I am Tim from the UK. Looking for security camera system to install at home. Hope you all will guide all the way.
Newbie
- Thread starter techytim
- Start date
Sphinxicus
Getting comfortable
Welcome @techytim, seems to be a flood of people joining from the UK lately! Loads of information on this forum which people have spent hours contributing to. My first advice to you is to read as much as you can, especially read the Cliff Notes.
The more you read and understand, the better your questions will be and the more help people will be able to provide. There is a lot of really knowledgable guys here but you wont get your hand held all the way. You need to put the effort in but by doing so you will end up with a stonking camera with excellent pictures at night as well as day and much better than a plug an play waste of space like the Reolinks
Last edited:
Welcome, stick around a while and absorb some of the great information available on the forum.
It only costs your time to read the Wiki and other tools. Couple of the guys have a newbie guide they will leave you.
Read up! Then sit back and enjoy the nuts, genious, weirdos and great guys on the forum. I fit in at least a couple of those categories.
And, don't forget, leave room for expansion, cameras multiply like rabbits.
sebastiantombs
Known around here
Three rules
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.
1/3" = .333" Great for 720P
1/2.8" = .357" (think a .38 caliber bullet) Great for 2MP
1/1.8" = .555" (bigger than a .50 caliber bullet or ball) Great for 4MP
1/1.2" = .833" (bigger than a 20mm chain gun round) Great for 8MP
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.
Read the reviews here, most include both still shots and video.
Rule of thumb, the shutter speed needs to be at 1/60 or higher to get night video without blurring. If you can't set the shutter speed on a camera, you don't want it. Avoid Reolink, Sv3C, Wyze and all the other consumer level cameras because none allow full control of operating parameters of the cameras they sell.
8MP Review
Worlds First Review - Dahua - IPC-Color4K-X / DH-IPC-HFW5849T1-ASE-LED - Full Color 4K Camera
Intro I’m excited to be doing another Worlds First Review. this time as I mentioned in the full color thread, I’ve been testing the new Dahua full color 4K camera. This was provided courtesy of @EMPIRETECANDY for a fair, honest, no holds barred, unbiased review. I’ll attempt to answer any and...
5442 Reviews
Review-OEM Loryta IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal 4mp camera (Dahua)
IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal from @EMPIRETECANDY 4MP WDR Turret Varifocal Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Andy's ipcamtalk store: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon store: link Price Approximately US $200.00...
Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+
All, thanks to Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY ) we have a new 4MP AI camera for testing. This camera has been provided by Andy in exchange for a fair and honest review. This camera is using the OEM model number of IPC-B5442-ZE which is the equivalent of the Dahua IPC-HFW5442-ZE for reference. The IPC-B...
Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+
Dahua OEM IPC-T5442TM-AS from EMPIRETECANDY 4MP WDR Turret AI Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Andy's ipcamtalk store: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon store: link Price Approximately US $160 Link to camera...
Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Full Color, Starlight+)
Dahua OEM IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED from EMPIRETECANDY 4MP WDR Turret AI Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Andy's ipcamtalk vendor forum: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon store: link Andy's Email: kingsecurity2014...
Review: IPC-HDBW5442R-ASE-NI - Dahua Technology Pro AI Dome Network Camera
Hey, this is a wonderful forum, and since I’ve recently purchased a new set of Dahua cameras, I thought I’d share my thoughts and opinions. This camera is the IPC-HDBW5442R-ASE-NI, and it’s actually the fourth camera from Dahua that I’ve purchased for my house over the years. Prior to this, I...
2231 Reviews
Review-OEM IPC-T2231T-ZS Ver 2, 2mp Varifocal Starlight Camera
Updated 12/11/19. Edited for clarity. Dahua OEM IPC-T2231T-ZS from EMPIRETECANDY 2MP WDR Turret Varifocal Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Andy's ipcamtalk vendor forum: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon...
Remember, terms like Starlight, Starlight+, DarkFighter, FullColor, ColorVu and so on are marketing terms and have absolutely no technical specification to support those terms. Look for reviews with night time videos that include human motion, walking or running, and examine them to see if you can see enough detail to be able to identify the person. Night time is normally when we want/need them to work the best.
Don't be fooled by those nice, wide angle views. The wider the view the less detail is available. With the cameras normally supplied in pre-packaged kits, 2.8mm, the person needs to be within three meters to be able to get a reliable identification shot. Even then the three meter distance assumes the camera is mounted no higher than two and a half meters. Don't try to cover too much with one camera (see the three rules above).
Flintstone61
Known around here
Take the Blue Pill and life will remain simple and you will own a Nest or Ring system.
Take the Red Pill, and find out how a guy can end up with 36 Cameras on 2 properties with 3 Recorders, eating Weiner water soup......
Take the Red Pill, and find out how a guy can end up with 36 Cameras on 2 properties with 3 Recorders, eating Weiner water soup......
The OP, a noob, is probably thinking "....what the hell did I get myself into now."
Welcome to the insanity!! 
Don't worry, the crazys only come out during daylight hours. Just follow @sebastiantombs list, and once you think you have an idea, or questions, just toss it out there and folks will be glad to offer advice!
Don't worry, the crazys only come out during daylight hours. Just follow @sebastiantombs list, and once you think you have an idea, or questions, just toss it out there and folks will be glad to offer advice!
SouthernYankee
IPCT Contributor
My standard welcome to the forum message.
Read Study Plan before spending money
Cameras are for surveillance to get information for after the fact.
Please read the IP Cam Talk Cliff Notes and other items in the IP Cam Talk Wiki. (read on a real computer, not a phone). The wiki is in the blue bar at the top of the page.
Read How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!) in the wiki also.
Quick start
1) If you do not have a wired monitored alarm system, get that first
2) Use Dahua starlight cameras or Hikvision darkfighter cameras if you need good low light cameras.
3) Start with a good variable focus camera, so you test for the correct lens,lighting, camera placement.
4) use a VPN to access home network (openVPN)
5) Do not use WIFI cameras.
6) Do not use cloud storage
7) Do Not use uPNP, P2P, QR, do not open ports,
8) More megapixel is not necessarily better.
9) Avoid chinese hacked cameras (most ebay, amazon, aliexpress cameras(not all, but most))
10) Do not use reolink, ring, nest, Arlo, Vivint cameras (they are junk), no cloud cameras
11) If possible use a turret camera , bullet collect spiders, dome collect dirt and reflect light (IR)
12) Use only solid copper, AWG 23 or 24 ethernet wire. , no CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum)
13) use a test mount to verify the camera mount location. My test rig: rev.2
14) (Looney2ns)If you want to be able to ID faces, don't mount cams higher than 7ft. You want to know who did it, not just what happened.
15) Use a router that has openVPN built in (Most ASUS, Some NetGear....)
16) camera placement use the calculator... IPVM Camera Calculator
17) POE list PoE Switch Suggestion List
18) Camera Sensor size, bigger is general better Sensor Size Chart
19) Camera lens size the bigger number the more range the less FOV. . Which Security Camera Lens Size Should I Buy?
20) verify your camera placement, have a friend wearing a hoodie, ball cap and sunglasses looking down approach the house, can you identify them at night ?
21) DO NOT UPGRADE your NVR or camera unless you absolutely have a problem that needs to be fixed and known what you are doing, if you do, you will turn it into a brick !!
Thank you for such a quick responses. Didn't expect though.