Test camera recommendations?

So I have read and read things on here, purchased a use HP workstation with a 14 core xeon processor and 64 gigs of ram with windows 10 pro off ebay for $250, downloaded blue iris, now I need cameras. I have read somewhere that the only camera reolink makes worth owning is their PoE doorbell cam, which is supposed to be good. Planning on getting one if no other better suggestions come from this.

But the one idea I have read about over and over is get a good quality varifocal camera and put it everywhere you want to place a camera, set it to what you're satisfied with for picture, then record the settings and find a camera with those settings for that location. Rinse repeat in every place you wabt to put a camera. Simple and genious idea.

But I have yet to see someone actually recommend a camera to use for this other than one place I read someone posteththis advice a few years ago:

5442 Z4E - anything up to 80-100 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 60 feet but I like things closer)
5241-Z12E - anything from 80 feet to almost 200 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 150 feet because I like things closer)

There was more, but am wondering if these two cameras would still be the best to use for such an endeavor. As I read it this should give me the ability to test both for the cameras that will be mounted looking at shorter distances as well as ones to see the end of my driveway which is about 150ft. I was going to buy a camera pff ebay that was 3.5mm to 60mm but after some searching it seems they don't play well/at all with blue iris.

I would appreciate any advice on this issue though.

Athecal said:

So I have read and read things on here, purchased a use HP workstation with a 14 core xeon processor and 64 gigs of ram with windows 10 pro off ebay for $250

Click to expand...

without knowing the exact processor that may have been a terrible deal

5442-ZE-S3 (aka T54IR-ZE-S3) might be a better choice as a camera to test more normal views/focal lengths. Those that you list are good cams but a little more specialized and you won't be able to use them very well to judge what more typical focal lengths might work best in a given position. But if you know that's what you want, they're fine cameras. I'd generally suggest getting varifocal cams anyway.

fenderman said:

without knowing the exact processor that may have been a terrible deal

Click to expand...

It's e5-2690v4 14 core, fully hyperthreaded so 28 threads, 2.5ghz base clock speed I think not 100% on the "boost" speed and 64gb ddr5

Athecal said:

It's e5-2690v4 14 core, fully hyperthreaded so 28 threads, 2.5ghz base clock speed I think not 100% on the "boost" speed and 64gb ddr5

Click to expand...

its an old 2016 processor...it has plenty of power but also is as efficient as say a modern i5-12500 which matches in benchmarks on multi thread, almost double in single thread and also has on board graphics...

fenderman said:

its an old 2016 processor...it has plenty of power but also is as efficient as say a modern i5-12500 which matches in benchmarks on multi thread, almost double in single thread and also has on board graphics...

Click to expand...

You're not wrong but i5 at $150+$100 for 64gb ddr5 I got a free mobo, case, psu, a little 250gb ssd boot drive, I do quite a bit of stuff with AI and CaD so was planning on getting a decent graphics card as well.

Mike A. said:

5442-ZE-S3 (aka T54IR-ZE-S3) might be a better choice as a camera to test more normal views/focal lengths. Those that you list are good cams but a little more specialized and you won't be able to use them very well to judge what more typical focal lengths might work best in a given position. But if you know that's what you want, they're fine cameras. I'd generally suggest getting varifocal cams anyway.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I will look at that for sure. I don't know at all what I want. I want a good camera that will help me figure that out, those I listed were advice given to someone 2-3 years ago. I see people recommending the process to choose cameras, but never do they offer a recommendation for the camera to use for said process. I essentially have a house and shop carport on the house over the only doors, and where I would put cameras, both to see the doors but also down the driveway, about 150ft. Cameras on front of shop to see both the door and down the driveway, about 150ft. Cameras on back of shop to watch the door, cameras inside the house downstairs(garage area) and inside the shop and I am open to any suggestions on which camera to use to test my locations and figure out what I will need to buy for each spot

Athecal said:

You're not wrong but i5 at $150+$100 for 64gb ddr5 I got a free mobo, case, psu, a little 250gb ssd boot drive, I do quite a bit of stuff with AI and CaD so was planning on getting a decent graphics card as well.

Click to expand...

You should be using a dedicated machine for Blue Iris not using it for your daily tasks.... My point is the power consumption is going to outweigh any slight savings... You can buy the full I-5 system as well for about $300

Athecal said:

Thanks, I will look at that for sure. I don't know at all what I want. I want a good camera that will help me figure that out, those I listed were advice given to someone 2-3 years ago. I see people recommending the process to choose cameras, but never do they offer a recommendation for the camera to use for said process. I essentially have a house and shop carport on the house over the only doors, and where I would put cameras, both to see the doors but also down the driveway, about 150ft. Cameras on front of shop to see both the door and down the driveway, about 150ft. Cameras on back of shop to watch the door, cameras inside the house downstairs(garage area) and inside the shop and I am open to any suggestions on which camera to use to test my locations and figure out what I will need to buy for each spot

Click to expand...

That recommendation you quoted is mine and you pulled it out of context - and those are still the go to cameras for those two distances and the new S3 chipset in them is basically a new camera.

Almost every "help me choose a camera" post has someone recommend the 5442-ZE as the good starter camera to understand the basics of field of view and focal length, so you must have been looking in the wrong threads LOL.

But regardless, if your distance to IDENTIFY is 150 feet, the 5442-ZE is the wrong camera.

If you are wanting a camera to capture both at a door close by and 150 feet away, you will find a camera doesn't exist to do both well.

You will need a minimum of two cameras - one like the 5442-ZE for distances within 30 feet or so and the Z12E for distance of 150 feet.

See this thread for the commonly recommended cameras (along with Amazon links) based on distance to IDENTIFY that represent the overall best value in terms of price and performance day and night. While you will notice the thread itself is several years old, notice the revision dates of the first several posts as I update them as recommendations change.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

wittaj said:

Almost every "help me choose a camera" post has someone recommend the 5442-ZE as the good starter camera to understand the basics of field of view and focal length, so you must have been looking in the wrong threads LOL.

Click to expand...

Maybe. You were the only person I saw who broke it down distance to camera in a way that I immediately thought hey, with these two cameras I might be able to figure out exactly what I need for each location. I guess maybe when people have been recommended the camera in other posts I assumed it was being suggested as good for their particular situation, not for them to use to figure it out themselves.

Also I don't think I need to Identify at 150ft, but Observe would be nice. I wouldn't mind being able to use the perimeter alarm feature I read about blue Iris having I think. I figured would need 2 short range cameras to cover doors, maybe 3-4 on the house as it's 80ft down the entire front and then at least one longer distance camera pointed down the driveway at the shop, and maybe 2 under the carport on the house, one down that driveway and one covering the space in between the two driveways. No real idea yet, which is why I want to get 1-2 camera(s) I can use to figure it out.

I’m very new here, only been playing this game for a month.

T54ir-ve-s3 buy at least 1 of these, better yet by 2.

You can buy from amazon or direct. Either way the camera should come from an amazon warehouse. Buying from empiretech direct might save sales tax vs amazon.

Keep in mind these do not come with directions. You can get help here on the forum. There is a lot to absorb regarding the cameras. A lot of settings without much explanation on what they do. A lot of acronyms. You’ll spend a ton of time reading.

Anyway, this is a great test camera. Gets your feet wet. Not terribly expensive.

I bought 4 different cameras, all empire tech, all same generation GUI but they are still different. My head is spinning trying to figure stuff out as a newb. I suggest buying just 1 or 2 of the camera above. I’m already thinking I need a 2nd so I can mount the 1st permanently.

^ That Empiretech sounds overpriced to me. But you do get a larger than the usual 1/2.8" cmos sensor. 4mp is not bad, but I have been enjoying 4K 8mp. Maybe not as useful, but if the system can handle it, it is nice having.
I have liked the dome mini PTZ cameras.

Vikylyn its a 1/2.8" 2386IRC PTZ, also the 2804PTZ
JideTech 10x hybrid Zoom 4k, same IMX413 Sony 1/2.8" sensor. (1st pic)
Hikvision 4MP PTZ DS-2DE2A404IW-DE3 (when less than 150, can find for $90) Not sure of sensor, but is brighter than some others.

I am looking for a good license plate camera, I likely need 2, but so far the zoom PYZ large pendants are either not working well, or I have yet to tweak the settings properly.(?)

Phil Indeblanc said:

^ That Empiretech sounds overpriced to me. But you do get a larger than the usual 1/2.8" cmos sensor. 4mp is not bad, but I have been enjoying 4K 8mp. Maybe not as useful, but if the system can handle it, it is nice having.
I have liked the dome mini PTZ cameras.

Vikylyn its a 1/2.8" 2386IRC PTZ, also the 2804PTZ
JideTech 10x hybrid Zoom 4k, same IMX413 Sony 1/2.8" sensor. (1st pic)
Hikvision 4MP PTZ DS-2DE2A404IW-DE3 (when less than 150, can find for $90) Not sure of sensor, but is brighter than some others.

I am looking for a good license plate camera, I likely need 2, but so far the zoom PYZ large pendants are either not working well, or I have yet to tweak the settings properly.(?)

Click to expand...

Maybe compared to the junk you have been buying LOL.

Most here will agree that the 5442 (T54ir-ve-s3) represents the best overall quality and performance day and night at a decent price point. Can you buy cheaper - sure but it won't perform as well. Can you buy more expensive - sure but the performance gains for the price aren't worth it.

I have boxes full of JideTech and other cheap junk I bought trying to be cheap and they didn't perform. As someone says here, buy once, cry once.


If you are enjoying 4K on the 1/2.8" sensor, wait until you spend some money on a 4K on the proper MP/sensor ratio...then you will be blown away.

Please share with us some captures of an object at motion at night with your Vikylyn and JideTech





Here is a recent example someone posted with an 8MP on the 1/2.8" sensor (similar to the cameras you have now) versus 8MP on the proper sized sensor - which image looks better to you?









Of more importance is that the top picture is default settings, so a horribly slow shutter of maybe 1/12 so any motion would be a blur. The 2nd picture is a 1/100 shutter and will get a clean capture. The faster the shutter speed, the more light that is needed. That bottom picture at 1/100 shutter is impressive. If the top camera was set to a 1/100 shutter it would be a very dark image.


Almost any camera can do well in the daytime with enough light, even cameras that are 8MP put on a sensor designed for 2MP. But keep in mind that usually the processor and other stuff are still designed around 2MP, so the camera struggles trying to keep up with 8MP worth of data.


None of those PTZs you have will work for plates at night. You cannot manually set a shutter like you can for the fixed cams.

The go to camera for LPR is the 5241-Z12E and is good up to about 180 feet or so, although some have tweaked 220 feet with additional infrared.