New setup advice, ditching 4mp

[hamsoplo]

I had a lightning strike that took out all my whole system, originally hikvision nvr and 3mp hikvision cameras. I replaced the cameras with the new 4mp which have been a major disappointment and now i want to go back to the 3mp. I have a mini dome at the front door but it seems too wide, it's a 2.8mm that replaced a 3mp 2.8 mini dome. I like the mic so i'd like to go back to a 3mp mini dome, the FOV seemed better (taller, less wide) with the 3mp. Plus the wide fov blows out the picture at night with the 2 porch lights. Originally i wanted to see packages but they're always left under the camera so I'd never see them anyways unless I aimed the camera way down, so that's not important. Would you guys recommend a 2.8mm again or go with the 4mm?
Driveway is a 4mp 4mm hikvision turret. Would replace with another 3mp turret, i'm open to suggestions on lens, aim, additional ir/white lighting. Thanks
4mp 2.8mm

3mp 2.8mm

Garage 4mp 4mm turret:

 

[Razer]

I personally would keep the 2.8 mm shot at the front door, in the 3mp mode for the tall fov like you had before. The garage shot looks fine to me at 4mm, I would keep that but move to the 3mp camera. If you will not want the tall fov on the garage the 3mp camera in the wide view is only 2mp so you should then only get the 2mp camera as it is better in low light. Decide on the fov you want and then choose 2 or 3mp.

I too have moved back to the 3mp cameras, I like the images better and I like the taller 4:3 fov better for a lot of my shots also.

Side note, for the front door to get lower on the door you could set the camera to 3mp mode, then spin it sideways so the image is taller than it is wide. This should eliminate the brick, and you might get packages at the door. Regardless you will get more of what you want it the shot than you are now. There is a firmware setting to rotate the shot so it looks correct when spun, I think that would be worth trying for sure. I just recently started doing this for some shots and it is working out great.

 

[horseflesh]

Even if you can't get a picture of the doormat and packages, you could set up a motion alert/email for the area of the porch that you can see. Then when the delivery arrives, you'll know the driver was there even if you can't see the box.

 

[bp2008]

I am surprised that 4MP Hikvision is a "major disappointment", especially if it is enough to make you want to buy 3MP Hikvision cams again. Are these the cheaper 4MP cams with h.265 support, or the more expensive ones with WDR and supposedly better low light sensitivity? What is it about the 4MP cams that is disappointing?

 

[Del Boy]

I'm a massive advocate of the "obsolete" 3MP still. They are the best-value for the average user IMO. I wouldn't ditch my 3MP for 4MP... but also I wouldn't ditch my 4MP for 3MP!

Have you upgraded the firmware to v5.3.6 ? It does make a difference in quality. Also the WDR settings are completely different. 50 on the 4MP is like 10 on the 3MP. 50 on the 3MP is obviously crazy noise!

 

[hamsoplo]

Not sure if they are the cheaper models or expensive ones. Problem is I ordered them when they first came out from aliexpress. I didn't know about the whole chinese region difference since I usually order from Nelly's but they didn't have them yet so I ordered them from china without knowing any better. Now I find that I can't update them, I was given one update to fix the flashing problem from the vendor but now they don't answer email anymore. My 4mp still has the dim wdr and ghosting even when following others suggestions of i frame rate and lowering noise reduction. I have to run very high frame rates to get rid of blur while the 3mp cams I could run much slower. The 3mp example had a blur for the car because I didn't adjust it (I borrowed it from my business so i had something temporarily) I'll probably remount the 4mp somewhere less important like the side of the house.
Thanks for the sideways image suggestion, it sounds like it'd be a perfect application for it.
Now I just have to wait for a Huisun ptz to come in stock so I can try to capture license plates. Couple weeks ago a blurred suv according to my cameras came and stole my neighbors tires/wheels 5 houses down in his driveway. Didn't capture it since it was too dark out.

 

[hamsoplo]

Sideways with the 4mp, better fov. Porch reflection might blow it out at night though. Thanks razer.

 

[bp2008]

Not sure if they are the cheaper models or expensive ones. Problem is I ordered them when they first came out from aliexpress. I didn't know about the whole chinese region difference since I usually order from Nelly's but they didn't have them yet so I ordered them from china without knowing any better. Now I find that I can't update them, I was given one update to fix the flashing problem from the vendor but now they don't answer email anymore. My 4mp still has the dim wdr and ghosting even when following others suggestions of i frame rate and lowering noise reduction. I have to run very high frame rates to get rid of blur while the 3mp cams I could run much slower. The 3mp example had a blur for the car because I didn't adjust it (I borrowed it from my business so i had something temporarily) I'll probably remount the 4mp somewhere less important like the side of the house.
Thanks for the sideways image suggestion, it sounds like it'd be a perfect application for it.
Now I just have to wait for a Huisun ptz to come in stock so I can try to capture license plates. Couple weeks ago a blurred suv according to my cameras came and stole my neighbors tires/wheels 5 houses down in his driveway. Didn't capture it since it was too dark out.

Blur is controlled with exposure time, not with frame rate.

 

[ruppmeister]

Blur is controlled with exposure time, not with frame rate.

And in some cases, the Noise Reduction Level can cause some blur too, so check that AFTER you have set you exposure correctly if still having problems.

Edit: the NRL problem looks more like ghosting than blur now that I think about it.

 

[hamsoplo]

Sorry I ment high shutter speed not frame rate. I have NRL under twenty like people suggest, i've even tried 0. Even in the daytime, my 3mp would be fine at 1/30 but my 4mp would have a blur at 1/60 for the delivery guy.