First door checker/burglar caught on video

[jgarc091]

After many months of working to setup and get my system stable, and thanks to this great form, I finally captured some illicit activity in my neighborhood. Looks like he had the help of a vehicle that dropped him off and later came back when he found a vehicle to break into. He loaded stuff in the trunk for a couple minutes and the vehicle drove away only to come back and pick him up a few houses down the block. I posted this on Nextdoor and plan to get the info out to the neighbors.

Cameras are IPC-HDW5231R-ZE. I played with settings to get a better color image at night using the nearby street lamp. Now I want to add a spotlight to cover driveway better. Any opinions on whether I need to play with settings to get better quality images or if going to an 8mp camera with good light in this area would be a worthwhile upgrade are welcome. I am always looking to improve and get the most of my system.

Make sure to watch in HD

 

[mat200]

After many months of working to setup and get my system stable, and thanks to this great form, I finally captured some illicit activity in my neighborhood. Looks like he had the help of a vehicle that dropped him off and later came back when he found a vehicle to break into. He loaded stuff in the trunk for a couple minutes and the vehicle drove away only to come back and pick him up a few houses down the block. I posted this on Nextdoor and plan to get the info out to the neighbors.

Cameras are IPC-HDW5231R-ZE. I played with settings to get a better color image at night using the nearby street lamp. Now I want to add a spotlight to cover driveway better. Any opinions on whether I need to play with settings to get better quality images or if going to an 8mp camera with good light in this area would be a worthwhile upgrade are welcome. I am always looking to improve and get the most of my system.

Make sure to watch in HD

Excellent job @jgarc091

Suggest parking the truck in the exact same spot and placing a 2 yard long stick marked with inches next to the door to get an approx height of the suspect.

 

[bigredfish]

Really not bad at all.. though the video has a slight "soft" look to it....not certain why..have you played with Contrast/Sharpness?

More light! Is usually the answer, but in your case I think its a matter of light positioning. You have good light coming from above...

Here's an example of mine, the two 1200 lumen coach lights help at just 7ft off the ground... though I'd still like better facial detail..

 

[aristobrat]

though I'd still like better facial detail..

Are you trying to count boogers in noses or something? Your detail is great! lol

 

[bigredfish]

I think when you blow it up to full 1080p you still get some pixelation Really its probably resolution. Like all of us I'd love to have a 4K camera that performs as well as the Dahua Starlight 2MP at night..

 

[looney2ns]

What is your shutter speed set to?

 

[bigredfish]

What is your shutter speed set to?

..Yes @jgarc091 ^^^^ and Bitrate also?.... I run 6144 or 8192

 

[jgarc091]

Thank you all for the great advice and responses. I certainly plan on adding more light in this area.

Are you trying to count boogers in noses or something? Your detail is great! lol

Not quite, but almost! If they could be used for an ID then I would certainly try!

What is your shutter speed set to?

Picture - Standard, everything 50
Exposure:
Anti-flicker - outdoor
Mode - Auto
Auto Iris - On
3D NR - On 100

Backlight:
WDR - 15

WB: Auto
IR Off

..Yes @jgarc091 ^^^^ and Bitrate also?.... I run 6144 or 8192

4096...never thought to mess with it.

 

[bigredfish]

1. Reduce 3DNR to less than 50.. that will help the softness
   
2. Careful with WDR, it does strange things at night, but 15 isnt a lot
   
3. Your bitrate is fine. I personally prefer max bitrate as HD storage is cheap and plentiful so no downside

As @looney2ns suggests, Auto Exposure isnt probably best for low light. Try setting it in Manual and choose a slightly faster shutter speed, play with that and gain to see if you get a better eimage

 

[bigredfish]

Here's an example, good light. Getting the right shutter can take some time, this is what I use for a camera at our dul-de-sac with good overhead light. Yours may be different, but play with the exposure settings and you should start getting an idea of what works for you.

 

[hook3m]

Make sure are using a schedule for day and night settings and set exposure to 1/120 for daytime and 1/60 for night. It will significantly cut down on motion blur. With the good lightning you have at night you might get away with 1/120 for night too but you will have to experiment with it.

 

[jgarc091]

Thanks for all the recommendations! Hopefully I get a little time to play with them tonight

 

[pmcross]

Really not bad at all.. though the video has a slight "soft" look to it....not certain why..have you played with Contrast/Sharpness?

More light! Is usually the answer, but in your case I think its a matter of light positioning. You have good light coming from above...

Here's an example of mine, the two 1200 lumen coach lights help at just 7ft off the ground... though I'd still like better facial detail..

Can you share the settings of you camera here? i.e. shutter speed, gain, etc. Your night time images are perfect. Also is this camera a Dahua 2 MP Starlight?

 

[bigredfish]

Mine are actually Dahua 3231 HDCVI 2MP Starlights. They are the HDCVI brother to the 5231 series IP cams that everyone recommends here.

Basically 1/30 nighttime, gain is about 40-50. I have gobs of white light which makes all the difference and why I can get by with one of the two cameras in color mode at night. Two 1200 lumen coach lights 1ft below thew cameras. Your softness is likely due to the extreme high 3DNR. No more than 50

 

[pmcross]

Mine are actually Dahua 3231 HDCVI 2MP Starlights. They are the HDCVI brother to the 5231 series IP cams that everyone recommends here.

Basically 1/30 nighttime, gain is about 40-50. I have gobs of white light which makes all the difference and why I can get by with one of the two cameras in color mode at night. Two 1200 lumen coach lights 1ft below thew cameras. Your softness is likely due to the extreme high 3DNR. No more than 50

Thanks for sharing your settings; I really appreciate it. I think that I need to add some more lights around my cameras. I am running in color night mode too with a shutter speed of 1/30, but have a hard time making out facial details.

 

[bigredfish]

One can never have too much white light or ammo

I have a 3400 lumen flood that is motion activated which also helps

 

[pmcross]

One can never have too much white light or ammo

I have a 3400 lumen flood that is motion activated which also helps

Definitely agree on both points

I’m going to start looking for lights tonight!

 

[NoloC]

Basically 1/30 nighttime, gain is about 40-50.

I get the shutter speed but why not let the gain run up to 100? Might be able to run a faster shutter then?

 

[Whoaru99]

My guess you could ID this guy by the shoes. LOL

 

[bigredfish]

I get the shutter speed but why not let the gain run up to 100? Might be able to run a faster shutter then?

Good question, cant say as Ive tried... gets a little more grainy with high gain...one downside of my CVI cameras is less granular control of a Day/Night exposure.