Backyard trees and darkness

[looney2ns]

I appreciate that suggestion!

I'll try that when testing to see what happens. I know the window will be a problem but it's hard to make your neighbor stay on the ladder as you give directions left, right, no back left, up, no the other up. I was somewhat limited on time.

Every position is marked with blue tape so I can go back out again to see if I can get the walls out while still getting the gap between houses. I imagine BI can also black out the wall too but that's not ideal.

Blacking out the wall electronically will not solve IR glare issue, it's an optical issue.
Use your cell phone or tablet to view the camera yourself while adjusting.
Leaving the camera in a test location for a minimum of 24hrs while recording will reveal issue's, such as the wall reflection.
Portable Test rig can be made with 8' 2x4, 5 gal bucket, and rocks or bag of sand for ballast.

 

[Michael11]

For the record, I did read the comment about testing for 24 hours with the 2x4 several times!

I just haven't figured out a practical way to do it without having a window or sliding door open. Wife wants them shut for the alarm! Power adapter and SD card is the only thing I can think of.

 

[Flintstone61]

RE: IR bounce from house. not ideal but not super horrible. Primarily I wanted to see if anybody tampers with or prys the windows. Secondarily, I can see the Shed/boat. The 2 Foxes were missed by motion detection.
So later tonight i will revisit this cam and see i can tune this thing for snow/night/IR
The 5442's may allow you see in color at night if there is ambient light.

 

[looney2ns]

For the record, I did read the comment about testing for 24 hours with the 2x4 several times!

I just haven't figured out a practical way to do it without having a window or sliding door open. Wife wants them shut for the alarm! Power adapter and SD card is the only thing I can think of.

Run the cable out under the garage door. Put a piece of wood the same thickness as the cable beside the cable to prevent crushing by the door.

 

[Sybertiger]

I can put a camera on the right-side soffit, but the left side is mostly taken by a flood light. I thought a pole behind the screen enclosure with 2.8mm lens would provide a glance to see if anyone is back there before letting the dogs out (people, bobcats, coyotes). The left side has a flood light near the end of the soffit, so I was going to experiment with a 3.6mm lens further back just to capture between the houses and the neighbor's thorny shrubs. Basically 3 cameras with one on the pole, 2 covering the sides of the house and the one on the pole covering the middle section. I assume you can always add more cameras to the pole. I'm not sure my HOA will let me get it higher than the trees.

This is why I like the T5442T-ZE....so I don't have to worry about picking between 2.8mm, 3.6mm or 6mm, etc. It's adjustable and worth the extra $10.

 

[Michael11]

It's $30 difference now! I read the comparison of it verse a fixed lens and it said the fixed lens has better night vision. The ability to zoom is awesome. I was thinking of getting a ZE for the driveway as the lights are always on and it's a long driveway.

I was just looking for the 2mp that is less expensive and it's $125, not much difference from the 4mp 5442... especially if I could get it in black for the position #9 on the screen enclosure.

There is a 5% sale going on until the 31st not sure I can test all spots for 24 hours until then lol and now I'm questioning my side positions.

 

[samplenhold]

ut then I really have to worry about the cameras' safety or use a less expensive camera and hope they don't wear a mask.

Do not 'worry' about the cam's 'safety'. Rarely is a cam messed with.

If they wear a mask, then it will not matter how high the cam is mounted. Lower the cams to get face shots. If you don't, the first time a perp can't be IDed you will kick yourself for it.

I just haven't figured out a practical way to do it without having a window or sliding door open.

No need to keep them up all night. Just walk it in the dark. Look at the video. Adjust as needed. When happy, pull it down.

 

[digger11]

It's $30 difference now! I read the comparison of it verse a fixed lens and it said the fixed lens has better night vision. The ability to zoom is awesome. I was thinking of getting a ZE for the driveway as the lights are always on and it's a long driveway.

If you buy a 5442-ZE to use as a test camera and want to see what one of the fixed focal camera's field of view would be at a particular test location, in the "zoom and focus" of the 5442-ZE's GUI use the following zoom settings:
2.8mm = 25
3.6mm = 220
6mm = 807

Mouse over the slider position to display zoom value.

 

[Michael11]

Thank you, I'm strongly considering ordering one tonight.

 

[Jim I.]

Get the walls out of view, they will cause IR reflection that will mess with your cameras exposure.
You might also consider corridor mode on the cams between the houses.

I have a Dahua IPC-HDW5442T-ZE mounted on the side of my house that has had issues with IR deflection. Plus the houses in my subdivision are pretty close together. Where can I find information about corridor mode? I don't see any reference to it in the camera setup page or in BI.

 

[Sybertiger]

I have a Dahua IPC-HDW5442T-ZE mounted on the side of my house that has had issues with IR deflection. Plus the houses in my subdivision are pretty close together. Where can I find information about corridor mode? I don't see any reference to it in the camera setup page or in BI.

Physically rotate the camera 90 degrees to portrait style instead of landscape style. If you are using Blue Iris you don't need to change the ROTATE setting.

In the camera settings:

SETTINGS > CONDITIONS > FLIP 90 degrees



versus

 

[Jim I.]

Physically rotate the camera 90 degrees to portrait style instead of landscape style. If you are using Blue Iris you don't need to change the ROTATE setting.

In the camera settings:

SETTINGS > CONDITIONS > FLIP 90 degrees

View attachment 151990

View attachment 151991 versus View attachment 151992

That's perfect for my camera location. I didn't know that was an option! Thanks.

 

[Michael11]

I went around and tested everything with the T5442T-ZE and just zoomed in to get rid of the walls and moved the camera positions to where I'd get my goal of seeing someone going through the corridors.

I then decided to compare the T5442T-ZE to another camera that had great reviews. I wanted to test the night vision out in the back, all the way to the canal 110 feet away. I put both cameras on a tray table next to each other. Half-moon tonight, 80f.

I received the T5442T-ZE at full price from
@EMPIRETECANDY

The "great review camera", saved in a .jfif format that's not supported here. It was a RCL-822A. Yes, I know the sensor is smaller - especially for a 4k - but really when you look (if you can) at the still pictures not much difference is noticeable. The difference came when I walked around out back and my wife could see me with the T5442T-ZE and not the RCL-822A. I had both cameras zoomed out for the pictures attached. I'm not going to say my facial features were perfect some 30 feet out at that zoom, but it was better than I expected.

It did not help that I had to manually focus the RCL-822A so I was blurry walking from the canal to the camera. It did not help that my wife didn't save those pictures she took either!

The T5442T-ZE could also see further in the dark as I pointed both around.

 

[Mike A.]

Only see one picture attached.

 

[wittaj]

Reolink LOL. You watching the Hookup

Reolinks are known for nice static images and ghost/missing body parts at night LOL

Reolink: Deconstruction of a dangerous misleading youtube review "Finding the BEST 4K Security Camera NVR Package (Reolink vs Amcrest vs Swann)"

Executive Summary: DO NOT be a sheep. Ask what a reviewer can be missing, ask if a reviewer is using hype words to sell the cheapest product. Test your cameras and kits right away. Just do a bench test. Test real world conditions. Test moving suspects. Test at night, test at day. Use a test rig...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[Michael11]

It said the file format was not acceptable or something.

And I don't believe everything I read on the internet, so I had to try it out. Free return so no loss.

 

[Michael11]

I just read that forum, I actually didn't watch the hookup. I was trying to do my own research based on what Amazon was throwing at me.

I converted the reolink to PNG. Still don't have pictures of myself or the other views. I had both zoomed out all the way as I couldn't find a conversion to determine the zoom type to compare (aka what is 2.8, 3.6, etc.) for the Reolink - it's on its way back to them now. Camera specs are online. As I said earlier, the images with me in them didn't get saved on the reolink and I see it has been pretty well documented. I can admit I don't have the time to read everything on the forum.

The one thing that stands out from the stills is the IR on the left tree. A weed in along the canal is less visible on the reolink.

Not the best review, but I am just sharing my experience.

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

Thanks for your sharing @Michael11 ， our cams are industiral level, so can beat down the entry level cams easily.

 

[CCTVCam]

In a perfect world, I'd like to be able at some point to get faces/license plates. In reality, I think I'll be limited to an overview of what's going on back there

TBH Michael, it kind of makes the system useless unless you have a zoomed camera that captures someone further out as per the post above on shallow angle of attack. I fully appreciate the sitution with "her indoors". The problem is with an over view you learn what has gone on, but are unable to get anyone caught for it due to the lack of a good facial capture. Ultimately without facial capture, CCTV becomes somewhat pointless as all you can say to the Sheriff is some stole my ..... and here's a pciture of his cap...or...here's pciture of his black hair...

Here's some pics of a couple of 5442 cams mounted on pressure treated 4x4. A shallow narrow channel was cut on the backside of the posts to stick the Cat6 into it. I put caulk into the channel first then stuck the Cat6 in then used a putty knife to smooth the caulk over the channel then painted the posts. The channel should be cut just wide and deep enough to accommodate the Cat6 which should be direct burial type. Ideally, the Cat6 will stay in the channel when pressed in by your thumb.

Personally what I would do is router out a slightly deeper channel, insert a conduit, pass the cable through the conduit, then calk in the conduit and silicone the top entry point. That way if you ever need to change the POE cable, it's much easier with far less remedial work required - pull new cable up conduit, silicone entry point, job done.

 

[Mike A.]

Those post sleeves that I posted (no pun intended) earlier make that so much easier. Sink a short section of 4x4 and then just slide that on top. Inside the corners and grooves stand off and are big enough to accept the cable. No paint or anything else required. Seem to hold up pretty well. Home Depot always has some that are partially busted up that they'll sell as damaged for like $5 or $10. Never use the whole thing anyway. I've usually paid more for the cap.