Need help with camera choices

[Renro]

Greetings all,

Long time lurker in the forum for over a year and it has come time to get my home security going. My main concern with my choices is, I'm i utilizing the right cameras based on my current needs. For the front of my home i want to of course monitor the drive way via the garage and the front of my home. In the back, I want to monitor the pool and pergola area. Ideally, I'd like to cover all aspects of my home but given that I'm on a budget the bare minimum is what i need for now. Upgrades will come within a the next year.....just need to finish the pool project first.

My budget is $1000, so here is what I'm planning on getting

Option 1

• NVR4208-8P-4KS2
• WD Purple 4TB
• (4) HDW4231EM-AS (3.6mm)

This setup puts me at about ~$856.20.
Coverage of the 4 cameras will be 1 on the garage, 2 front of house, and 1 overlooking pool and pergola in back yard

Option 2

• NVR4208-8P-4KS2
• WD Purple 4TB
• (1) HDW5231R-ZE
• (2) HDW4231EM-AS
• (2) HDW1230S 2MP

This setup puts me at about ~$926.55.
Coverage for these cameras will be 5231 over the garage, both 4231 front of house, and both 1230 covering the pool and pergola.


I prefer option 1 because it allows me to purchase another camera for the main entry way to my home. However I'm not sure which one to get given my entry way faces directly west and after 3pm gets the full wrath of the sun. This is a huge blind spot for me since i have not peep hole or window to see who is at my door. I thought about buying the HDW4231F-AS, but after reading how this needs to be clear of direct sunlight I dismissed this option. What camera/option do you all recommend for the entry door?

I've included pictures of my potential placements of my camera for the garage and front of the house. I've also included pictures of my entry way and what I'm working with to give you all a better idea of what might work for me.


Front of my home. The red dots are what I think will work for cameras. The green is a another potential camera placement for one of the red dots.

Thank you.

 

[bigredfish]

Start with Option 2 - My home is similar in size and pool, I have 8 cameras, wish i had 2 more.

Driveway really needs two crossing cams on either side, Fr door one at 5-6 ft right next to door, front yard/street 2, pool area will need at least one, then sides, let alone if you want any interior cams...

Stay with vari-focal where possible, fixed lens 2.8mm are fine for large overview or ID at less than 10ft, but you want to cover choke points with focused tighter shots and vari-focals allow you to adjust to the perfect zoom easily.

Read up with the Wiki link at top of page, and browse my videos for ideas..
bigredfish59

 

[mat200]

Welcome @Renro

^^ +1 agree with bigredfish, 2 cameras covering your parked cars is what I would start with. Also I would not mount any cameras on the higher soffit, too high imho. Remember to test all possible spots.

Do not get the HDW1230S 2MP .. looney2ns review of it was not too impressive to me.

Do check out some of the recent reviews looney2ns has done.

For my front door I have the Dahua OEM 2MP starlight mini-dome wedge - works well. There's now a 2 lens version, which is worth considering.

Your biggest challenge is the brick work - as for the front door I like my camera mounted at face level to maximize the chance of a good ID image. ( btw really nice home, and nice brickwork )

 

[looney2ns]

Really hard to beat the Varifocals for outdoors.
You want to know who did it, not just what happened.
Don't mount cams higher than 8ft, or you get all bald spots.
Newbie mistakes are mounting cams too high, and using too wide of angle lens. Most of us have been there at one point.

 

[Renro]

Thank you @Bigredfish59, @mat200 and @looney2ns for your input. I know the driveway needs two crossing point but given my budget I'll have to contend with only one camera in that area (for now). I feel the two crossing points at the font of my house leading to my front door is more important!! Given you all's input I have revised my setup.

• NVR4208-8P-4KS2

• WD Purple 4TB

• (4) HDW2231R-ZS (2 crossing points for front of house, 1 over garage, and 1 overlooking pool and pergola)

• (1) HDBW4231F-AS (Front door)

This puts me at ~$1,024.75. Hopefully Andy can get me under $1,000.
What do you all think?
With this setup will I be able to send email/text notification as well as view from phone and office PC?

My only concern is if the 4231 ok to place at the entry way given the sun exposure it will be subjected too. Is there another alternative camera for this area?
For this spot I will likely pay someone to install the camera. I don't have the equipment nor do i want to deal with the brick.

 

[mat200]

Thank you @Bigredfish59, @mat200 and @looney2ns for your input. I know the driveway needs two crossing point but given my budget I'll have to contend with only one camera in that area (for now). I feel the two crossing points at the font of my house leading to my front door is more important!! Given you all's input I have revised my setup.
..
What do you all think?...

Hi Renro,

Get a test camera and start to play with it

test various locations, including some on the brick.

Look at what others have done.

PLAN for more cameras in the future to get decent coverage - cable using quality cat5e/cat6 cable, over cable.. cabling and placement is typically the biggest part of the job for most of us, you can add cameras to the other cable drops later as your budget allows.

 

[kris77]

Hi,

I'm in the same boat as you.

I'm going with this...

1 - NVR4208-8p-4ks2

1 - IPC-HDW5231R-ZE

2 - IPC-HDW2231R-ZS

2 - IPC-HDW4231EM-ASE 3.6mm

Puts me a little over $900.

I like the 5231 for the audio and extra features for driveway. The 2231 for the front and rear door. and the 4231 overlooking pool and outbuilding.

 

[Alan Carter]

( btw really nice home, and nice brickwork )

Agreed.

 

[mat200]

Hi @Renro

Had a little more time to look at your front door, I really like the brick work.

Noticed that you have a nice mortar line down the corner by your front door, I think that would make a great line to bring a cat5e cable down, either exposed and painted to match the mortar - tucked between the bricks, or down a nice conduit length - you can paint the conduit to match the mortar.

Then have a nice Dahua OEM mini-dome wedge camera there, or the 2 lens version which looney2ns recently reviewed - you probably would also need a junction box to keep the pigtail in the junction box.

You can get paint to match the brick work for the camera's case and junction box, should blend in very nicely.

I would NOT drill into the brick - but the mortar only, if you do it w/care it will turn out very nice and if you decide to remove it you can easily refill the holes in the mortar.

I would place the camera in either location above the door bell.

 

[Renro]

Hi @Renro

Had a little more time to look at your front door, I really like the brick work.

Noticed that you have a nice mortar line down the corner by your front door, I think that would make a great line to bring a cat5e cable down, either exposed and painted to match the mortar - tucked between the bricks, or down a nice conduit length - you can paint the conduit to match the mortar.

Then have a nice Dahua OEM mini-dome wedge camera there, or the 2 lens version which looney2ns recently reviewed - you probably would also need a junction box to keep the pigtail in the junction box.

You can get paint to match the brick work for the camera's case and junction box, should blend in very nicely.

I would NOT drill into the brick - but the mortar only, if you do it w/care it will turn out very nice and if you decide to remove it you can easily refill the holes in the mortar.

I would place the camera in either location above the door bell.

@mat200, Thank you for the brick compliment and for the detail explanation on this particular camera placement. Initially I was just going to drill through the mortar and run cat5e to it....well, I have a friend who works for a security company and does this for a living, so I was going to ask him to assist me on this particular installation. But I also like your idea of just dropping a line from the very top of the entry (made of wood) and using a conduit!! Really digging that idea. It's simplistic and very easy to run the cable in the attic. All other areas of installation are easy to access, this area was going to be the hardest.

Thanks!!