Newbie Here: Need camera recomendation

[meschaefer]

Hi Folks, and thanks in advance for any help. I've been lurking around a bit and soaking up the information. As with most things, you can only learn so much by reading so it's time to get my hands dirty and install my first camera. I figure I will learn a lot by setting up one camera, and I can use that information to make decisions going forward.

I'm looking for a camera to mount to the wall by my front door. Looking at the attached picture, I would like to mount the camera on the wall to the right of the door, so that it is looking forward and down the steps. I want an image of anyone ascending the steps and approaching the door as well as anyone hanging out in front of the house on the sidewalk. The sidewalk is about 20ft from the door. As you can gather, this is a pretty urban environment and it does not get that dark outside; there is a street light on the sidewalk just to the left of the house.

For this location I would like the camera to mount flat to the wall using a dome style camera as opposed to a bullet camera or mounting the camera on an "arm". My first thought was to go with a 2.8mm camera with the idea that I would be able to see someone standing at the door, but if I understand it correctly I may lose the depth of field I would want to see what is going on on the sidewalk. I do not need to be able to read license plates etc. I am looking to spend about $100 per camera, but am willing to spend more if needed to do what I want.

I've been looking at the hikvision camera's. Initially this will be connected to a Synology 214Play NAS, but I expect that will be upgraded as I add more camera's to the system. (I suspect the system will have a total of 5-6 camera's when complete)

 

[smoothie]

I would think a camera with a 2.8mm lens would give too wide a view for your needs, it is hard to tell from your picture but you would get a very wide view which would appear to include most if not all of that tree in the left side of the image you uploaded. I would think something around the 4.0mm if not a 6mm would be a better fit. I think the 6mm~ lens could have too much zoom and you would not get the view of a person near your front door. The 3.6mm lens available on the camera listed below has an 83 degree view which is still quite wide for what you are wanting to view but I would think it would give you at least a partial view of someone standing at your entry door. Where you mount the camera will also have an impact on the view the camera has on someone standing at your entry door.

Personally I like Dahua brand over Hikvision but that is my personal preference, there are valid arguments on both sides of the eternal Dahua vs Hikvision debate.

Here is a 4mp Dahua dome with the options of 2.8mm, 3.6mm, and 6.0mm lens choices for $78 from Aliexpress, I have not ordered from this particular store so it is just an example and not a recommendation.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-Dahua-4MP-IPC-HDBW4421R-AS-IP-camera-network-camera-Support-POE-Micro-SD-storage-Audio/32468172315.html?spm=2114.10010108.1000013.1.5dnZCe&scm=1007.13339.33317.0&pvid=f1ee9aee-6c57-46f7-94cb-12416b5ee3c9&tpp=1

There are comparable Hikvision cameras for mostly the same price if you prefer Hikvision over the Dahua.

Another option to consider is many cameras will have a "corridor" mode which allows you to turn the camera view to be vertical instead of horizontal, this could be beneficial to you in your situation depending on what you want to see to the right of the picture you uploaded.

A 4mp camera with a 3.6mm lens and a 1/3" sensor should give you around 100 ppf (pixels per foot) @ 20' which is pretty good for identification during the day, it is a little low for night.

A helpful website for calculating cameras placement vs view vs ppf and coverage is https://ipvm.com/calculator

I hope this helps shed some light for you. Best of luck in your camera journey

 

[Q™]

That's a narrow straight shot from the door, down the stairs and onto the sidewalk; the tree on the left and the adjacent unit's awning are going to block a wider angle. 8mm or 12mm IMO.

 

[meschaefer]

Thanks for your replies.

I have been looking a lot at the sticky "Camera Lens Reference Diagram" and have also come to the conclusion that I could use a narrower field of view. I was neglecting to take the height of the camera into consideration when thinking about coverage area. I expect to mount it above the height of the transom over the door. Which gives me a whole lot of space to reach the bottom of the steps and out to the sidewalk. Ultimately I guess I need to prioritize what I want covered, can't have everything, which brings me to....

As pointed out I don't have any need to cover the house next to mine. In regards to the tree on the right, the tree and bushes are screening for a small garden/patio area. If I could cover that area from the door, it would be great but it is not a high priority. I intend to put a camera on the other side of the front of the house as that is an access point to the alleyway leading to a side entrance. Since I want to run a cable for a camera on that side, it is just as easy to run two cables and put another camera aimed at the patio / door if I felt that I wanted more coverage.

I haven't looked to much at the Dahua camera's, if only because Hikvision seems to come up more in my searches. I was speaking with a friend yesterday who has two Dahua's and has been very happy with them. I just get a bit jumpy ordering directly from China due to customer services issues I have had in the past. (Not camera related)

I was also concerned about mounting directly to the wall, I have seen some discussion about people running into problems proprly aiming the camera and getting the video properly oriented. Thus far my research seems to lead me to believe that I want a turret camera as opposed to a dome camera as you can get them with 3 axis of adjustment as opposed to two, but perhaps I am misunderstanding this.

TIA,

Matt

 

[Kawboy12R]

Some domes are 2 axis and some are 3. Same as turrets. 2 axis domes are probably more common than 2 axis turrets though. The exposure to the elements on your wall is what will make a turret your best choice, not angle adjustment. The third axis is lens rotation for when the cam is mounted at an angle and you can't easily rotate or tilt the camera to compensate. Picture mounting a dome/turret on a wall and you can adjust the lens up/down and left/right but the wide axis of the picture isn't horizontal. On a wall, you can rotate the entire 2-axis camera to make it horizontal again or you can twist the lens in a 3-axis camera to make the picture horizontal without remounting the camera properly. 2-axis cams work fine on walls or ceilings because they're generally square with what you're taking video of. If you mount the cam on the tilt of a roof and want the video square with the ground you'll either have to make a custom tapered mount to compensate for roof angle for a 2 axis camera or just twist the lens of a 3 axis camera.

 

[Q™]

I'm going to change my tune Matt: 6mm or 8mm for this location.

 

[meschaefer]

The exposure to the elements on your wall is what will make a turret your best choice, not angle adjustment.

How does the exposure to the elements affect the choice between turret and dome? Are you talking about rain/snow, heat/cold? Or would you be concerned with sunlight hitting the dome and affecting picture quality? I have been leaning toward a turret due to some complaints/issues I have seen of IR reflection and distortion caused by the dome.

Matt

 

[Kawboy12R]

Potential for ore reflection / refraction problems with water on the dome bubble when you're using the internal IR, particularly if the lens is pointed almost parallel to the mounting axis of the dome. Also, the Dome bubble is made of plastic. It can break down in the Sun and cause vision problems that way. Turrets and bullets and what are called eyeball domes have a flat piece of glass over the lens and glass doesn't eventually break down like that in the sun. I have mounted a number of good quality homes outside under eaves and have had good luck and like them but they don't see a lot of direct sunlight and I don't use internal IR either. I turn it off. Others have mounted possibly cheaper domes in direct sunlight and have apparently complained about plastic problems. You can get replacement plastic bubbles though.