Dahua Shopping List - Want to help pick some goodies? :)

forumviewer

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I'm going to be installing cameras at a commercial property and wanted some help on the shopping list. Dahua has a large selection and I need some help narrowing down the choices.

I am going to be purchasing roughly 24 cameras. This will consist of 10 indoor cameras and 14 outdoor cameras. PTZ is not a requirement as the cameras will simply be recording once setup and video reviewed only upon the need to do so such as a crime.

2 of 14 outdoor cameras are for license plate reading as the property has a North and a South gated entrance for vehicles. This will be used to catch their license plate upon entering the gated area or if they don't have a front license plate then it will catch them when they exit whether they use the North or South exit.

6 of 14 of the outdoor cameras will be looking down drive isles from the North and South entrances that is around 500 ft long and 35 ft wide. So we need more narrow lenses rather than wide.

6 of 14 of the outdoor cameras will be wider angle lenses to cover more width and not as much length.

9 of 10 indoor cameras will be roughly 15 to 25 feet away from building entrances facing towards the door to the exterior to catch peoples faces upon entry of the building.

1 of the 10 indoor cameras will be 10 to 15 feet away from cash register area and will be more downward angle but should have wide lens.

  • PTZ is not a requirement as cameras will simply be recording once setup and video will be reviewed as needed basis (crime or suspected crime took place). There won't be a security professional monitoring the cameras to adjust them as they watch people.
  • All cameras will be mounted between 9 ft to 11 ft high
  • All cameras must be POE capable as we plan on running cat6 to each camera from a POE+ switch(es)
  • The indoor camera locations has an exposed ceiling. I'm thinking that dome will have cleanest look.
  • Outdoor cameras should be bullet design (unless compelling reason to use something else) and vandal proof and IP67
  • I plan on having a dedicated machine with 40TB or larger drive running Blue Iris and will have multiple TV's in the lobby showing different grids of the cameras.
  • Cost isn't a huge concern although obviously I don't want to be wasteful. I want to keep each camera between $150 to $200 but can go a little higher if there is a compelling reason to do so.
  • This is a set it up and forget about it type scenario so i'm not sure about potentially $ options such as motorized vari-focal lenses, PTZ, etc but again see previous bullet, happy to spend a bit more of justification makes sense.
  • Ease of physical installation is important. Are junction boxes needed for outdoor locations? From some pictures and videos it seems fairly straight forward to mount with a potential 90 degree turn on most Dahua bullet cameras and any extra cables we can hide behind the exterior wall where we punched through with the cat6.
  • Starlight necessary? Property will not be accessable after 10:00pm but there will be some time in the evening when it will be dark and accessible.
 
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Flintstone61

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popular LPR cam is the
6 out of 12 might be able to use some of these in the narrow aisles outdoors with the varifocal 4x cams so you can tweak them a little after install?
these are good too for outdoor narrow with varifocal lense
the next link has single focus lens camera in 3 field of view widths. good for indoor wide angle closer range.
 
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sebastiantombs

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From your description if you're looking to be able to identify people, positively identify them rather than just know someone was there, you are going to need more cameras. No single camera can cover those distances and provide useable video, useable as evidence. Maybe PTZ cameras with auto tracking can be used instead for the "aisles".

I'd say low light capability is a must. You say "inaccessible" but access is just a matter of determination of miscreants.
 

wittaj

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Here are my general distance recommendations, but switch out the 5442 camera to the equivalent 2MP on the 1/2.8" sensor works as well.
  • 5442 fixed lens 2.8mm - anything within 10 feet of camera OR as an overview camera
  • 5442 ZE - varifocal - distances up to 40-50 feet (personally I wouldn't go past the 30 foot range but I like things closer)
  • 5442 Z4E - anything up to 80-100 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 60 feet but I like things closer)
  • 5241-Z12E - anything from 80 feet to almost 200 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 150 feet because I like things closer)
  • 5241-Z12E - for a license plate cam that you would angle up the street to get plates up to about 175 feet away, or up to 220 with additional IR.
  • 49225 PTZ - great PTZ and in conjunction with an NVR or Blue Iris and the cameras above that you can use as spotter cams to point the PTZ to the correct location to compliment the fixed cams.
You need to get the correct camera for the area trying to be covered. A 2.8mm to IDENTIFY someone 40 feet away is the wrong camera regardless of how good the camera is. A 2.8mm camera to IDENTIFY someone within 10 feet is a good choice OR it is an overview camera to see something happened but not be able to identify who.

Starlight, Full Color, ColorVu are simply marketing terms...

Some use junction boxes and others shove it back in the wall - as long as you waterproof the connection.
 

The Automation Guy

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Use the IPVM Camera Calculator V3 site to help judge your camera selection and placement. You can change the address to be your actual location and then place specific cameras down on the overlay. Be sure to look under the "blind spot" tab and put in the correct mounting height. Pay close attention to the PPF numbers. The higher the better and they need to be 75 or greater to actually use the footage to identify a stranger.
 
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