camera placement - all details included - any input is sincerely appreciated

[Skyflyer]

Good afternoon! I realize everyone here is volunteering their time and effort and I'm incredibly thankful for any input you may provide.
I've read the existing posts, but I'm still struggling with camera placement due to non-uniform shape of house. I've spent the last weekend and evenings running Cat-6 through walls, etc., to get my router, POE switch & NVR in one place to support a camera system.

I have an idea of where the cameras should be located, but this is my first time using a non-wifi system, and I'm trying to make sure I'm not missing/overlooking something since getting the Cat6 to some of these locations is taking a lot of work....

I've seen a number of posts in my research where comments were made saying the OP didnt' provide enough detail, so I've tried my best to include everything in this first post. I'm not a details person by nature, but I've tried my best here:
Included pics:

• Floor plan showing outside dimensions of home
• ariel view with matching cardinal direction labeling with floor plan
• edited pictures of home with camera installed or proposed locations

Picture details:

• Green dots are cameras I've already installed
• Blue dots are camera locations I think I might need
• orange dot is if I thought might need one, but leaning more toward not needing

I purchased a Reolink NVR and a couple of cameras to get started but I'm getting overwhelmed trying to sort through FOV, MP, etc. etc. . This is my thinking so far:

• RLC1224A - From what I've read, it seems the 1224A is Reolink's "best" turret-style camera, so thinking I'll use these for most cameras, especially where they are more visible, and try to keep it aesthetically pleasing.
• CX410 - Thinking I might use one of these under the deck or on the East side of the house where they're less visible
• Trackmix POE - possibly use this on the corner of the garage and/or on the outside corner near the screened porch.

I'm not trying to go overkill on the surveillance system, just trying to make sure that I'm covering my property and choosing the best setup I can now, so that I can finish this project and lessen my chance of having to make changes later.

THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP!!!!!

 

[actran]

@Skyflyer #1 thing you should reconsider is your camera choices. Daytime images should be fine. But I do not think nighttime images will be adequate with RLC1224A - a 12MP camera with 1/2.49" CMOS Sensor, you will very likely get blurry images in low light situations for moving intruders.

Get cameras with better megapixels to sensor size ratio if security at nighttime is important to you.

P.S. Once you've installed a few cameras, you may want to adjust camera height lower if you are getting intruders' top of head, instead of their faces.

 

[wittaj]

Can you return the Reolinks? That is too nice of a house for those cameras.

Don't be fooled by the nice bright static images - we need clean captures of a perp and they won't stop for the camera.

Stay away from Reolink unless all you care about is what time something happened. Their night time performance is horrible.

In most instances, you want to get a camera that will perform at your location for the worse situation, which for most of us is at night when it is dark and there is little to no light. If a camera performs at night, it is easier to tweak settings to make it work during the day than it is the other way around.

Reolinks and most consumer grade cameras (Ring, Nest, Arlo, Blink, etc.) are designed to produce a nice bright static image. But then motion is a blur. We want clean captures of a perp at night, not a blur motion ghost.

If all you care about is watching the pets or being able to tell the police what time Casper the ghost stole your stuff, then go for it LOL. Look at these examples.

What you mean a missing hand isn't normal LOL (plus look at the blur on the face and he is barely moving and this should be ideal indoor IR bounce and it struggles):

How about missing the person altogether

The invisible man, where can he be. Thank goodness he is carrying around a reflective plate to see where he is LOL (hint - the person is literally in the middle of the image at the end of the fence holding a license plate)

I've seen better images on an episode of ghost hunters

And of course, this is an example from Reolink's marketing videos - do you see a person in this picture...yes, there is a person in this picture.... Could this provide anything useful for the police other than the date and time something happened? Would this protect your home? The still picture looks great though except for the person and the blur of the vehicle... Will give you a hint - the person is in between the two visible columns:

Bad Boys
Bad Boys
Watcha gonna do
Watcha gonna do
When the cameras can't see you


Here is the unofficial Reolink thread where people have provided their best nighttime image captures. As you will see, they are basically useless. We have had people come here and say their Reolinks are great, but see for yourself...


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

 

[wittaj]

As mentioned, you want cameras on the ideal MP/sensor ratio.



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.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

 

[Skyflyer]

@Skyflyer #1 thing you should reconsider is your camera choices. Daytime images should be fine. But I do not think nighttime images will be adequate with RLC1224A - a 12MP camera with 1/2.49" CMOS Sensor, you will very likely get blurry images in low light situations for moving intruders.

Get cameras with better megapixels to sensor size ratio if security at nighttime is important to you.

P.S. Once you've installed a few cameras, you may want to adjust camera height lower if you are getting intruders' top of head, instead of their faces.

Thank you for your input! I I've made some adjustments to the camera settings based on a forum member's guidance which made a huge impact. I'm going to check them out for a bit and decide if they'll work long-term.

 

[Skyflyer]

As mentioned, you want cameras on the ideal MP/sensor ratio.

View attachment 184813

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.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

Thank you! This is incredibly helpful! I'm just learning about all this and have felt well "over my skis". I appreciate you sharing

 

[Skyflyer]

@Skyflyer #1 thing you should reconsider is your camera choices. Daytime images should be fine. But I do not think nighttime images will be adequate with RLC1224A - a 12MP camera with 1/2.49" CMOS Sensor, you will very likely get blurry images in low light situations for moving intruders.

Get cameras with better megapixels to sensor size ratio if security at nighttime is important to you.

P.S. Once you've installed a few cameras, you may want to adjust camera height lower if you are getting intruders' top of head, instead of their faces.

Thanks for your recommendations! I've installed a few of them and will review to see if these will work or not.

 

[mat200]

Good afternoon! I realize everyone here is volunteering their time and effort and I'm incredibly thankful for any input you may provide.
I've read the existing posts, but I'm still struggling with camera placement due to non-uniform shape of house. I've spent the last weekend and evenings running Cat-6 through walls, etc., to get my router, POE switch & NVR in one place to support a camera system.

I have an idea of where the cameras should be located, but this is my first time using a non-wifi system, and I'm trying to make sure I'm not missing/overlooking something since getting the Cat6 to some of these locations is taking a lot of work....

I've seen a number of posts in my research where comments were made saying the OP didnt' provide enough detail, so I've tried my best to include everything in this first post. I'm not a details person by nature, but I've tried my best here:
Included pics:

• Floor plan showing outside dimensions of home
• ariel view with matching cardinal direction labeling with floor plan
• edited pictures of home with camera installed or proposed locations

Picture details:

• Green dots are cameras I've already installed
• Blue dots are camera locations I think I might need
• orange dot is if I thought might need one, but leaning more toward not needing

I purchased a Reolink NVR and a couple of cameras to get started but I'm getting overwhelmed trying to sort through FOV, MP, etc. etc. . This is my thinking so far:

• RLC1224A - From what I've read, it seems the 1224A is Reolink's "best" turret-style camera, so thinking I'll use these for most cameras, especially where they are more visible, and try to keep it aesthetically pleasing.
• CX410 - Thinking I might use one of these under the deck or on the East side of the house where they're less visible
• Trackmix POE - possibly use this on the corner of the garage and/or on the outside corner near the screened porch.

I'm not trying to go overkill on the surveillance system, just trying to make sure that I'm covering my property and choosing the best setup I can now, so that I can finish this project and lessen my chance of having to make changes later.

THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP!!!!!

HI @Skyflyer

Looks like you have done a lot of thinking and planning, good job on that.

Now, you want to get a couple of cameras to test with ..

Most of us recommend getting one good Dahua OEM 4MP 1/1.8" sensor model camera as a test camera .. ( look for the example of a test rig ).

The most important thing to do is to confirm your positions which you have lined up to run cables to and confirm they will give you the view you want.

Cabling to me is more important than the kit, as you can always upgrade cameras and kit fairly easily. Rerunning cables can be a lot of work.

If you are keen on the Reolink, remember to test them in low light with a moving subject. ( most of us prefer better cameras and brands than Reolink .. search the forum for threads on that subject )

Ideally get a friend to be a prowler subject and do the usual expected prowler / theft actions you want to counter.

Then ask another friend or wife if they recognize them in the video .. ( don't make it too easy for the wife .. have your friend wear a hoodie, and pick a friend who looks average build .. )

Do plan to want to add more cameras in the future .. so cable N+1+ when you can .. ( that is run 1 of more extra cables to the locations )