need advice - first security camera setup

[SnoSheriff]

Hey everyone. I'm looking for advice on my very first security camera setup. I'd like to monitor the outside of my house and in the future I'd like to have the option of adding indoor security cams. For my outdoor cams I'd like the following features:

• remote monitoring from through internet (PC/laptop, phone or tablet)
• indoor/outdoor weather proof
• ability to see license plate info (day/night)
• ability to see faces (day/night)
• motion sensor
• ability to send me alert notifications by email
• my driveway is about 80' long but it would be nice to have better range than the edge of my property
• my side yard is about 200' so I'd like the ability to monitor that area with one of the cams
• Camera microphone & speaker would be nice to have
• I'm thinking POE IP camera
• I also would like cloud storage like Amazon or something
• I'm thinking about starting with 2-4 cameras
• expandable solution for more cameras, indoor cameras, maybe future alarm solution, maybe home automation.... I'm not sure what's possible at this point
• I'd like to keep the price down and don't want to spend thousands. Ideally I'd like cameras in $100 range but I can stretch it to $200/ea if it buys a lot more for the money

I'm looking for suggestions on the following:

1. camera: What camera make/model do you suggest? Why?
2. camera: Fixed or varifocal lens (manual or auto)? Why?
3. camera: Dome or bullet style cam? Why?
4. camera: Is it possible to buy a camera and modify it with another improved lens? Make/model suggestions?
5. software: I'm thinking about buying Blue Iris. Is this a good idea? Or should I start with OEM software first?
6. storage: I have a PC with 4TB hard drive (red HGST NAS) so can I use my PC for this task? Or should I buy Network Video Recorder of some sort?
7. storage: How much storage do I need?
8. POE switch: What make/model do you suggest? Managed or unmanaged?

 

[Kawboy12R]

You're asking too much out of too few cameras. My rule of thumb is one 3.6mm turret/doorway and one 6mm turret driveway if you're covering one or two cars decently, then add cameras for other areas of interest like garages, outbuildings, play areas, and blindspots that you're interested in that the other cams don't cover. If you can, mount the driveway cam looking straight out the driveway. A 6mm will catch plates in your driveway anywhere reasonably close to the house in the daytime. Expect to dedicate a separate cam and probably IR illuminator to get plates at night. Lots of reading on here of what's required to get plates at night but it's not that hard up close. Just set a cam at 1/500 of a second exposure to start and drop the gain down and start fiddling with exposure, gain, and lighting until you're happy. Dahua 4431C-A is a good cheap versatile turret with audio. The Dahua 4431M is a good bullet with POE and 12v power option, alarm inputs for "real" motion sensors, alarm outputs and audio in and out as well if you want to get fancy later on and video based motion detection isn't cutting it for you. Play with the www.ipvm.com/calculator for FOV. Keep pixels per foot at 100 or higher for good facial ID. Anything lower than that and quality degrades quickly. 4gb is fine for storage for 2-4 cams and an Intel i3 will be sufficient but you'll probably want an i5, particularly if you want to add more cams and run them at full frame rates. I've got 7 cams running on one i3 Blue Iris system but most are 2mp not 4 and I keep the framerates at 10 to 6fps, depending on the camera. It's pretty loaded up though. Unmanaged POE switch is fine. Most of the major brands are fine, just watch that the power budget will meet what your cams require. Blue Iris is great and cheap but you can try the free Milestone if you want. BI is much more popular on here though. Forget about cloud storage. If you want better night vision at the expense of daytime pixels (the 4431 cams are 4mp) and the flexibility of a varifocal lens and $170 doesn't scare you off this is an excellent camera- Dahua 2MP H265 WDR IR Eyeball 2.7mm ~12mm motorized lens Starlight Network Camera IPC HDW5231R Z,free shipping-in Surveillance Cameras from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

 

[SnoSheriff]

My gut was telling me that I need more cams. I'd like to start slow and add to the setup. I was thinking about getting a front door cam and garage front/driveway cam to start with. I read that not all Dahua sellers will provide firmware updates. What would be a good night IR camera to cover the driveway or backyard?

 

[SnoSheriff]

Why do you say 'Forget the cloud storage'?

 

[Kawboy12R]

Any of the cams I mentioned would work well for the driveway or back yard. Cloud dependant cams suck but there's nothing wrong with recording some stuff offsite. You could compromise and record some things offsite if you could eliminate most or all false positive motion detections. I email myself 3 snaphots of everybody that comes to either door. BI does that nicely. Not sure what other solutions do that well.