Camera selection for specific location. Would a PTZ be suitable here?

[Shotglasspeppa]

I'm in the process of selecting cameras for my new place and am looking for feedback on a camera for this specific location. I was thinking of getting two 5442s to cover the driveway but am wondering if a ptz would be better suited for this specific location. There's another junction box with cat6 on the opposite side of the garage that I'll likely mount a 5442 to. Would a ptz pointing towards the driveway/street be able to track someone if they were to approach the house and walk up the driveway, then up the path to the front door (walking underneath the camera on the way)? I apologize if this seems like a ridiculous question but I am new to this whole security cam thing.

 

[wittaj]

My neighbor has a very similar setup and the PTZ really has difficulty following the person as it goes underneath and around to the front door. A lot of times it follows to a point and then just looks off somewhere else nowhere near. Autotracking is not 100% like TV shows...

In my experience, and yours and others may vary, but the closer the object gets to the PTZ, the more difficult it seems to be to track it. Especially when they get right under it.

Given that your driveway is not long and the walkway is fairly defined, I think you would be better off taking the money for a PTZ and buying a couple more fixed cams. Then you don't have to worry if the PTZ is off looking somewhere else and you miss them busting your door in...

I consider a PTZ more of a "toy" or extra and shouldn't be the only camera covering an area because you never want to rely on it for coverage as it will undoubtedly be looking the wrong way. Two perps come to your house - one knocks on front door and the other checks out the car - the PTZ will miss one of them. But a PTZ is fun to be able to check out the neighborhood and surroundings and use as a supplemental camera, but should't be used as the sole coverage camera.

 

[samplenhold]

The soffit looks fairly high with respect to the location of your cars. See the Cliff Notes on how to position cams.

To get a good face shot, you really need to have a lower angle. Ideally, if the perp is 5'9", you would want your cam at 5'7" to negate a cap or hoodie. That would be a zero angle. As you raise your cams higher, the angle gets bigger/steeper. Now you will get a good shot of the top of the perp's head but no face. If the location of focus is further away, then the angle decreases. So you can get away with mounting a cam at 7' if the location of focus is say 20' away.

 

[Shotglasspeppa]

My neighbor has a very similar setup and the PTZ really has difficulty following the person as it goes underneath and around to the front door. A lot of times it follows to a point and then just looks off somewhere else nowhere near. Autotracking is not 100% like TV shows...

In my experience, and yours and others may vary, but the closer the object gets to the PTZ, the more difficult it seems to be to track it. Especially when they get right under it.

Given that your driveway is not long and the walkway is fairly defined, I think you would be better off taking the money for a PTZ and buying a couple more fixed cams. Then you don't have to worry if the PTZ is off looking somewhere else and you miss them busting your door in...

I consider a PTZ more of a "toy" or extra and shouldn't be the only camera covering an area because you never want to rely on it for coverage as it will undoubtedly be looking the wrong way. Two perps come to your house - one knocks on front door and the other checks out the car - the PTZ will miss one of them. But a PTZ is fun to be able to check out the neighborhood and surroundings and use as a supplemental camera, but should't be used as the sole coverage camera.

Thanks for this, it's the info I was looking for. I have no experience with PTZ and was trying to figure out if it would work like I wanted to but it's clear that it will not. I'll stick with the turrets for now on either side of the garage door in the soffits. I have another junction box right above the front door so that will give me a nice clear show down the walkway as people approach and also have a jb on the wall by the door as well as the Nest hello doorbell. I'll wait for the 5442 varifocal to be reviewed and make a decision based on that.

 

[SouthernYankee]

The general; rule of thumb is that the PTZ will be point in the wrong direction when the action occurs. It is possible to get a PTZ to work, but most of the time it is easier and cheaper to use multiple cameras with the correct lens.. I would start with one variable focus camera to determine the correct lens of each of your positions.

i use multiple cameras for the front door. One pointing out to the walk and one pointing back at the door, cover the package drop area. . The garage need two cameras one on each side , no higher than the top of the garage door(, lower would be better. more than like a 3.6mm or 6MM lens, catch the door checkers.

2) Use Dahua starlight cameras or Hikvision darkfighter cameras if you need good low light cameras.
7) More megapixel is not necessarily better.
10) If possible use a turret camera , bullet collect spiders, dome collect dirt and reflect light (IR)
13) (Looney2ns)If you want to be able to ID faces, don't mount cams higher than 7ft. You want to know who did it, not just what happened.
17) Camera Sensor size, bigger is general better Sensor Size Chart
18) Camera lens size, a bigger number give more range but less field of view. Which Security Camera Lens Size Should I Buy?

Cameras to look at
IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED . Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Full Color, Starlight+) - 4MP starlight
.................... Dahua IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED review
IPC-T5442TM-AS ..... Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+ - 4MP starlight+
IPC-B5442E-ZE ...... Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+

 

[Warptrooper]

The soffit looks fairly high with respect to the location of your cars. See the Cliff Notes on how to position cams.

To get a good face shot, you really need to have a lower angle. Ideally, if the perp is 5'9", you would want your cam at 5'7" to negate a cap or hoodie. That would be a zero angle. As you raise your cams higher, the angle gets bigger/steeper. Now you will get a good shot of the top of the perp's head but no face. If the location of focus is further away, then the angle decreases. So you can get away with mounting a cam at 7' if the location of focus is say 20' away.
View attachment 64876

My soffit is like 10 foot high. I was thinking same thing anout mounting a 5442 or colorvu lower specifically to get face ID

 

[looney2ns]

My soffit is like 10 foot high. I was thinking same thing anout mounting a 5442 or colorvu lower specifically to get face ID

Too high, you will be disappointed.
Stay at 8ft or lower.
Always use a test rig, 5 gal bucket, 8ft 2x4, rocks for ballast as a portable test rig. Test the camera in proposed location for at least 24hrs or longer before permanent mount.

 

[Warptrooper]

Too high, you will be disappointed.
Stay at 8ft or lower.
Always use a test rig, 5 gal bucket, 8ft 2x4, rocks for ballast as a portable test rig. Test the camera in proposed location for at least 24hrs or longer before permanent mount.

Yeah I'll have one at about 6feet for driveway. 5442 or Hik colorvu version but I cannot decide which one

 

[Shotglasspeppa]

My soffits are 9ft above. I plan on mounting a pfa200g to the junction box, then a pfa137 to that then a 5442 to the bottom of the pfa137. The camera will be around 8.5ft off the ground when all is said and done. It may not be the best but it's as good as it will get given my restrictions.

 

[Warptrooper]

My soffits are 9ft above. I plan on mounting a pfa200g to the junction box, then a pfa137 to that then a 5442 to the bottom of the pfa137. The camera will be around 8.5ft off the ground when all is said and done. It may not be the best but it's as good as it will get given my restrictions.

Why so many adapters? Why do you need 200g? I thought 5442 required a 130

 

[samplenhold]

then a pfa137 to that then a 5442 to the bottom of the pfa137

How do you plan on mounting the 5442 to the PFA137. The 5442 is a four hole pattern and the PFA137 is a three hole pattern with a gasket but no mounting plate for the camera.



The proper box for the 5442 is the PFA130-E.



Also, the PFA200G is designed for indoors. It is not watertight.

 

[coney27]

I have a Hikvision DS-2DE4A425IW-DE installed in basically the same location on my house that your talking about.

As some do say the smart tracking can be finicky but it works amazingly well for me. My PTZ is mounted about 10ft off the ground and routinely tracks people that walk under it and past it around a corner.

 

[Shotglasspeppa]

How do you plan on mounting the 5442 to the PFA137. The 5442 is a four hole pattern and the PFA137 is a three hole pattern with a gasket but no mounting plate for the camera.

View attachment 64968

The proper box for the 5442 is the PFA130-E.

View attachment 64970View attachment 64971

Also, the PFA200G is designed for indoors. It is not watertight.

You're right. What I meant was the pfa130. I keep getting all the jb models mixed up. As for the pfa200g, while it's only rated for indoor use it will be good enough for my application. The cat6 is in a junction box that is recessed up and into the soffit. As long as I have the cat6 connection waterproofed I'm not concerned about the ability of the pfa200g to keep a seal as the camera itself is waterproof.

 

[Shotglasspeppa]

Why so many adapters? Why do you need 200g? I thought 5442 required a 130

As far as I understand the 130 doesn't bolt directly to a standard single gang junction box. If I'm wrong then it will save me from using the adapter.