Camera recommendation for this spot?

[99ls1tj]

I want to keep an eye on my truck. A big bonus would be being able to see my mailbox 60’ away as well. Camera would be mounted to the plywood soffit and wires run into the attic. There is some ambient light from a streetlight about 140’ from this point on the house. The camera sort of needs to go in the corner because there is a crepe myrtle to the left that grows out in the summer. Also, if it helps any. if you drew a line from the corner of the soffit and diagonally intersected the truck it would point right to the mailbox (hope that makes sense). Any recommendations? Thx

I am leaning towards this camera. https://www.amazon.com/EmpireTech-I...s=empire+tech&qid=1561367665&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 

[bigredfish]

You may be able to "see" your mailbox, but one camera isnt going to get you good ID at the truck AND the mailbox.

 

[99ls1tj]

Yeah, I kinda figured that. Thx

 

[aristobrat]

If you haven't already found this tool, spend some time with it: IPVM Camera Calculator V3

If you type in your address, it should pull up a Google Maps image of your house. You can then add up to three cameras on it, set the model of those cameras to ones you're considering, position them around the exterior of your house, and drag a little guy (one per camera) to various distances and see an estimate of the image quality.

 

[looney2ns]

To see mail box: Review-Dahua IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E AI Varifocal Bullet | IP Cam Talk

 

[ThomasPI]

To see mail box: Review-Dahua IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E AI Varifocal Bullet | IP Cam Talk

This for sure, we are going with a coupe of these same cams.

 

[99ls1tj]

Well, I think I failed miserably. I mounted a HDW2231R-ZS to the soffit. I did test the camera before I installed it and the video looked great at night. Now it’s all cloudy. When I originally tested, the camera was a little lower. Any suggestions on what you all think is wrong with this installation? The crepe myrtle, too high or too close to the side wall of the house? Or maybe all I the above? Thanks

 

[bigredfish]

Pretty much all of the above

The crepe myrtle is soaking up IR and the soffit above the camera is reflecting badly.

Lowering may help, the trick is to mount it so that there's nothing close to reflect the IR, can you move it out towards the edge of the eve/soffit more? point it a bit more down? (trim that crepe myrtle)

Id be tempted to move it down on the wall about a foot and use this mount
https://www.dahuasecurity.com/products/productDetail/1044

 

[Mike A.]

Typical IR glare mostly from the trim strip/gutter that you can see at the top of the second image. Which is why it looked OK when lower. Tree isn't helping any either.

Angle the cam down and trim that branch back to test. Should look a lot better.

Longer term solution in that same location might be to mount it to one of the junction boxes to drop it down some. Also, if you can, move it more forward as far as possible.

 

[99ls1tj]

Thanks for the suggestions! I’ll give them a try and let y’all know how it turns out. I can probably move it forward a little and patch the screw holes, but I don’t want to have to repair the 1” hole I’ve already drilled in the soffit for the connector to pass thru if I can help it. I’ll definitely try angling it down and trimming the crepe myrtle. Thx

 

[Mike A.]

Should have mentioned too that just getting whatever out of the image may not be enough. You'll still pick up glare from surfaces that don't appear in the image since it's still bouncing back even though it's outside of the picture.

 

[99ls1tj]

Should have mentioned too that just getting whatever out of the image may not be enough. You'll still pick up glare from surfaces that don't appear in the image since it's still bouncing back even though it's outside of the picture.

Makes perfect sense, thx

 

[mat200]

Hi @99ls1tj

A junction box will drop it down just a little bit and cover up the hole nicely... if you do not want to DIY mod one from the local hardware store you can try:

PFA122 - example here from Lorex ( 15% off w/SUMMER right now, looks like free shipping Outdoor Junction Box for 3 Screw Base Cameras (Gray) )
PFA130E - Andy should have this.. maybe Montavue, Amcrest, other vendors
PFA137 - Accessories/Mounts/PFA137 - Dahua Wiki

PFA122 iirc will drop it down a bit more than the others. Of course you can DIY a bit of a wood stand off to drop it down a bit also.

Another option is to test it in full color mode - if you have enough ambient light it may do well.

Another option is to add an external IR illuminator in an offset spot from the camera

 

[99ls1tj]

Hi @99ls1tj

A junction box will drop it down just a little bit and cover up the hole nicely... if you do not want to DIY mod one from the local hardware store you can try:

PFA122 - example here from Lorex ( 15% off w/SUMMER right now, looks like free shipping Outdoor Junction Box for 3 Screw Base Cameras (Gray) )
PFA130E - Andy should have this.. maybe Montavue, Amcrest, other vendors
PFA137 - Accessories/Mounts/PFA137 - Dahua Wiki

PFA122 iirc will drop it down a bit more than the others. Of course you can DIY a bit of a wood stand off to drop it down a bit also.

Another option is to test it in full color mode - if you have enough ambient light it may do well.

Another option is to add an external IR illuminator in an offset spot from the camera

Good info! Thanks a bunch!