Newbie needs recommendation

Jayman76

n3wb
Sep 30, 2022
6
4
Long Island, NY
Hey guys been reading the forum and decided time to join! I’m looking for 6 cams for outside my house under the
soffit. I’m not sure if dome or turret with 1/1.8” sensor 2 or 4mp that has very good low light performance. Also need a NVR I have access to Hikvision and Dahua through a buddy of mine. I don’t mind spending a little more on quality.

If any of you guys can recommend a kick ass system I’d really appreciate it!

Jay
 
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Hey guys been reading the forum and decided time to join! I’m looking for 6 cams for outside my house under the
soffit. I’m not sure if dome or turret with 1/1.8” sensor 2 or 4mp that has very good low light performance. Also need a NVR I have access to Hikvision and Dahua through a buddy of mine. I don’t mind spending a little more on quality.

If any of you guys can recommend a kick ass system I’d really appreciate it!

Jay

Welcome @Jayman76

In general most of us prefer to avoid Dome cameras outdoors due to issues with the dome and foam / rubber gasket around the lens decaying. ( you can search for issues with Dome cameras in the forum )

Thus, many of us will pick a Turret style instead.

In terms of you Soffit, how high are the soffits?
 
Welcome @Jayman76

In general most of us prefer to avoid Dome cameras outdoors due to issues with the dome and foam / rubber gasket around the lens decaying. ( you can search for issues with Dome cameras in the forum )

Thus, many of us will pick a Turret style instead.

In terms of you Soffit, how high are the soffits?
Hey thanks for the info yeah I have read that about the domes so I'm leaning towards the turret style possibly bullet. My soffit is second story of my house soffit below the roof. If I had to guess i's probably a little more than 20'.
 
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Welcome to the forum. Wait until the guys get here, they'll fix you right up. Happen to have a budget in mind?
Best of luck!
Thanks man!! I'm willing to spend more for a good system but wouldn't want to spend more than 800.00 per cam. I was looking at some Hanwha Techwin cams that were $$ over 1k each!
 
Twenty feet is way too high. Max height is eight feet and preferably less.

Here's the skinny on cameras, resolution, height and focal length.

Rule #1 - Cameras multiply like rabbits.
Rule #2 - Cameras are more addictive than drugs.
Rule #3 - You never have enough cameras.

Quick guide -

The smaller the lux number the better the low light performance. 0.002 is better than 0.02
The smaller the "F" of the lens the better the low light performance. F1.4 is better than F1.8
The larger the sensor the better the low light performance. 1/1.8" is better (bigger) than 1/2.7"
The higher the megapixels for the same size sensor the worse the low light performance. A 4MP camera with a 1/1.8" sensor will perform better than a 8MP camera with that same 1/1.8" sensor.

Disclaimer - These sizes are what the manufacturers advertise and may, or may not, be the true size of the sensor in the camera.
720P - 1/3" = .333"
2MP - 1/2.8" = .357" (think a .38 caliber bullet)
4MP - 1/1.8" = .555" (bigger than a .50 caliber bullet or ball)
8MP - 1/1.2" = .833" (bigger than a 20mm chain gun round)

Focal length, lens size, is another critical element in camera selection. A 2.8mm lens will produce a nice wide view but will be useless for identification at distances greater than abut 10 or 15 feet.

If you really want to check DORI distances you can do your on calculations just from knowing the lens size, sensor size and target distance from the camera.
Courtesy of mat200

Compiled by wittaj

Don't believe all the marketing hype no matter who makes the camera. Don't believe those nice night time captures they all use. Look for videos, with motion, to determine low light performance. Any camera can be made to "see" color at night if the exposure time is long enough, as in half a second or longer. Rule of thumb, the shutter speed needs to be at 1/60 or higher to get night video without blurring.

Read the reviews here, most include both still shots and video.

Avoid Reolink, Foscam, SV3C, Nest, and all the other consumer grade cameras. They all struggle mightily at night and never get anything useful on video. Here's a link to a whole thread debunking Reolink in particular.

Compiled by mat200 -

A collection of various consumer grade failures -

Avoid WiFi cameras, even doorbell cameras. WiFi is not designed for the constant, 24/7, load of video that a surveillance camera produces. At best, with two cameras on WiFi, they will still experience dropouts multiple times daily. Murphy's Law says that will happen at the worst possible moment.

Lens size, focal length, is another critical factor. Many people like the wide, sweeping, views of a 2.8mm lens but be aware that identification is problematic with a lens that wide. Keep in mind that it may take two cameras, or more, to provide the coverage you need or desire. Another factor that effects view angles is the sensor size. Typically larger sensors will have a larger field of view in any given lens size.

The 5442 series of cameras by Dahua is the current "king of the hill". They are 4MP and capable of color with some ambient light at night. The 2231 series is a less expensive alternative in 2MP and does not have audio capabilities, no built in microphone, but is easier on the budget. The 3241T-ZAS has similar spcs as the 2231 and has audio. There are also cameras available from the IPCT Store right here on the forum and from Nelly's Security who has a thread in the vendors section.

Again, courtesy of Wittaj -

The 5442 series of cameras by Dahua is the current "king of the hill". They are 4MP and capable of color with some ambient light at night. The 2231 series is a less expensive alternative in 2MP and does not have audio capabilities, no built in microphone, but is easier on the budget. The 3241T-ZAS has similar spcs as the 2231 and has audio. There are also cameras available from the IPCT Store right here on the forum and from Nelly's Security who has a thread in the vendors section.

Review - 8MP 1/1.2" sensor full color camera




Dual Sensor 4K

5442 Reviews

Review - Loryata (Dahua OEM) IPC-T5442T-ZE varifocal Turret

Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+

Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+ Turret

Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Turret, Full Color, Starlight+)

Review: IPC-HDBW5442R-ASE-NI - Dahua Technology Pro AI Bullet Network Camera

2231 Review
Review-OEM IPC-T2231RP-ZS 2mp Varifocal Turret Starlight Camera

3241T-ZAS Review

PTZ Cameras

180 Degree FOV 4K
 
Hey thanks for the info yeah I have read that about the domes so I'm leaning towards the turret style possibly bullet. My soffit is second story of my house soffit below the roof. If I had to guess i's probably a little more than 20'.

Hi @Jayman76

Sebastiantombs is giving good advice ..

"Twenty feet is way too high. Max height is eight feet and preferably less. " - sebastiantombs

Plan to find ways to bring the cameras lower ..

If you have vinyl siding you can even put the cat5e/6 cable under the siding .. ( search for vinyl siding tools .. easy to separate most siding which is not brittle )
 
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:welcome:


Came here originally with my mind set on Hik and a NVR, went with Dahua (Andy) and Blue Iris. If I could do it over I would buy the same equipment and software which is high praise. The experts here steered me toward BI and Dahua. My only mistake was not listening and buying too small of a switch which was an easy fix.

It is OK to start small and get a feel for what works, started with a single Dahua 2231 varifocal. Have 5 active cams currently and 3 more I have not got around to finding a permanent home for and mounting.
 
Hi @Jayman76

Sebastiantombs is giving good advice ..

"Twenty feet is way too high. Max height is eight feet and preferably less. " - sebastiantombs

Plan to find ways to bring the cameras lower ..

If you have vinyl siding you can even put the cat5e/6 cable under the siding .. ( search for vinyl siding tools .. easy to separate most siding which is not brittle )
Good look guys! I have a high ranch so my first soffit is around 7' so I'll put the cameras there! I happened to find the New Dahua Turret model Andy from Empire Tech was talking about on the site. On Dahua's new fall 2022 catalog the model number is N85EUN2 for 8mp turret with the 1/1.2'' sensor. I'm def leaning towards these bad boy. The low lite performance seems really great only thing is they show only a 2.8mm lens I'd love a varifocal or 3.6mm I think would be better? Andy seems to have the same model but with the 3.6mm lens his model is IPC-Color4K-T

 
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Good on the soffit height!

He has the 4K/X available in 2.8 and 3.6 (well maybe not in stock, but he probably is getting more).

Do keep in mind that while this is a phenomenal camera, it doesn't defy physics and needs some light - either ambient light or the white LED light from the camera. Further it cannot see infrared.

So if you have some ambient light or do not mind the white LED light on, then it is a great choice. Otherwise, you are better off with a camera with infrared.
 
Good look guys! I have a high ranch so my first soffit is around 7' so I'll put the cameras there! I happened to find the New Dahua Turret model Andy from Empire Tech was talking about on the site. On Dahua's new fall 2022 catalog the model number is N85EUN2 for 8mp turret with the 1/1.2'' sensor. I'm def leaning towards these bad boy. The low lite performance seems really great only thing is they show only a 2.8mm lens I'd love a varifocal or 3.6mm I think would be better? Andy seems to have the same model but with the 3.6mm lens his model is IPC-Color4K-T


Hi @Jayman76

Good news you've found a lower and better location ..

Definitely get the 3.6mm if you can, as it gives you about a 90 degree H FOV and a better DORI distance vs the 2.8mm ..

Drop Andy ( @EMPIRETECANDY ) a line if you need to check his inventory .. most of us have used the vendors which are listed in this forum ( see the vendor section ) and approve of them.