Looking for advice on my install locations.

Timokreon said:
No, I'm not saying park the PTZ over the mailbox. I'm saying for the 3x to call the PTZ when it detects someone, hence the PTZ providing better ID.

The new tioc pro comes in fixed and variable focus, but no clue what the performance is going to be at this point, being brand new.
Yeah, I'd just keep the X3 in front where it is, get the new PTZ, and get the 5442 for the back.
Click to expand...

I like this idea of using the 3X to watch the mailbox and play spotter
 
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Timokreon said:
No, I'm not saying park the PTZ over the mailbox. I'm saying for the 3x to call the PTZ when it detects someone, hence the PTZ providing better ID.

The new tioc pro comes in fixed and variable focus, but no clue what the performance is going to be at this point, being brand new.
Yeah, I'd just keep the X3 in front where it is, get the new PTZ, and get the 5442 for the back.
Click to expand...
That's sort of where I am. I have the X3s and I want to swap the PTZ, if this works, it works. If not, it's better than nothing and I can keep an eye out for refurb or used Z4Es later on.
 
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Well, Andy updated his Refurb list and I grabbed 2 Z4Es to try on the back path. So I got that going for me, hopefully they work out.

I messed with the X3 more last night, and I think I have it to a happy place that will be a compliment to a better PTZ. I may still make some adjustments, but at least I now have my expectations set. After the other X3 goes up and spits out more IR, there might be a difference, but this is what I have for now.

PathNorhMid.20250626_221518196.74.jpg

PathNorthPath.20250626_221518150.75.jpg

PathNorthPath.20250626_221549097.76.jpg
 
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What exposure/gain is that ?
 
I think that's 8.33/50.

I fiddled with it a little more before I called it a night, and it's currently set to 6.33/50. I never went back outside and had hoped someone would walk by with the new settings.

After looking at my pictures, I may go back the other way with a higher exp and lower gain.
 
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I think you’re better off about where youre at, 8.33/50 is the best I was able to do

The sensor needs a lot of light, we substitute with Gain. And it’s 2MP so anything we do (at night) will look like crap compared to a 5442

Between the two I’ll take the 50 Gain shot
IMG_9173.jpeg IMG_9172.jpeg
 
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duplo said:
shutter is too low, the far channel gets only darker and worse(noisy/unsharp) with too low shutter speed. same i was writing in your old thread. same i saw when testing this cam.
you cannot run this cam with 5442 z4e settings, thats a different cam.

can you post any pictures with higher shutter ? range 0.01333 - 0.01666 , gain 0-30, ir auto ? as a try, not a solution

another possibily could be that the camera detects something on the other channels and reduce the infrared power, thats a bit tricky to deal with. this problem gets better when mounting the cam high, like jmcu shows in his review on youtube.

also one might be tricked of the pictures wittaj post. one will never get the same good looking pictures he show here. there can be many reasons why his pictures look so good. i tested all cams he showed. never was able to get anything similiar. worst nightmare for me is the mini ptz 25x. he showed pictures like dahua laser beam ptz and i was only able to get reolink picture.
maybe his whole street has floodlights installed, tons of IR backreflection,... who knows.
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I assure you that I do not have much light and I am jealous of the many here that do have a lot of light like bigredfish and samplenhold.

All I have are my outside house lights, infrared from other cameras. There are no streetlights and neighbors keep outside lights off. It is dark.

As I post frequently, one has to test the camera with motion as that is what we are concerned with. I have that post with the starting settings, but each parameter is unique to the camera and the field of view.

And it is amazing how field of view dependent the camera can be. @Ri22o saw different performance of the 3X camera just between it being on the side of his house versus the front of the house.

Too many people get concerned with the still image.

I am not taking still photos for the County Fair competition, I want captures in motion of a perp that the police could use to identify a person.

Many cameras behave differently with motion versus no motion.

I spend A LOT of time setting up the cameras.

I do not go by the static image.

I test every parameter to the extreme with motion to see how the camera responds.

I have found the settings that work for one camera may not work for another. For example, gain can go higher on the 5442 than the PTZ.

Some respond better to fixed shutter/exposure rather than a range.

But I test each one with motion to squeak the best performance I can out of the camera.

Literally some of my cams if I change the parameter ONE number, like gain from 69 to 70 the image with motion completely goes to crap.

So lets talk about the mini-PTZ.

Here are my settings at night.

Noise Reduction at 10. Who here runs NR at 10 at night? Probably nobody.


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And as you expect, the static image is a pixelated noisy mess:

MiniPTZ static image.jpg


View attachment MiniPTZ static view.mp4



Now this field of view does benefit from the infrared of the 3X camera and another PTZ.

But then with motion, the pixelated mess goes away.

MiniPTZ.jpg


View attachment MiniPTZ doorchecker.mp4


This is why you test it with motion and adjust all the parameters to see which one is best for your field of view.

I will admit the mini-PTZ was the most difficult one to dial in. And I still tweak it from time to time.
 
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