New Home - Camera System

[noproblem]

Ok Just bought a new home and we are moving in within the next 3 weeks. One of my wife's TODO list is to install/Buy a camera system for the house.

Budget : <$1300
Camera : 4-6 Max ( have the ability to add more up a total of 8 in the future )
Location : 4 outside and 2 inside
Quality : 2k / 4mp +
Type: IP camera POE

I looked at the following brands Lorex, Qsee , Swann ,Hikvision, dahua

Please can someone point me in the right direction as the more i look the more i get lost

NP

 

[VorlonFrog]

Ok Just bought a new home and we are moving in within the next 3 weeks. One of my wife's TODO list is to install/Buy a camera system for the house.

Budget : <$1300
Camera : 4-6 Max ( have the ability to add more up a total of 8 in the future )
Location : 4 outside and 2 inside
Quality : 2k / 4mp +
Type: IP camera POE

I looked at the following brands Lorex, Qsee , Swann ,Hikvision, dahua

Please can someone point me in the right direction as the more i look the more i get lost

NP

Stick with either Hikvision or Dahua. Outside, I'd recommend the Dahua Starlight varifocal 5231 and fixed-focus 4231 cameras. Inside, I'd recommend the Hikvision cube cameras, but definitely with wired LAN connections, POE (Power Over Ethernet) if possible.

 

[SyconsciousAu]

Quality : 2k / 4mp +

Please can someone point me in the right direction as the more i look the more i get lost

NP

Beware the lure of resolution numbers. On their own they do not mean better performance in a given application. Saying I want 4-8 cameras and an NVR for under $1300 is all very well and good, but what do you want those camera's to achieve? What's your layout look like? Do you have choke points you can put ID camera's on? What's the lighting like at night? Where will the camera's be mounted? Will you be doing the work yourself? Does the budget include cable and connectors?

Plenty of people here happily give up their time for nix to provide advice and suggestions but throw us a bone here.

 

[noproblem]

What's the lighting like at night? Where will the camera's be mounted? Will you be doing the work yourself? Does the budget include cable and connectors?

I fully agree camera area conditions matter. I am extremely grateful to persons within forums for replying to a post. I know they do it on their free time sometime without any thanks or financial gain.

 

[noproblem]

Follow up Question

-

Stick with either Hikvision or Dahua. Outside, I'd recommend the Dahua Starlight varifocal 5231 and fixed-focus 4231 cameras. Inside, I'd recommend the Hikvision cube cameras, but definitely with wired LAN connections, POE (Power Over Ethernet) if possible.

1 - Which NVR do you suggest ?

What's your layout look like? The house is about 2700 sq ft with a large back yard,
Do you have choke points you can put ID camera's on? Yes, Coming up my driveway which is about 30 ft distance to main road, Main front door area, Rear door , all have area i can mount the camera
What's the lighting like at night? there an outside light, however its not always on
Where will the camera's be mounted? The camera's outside will be mounted on my outside wall which is red brick near each corner of the house. . The inside camera is for my basement and garage
Will you be doing the work yourself? Yes,
Does the budget include cable and connectors? The budget include the camera's and NVR system. Although I have a POE switch already it only has 4 ports, so i might upgrade it to 12 port switch or buy a NVR system with POE and use the same switch i am using. Also I can buy the Ethernet cable and connectors and make the cables myself

Additionally
1- It must have web access, since i work on a overnight shift so my wife and kids are home alone. so she was the ability to look at the camera from her phone if needed
2 - I dont need more that 7 days archive video footage


I hope this help

 

[VorlonFrog]

Follow up Question

1 - Which NVR do you suggest ?

I personally (as do several others here) run BlueIris software on an x86 PC. Most purpose-built NVRs have either four or eight ports. If that suits your needs, great. If you want more cameras later, you'd have to add additional NVRs.

 

[looney2ns]

Use this to determine your outdoor placement: Camera Calculator / Design Software Keep PPF>100

You want to know who did it, not just what happened. Don't mount cams higher than 8ft for this reason.

This if by far the best all around cam at this time: Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

2mp is plenty.

 

[aristobrat]

What's the lighting like at night? there an outside light, however its not always on

To add to looney2ns post above, Dahau's Starlight models kick butt because they have the new, larger Sony image sensor in them. It captures more light per pixel, which means the image quality when the light isn't perfect (i.e. between dusk and dawn) is much, much, much better than higher MP cameras with smaller sensors in them. This is why people say "don't just chase megapixels", or "2MP is plenty".

The specific camera he linked to has been the most popular on here since late last year because it's a Starlight model (so has the best all-round image quality), and because the lens is varifocal. It allows you zoom in to the best field-of-view for where you have it mounted. If you don't get a varifocal model, then you have to pick a fixed focal length (2.8mm, 4.0mm, 6.0mm) for each camera, and you get the field-of-view that comes from that lens choice. Usually that results in a compromised view .. wider or narrower than what you actually want.