Seriously, I probably am! I installed cams back in 88-90. Remember those funny "tubes" that had to be replaced? So, I know a semi-lot of things, but most of them are about outdated tech. I also really like professional systems that include motion sensing, IR, thermal, etc. so I learn about them. Unfortunately, that just means I remember what I read and have zero clue about how the systems REALLY work and integrate. Additionally, I have a 10-acre rural property (so 660'x660' and limited power) in an area where the potential for hunters, hikers, malcontents, and often hungry large animals (and a lot of interesting smaller ones, too) have a tendency to wander around (especially at night) and I like to know when they do. That said, MY priority is to learn about the best, I guess "prosumer" systems and setups that will be the best for my application. Security of the system itself is also of the highest priority. So TIA for putting up with me and guiding me when you can or feel like it.
I Am Most Techs Biggest PITAs
- Thread starter Firepig
- Start date
sebastiantombs
Known around here
To start out read the Wiki in the blue bar at the top of the page. That covers almost every aspect of surveillance cameras. The general recommendation is to start with on varifocal camera and set it up in a test rig to check out every spot you plan on putting a camera. Test day and night over a few days and make sure you get motion in the videos. Good, clean, motion is key to identification. A test rig is a five gallon bucket full of stones or sand with a 2x4-8' sticking up. Mount the camera to that for testing purposes. Best height for identification is seven to seven and a half feet. The varifocal camera will let you figure out what lens size will work best in each location, or you can just use all varifocal cameras, Fixed lens cameras are less expensive though. There' a converter in the Wiki to change from the varifocal length to an equivalent fixed length, approximation.
You will also need a long, 200 foot or so, ethernet cable terminated in 568B on both ends. The camera can be powered with a small PoE switch for testing purposes. Dahua offers a basic VMS program or you can also just watch the video through the web GUI of the camera itself to get started.
Don't chase megapixels unless you have a really BIG budget. Chase sensor size and bigger is better. To confuse you more sensor sizes are listed in fractions so do the basic math to be sure, 1/2.7 is bigger than 1/2.8 or 1/3. General rule of thumb is that a 4MP camera will easily outperform an 8MP camera when they both have the same sensor size. Reason being that there are twice as many pixels in the 8MP versus the 4MP. This results in only half the available light getting to each pixel in an 8MP that a pixel in the 4MP "sees".
A dedicated PC doesn't need to be either expensive to purchase or to run. A used business class machine can be had from eBay and various other sources. The advances made in Blue Iris make it easily possible to run a fairly large system on relatively inexpensive hardware which also makes power consumption low, as in under 50 watts in many cases. The biggest expenses turn out to be hard drives for storing video and a PoE switch to power the cameras and, of course, the cameras themselves.
The three basic rules of video surveillance cameras-
Rule #1 - Cameras multiply like rabbits.
Rule #2 - Cameras are more addictive than drugs.
Rule #3 - You never have enough cameras.
Quick guide -
The smaller the lux number the better the low light performance. 0.002 is better than 0.02
The smaller the "F" of the lens the better the low light performance. F1.4 is better than F1.8
The larger the sensor the better the low light performance. 1/1.8" is better (bigger) than 1/2.7"
The higher the megapixels for the same size sensor the worse the low light performance. A 4MP camera with a 1/1.8" sensor will perform better than a 8MP camera with that same 1/1.8" sensor.
Disclaimer - These sizes are what the manufacturers advertise and may, or may not, be the true size of the sensor in the camera.
720P - 1/3" = .333"
2MP - 1/2.8" = .357" (think a .38 caliber bullet)
4MP - 1/1.8" = .555" (bigger than a .50 caliber bullet or ball)
8MP - 1/1.2" = .833" (bigger than a 20mm chain gun round)
Focal length, lens size, is another critical element in camera selection. A 2.8mm lens will produce a nice wide view but will be useless for identification at distances greater than abut 10 or 15 feet.
Compiled by wittaj
The Typical picture of a Perp on Nextdoor-type Apps with Consumer Grade Cameras like Ring, Nest, Arlo, Canary, Wyze, etc.
Love these posts on Nextdoor type apps LOL. This thread will be used for members to post the poor quality consumer grade type camera images that we see people post to the Nextdoor type apps. Can anyone make out this person that went thru their cars LOL.... And this thread is where members...
Don't believe all the marketing hype no matter who makes the camera. Don't believe those nice night time captures they all use. Look for videos, with motion, to determine low light performance. Any camera can be made to "see" color at night if the exposure time is long enough, as in half a second or longer. Rule of thumb, the shutter speed needs to be at 1/60 or higher to get night video without blurring.
Read the reviews here, most include both still shots and video.
Avoid Reolink, Foscam, SV3C, Nest, and all the other consumer grade cameras. They all struggle mightily at night and never get anything useful on video. Here's a link to a whole thread debunking Reolink in particular.
Compiled by mat200 -
Reolink: Deconstruction of a dangerous misleading youtube review "Finding the BEST 4K Security Camera NVR Package (Reolink vs Amcrest vs Swann)"
Executive Summary: DO NOT be a sheep. Ask what a reviewer can be missing, ask if a reviewer is using hype words to sell the cheapest product. Test your cameras and kits right away. Just do a bench test. Test real world conditions. Test moving suspects. Test at night, test at day. Use a test rig...
A collection of various consumer grade failures -
The Typical picture of a Perp on Nextdoor-type Apps with Consumer Grade Cameras like Ring, Nest, Arlo, Canary, Wyze, etc.
Love these posts on Nextdoor type apps LOL. This thread will be used for members to post the poor quality consumer grade type camera images that we see people post to the Nextdoor type apps. Can anyone make out this person that went thru their cars LOL.... And this thread is where members...
Avoid WiFi cameras, even doorbell cameras. WiFi is not designed for the constant, 24/7, load of video that a surveillance camera produces. At best, with two cameras on WiFi, they will still experience dropouts multiple times daily. Murphy's Law says that will happen at the worst possible moment.
Here's some of the current popular Dahua models to look at -
Review - 8MP 1/1.2" sensor full color camera
Worlds First Review - Dahua - IPC-Color4K-X / DH-IPC-HFW5849T1-ASE-LED - Full Color 4K Camera
Intro I’m excited to be doing another Worlds First Review. this time as I mentioned in the full color thread, I’ve been testing the new Dahua full color 4K camera. This was provided courtesy of @EMPIRETECANDY for a fair, honest, no holds barred, unbiased review. I’ll attempt to answer any and...
2021 Full Color 2.0 Has a Fantastic New Dual Lens Camera
Hey guys The full color 2.0 has been released. Most cams I already posted here. Like: IPC-Color4K-X Bullet 4MP Motorized Full color. Today I bring a secret model, 1st release for the Dual-Lens Full color model in the world. Dual-lens Camera( Sample at Early Sep ) Ø Dual light fusion...
Dual Sensor 4K
Review: Dahua DH-IPC-MFW7442K1-Z4-T40 - Dual Sensor (4MP + 4MP) Bullet Camera
Hope all of you are doing well ! Intro Its time to do another review and this time (as you may have seen in my Coming Soon video), we have 2 of them. Both of these cams are from the same MFW-7x42K1 family and feature dual sensors. I have the 7442 (4MP) and 7842 (8MP) versions of these cams...
5442 Reviews
Review - Loryata (Dahua OEM) IPC-T5442T-ZE varifocal Turret
Review-OEM Loryta IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal 4mp camera (Dahua)
IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal from @EMPIRETECANDY 4MP WDR Turret Varifocal Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Andy's ipcamtalk store: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon store: link Price Approximately US $200.00...
Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+
Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+
All, thanks to Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY ) we have a new 4MP AI camera for testing. This camera has been provided by Andy in exchange for a fair and honest review. This camera is using the OEM model number of IPC-B5442-ZE which is the equivalent of the Dahua IPC-HFW5442-ZE for reference. The IPC-B...
Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+ Turret
Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+
Dahua OEM IPC-T5442TM-AS from EMPIRETECANDY 4MP WDR Turret AI Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Andy's ipcamtalk store: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon store: link Price Approximately US $160 Link to camera...
Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Turret, Full Color, Starlight+)
Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Full Color, Starlight+)
Dahua OEM IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED from EMPIRETECANDY 4MP WDR Turret AI Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Andy's ipcamtalk vendor forum: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon store: link Andy's Email: kingsecurity2014...
Review: IPC-HDBW5442R-ASE-NI - Dahua Technology Pro AI Bullet Network Camera
Review: OEM IPC-B5442T-ASE-NI 4MP Pro AI Starlight Full-color Fixed Bullet
Many thanks once again to Andy @EMPIRETECANDY we have for testing the OEM IPC-B5442T-ASE-NI 4MP Starlight+ Full Color bullet. This camera has been provided by Andy in exchange for a fair and honest review. This is a fixed 3.6mm bullet (Pro AI) series with the 1/1.8” sensor. It has no built in...
2231 Review
Review-OEM IPC-T2231RP-ZS 2mp Varifocal Turret Starlight Camera
Review-Dahua IPC-HDW2231RP-ZS Starlight Camera-Varifocal
Again courtesy of @EMPIRETECANDY EmpireTech Andy we have a new cam to look over. Its a new model in Dahua's new Lite H265 Series of cam's. Available for purchase here: Aliexpress.com - Online Shopping for Electronics, Fashion, Home & Garden, Toys & Sports, Automobiles and more Price is approx...
3241T-ZAS Review
Review-OEM IPC-T3241-ZAS 2mp AI Lite series Varifocal
IPC-T3241-ZAS from EMPIRETECANDY 2MP WDR Turret Varifocal AI Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Purchase in the IPCT Store Andy's ipcamtalk vendor forum: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon store: link Price...
Less expensive models -
Budget Dahua Cams or china alternatives under $100?
Well here we go. I dont see anywhere more approriate to discuss this. Ive been messing around with putting together a cctv system for close to 3 years now. Ive bought everything i needed and also bought 2 cheap cams from a third party seller on walmart. Those cams cost me a grand total of $50...
^^ this gives you a lot to digest. Best is a real computer and spend time reading up on things.
The easiest way to add really remote cameras if by using game cameras. You can get them with cellular service so they txt you the pictures.
This makes it easy to add them around and see where they work best. Then you can bury a cable for a stationary camera, or just leave the game camera in place.
The easiest way to add really remote cameras if by using game cameras. You can get them with cellular service so they txt you the pictures.
This makes it easy to add them around and see where they work best. Then you can bury a cable for a stationary camera, or just leave the game camera in place.
tangent
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More info is going to be needed.
What do you mean by limited power?
Do you have internet?
Are there any dwellings, sheds, garages, RVs, or other values at risk on the property?
Is there vehicle access from more then one point? At all?
What's your budget?
Depending on what you mean by limited power, a basic option is some cellular game cameras (or non-cellular). What you glean from them pales in comparison to continuous video recording and a system that needs power and internet if you want to monitor remotely, but they have their place and can be very useful.
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Thank you! Wow. Lots of info. I'm very glad I stumbled onto this forum! And I totally agree about the addiction: cams are just a start. Does anyone know of a great forum like this for intrusion detection systems? Yeah, I'm a bit security conscious. No, I really have no good reason to be but it's interesting as hell.
Yeah, I've used Game Cams a lot as a LEO/Fire Investigator. They are quite handy! Hell, I'll probably buy a Reolink cell cam (they are cheap) just to throw up when tree clearing starts. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it to work, unlike the home system I bought a while back...Hence why I am here NOW LOL.
sebastiantombs
Known around here
Power in buildings/areas that a well separated can be a problem. One of the easiest ways to link things together for video, or network, connectivity is to use wireless, dedicated, encrypted, RF links. This is not WiFi, but a dedicated wide band transceiver system. I'm using one to link four cameras in a shed back to the house and it will easily support more cameras.
There are lots of advantages to using these. You don't have to dig a trench, install conduit, install weatherproof cable in the conduit (water ends up getting into conduit no matter how carefully installed) and it provides complete electrical isolation. The electrical isolation is an important feature because it eliminates ground potential differences that may exist between the buildings and eliminates surges caused by lightning, or other EMF type events. They do require power, however, but if you have cameras, PoE cameras for 24/7 recording cameras, you have enough power to run them.
Ubiquity Nano Station Loco M5
TP Link Bridge
There are lots of advantages to using these. You don't have to dig a trench, install conduit, install weatherproof cable in the conduit (water ends up getting into conduit no matter how carefully installed) and it provides complete electrical isolation. The electrical isolation is an important feature because it eliminates ground potential differences that may exist between the buildings and eliminates surges caused by lightning, or other EMF type events. They do require power, however, but if you have cameras, PoE cameras for 24/7 recording cameras, you have enough power to run them.
Ubiquity Nano Station Loco M5
TP Link Bridge
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tangent
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Some of my favorite forums for alarm systems aren't around anymore, there are a couple I think are but can't think of at the moment. There is a security system / home automation section here that isn't super active. Simply reading manuals isn't a bad place to start.
FYI: "Intrusion Detection Systems" typically refers to computers/networks as in hacking. Intrusion can refer to alarm systems too, just typically not that phrase.
There are fancy long range motion / radar systems that are may be in the vane of what you meant, but they cost stupid money. Think military base, chemical refinery, or railyard that wants to know exactly where their fence is breached.
I'd focus on an alarm system to monitor buildings, the main house is relatively easy other buildings a bit more challenging. If the house is under construction it's a good time to add hardwired security sensors and other wiring for home networking, automation, and cameras.
It sounds like it's under construction or maybe even just in the planning stage. Is anything built yet? If you share more details like a site plan, architectural drawings, satellite view you'll get more detailed advice. If it's under construction, the timeline is also relevant as far as home much time you have to develop your plans and install yourself or contract out the installation.
Do you plan on manual or motorized gates? Intercom to the gate?
What's the terrain like (ie. would you have line of sight for wireless communication)? Relatively flat, lots of hills, house on the other side of a hill, climbs up a canyon with hundred(s) of feet in elevation gain, densely treed, etc.?
If you do have security concerns related to your current / former job, consider if you want the property in your name or an LLC / trust as well as making your voter registration private if it's allowed in your state.
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Thanks for the response!