK happy with them. The picture quality is very so-so and in my experience the NVR software can be a real PITA. I built my own NVR on a hyper-v server and it hosts the Unifi Video instance and can host any additional cameras / software.

I cam across the auto-tracking feature on a random YouTube video I was watching and I was hooked! PTZ + Auto-tracking seemed like such a cool combo. I am now looking into adding a PTZ cam to my house (1 to start out with and maybe replace the Ubiquity cameras with PTZ's as time goes on). I am not familiar with the best brands and quality so this is where I can use your help.

Heres a list of preferred specs:

• PTZ with auto-tracking
• zoom more than 4x (I have seen 20x zoom pretty commonly but im not married to 20x at all, just something more than 4)
• Ceiling Mount. This camera will be mounted to the eve of my roof so id prefer it be a dome style camera as opposed to a pole mount.
• I dont have a particular price in mind. I dont want to spend money unnecessarily but I do want a good quality camera. Im a buy nice or buy twice kind of guy.
• MUCH prefer it to have POE

Please let me know if you need any more info!

Thanks in advance!
JM

Welcome @TheJM

Definitely check out the reviews by members, it should help you narrow down your search.

 

[TheJM]

EDIT: i posted this post in the wrong place. I started a new thread to discuss this camera as i didn't see too many threads on it. See this link

Thanks guys. I appreciate the warm welcome! Since my first post i did go read the Cliff Notes. That was such an informative read. After looking at several models between Dahua and Hikvision, I came across the Dahua DS-2DE4A425IW-DE. The first thing that caught my eye was that it was a PTZ camera with IR and ceiling/soffit mountable.

I am using this camera to monitor my driveway which is about 80 feet long to the street. The 25x zoom looked awesome too though probably a bit overkill for my situation.

I have 3 questions.
1. I know that no camera is perfect but am i missing something about this camera? Is there anything that i should be aware of that may not be obvious?
2. The seller selling the camera on Amazon is VIVSKY. Is this a ok place to buy it to ensure its not a fake? Its $549 on there right now.
3. I have heard some cameras are vulnerable to being hacked (may not be the right word). Is there something i should watch out for here?

 

[Robert G.]

I use that PTZ camera. Have it mounted under eve, but using a corner wall bracket. This way I can view two sides of a building with just the single camera.

The tracking can certainly be hit or miss. Mine is often confused at night, someones headlights will go past and it will think the light is movement and zoom down and try and track it. That is a problem with many camera systems, but still annoying.

Here is a little clip of tracking in action.

A few seconds in you can see a cat moves and the camera triggers on that.

Then the police show up (bad area) and it does successfully track one of the officers as he moves along and enters the building.

 

[Robert G.]

Here is another video, this is a drug buyer going to purchase drugs.

The problem is the drug dealer is no longer there and the drug buyer runs into a construction worker who is not selling drugs.

The video demonstrates two features.

1) Tracking, it follows the person when they enter the property

2) It 'stays' and watches the transaction. At about 19 seconds into the video you can see Preset 5 flash on the screen. This is because ANOTHER overview camera has a line crossing alarm set. When the drug buyer crosses the line, it informs the PTZ camera to jump to preset position 5. This way it will stay there a little longer than the normal tracking system would.

 

[TheJM]

Here is another video, this is a drug buyer going to purchase drugs.

The problem is the drug dealer is no longer there and the drug buyer runs into a construction worker who is not selling drugs.

The video demonstrates two features.

1) Tracking, it follows the person when they enter the property

2) It 'stays' and watches the transaction. At about 19 seconds into the video you can see Preset 5 flash on the screen. This is because ANOTHER overview camera has a line crossing alarm set. When the drug buyer crosses the line, it informs the PTZ camera to jump to preset position 5. This way it will stay there a little longer than the normal tracking system would.

Thanks for the clips and the explanation. So you are able to tie two cameras together so if one sees motion, the other will pan in on it?

Also, are you able to view the camera from outside your home? Do you have an app for your phone?

 

[Robert G.]

Yes, you can tie two cameras together using a NVR. I don't know how to link cameras without the NVR.

Yes, the cameras can be viewed from outside your home (assuming your network allows it). I have a couple of tablets sitting on my desk, with 4 video streams on each - they run 24/7.

You can view them on your phone as well, but I don't bother with that.

 

[coney27]

Value Series 4 MP Indoor/Outdoor 25× Network IR PTZ Camera

Hikvision DS-2DE4A425IW-DE(S6) 4 MP Network IR PTZ Camera adopts 1/2.8" progressive scan CMOS chip. With the 25 × optical zoom lens, the camera offers more details over expansive areas. This series of cameras can be widely used for wide ranges of high-definition, such as rivers, forests, roads...

us.hikvision.com

I personally have this one and love it. Amazing night capabilities too

 

[TheJM]

Value Series 4 MP Indoor/Outdoor 25× Network IR PTZ Camera

Hikvision DS-2DE4A425IW-DE(S6) 4 MP Network IR PTZ Camera adopts 1/2.8" progressive scan CMOS chip. With the 25 × optical zoom lens, the camera offers more details over expansive areas. This series of cameras can be widely used for wide ranges of high-definition, such as rivers, forests, roads...

us.hikvision.com

I personally have this one and love it. Amazing night capabilities too

I jumped in the deep end and bought this camera. I really like it! I integrated it with Blue iris and have a few questions for those of you who have done the same.

1. How do you handle triggering and smart tracking? Do you let Blue Iris trigger the camera with zones or objects? It seems to mess up when the camera starts tracking something on its own. Is there a way for the camera to tell BI that its triggered?

2. I cant seem to get presets working in BI for this camera. They work in the camera interface but not from BI. Do yall have the same experience?

 

[coney27]

I jumped in the deep end and bought this camera. I really like it! I integrated it with Blue iris and have a few questions for those of you who have done the same.

1. How do you handle triggering and smart tracking? Do you let Blue Iris trigger the camera with zones or objects? It seems to mess up when the camera starts tracking something on its own. Is there a way for the camera to tell BI that its triggered?

2. I cant seem to get presets working in BI for this camera. They work in the camera interface but not from BI. Do yall have the same experience?

Sorry but mine is attached to a Hikvison NVR. I can't help you out with BI but maybe someone else can.

 

[TheJM]

I jumped in the deep end and bought this camera. I really like it! I integrated it with Blue iris and have a few questions for those of you who have done the same.

1. How do you handle triggering and smart tracking? Do you let Blue Iris trigger the camera with zones or objects? It seems to mess up when the camera starts tracking something on its own. Is there a way for the camera to tell BI that its triggered?

2. I cant seem to get presets working in BI for this camera. They work in the camera interface but not from BI. Do yall have the same experience?

@Robert G. Do you have any experience with this?

 

[Robert G.]

I don't use BI at all, never even tried it.

My equipment is connected to a Hikvision NVR, but for tracking etc. I do the setup on the camera GUI, which you could always do even if you were using BI or no NVR at all.

 

[TheJM]

I don't use BI at all, never even tried it.

My equipment is connected to a Hikvision NVR, but for tracking etc. I do the setup on the camera GUI, which you could always do even if you were using BI or no NVR at all.

Thanks for the feedback. I did that too. I have intrusion detection, face detection, etc set up.

Did you have to port forward to get the NTP server connected?

 

[Robert G.]

My camera's are connected direct to the NVR, can they even make outbound requests to the Internet? I assumed they were getting their NTP updates from the NVR as I never did anything special to them and the times are all the same.