The ideal position for that front door camera

[Wombat]

I’ve eliminated the option of a doorbell camera and am opting for a dedicated front door camera. It will be either a 2MP or 5MP dahua mini wedge in 2.8mm and will be placed at 5-6’ height for the good facial shot. The only thing I must now decide is what side of the door to place it. It will be mounted on a side wall as far back as I can get it I think the FOV is close enough to 100 degrees. Is the best place on the door handle side? I’ll attach a photo of potential door handle side view. Just out of shot are brick walls/ brick pier. I am aware also of not trying to do too much with the camera. After all it is for the front door. Pics 2 and 3 show view from opposite the door handle side which also gives view of part of driveway and roller doors. [What do you think?

 

[IAmATeaf]

Logically the cam on the door handle side would make sense as they’ll be facing that way if talking when the door is open or even trying the handle.

Your pics don’t state which is the view from the door handle side, if it’s the one with the pillar then that might cause problems in the evenings if running in IR mode.

 

[Wombat]

Ok. The pic with the tree in the centre of shot that is shadowed is the door handle side view. The other two are the other side with greater view. Sorry I tried to put them in order but they seemed to go all over the place, well at least on my phone screen view.

 

[Dave Lonsdale]

Despite being a “mini” product, you may feel it’s far too big for the front door, but I’m still pleased with mine and use it to check for parcels left on the doorstep. Even though it’s 4MP, the low light optical sensitivity in colour is simply brilliant.

3" PT Hikvision DS-2DE3A400BW-DE(F1)(S5)

I've just bought one of these to use at my front door. It's a replacement for an ancient Dahua turret - of the generation having a very poor focus when in B&W. So far I think I'll be please with it: 4MP, 1/1.8" giving a claimed unbelievably good low light performance of 0.0005 lux in colour...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[wittaj]

Calling @samplenhold

Why I Like Redundant Views/Multiple Cam Views

A lot of newbies ask for help with their camera setups and most think that they can get by with a single cam to cover quite a bit of area. While that is possible if all you are interested in is a wide-angle overview, it usually will not give you a great chance of getting a face shot good enough...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[samplenhold]

Really the only way to decide is to test each position out with the cam BEFORE running cable and mounting the cam. Use a test rig as described in the Cliff Notes.

@wittaj linked a thread that shows what the 3.6mm wedge FOV is like as that is what I have on my front door.