Another 5442 or 5842 or Colour4K-X or the new Colour4K-T question...

[JayUK]

Hi all,

Apologises for the newbie question (which has been ask 1000 times before). I have gone around in circles trying to decide which cameras would best suit my needs.

I currently have two generic branded 2MP bullet cameras mounted up under my eaves (my house is two story). One is on the front of the house, the other on the rear (see attached photos - red marks the spot of the existing cameras/illuminators). They are acting as a general overview camera, hopefully catching anyone breaking in or trespassing. The quality is poor so I'm looking to upgrade or supplement them with new cameras (potentially siting the new cameras where the yellow marks are). I have included photos of their current views.







I have separate IR illuminators next to each one (I was getting fed up with cobwebs over the camera lenses, so I turned off the inbuilt IR and use these illuminators).

Ideally I would like to be able to capture face detail, to be able to identify any one.

At night, there is no streetlight/ambient light, hence the use of IR. Although there is a LED flood light at the rear that is motion activated. I suppose I could install a background light on the front and rear of my property instead of the IR lamps, but if I can get an acceptable image with IR I would like to stick with it.

I understand that the Colour4K-X doesn't do IR and obviously needs some light to work at night. I also understand that a higher MP count doesn't mean a better image (at night), but that sensor size is important.

I think/thought I had narrowed my choice down to either the 5442, or the 5842, or if I installed some lighting (instead of the IR) then the Colour-X. If I mount the cameras high up (red mark on photos) then I'm happy to stay bullet, if I mount new cameras low down (yellow marks) then I would want turret.

But I'm not sure??????

Also what lens would everyone suggest? I was toying with the idea of varifocal?

I really appreciate all your help

J.

 

[Sybertiger]

Hmm, how about moving your existing cams down lower and use them as spotter cams. Then use a PTZ up high like you have the current cams and have the spotter cams to tell the PTZ to zoom in on a certain area and track any movement? Here is an example (not the best as I'm tweaking it still).....see the spotter cam in the red circle? It noticed movement on the driveway so it commanded the PTZ to spin around an take a closer look. A PTZ cam is typically the only cam you would mount up high whereas your other cams would probably be better at 5 to 8 feet max for purposes of identifying people. That PTZ is a Dahau SD49225XA-HNR that costs around US$375 and it excels better than some cams at night even though it's only a 2MP x25 cam.

 

[Mike A.]

If you don't have and/or don't want to have a good amount of white light on all the time , then go with the 5442. The Color4K-X is great but they do need some light to work well.

Go with the varifocal. At least for one to start with. The flexibility to set the field of view as you want pretty much wherever it ends up is worth the incremental difference in cost and that will help you decide what you really need for other locations.

 

[looney2ns]

If you want face ID's, then don't mount cameras higher than 8ft off the ground. 7ft is better.

Purchase one camera such as the Review-OEM Loryta IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal 4mp camera (Dahua) | IP Cam Talk .
Then make yourself a temporary test rig by using a 2x4x8', a 5 gal bucket, rocks or sand for ballast.
Then use that with the camera to test for a minimum of 24hrs at each proposed location. What looks good in your head or on paper doesn't always pan out in reality.

The camera I linked is still the best option in most case's. Especially if you pair them with an IR illuminator mounted a couple of feet away from the camera, such as this one.
Review- New Design Tendelux 10 Watt IR illuminator. | IP Cam Talk

If you haven't, also study this: Cliff Notes