Best Dahua camera for night vision?

S

sdnomad

n3wb
Feb 20, 2020
23
9
Rapid City SD
What Dahua camera model under $200 should I look at for the best night time clarity out to 50ft away? I have 4000 lumen LED motion lights on the front of my garage where I plan to mount the camera. Should I be looking at the night color technology? What other specs should I look at to do the best job for my situation?
 
Motion lights are NOT good at night, when they come on they blind the camera, Either turn them on all the time or do not use them.

You need at least 100 ppf. Go with a narrow field of view, go with the 6mm lens, for the best possibility to get a face. Note the 6mm lens will not cut it at 50ft. You sill need a variable focus camera.

Look at IPVM Camera Calculator V3 it will help with the ppf



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...................................... Dahua IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED review
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see this thread ID at 10m/30ft Using Turrets
 
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bigredfish said:
Do you want to "see" 50ft or ID facial features at 50ft?

Generally speaking the 5442 4MP series with the 1/1.8" sensor is great at night, as are the older 5231 and 2231 series 2MP
Click to expand...

50ft is in the far side of the street in front of my house. My driveway is 30ft long, so I think I'd like to start to identify someone at 30ft away at night.
 
Then you will want a variable focus camera likely, typicalyl 3x-4x zoom, maybe more. Be aware as you zoom in to 30+ ft, your FOV decreases and you see less area and less up close. Common misconception is trying to do both with one camera. Think along the lines of 1 camera to zoom and another to catch the overall view,....per location..
 
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Motion activated floods will work fine as long as you are already running in color mode, assuming you have enough light to do so... if running B&W/IR, there is a delay as the camera switches and refocuses...

I know it doesnt look like much lightbut that is a 3400 lumen flood mounted at 16ft. The cameras are running 1/120 exposure so it darkens it enough to where when the floods kick in it isnt overexposed.

(Make sure and change the Youtube player to 1440 to get the best image)


 
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bigredfish said:
Motion activated floods will work fine as long as you are already running in color mode, assuming you have enough light to do so... if running B&W/IR, there is a delay as the camera switches and refocuses...
Click to expand...
I accidentally found another positive use for the motion floods. Sometimes an animal will walk through undetected by IVS, but trigger a motion light inside the camera's field of view. Using a very small motion detection area, the light turning on triggers a motion alert. The light is not near the camera, not pointed at it, and doesn't force the camera out of B/W mode.
 
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bigredfish said:
Motion activated floods will work fine as long as you are already running in color mode, assuming you have enough light to do so... if running B&W/IR, there is a delay as the camera switches and refocuses...

I know it doesnt look like much lightbut that is a 3400 lumen flood mounted at 16ft. The cameras are running 1/120 exposure so it darkens it enough to where when the floods kick in it isnt overexposed.

(Make sure and change the Youtube player to 1440 to get the best image)


Click to expand...



In these videos, where is the light coming from for these Dahua starlight cameras prior to your house flood lights turning on? The model you mentioned does not have built in LED's
 
Coach lights either side of the garage. I’m of the mindset that in many situations I’m better off with controlled white light than relying on the camera to produce its own. That said I do have a place for one with built in white light.
 
Concur with the above. For ID at 30ft I couldn't take the risk with a 6mm lens. Although anyone walking up my drive would walk straight towards the camera and increase the pixel count on the face, I didn't want to leave it to chance. In my case I'm going with two varifocal turret cameras aimed at my gate/choke point (13mm zoomed in 2231T-ZS's) with a 3.6mm 5442 turret aimed at the same spot but doing the wide angle work. 2 cameras for the face, 1 camera to see what the person is doing on my property (checking the car doors etc)

As with bigredfish I have multiple coach lights on the front of the house. I will suppliment with 30w led PIR.
 
SouthernYankee said:
Motion lights are NOT good at night, when they come on they blind the camera, Either turn them on all the time or do not use them.
Click to expand...

They may or may not be good for video. But they do a boatload to deter crime.

From the police perspective, you see things differently. A common theme at property crime scenes is poor night lighting. While always-on floods are preferable, it's often not feasible in residential areas (neighbors get annoyed).

I have testified in court a bunch on video related stuff, both as a police detective and doing this stuff on the side. I can tell you for certain that you are much better off deterring criminals than getting crystal clear video of them.

Sufficient lighting>>>>video in a properly prepared security plan. Each and every time.
 
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That's classic. I live here in the San Francisco Bay Area and I didn't catch that on channel 2.

Given the very temporary setup in the back of his truck, I suspected a staged video at first, but, ahhh, probably not...who knows. Nevertheless, I'd dig a setup similar to that that was more permanent, integrated into the ground around the perimeter, or...
 
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