Need some recommendations on camera layout and choice

May 31, 2017
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2
Hey all, long time lurker here. I've been looking to set up cameras at the house for a while now. I currently have a couple of Wyze cams around the outside of the house and a Nest doorbell cam. The Wyze cam's will be removed once my IP cams are installed. I had cat6 cable installed in 9 preselected camera locations around the outside of the house when it was being constructed. I have a Dell Optiplex 3010 (I5-3470 w/ Windows 10Pro installed on a 500GB SSD) to use a NVR PC. I will be installing a Western Digital Purple or Seagate Skyhawk 4TB HDD.

I've labeled the pictures below for entry points: W=window, D=door. I am leaning towards Dahuas Starlight turrets since doing a bit of reading and looking at reviews. Here are my thoughts on camera placements but I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions:

1st Priority
Camera 1 (driveway) 2.8mm
Camera 2 (driveway/front entrance) 3.6mm
Camera 3 (backyard-shed) 3.6mm
Camera 4 (backyard-rear entrance)3.6mm

2nd Priority
Camera 5 (rear entrance) 2.8mm
Camera 6 (garage interior entrance) 2.8mm
Camera 7 (front entrance) 2.8mm **already covered by Nest Doorbell

Optional - (Do I need these?)
Camera 8 (side entrance/bedroom windows) 3.6mm
Camera 9 (bedroom window) 3.6mm

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Hey all, long time lurker here. ..

Welcome @CTRL_ALT_DELETE

I concur with bigredfish.. and in fact think you need a couple more cameras covering the curved driveway.

The basics you have laid out looks good in general - what you really want to do now is test the positions.
 
I am leaning towards Dahuas Starlight turrets since doing a bit of reading and looking at reviews.
If you haven't already run across them, the newer 4MP Starlight+ models (5442 models) are def. worth checking out!
Front door ID camera IPC-HDBW4231F?

For #8 and #9, cameras down the side of the house can be a little tricky IMO. If you aim them so they're not getting a lot of the side of the house in the shot, they generally end up getting pointed 45' away from the house. This isn't a technical problem per se, but it means you'll likely get a lot of your neighbor's side yard/house in the shot instead. An option that some folks run for these cameras is called "corridor mode". Rotating the camera ball 90' when you install it will give you a taller and less wide image (vs the normally wide and not tall image). There's an option in the camera's settings to rotate the image so that it orientates up correctly.