Need NVR + 7x IP cams + 1x doorbell cam. What would you do?

wittaj said:
We get your need for imminently, but don't let that take you down a path that will cause buying new cameras in 6 months.

Stick to the cameras on the ideal MP/sensor ratio.

As others have said, these are not floodlights. These white LEDs are not much brighter than a few cell phone flashlights - looks bright looking right at them, but they do not light up an area very much. They are gimmicky and won't scare anyone away, not even wildlife.

Motion activated lights are not a deterrent. There are enough videos here showing that perps do not flinch when a floodlight turns on. They avoid homes all lit up, so go with floodlights on all night.

Watch this video someone posted and how the floodlight comes on and they don't even flinch. But then the audio comes on and they don't know which way to run LOL.



Either keep the lights on all night or not at all to ensure the best chance of capture as some cameras can be temporarily blinded when the spotlight kicks on and you lose the ideal captuer.
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All good points, thank you.

However one of them is going directly below her bedroom window on the second floor. She doesn't want a constant light, and she likes to sleep with the window open on warm nights.
Mothers, amirite?

I know that the white LEDs are not meant to light up an area, but if they are enough to give the camera enough light to capture decent night colour footage when detecting a person 9ft away, would the 1/2.7" be enough?
 
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Jim Gallager said:
I searched Amazon and eBay. I checked comments and percent liked. I bought 8 ipcams (4 are PTZ) and a Hikvision NVR with a 4 TB Hard drive. I ran cat6 wire add terminated with pull thru RJ45 plugs. Fun project. Then bought a Eufy doorbell. No monthly bills. I've had to replace a few PTZ cameras that had various issues like IR lights or communication. I like the apps for my phone when I'm traveling.
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Thanks, but you'll probably get crucified for this post lol.
What cameras did you buy?
 
Corvus85 said:
All good points, thank you.

However one of them is going directly below her bedroom window on the second floor. She doesn't want a constant light, and she likes to sleep with the window open on warm nights.
Mothers, amirite?

I know that the white LEDs are not meant to light up an area, but if they are enough to give the camera enough light to capture decent night colour footage when detecting a person 9ft away, would the 1/2.7" be enough?
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These piddly lights from the camera up on the 2nd floor will be USELESS to provide color footage at night.

Your 9 feet away with a camera on the 2nd floor will get a good shot of top of head and hoodie, but all the IDENTIFY distance is lost vertically.

And no a 1/2.7" 4MP sensor will suck at 2nd floor to capture quality video.

Here is my TIOC at 9 feet high with just the camera spotlight at a 1/60 shutter.

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Sure if you leave it on default it will look nice and bright, but motion will be a complete blur.

Your mom would be better served with an infrared varifocal on the 2nd floor so that you optically zoom to a pinch point.
 
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Mom's just want some cameras with a phone app, they don't actually ask for specifics. LED's off. bad example when the Fire Dept is flooding the ares with lights.
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wittaj said:
These piddly lights from the camera up on the 2nd floor will be USELESS to provide color footage at night.

Your 9 feet away with a camera on the 2nd floor will get a good shot of top of head and hoodie, but all the IDENTIFY distance is lost vertically.

And no a 1/2.7" 4MP sensor will suck at 2nd floor to capture quality video.

Here is my TIOC at 9 feet high with just the camera spotlight at a 1/60 shutter.

View attachment 208593

Sure if you leave it on default it will look nice and bright, but motion will be a complete blur.

Your mom would be better served with an infrared varifocal on the 2nd floor so that you optically zoom to a pinch point.
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Sorry you misunderstand. Her BEDROOM is on the second floor. The camera will be located on top of the garage door on the ground floor, directly UNDER her bedroom window
 
Corvus85 said:
she wants a 4K camera with built in white LED, but she wants the light to only turn on when it detects a person or vehicle.
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But will it detect the person or vehicle with the light off? Depends on the ambient light of course. If you're running BI, you can probably set up BI to do what you want. I'm doing it with a T180, but using a thermal camera to do the trigger.
 
Probably should get the $424 dollar Empire tech Thermal cams and call it a day.
 
Corvus85 said:
Sorry you misunderstand. Her BEDROOM is on the second floor. The camera will be located on top of the garage door on the ground floor, directly UNDER her bedroom window
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Still - a less than ideal MP/sensor camera with white LEDs on a camera set to minimize motion blur (1/60s or faster shutter) will be blind whether it is on the 1st floor or 2nd floor as they are just not bright enough to be useful.

However, they are very useful on ideal MP/sensor ratio cameras like the T180 Flintstone posted above and the 4Ks on the 1/1.2" sensor.

Corvus85 said:
Wouldn't this defeat the purpose if those cameras are trash at taking identifiable images?
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Yes, but mom's just wanna be able to quickly open an app and it is right there and see if they know who is at their front door or in the yard. Based on experience, you will deal with lots of calls every time an alert goes off and she can't pull the camera up LOL.

So I have on my folks an arlo that has great easy to use app and then real cameras for my needs if it needed LOL. And even then I still get calls LOL.

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) for the parents unless they are tech savvy.
 
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wittaj said:
Still - a less than ideal MP/sensor camera with white LEDs on a camera set to minimize motion blur (1/60s or faster shutter) will be blind whether it is on the 1st floor or 2nd floor as they are just not bright enough to be useful.

However, they are very useful on ideal MP/sensor ratio cameras like the T180 Flintstone posted above and the 4Ks on the 1/1.2" sensor.



Yes, but mom's just wanna be able to quickly open an app and it is right there and see if they know who is at their front door or in the yard. Based on experience, you will deal with lots of calls every time an alert goes off and she can't pull the camera up LOL.

So I have on my folks an arlo that has great easy to use app and then real cameras for my needs if it needed LOL. And even then I still get calls LOL.

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) for the parents unless they are tech savvy.
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What also cameras/NVRs would you recommend? Can they also have a Eufy doorbell added?
 
This is the thread many use as a go to for camera selection:

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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wittaj said:
This is the thread many use as a go to for camera selection:

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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Thanks, but you said you got your folks an Arlo system.
Which Arlo system do you consider to have good enough low light performance?
Can you share the one you got for them?
 
Corvus85 said:
Thanks, but you said you got your folks an Arlo system.
Which Arlo system do you consider to have good enough low light performance?
Can you share the one you got for them?
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Re-read what I said....a consumer grade camera system with an easy to use app for them and another system with the cameras I suggested based on identity distance for me... they have two systems in place...

For mom wanting to see if who is at the front door is someone she knows or if the car in the driveway is someone she knows, any camera can do that. Night performance for identify is poor but it meets THEIR needs.
 
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To be honest if we are talking about a 4mp camera with a 1/1.8" sensor VS same sensor on a 8mp camera. 4MP cameras with larger sensors are generally better at night due to their ability to collect more light and produce clearer images. For daytime use or situations where resolution is critical, an 8MP camera might make sense, but at night, the 4MP option will typically outperform due to superior light sensitivity. With a lower resolution (4MP vs. 8MP), each pixel on the sensor is larger. Larger pixels can collect more light, improving performance in low-light conditions. This reduces noise and enhances image clarity at night. In contrast, cramming 8MP onto the same sensor size reduces the size of each pixel, which makes it less effective at capturing light, especially in dim environments. So in some cases for me anyway I have 2 cameras in locations that require high MP in day and good quality video/picture at night because of low or no light in that location.
Typically, I use Amcrest/Dahua cameras and have plenty of DVRs and NVRs from them. However, for one specific location, I needed a camera with excellent night performance in low light to monitor a gate located over 300 feet away from the camera. To meet this requirement, I installed the UNV 4MP 22x zoom bullet camera with a 1/1.8" sensor, which boasts an IR range of over 470 feet.
I had tried several 8MP cameras at this location but found none capable of providing clear visibility of the gate. Even a Dahua 8MP box camera paired with a 70mm C-mount lens and an outdoor Dahua IR camera housing struggled to produce quality images on moonless nights.
In contrast, the UNV 4MP camera performs exceptionally well, delivering clear and detailed night-time images. That said, it’s worth noting that it’s not an inexpensive option.
 
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