Camera Selection/Advice

jrich523

jrich523

Young grasshopper
Apr 21, 2016
69
3
Im looking for an outdoor camera but im having a hard time sorting through the millions of them out there. I have some requirements for it, but have yet to see a site that will let me filter on them. Amazon does pretty well, but not all of it. Also Its hard to tell which are reputable brands (the manufacture list in this forum is helpful)

Requirements:

  • Bullet style
  • Day/Night
  • Wired (cat cable, IP camera, not the security IP)
  • PoE (power over ethernet)
  • Night range 100ft
  • Price range no higher than 300, maybe 350


Essentially what I'll be doing is mounting this under the roof ridge (or maybe an eave). It will give me easy access to wire it (single cat cable) and get it back to my POE switch as well as make it fairly hidden. Whenever I find a camera that i think is ok, its usually missing something, like the night range, or power/protocol.

Also I'll be using either Zoneminder or iSpy to manage the cameras.

Thanks
Justin
 
What's the job of the camera? You want to ID a person at 100' going through a gate or driveway entrance? Have a clear scene at 100' but a huge FOV? Hikvision Darkfighters are available in that range if you know where to look and you aren't afraid of buying direct from China. They're varifocal to 12mm so decent at 100' if you don't need to count zits. The Huisun/Sunba/Imporx threads on here will point you in the direction of cheap PTZ cams in/under that pricepoint with 50 to 90mm or longer max lens length. They aren't Darkfighter quality but are PTZ with looong lenses and IR to match. They're decent and quite flexible in their use as well.
 
see my recommendations below... BlueIris with Hikvision 3mp 2.8/4mm Turret and Huisun 10x is the way to go...
 
2.8 or 4mm turrets aren't going to be 100' cams at night. Depends on exactly what the OP wants out of the cam and existing lighting though and we haven't heard that yet. The Huisun is flexible and has much more zoom than a Darkfighter but isn't half as good at night apart from that advantage. I have one of each mounted 70' apart on my house. Two Huisuns vs one Darkfighter for the $350 budget? Depends on the job(s) again.
 
I paid $300 plus shipping a while ago for my 4526FWD-IZ so the price difference is 2 to 1 when comparing apples to apples (China vs China) options.
 
Hey guys, thanks for the responses. To answer your question Im mostly interested in being able to ID a person/read lic plate. I currently have a samsung cam in a window near where this would be mounted. The samsung is inside so its nightvision is worthless due to the reflection, and also isnt able to see a lic plate or really much detail at all.

cam.jpg

As far as ordering from china and having support, im not too terribly worried about that.

Thanks i'll take a look at these options so far.
 
@Kawboy12R / @klasipca

With the Huisun Im given the choice of PAL or NTSC. Since this is going to all be network (IP) based what does that matter? Im in the US so the standard would be NTSC but Im not sure how this would matter in this case?

Thanks
 
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If you're in an NTSC area order NTSC but the cam is switchable from 50 to 60Hz internally. Doesn't make much of a difference but it's always best to go with your local standard. Apart from slightly different settings internally (like 1/30 1/60th exposure options instead of 1/25th 1/50th etc) any IP cam will work fine in an NTSC environment even if it's unchangeable from PAL. You might or might not find some visual banding or minor interference from 60hz lighting on a 50hz cam or vice versa but I've used 50hz cams under 60hz lighting with zero problems that I've noticed. The differences are basically dinosaurs from the analog past when you'd get hideous rolling distortion when mixing and matching PAL and NTSC stuff. Any differences nowadays with IP stuff is usually minor or totally nonexistent. To tell the truth, I've had more problems with 60hz IP cams under 60hz HPS outdoor lighting than anything I've noticed with a 50hz cam indoors with 60hz lighting. Sooo, the differences are almost nil but match things when you can just because...
 
hey @klasipca / @Kawboy12R

do either of you have this camera? The CD I got with it wont load. I was able to track down its default IP and get to the login page but Im not sure what the default username and password are. Do either of you happen to know?

Thanks
 
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awesome thanks :)

now I just need to get it working with Ispy and i should be good to go!
 

All - I have a similar question as the OP.I would like cameras installed, but my installer wants to use a bullet camerafrom LTS. I think bullets are ugly. My house is basically a two story rectanglewith a soffit going around the perimeter, so there is no way for me to mount thecameras low. Am I limited to bullets sincethe cameras have to be mounted so high? Would a dome style from LTS be ok? ShouldI look at a brand other than LTS?
 
Tell him you'd prefer turrets. They're a bit better than bullets at avoiding spiderwebs and don't have the IR and rain disadvantages of true domes. If he's talking minibullets though, they're pretty much unnoticeable on a white or light house, particularly from the street. If you think you MUST mount them two stories up, Hik turrets are available in 6mm to compensate for the extra distance to the ground if you'd normally consider 4mm although the LTS turret lens selection seems quite limited. That may be why he wants to install bullets- better lens selection than turrets and better optical performance than true domes, particularly if you want to use the onboard IR. I'd insist on at least one turret mounted over each entry door and probably just off to the side that opens up. I'd hate to get a second story view of the tops of the hoodies, ballcaps, and bald spots of people that came to my door. A camera system installed without a good chance of getting a face pic isn't quite money wasted but it's close. I disagree with the statement "there is no way for me to mount the cameras low". Ask your installer. I bet he can do it.

Also, proper etiquette is to start your own thread when you ask a question so that answers like mine don't get spammed to the original poster's inbox.
 
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