Why I Like Redundant Views/Multiple Cam Views

[ipmania]

What a great thread! I am in the process of spec'ing out my cameras and determining their number and location and so I'm glad I came across it now.

Questions:

1) You have quite a variety of cameras. Was this because the process evolved? Or was it due to only a particular type of camera being appropriate for the location and use-case? In my own case, I'm thinking I need (broadly), only 2 types of cameras: a) some good ones (e.g. 5442 variofocal turrets) for identification and b) some cheaper fixed lens cameras for overview. I am lucky that I have a choke point for entry to the front and the back is fenced off (though perps can hop it perhaps).

2) If you were to have the ability to wave a wand and have the cameras replaced, how would their specs change? I guess it could be interpreted as me asking about a pie-in-the-sky scenario but not really. I'd also want to know if some of the cameras were found to be overkill and if you were on a more limited budget what you would have done about it. Even if some of the cameras were found to be extraneous (unlikely though as their deployment was evolutionary.

3) for the lighting conditions for your delivery guy (he appeared a bit dark), could it have benefited from some kind of artificial lighting even though it was daytime?

 

[samplenhold]

@ipmania :

1) You have quite a variety of cameras. Was this because the process evolved? Or was it due to only a particular type of camera being appropriate for the location and use-case?

Both. The cams for the front porch originally were chosen because they were appropriate for the views I wanted. Then as time went on and I decided to place LPR cams at the front, I had the chance to mount two more cams to cover the porch. Those cams were chosen based on what I wanted for the view.

2) If you were to have the ability to wave a wand and have the cameras replaced, how would their specs change?

Well a few years later, there are cams that have better sensors and better firmware. So I would get different cams now than what I bought a few years ago. One can argue that four cams at the front door windows is overkill, but due to the changes in daylight over the day and seasons, they give me a good chance to get at least one good face shot. More limited budget... I have not really thought about that. Three of the front door window cams were fairly cheep. The forth one is a very cheep wifi cam that was left over from my first foray into IPcams, before I found IPCAMTALK.

3) for the lighting conditions for your delivery guy (he appeared a bit dark), could it have benefited from some kind of artificial lighting even though it was daytime?

Sure, adding more light will always help. But I do not hink I need that in daytime as I got a good face shot by one of the cams. That is the whole point of this thread.