PoE outdoor camera for rooftop recommendation

[edwarddamato]

Hello!

I would like some recommendations for an outdoor camera I want to install on the roof of my building block. I live in a warm and humid country (temperatures in Summer can be around ~40 C) and it's typically around 300 days of sunshine throughout the year.

I attached a diagram of the layout of the rooftop that I'd like to monitor - the total area is roughly 140sqm. Audio capabilities (1-way) is preferred but not essential.



I already have a Blue Iris setup with 4 other cams.

Thanks!

 

[The Automation Guy]

We need some more information about what your goals are.

If I understand your OP correctly, you want the camera to monitor only the roof area, correct? Is the roof flat? If not, how is the roof laid out - ie where are the pitches and how tall are they? You gave us a total area, but we need rough dimensions of the roof too. How far away are the boundaries of the roof from the camera? What objects do you expect to monitor/capture - people, birds, etc?

Do you expect any cameras to point away from the building and capture things not on the rooftop? If so, how far and in what directions are you trying to capture?

 

[edwarddamato]

Ah sorry - wasn't sure what kind of information was necessary.

• Roof is completely flat
• There are some objects on it but they're not that tall; the tallest is a water tank which is about 1m in height
• Objective is to monitor any movement (from people) on the roof; not interested in capturing anything beyond the boundaries of the roof

Here's another attachment with some dimensions:

 

[The Automation Guy]

Thanks for the extra information....

Where are the likely access points for people to get on the roof? Is it only via a door or ladder? If so where are they located? Or can people get on it via "unauthorized" means.

 

[edwarddamato]

So the 'authorised' entries are from the left and right sides of the latest diagram. The unauthorised entries are along the top and bottom edges.

 

[The Automation Guy]

Given that you effectively need 360° coverage, you are going to need multiple cameras. How many depends greatly on how far away you expect to "identify" a stranger. Most wide angle cameras only provide enough detail to identify a subject out to about 5m. You can recognize someone you already know out to about 8m. Past that and you will be able to observe people and what they are doing, but the footage won't have enough detail to make a proper identification.

I suggest that you use the IPVM Designer / Calculator calculator. You can change your location to the exact spot in Malta and overlay models of different cameras on your building to see what might provide the coverage you need. I would probably recommend that you start out with a Dahua IPC-HFW5442E-ZE camera because it is a variable focal length camera which you can adjust and immediately see the effect of wide angle vs more narrow coverage.