Please help me choose dedicated 30fps indoor ip cam for Table Tennis action

Quaddamage

n3wb
Mar 14, 2021
7
5
Fargo, nd
Hello all,

I am building an outbuilding shop, which will include a 16x30 dedicated Table Tennis gym space. I was looking for a dedicated ipcamera to record to nvr to capture table tennis games/trainings (and some less important security cams outside). Originally thought some nvr package (montevue) Would make sense but stumbled into the black hole that is ipcamtalk, and the strong recommendations of blue iris over a dedicated nvr. I’m a network admin and IT guy by trade and see the advantages of managing blue iris rather than being limited by whatever happens on whatever prepackaged nvr solution I buy.

Anyway, these forums convinced me, and so I ordered an Optiplex to host blue iris and am looking for cams.

I’m not super picky about the outdoor security cams, but one of my main goals of this system is “real time” (30fps) high quality table tennis gym camera.

Help me experts. What would you recommend for a high quality (consistent 30fps), indoor, POE, probably fixed focus, ipcamera that I can manage through Blue Iris for my 16x30 table tennis gym?

Thanks in advance,
Eric
 
Without testing the location, it is not possible to know what lens to use. Get a high quality varifocal cam and set it up at the location for the table using the view that you expect. But do not run the cable or mount the cam. Use a test rig as described in the Cliff Notes.

DSC_4614.JPG

A good cam for this would be the Dahua T5442T-ZE which is a 4MP cam on a 1/1.8" sensor. The varifocal lens is 2.7-12mm. This will allow you to dial in the exact FOV you want without guessing on which fixed lens might work. That Hik cam is a 4MP on a 1/2.5" sensor and will not give you the performance that a 4MP on a larger sensor, like the 1/1.8", will. Plus it is more expensive.

Amazon.com: EmpireTech IPC-T5442T-ZE White 4MP IR Vari-Focal Eyeball Starlight Network Camera English Version: Home Improvement
 
As an Amazon Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.
Dahua's firmware is a pile of shit.



Without testing the location, it is not possible to know what lens to use. Get a high quality varifocal cam and set it up at the location for the table using the view that you expect. But do not run the cable or mount the cam. Use a test rig as described in the Cliff Notes.

View attachment 84649

A good cam for this would be the Dahua T5442T-ZE which is a 4MP cam on a 1/1.8" sensor. The varifocal lens is 2.7-12mm. This will allow you to dial in the exact FOV you want without guessing on which fixed lens might work. That Hik cam is a 4MP on a 1/2.5" sensor and will not give you the performance that a 4MP on a larger sensor, like the 1/1.8", will. Plus it is more expensive.

Amazon.com: EmpireTech IPC-T5442T-ZE White 4MP IR Vari-Focal Eyeball Starlight Network Camera English Version: Home Improvement
 
As an Amazon Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.
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Good firmware on a camera with a small sensor doesn't make for a good camera. Given the number of people who use the 5442 successfully I really don't think it's a POS.
 
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I would think you’d want as light sensitive as possible and maybe 60 fps?
Generally speaking fixed lens of the same series are more light sensitive than the VF.
Assume you don’t need IR ... the 5442-NI is most sensitive, but only bullet or dome. Dome would be ok inside ...
 
That’s a 3.6 mm like I use in my drive. At say 10-12 ft from the table I would think you’d get good coverage...
 
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Based on what you've said so far, you might want to look into pro a/v cameras if you want "real time." It all depends on what is important to you. Slow mo? 30fps is a bit slow for sports which really starts out at 60fps and goes up from there. Picture quality? You won't find many of these security cameras that have the PQ of a basic A/V camera. If you want to distribute your video using network IP, start searching for "NDI". Most of the cameras you will find that output NDI will be PTZ, but there are several that are not. You can even buy NDI converters that will work with any camera with an HDMI output. Oh, and when I say "Pro A/V" I'm refering to a camera that is designed to create video for public consumption, not security. They can range from sports cams like a GoPro all the way up to Studio and Broadcast cameras.

After you search around a bit, send me a PM and I can help you out.

Robert

Hello all,

I am building an outbuilding shop, which will include a 16x30 dedicated Table Tennis gym space. I was looking for a dedicated ipcamera to record to nvr to capture table tennis games/trainings (and some less important security cams outside). Originally thought some nvr package (montevue) Would make sense but stumbled into the black hole that is ipcamtalk, and the strong recommendations of blue iris over a dedicated nvr. I’m a network admin and IT guy by trade and see the advantages of managing blue iris rather than being limited by whatever happens on whatever prepackaged nvr solution I buy.

Anyway, these forums convinced me, and so I ordered an Optiplex to host blue iris and am looking for cams.

I’m not super picky about the outdoor security cams, but one of my main goals of this system is “real time” (30fps) high quality table tennis gym camera.

Help me experts. What would you recommend for a high quality (consistent 30fps), indoor, POE, probably fixed focus, ipcamera that I can manage through Blue Iris for my 16x30 table tennis gym?

Thanks in advance,
Eric
 
Yeah, after picking up a 4mp 30Fps security cam and setting it all up with blue iris etc.. the quality is good.. but not "real time/sports" great quality.

I was worried that this might be the case but didn't have the experience to know better. I see a lot of guys just using their iphones which ends up looking really good. But yeah, they are shooting 60FPS with their phones.
The main reasons I wanted to try to make something work in the IPcamera space are: I don't really want to have to remember to turn on/off the recording so the ability to store to a PC harddrive constantly is great, for super easy cutting/exporting of video is huge.

I have some gopros but they are also a pain in the ass to use in relation to post editing/exporting to something sharable.

NDI is a new term for me. Googling this now.
If you have any tips knowing my goals, to cut my learning speed with NDI, I'll take them. :)
Thanks for the direction.


Based on what you've said so far, you might want to look into pro a/v cameras if you want "real time." It all depends on what is important to you. Slow mo? 30fps is a bit slow for sports which really starts out at 60fps and goes up from there. Picture quality? You won't find many of these security cameras that have the PQ of a basic A/V camera. If you want to distribute your video using network IP, start searching for "NDI". Most of the cameras you will find that output NDI will be PTZ, but there are several that are not. You can even buy NDI converters that will work with any camera with an HDMI output. Oh, and when I say "Pro A/V" I'm refering to a camera that is designed to create video for public consumption, not security. They can range from sports cams like a GoPro all the way up to Studio and Broadcast cameras.

After you search around a bit, send me a PM and I can help you out.

Robert
 
Last edited:
I sell Bird Dog, Newtek, and other NDI product lines. If you already own a GoPro with an HDMI output port, you could buy an NDI converter box that puts the video from the GoPro onto your network. You can then record that video using OBS to a standard format for editing. NDI converters are about $400.

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