Firm up choices for Cam Location...detailed pics included!

[Roman]

All-

I had another thread open for my backyard cam that I am "tabling" for now until I get a chance to test out a 3mp turret that I have to see how the night image is going to be: https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/7091-Cam-Location-Pic-(2-8mm-or-4mm)?p=64371#post64371

So, I decided to move on to what I think are going to be cut and dry options for some other areas: Driveway and Front Porch

Driveway, I believe a 4mp turret in a 2.8 lens will give me good day/night time performance especially with the helper light (lamp post). My overall goal is to see cars in driveway and to keep an eye on regular door and two garage doors. See pic below and let me know what you think:



The next location is on my front porch and again I was thinking the 4mp turret in a 2.8 but also feel like I could use the 4mm to narrow the field a little. Obviously my goal is to see mainly someone coming up the steps and standing at the front door. Please let me know what you think about this one as well:

 

[bp2008]

Your sample photos are more like 4mm and 6mm lenses, for what it is worth.

Bright light sources directly in the camera's field of view are often a bad thing too, but it does not seem there is much you can do about it if you want to see the wall of the house/garage in your video.

 

[Roman]

bp2008-

Thanks for your input...certainly appreciate it. I could def see the front porch cam being 4mm or 6mm but was just assuming the driveway would be 2.8 due to the wide area to cover. I will def have to consider the 4mm for the driveway as well then.

 

[bp2008]

Do you ever have anything valuable in your driveway (outside of the garage)? One of the most common camera captures you can find here is people trying to break into parked vehicles or stealing bikes and it is usually at night. If this happens to you, then you want the best facial capture you can get and a 2.8mm lens isn't going to provide nearly the detail of a longer lens. But at the same time a longer lens won't see everything. So my advice is to get both. LOL

You might find it helpful to see what I did. Yes, I have more cams than I need. They are too much fun.

Click the image for full size, to read labels:



Most of the 3MP Hikvision cams are in 2MP mode (1920x1080), which is obvious because of the 16:9 aspect ratio as opposed to 4:3. On those cams, the 16:9 field of view is wider but less tall, and the 4:3 field of view is taller but less wide.

 

[Roman]

Hmmmm, decisions decisions....lol

I have a utility trailer and small boat parked to the left that you can't see. Other than that we park both cars in the garage. The only time a threat of someone breaking into a vehicle parked would be if family and friends are over in which that case I don't care (j/k).

So for me the image most important would be the personnel door and the 2 garage doors. This is telling me I prob should go with a longer lens cam?

Any further suggestions or recommendations or anything I am missing?

 

[klasipca]

For garage/driveway coverage two cams is the best route. I will be adding second PTZ cam soon myself. Before I have been trying to cover the area with single cam with 2.8mm 3 and also 4 MP and wasn't satisfied with the night results even with flood light next to it.

 

[LittleBrother]

I think I would start with a 4mm for the driveway. 2.8 mm will probably cost too much detail and let you see stuff you really don't care much about. True, you won't get the entirety of the driveway (you don't have it in the sample pic, either), but you can get what you need.


I have a 4mm on my driveway and a 2.8 on my porch which I love because with the porch people are necessarily closer to the door anyway (and thus the camera) and it lets me just see more of what's going on. But, as mentioned, hitting cars in the night for good is a regular thing so a good bit of detail is helpful.

EDIT: Just read you have a trailer off to the side. Yes, in that case 2.8 you'll need, that is unless you are able to have two cameras back to back, in which case two 4mm or even a 4mm and a 6mm would be awesome, to give really nice high coverage of the driveway. Most naughty things by your house will involve somebody on the driveway in some capacity.

Bite the bullet, get three cams right off the bat. Then you know you're golden. One for the porch, two for the driveway!

 

[Roman]

EDIT: Just read you have a trailer off to the side. Yes, in that case 2.8 you'll need, that is unless you are able to have two cameras back to back, in which case two 4mm or even a 4mm and a 6mm would be awesome, to give really nice high coverage of the driveway. Most naughty things by your house will involve somebody on the driveway in some capacity.

Bite the bullet, get three cams right off the bat. Then you know you're golden. One for the porch, two for the driveway!

Thanks for your feedback..really appreciate it. I don't think I have room on the corner eve (where the current cam is mounted) for an additional cam pointing towards the trailer and boat. To be honest, we live in a pretty rural area and I don't really foresee any issues with someone breaking into anything in the driveway. I am more concerned with someone breaking into the house via the garage if we are not home for example....which is why I was focused on covering the 3 doors.

 

[Roman]

Here is a pic of the corner where the current cam is mounted....I may be able to squeeze another one in there...not sure?

 

[klasipca]

outdoor cams are IP66 rated, so they don't need to be under eaves, unless it's a personal choice.

 

[Roman]

outdoor cams are IP66 rated, so they don't need to be under eaves, unless it's a personal choice.

Yep, I'm aware of that...more for aesthetics than anything.

 

[LittleBrother]

Maybe one cam could fit in one of the garage doorways, e.g. next to an keypad. With the distances you have two cams would definitely be nice. Most of us will never catch thieves on our cams, but a co-worker who is fairly rural had his neighbor's trailer stolen one day right off his property, too.

 

[Roman]

Yeah it would be a real pita to run a wire next to the keypad but I appreciate your suggestion. I think I would be able to fit two cams on that eve where the current cam is located. But after talking to the wifey....

We have decided right now to deal with just the one cam and focus or rather should i say concentrate on the door area as originally intended. I know we are going to miss the parking area to the left of the cam but as you can see from the pic we have been missing that shot for 7 years now!

Plus, if in the future I really want to capture that parking area I will just get another cam at that time as I already have extra wire up in that area above the garage ready to go.

So with that in mind I think I have my mind pretty much made up to go with a 4mm lens so I can narrow it just a hair versus the 2.8 to focus on that doorway. Now my question is do I go with a 3mp or 4mp?

As for the front porch, I believe I want to again go with a 4mm as I don't really have a need for such a wide angle with the 2.8. I don't really need to see anything but someone standing at the front door and or possibly coming up the front steps. So again do I go with a 3mp 4mm or a 4mp 4mm?

Suggestions or comments on all of this please so I can order next week...thinking about trying out forum member milkisbad too.

Also want to thank everyone so far for the assistance. It's nice to come to a place and bounce things off of other people

 

[klasipca]

For value Hik cameras it's like this.

4MP > 3MP > 2MP Daylight (detail)

2MP >> 4MP >> 3MP Nighttime (visibility/clarity)

 

[Roman]

For value Hik cameras it's like this.

4MP > 3MP > 2MP Daylight (detail)

2MP >> 4MP >> 3MP Nighttime (visibility/clarity)

Well with this in mind klasipca, wouldn't you say 4mp kind of gives me the best of both worlds (day/night)?

 

[Kawboy12R]

My experience is that the 4mp trumps both the old 2mp and 3mp stuff at night. Darkfighter 2mp is of course in a class of its own and even regain some ground in the daylight on the 4mp stuff when taking pics of fast moving cars if you tune the exposure settings on very cloudy days. Not sure on how the new 2mp WDR cams like the DS-2CD2022WD-I cams compare to the 4mp if you're talking about them. I haven't seen any video from them yet.

 

[klasipca]

Well with this in mind klasipca, wouldn't you say 4mp kind of gives me the best of both worlds (day/night)?

Yes, although new 2MP cams have slight edge at night I would take more resolution. You can always improve night time performance with additional light sources if needed

 

[LittleBrother]

Yeah it would be a real pita to run a wire next to the keypad but I appreciate your suggestion. I think I would be able to fit two cams on that eve where the current cam is located. But after talking to the wifey....

We have decided right now to deal with just the one cam and focus or rather should i say concentrate on the door area as originally intended. I know we are going to miss the parking area to the left of the cam but as you can see from the pic we have been missing that shot for 7 years now!

Plus, if in the future I really want to capture that parking area I will just get another cam at that time as I already have extra wire up in that area above the garage ready to go.

So with that in mind I think I have my mind pretty much made up to go with a 4mm lens so I can narrow it just a hair versus the 2.8 to focus on that doorway. Now my question is do I go with a 3mp or 4mp?

As for the front porch, I believe I want to again go with a 4mm as I don't really have a need for such a wide angle with the 2.8. I don't really need to see anything but someone standing at the front door and or possibly coming up the front steps. So again do I go with a 3mp 4mm or a 4mp 4mm?

Suggestions or comments on all of this please so I can order next week...thinking about trying out forum member milkisbad too.

Also want to thank everyone so far for the assistance. It's nice to come to a place and bounce things off of other people

Sounds good--those size cameras should work. I've bought three cameras from milkisbad. Would certainly buy a fourth

My only main parting advice is next time buy the cameras and then proudly show your wife what you were working on all afternoon. I didn't tell mine about the camera I got for the backyard until it was already up

In the future you can probably get two cams under that eave, and I appreciate the need for aesthetics. I am running a slightly inferior setup for the same reason--didn't want a cam sitting overtly in the perfect spot, so it's hidden a way a bit at the cost of the image.

 

[Del Boy]

For value Hik cameras it's like this.

4MP > 3MP > 2MP Daylight (detail)

2MP >> 4MP >> 3MP Nighttime (visibility/clarity)

Actually 3MP = 2MP for daytime

And it's not quite that simple because of the WDR stuff and non-WDR stuff. 2MP WDR = 4MP WDR from my playing around with them. 4MP Non-WDR = 3MP

So I would say (based off my playing around and opinion)

Daytime

4MP WDR > 4MP = 3MP = 2MP (4MP larger resolution that 2MP, 3MP 4:3 instead of 16:9)

Nighttime

4MP WDR = 2MP WDR > 3MP = 2MP > 4MP

The 2MP stuff is great value I find, the quality is as good as the 3MP ones and in 16:9. Daytime, my 4MP DS-2CD2542FWD-I is miles better than my other 4MP, 3MP and 2MP stuff but I think it's small size allowing closer positioning also helps.

Compared to the rubbish sold everywhere, no-one is going to be disappointed with any of these cameras.

Night-time, if you really need to video in darkness, it's difficult to beat Dahua HFW2100P which is 1.3MP and it's even better value.

 

[Del Boy]

My experience is that the 4mp trumps both the old 2mp and 3mp stuff at night. Darkfighter 2mp is of course in a class of its own and even regain some ground in the daylight on the 4mp stuff when taking pics of fast moving cars if you tune the exposure settings on very cloudy days. Not sure on how the new 2mp WDR cams like the DS-2CD2022WD-I cams compare to the 4mp if you're talking about them. I haven't seen any video from them yet.

Basically spot on mate. I only have one 2MP WDR and the difference in quality between 4MP WDR is negligible, except the increase in resolution which is noticeable when looking at faces or number plates etc. Price between them isn't massive though, so I'd generally recommend the 4MP WDR.