Webcam Suggestions

[ultragc]

Hi All,

First time here and newbie to webcams. I am looking into setting home surveillance (surroundings) for my home. Here are my requirements:

1. Indoor camera that I can be placed on my windows and pointing outside.
2. 1080P resolution
3. SD card
4. Wireless
5. Power thru POE converter to the wall jack.
6. Night vision
7. Access the webcam from pc/mobile within home or from internet

My goals are to be able to capture my home surrounding (back yard, driveway, car license plates etc.) day and night. I prefer not to user external camera as it would be difficult of me to go the the process of mounting and wiring outside the house. As such, I like to use indoor camera and place it inside to make things simple. I know this may or may not work so i am looking for suggestions of all sorts... but my initial priority is to zero in on the right camera to use.

Thanks All.

 

[atom]

Welcome to the forums ultragc.

The Hikvision cube cameras are good for what you describe, I use a few that way myself. They tick all of the boxes in your list.

http://overseas.hikvision.com/en/Products_accessries_161_i4919.html

You'll need to choose the appropriate lens to get the correct viewing angle for each situation, and you'll also need to disable the IR LEDs (which you can do easily with these) or you'll get massive reflection from the window and see virtually nothing at night. Which means you'll also need some sort of separate lighting of the areas (IR or white light), which may not make the setup as simple as you hope. Especially for licence plate capture, depending on your placement options.

 

[ultragc]

Thanks Atom. If I position the camera in an angle (45 degree), will reflection still result?

 

[atom]

Thanks Atom. If I position the camera in an angle (45 degree), will reflection still result?

Yes, very much so sadly. You will see some of the image outside, but only close to the window, and there will be a massive bright spot of reflection near the edge of the image (depending on the lens/zoom) and a lot of light scatter in general across the whole picture.

E.g., this is at about 45° to the window, and I gave up on the built-in IR. Apart from anything else the IR LED in these isn't designed for great distance, they're more for indoors applications, so it wouldn't give enough light for most outdoor scenes anyway. Certainly not for LPR etc.

 

[ultragc]

Thanks Atom. That could be a problem. Back to the drawing board.

 

[fenderman]

Thanks Atom. That could be a problem. Back to the drawing board.

Find someone who is a professional cable puller and have them run ethernet. It will save you lots of headache in the future and you will get optimal images with the camera mounted outside.
You will not be able to capture license plate outside unless you either have VERY good lighting and keep the camera in day mode or dedicate the camera to license plate capture and set it accordingly(it wont see much else)

 

[Q™]

Find someone who is a professional cable puller and have them run ethernet. It will save you lots of headache in the future and you will get optimal images with the camera mounted outside.

+1 to the 10th power (over ethernet!)

 

[ultragc]

Thanks for the comments.