Outdoor POE Camera Recommendations

[redsox786]

Hello,
I'm in the market to buy 4-5 POE cameras for the outside of my house, but need some help with recommendations. I've been doing some research, but am overwhelmed by the different camera's that are out there. Here's a few things I'm looking for:

• I'm leaning towards a turret-style camera, but are there any advantages/disadvantages over a bullet-style? These cameras will be installed on my roof edge (soffit), so I was thinking the turret would be a cleaner look. But I'm open to either style!
• Low-light; we do not have any street lights, so after my outdoor lights that are on timer turn off, it's pitch black outside. So I'm looking for something that has great low-light performance.
• NVR/RTSP; I'd like to have all of the camera's feed into a NVR (preferbly by the same manufacturer of the camera), but then also having the ability to use the RTSP streams to feed into Blue Iris (I'm not sure if I'd keep the BI setup, but would like to at least explore it and see it's capabilities).
• 4K; I'd like to have at least 4K, but in my research it looks like it's not about the megapixels but more so the image sensor and aperture?

Any recommendations/guidance, would be greatly appreciated!

 

[tward392]

I have 5 of these: IPC-T5442TM-AS

installed on my soffit around the house and they perform well.

I used the following to mount them: EmpireTech PFA130-E White Water-Proof Junction Box Bracket…

But others that are smarter than me will be along to give even better advice.

 

[sebastiantombs]

How high are your soffits? Mounting cameras higher than 7-1/2' will result in great shots of the tops of heads and no good identifying shots.

Every camera needs at least some visible light to maintain color at night. In extremely dark locations infrared will work for black and white images. Here's the current stable of low light capable cameras. Have a look at the reviews and most will include night motion which is the key. Any camera can be made to produce a color still image in poor to little lighting conditions IF the shutter speed, exposure time, is low enough. The problem is that means an exposure time of 1/3 second or more which will produce blurred, useless, motion video. The exposure time needs to be at least 1/60 second and preferably 1/100 second or higher.

Courtesy of Wittaj -

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

At the urging of several folks here, I created a thread to show the importance of focal length and how focal length can be more important than megapixels (MP). I mentioned some of this in the post regarding The Hookup’s latest video demonstrating different cameras, including one sold from a...

ipcamtalk.com

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 specs 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

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...

ipcamtalk.com

Worlds First Review - Dahua DH-IPC-HDW5849H-ASE-LED / IPC-Color4K-T - 2.8mm Turret

Ok, who's ready for not only a review BUT another World's First Review ? You heard it here first, new camera in hands and almost ready to review. Thanks as always goes to Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) for providing this camera in exchange for a fair, honest, non biased, no holds barred review. I’ve...

ipcamtalk.com

2021 Full Color 2.0 Has a Fantastic New Dual Lens Camera

Hey guys The full color 2.0 has been released. Most cams I already posted here. Like: IPC-Color4K-X Bullet 4MP Motorized Full color. Today I bring a secret model, 1st release for the Dual-Lens Full color model in the world. Dual-lens Camera( Sample at Early Sep ) Ø Dual light fusion...

ipcamtalk.com

Dual Sensor 4K

Review: Dahua DH-IPC-MFW7442K1-Z4-T40 - Dual Sensor (4MP + 4MP) Bullet Camera

Hope all of you are doing well ! Intro Its time to do another review and this time (as you may have seen in my Coming Soon video), we have 2 of them. Both of these cams are from the same MFW-7x42K1 family and feature dual sensors. I have the 7442 (4MP) and 7842 (8MP) versions of these cams...

ipcamtalk.com

5442 Reviews

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

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...

ipcamtalk.com

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

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...

ipcamtalk.com

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

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...

ipcamtalk.com

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

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...

ipcamtalk.com

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

Review: OEM IPC-B5442T-ASE-NI 4MP Pro AI Starlight Full-color Fixed Bullet

Many thanks once again to Andy @EMPIRETECANDY we have for testing the OEM IPC-B5442T-ASE-NI 4MP Starlight+ Full Color bullet. This camera has been provided by Andy in exchange for a fair and honest review. This is a fixed 3.6mm bullet (Pro AI) series with the 1/1.8” sensor. It has no built in...

ipcamtalk.com

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

Review-Dahua IPC-HDW2231RP-ZS Starlight Camera-Varifocal

Again courtesy of @EMPIRETECANDY EmpireTech Andy we have a new cam to look over. Its a new model in Dahua's new Lite H265 Series of cam's. Available for purchase here: Aliexpress.com - Online Shopping for Electronics, Fashion, Home & Garden, Toys & Sports, Automobiles and more Price is approx...

ipcamtalk.com

3241T-ZAS Review

Review-OEM IPC-T3241-ZAS 2mp AI Lite series Varifocal

IPC-T3241-ZAS from EMPIRETECANDY 2MP WDR Turret Varifocal AI Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Purchase in the IPCT Store Andy's ipcamtalk vendor forum: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon store: link Price...

ipcamtalk.com

PTZ Cameras

2022 Latest New SD8C440FD-HNF 4MP 40X Startlight Polarlight PTZ

Hey guys A new PTZ is out now, it's using the new dual light and Polar light new technology, attached PDF file is the details for checking. This model we will bring one for review and for fun.

ipcamtalk.com

180 Degree FOV 4K

New Dahua 180 Degree Bullet Camera (IPC-Color4K-180)

The new Dahua 180 degree bullet camera (IPC-Color4K-180) should be available soon from Andy along with its data sheet. Looks like a most interesting camera for many applications.

ipcamtalk.com

 

[looney2ns]

+1 ^^^^^^^
Be sure to study this: Wiki

Welcome.

 

[Rob2020]

Read and plan, take it slow, listen to the experts here. I came here more than a year ago thinking I wanted Hikvision and a NVR, ended up with Dahua (EmpireTech) and Blue Iris. My one big mistake was buying too small of a POE switch which is not that big of a problem as cameras tend to multiply like rabbits (I should have heeded that advice). I thought no way I will ever mount more than four.

Blue Iris is awesome software, following the advice here it was truly plug n play and has been 100% stable for about 18 months recording 24/7. When you have a hiccup or confusion, you can get an answer here, often in minutes. I did not hesitate for a minute at the end of year one to ante up for extended support.

The Dahua 5442 on a PFB204W mount is an extremely clean look on a soffit. This setup blends to almost invisible once you get about 30 feet away or more. Even up close it has a very professional look.

 

[mat200]

Hello,
I'm in the market to buy 4-5 POE cameras for the outside of my house, but need some help with recommendations. I've been doing some research, but am overwhelmed by the different camera's that are out there. Here's a few things I'm looking for:

• I'm leaning towards a turret-style camera, but are there any advantages/disadvantages over a bullet-style? These cameras will be installed on my roof edge (soffit), so I was thinking the turret would be a cleaner look. But I'm open to either style!
• Low-light; we do not have any street lights, so after my outdoor lights that are on timer turn off, it's pitch black outside. So I'm looking for something that has great low-light performance.
• NVR/RTSP; I'd like to have all of the camera's feed into a NVR (preferbly by the same manufacturer of the camera), but then also having the ability to use the RTSP streams to feed into Blue Iris (I'm not sure if I'd keep the BI setup, but would like to at least explore it and see it's capabilities).
• 4K; I'd like to have at least 4K, but in my research it looks like it's not about the megapixels but more so the image sensor and aperture?

Any recommendations/guidance, would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome @redsox786

My guess you will need more than 4 cameras .. I personally recommend starting with ONE good 4MP 1/1.8" sensor varifocal and a small PoE switch and start to play around with potential placements. ( look for the test rig setup in the threads )

"Read and plan, take it slow, listen to the experts here. I came here more than a year ago thinking I wanted Hikvision and a NVR, ended up with Dahua (EmpireTech) and Blue Iris. My one big mistake was buying too small of a POE switch which is not that big of a problem as cameras tend to multiply like rabbits (I should have heeded that advice). I thought no way I will ever mount more than four . " - Robo2020

 

[Cold-Lemonade]

I recommend getting a mini pc with a dual nic and installing Ubuntu Server. Then install Frigate NVR in a docker container. Both Ubuntu and Frigate are free. Connect one nic to your PoE swtich and the other to your router. Frigate is AMAZING. If you want object detection, like having the software detect a person on your back deck, you'll also want to buy a Google Coral TPU on a usb dongle and plug it into your mini pc.

Also, I run ddwrt on my router. Ddwrt has WireGuard, which allows you to connect to your home network when you're away from home. This lets me monitor my cameras when I'm away from.

I've also purchased a Raspberry Pi4 which runs Home Assistant. Frigate integrates with Home Assistant really well. Through Home Assistant, I'm able to harness the cameras to do all sorts of things. For example, I have a smart flood light that's too sensitive and constantly turning on because the wind blows the branches on a nearby tree. I bypass the flood light's motion sensor and have Home Assistant turn on the flood light it if detect a person in front yard. So not the wind cannot turn on the light. Home Assistant can also be set to send your cell phone a notification if it detects a person on the deck, etc.

Frigate = Frigate NVR
Mini PC =

https://www.amazon.com/Windows-Celeron-Processor-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B0899N2L6T/ref=sr_1_2?m=A2GFAOFH7QLTX9&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&qid=1661915794&s=merchant-items&sr=1-2

DD WRT = DD-WRT
Home Assistant = Home Assistant

Enjoy building your custom system.