New work system suggestion with increased budget

[vlocci]

I have a 9 cam system built around 2231 eyeball cameras and a Dahua NVR running for a few years at home with great success. I'm continually shocked by the performance.

I'm now looking to install a similarly sized system at work. It will be entirely outdoor and for general surveillance. No specific need for facial recognition or LPR. These will be 1st and second story mounted and generally used as both a deterrent as well as post issue/theft/accident review. Exterior of the building has very limited lighting so decent IR performance is important. I wish to use a NVR and stay away from blue iris or similar simply due to familiarity.

I have a significantly increased budget beyond what I had a home, so I'm quite interested in what is available with a an increased budget. I'm using this as well to learn the current state of the technology and may port it back into my home system.

With a $1000/camera budget and this rough overview what cameras would you consider? For aesthetics, I'm limited to eyeball or dome cameras. No need for varifocal as I can spec lense to suite. That said, I don't object to them if they are ideal.

Was planning on a 16 cam 8K Acupick NVR simply to support a potential 8K camera rollout, but otherwise am open to solutions.

any thoughs or suggestions within this budget?

Vin

 

[Ri22o]

With a $1000/camera budget, and your history with Dahua, I am sure most here will suggest the T5442T-ZE varifocal at approx $180.

The fixed 5442s are only available in 2.8mm, 3.6mm, and 6mm. The ability to adjust between 2.8mm and 12mm and stay well under your budget makes going with the varifocal a no brainer.
Your lack of ambient lighting also makes this a good pick because of the 1/1.8" sensor and 4MP combo. There is not a high(er) MP cam that can see IR, they all need ambient light.
The Dahua (rebranded as Loryta/Empiretech for the consumer market) cams will pair well with one of the available NVRs as well.

 

[TonyR]

+1^^^.
Excellent recommendations and post.
I can only add that Empire Tech (@EMPIRETECANDY ) will also have the perfect NVR to suit your needs and work well with those cameras suggested by @Ri22o .

 

[The Automation Guy]

Don't chase resolution.

Higher resolutions sounds like it will help produce clearer images. It does when there is plenty of light. But as soon as the light starts to go away, the added resolution works against you in getting clear images. This is because in order to cram that many pixels on an imaging chip, the individual pixel size has to decrease. The smaller the pixel size, the less light it can absorb in a given amount of time, and therefore the less capable it is in low/no light conditions.

Given everything you have said about this situation, an 8k camera would be a terrible choice. Heck, most 4k cameras are going to be a terrible choice as well. You want to find the largest possible sensor with the lowest possible resolution in order to have good low/no light capabilities.

 

[TonyR]

Here's a great image to reinforce what was said above by @The Automation Guy :

 

[wittaj]

+1 above.

At the moment there is no good 4K camera (that is on the 1/1.2" sensor) that can see infrared, so you need visible light.

Plus many feel 4MP is the sweet spot for surveillance. The 5442 series is the go to camera.