New Camera Shopping part 2

srvfan

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Yep...one of the reasons why I don't like telling neighbors! But the opportunity to rub in the one's know it all face every time an incident happens and I ask them if their expensive arlos caught anything is worth it LOL. We get our fair share of door checkers and his cams have yet to provide useful video.

And it caused the one with Lorex to update and two neighbors without cameras to get good cameras from Andy here, so I guess that is a win. Andy appreciates the business lol.
Yep, I avoid showing my neighbors my cameras. I had to a few months ago bc some idiot popped the curb and drove through both his and my yard and about clipped his AC/heat unit. I had to show him the video for obvious reasons, but now I’m sure he will try to depend on me if anything else occurs. If that’s the case, my cameras will be “down for maintenance” to avoid that hassle.
 

wittaj

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Ironically that is the excuse the neighbor on the corner lot uses whenever an incident happens....personally he has told me that is the excuse until people cough up a donation to him LOL, so we compare video and see who got the better shot LOL.
 

srvfan

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Alright folks; it is rather crude, but unfortunately, I do not have access to blueprint software. On top of that, my drawings suck. With all of that being said, I took snapshots from Google Earth and measured some dimensions of property and house. I was hoping to use this forum in conjunction with the camera calculator in order to start renovating my camera setup.
You will notice 2 other properties/houses I have referenced in the top left and to the right of my property. Those belong to relatives, so I wanted to keep an overview on those places so I could warn them of something. As far as the property on the right, I will be installing cameras on trees closer to that driveway to monitor the opposite road as well as the front of their house and sidewalk. That will of course take place at a later time. I will be installing cameras in separate intervals so I can focus on one aspect at a time. Right now, the focus is on the front of the house.
Starting with the front left, I want to get an overview of the house 144' away to monitor traffic or pedestrians. I don't need to ID people, just be able to monitor the area for movement. I also want to focus on the property line to the left in order to identify idiot neighbors. I also want to capture their mutts using my yard as a toilet and any potential vandalism or damage to my property.
As far as the direct front (from driveway over to the front right corner), I want to identify people clearly as well as vehicles. It would be nice on the vehicle side to capture color and make of the vehicle as well as license plates. I have had it with morons jumping the curb, driving through the yard, and leaving us to fix the damage. In addition, there is quite a bit of traffic and partying at the house across the street, and if need be, I want to capture night time footage of the crap going on like peeing and puking in the road to name a few. That way, when I call the cops on the nights I get 2 hours of sleep, there will be no question. This is the reason for the measurements to their curb line. Please keep in mind, that the front of my property is angled downward from the road. I don't have the specific drop per foot, but if that is necessary, I can calculate.
For the front right corner, I would like to monitor the yard and ID pedestrians moronically coming across. I also want to keep an overview on the house belonging to my relatives. I have included the property line for reference.
One other thing; the only source of light is an LED light attached to a utility pole (notated by the blue circle at the bottom right). There is really limited light around the other areas from the front left to front right of the house. There is a small light source towards the property at top left, but not enough to go without IR.
I am looking at Dahua 5442 and have some pretty good ideas on some of the views. However, I am confused as to whether I should incorporate any PTZs with auto tracking or just overload the area with several cameras. Thoughts (please be gentle)?

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wittaj

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The Dahua's are great choices. Here would be my general guidance for what you are trying to accomplish:

  • 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
  • 5442 Z4E - anything up to 80-100 feet
  • 5241-Z12E - anything from 80 feet to almost 200 feet
  • 5241-Z12E - for a license plate cam that you would angle up the street past the second house on the other side of the street so that you get anyone that turns around in those last 3 driveways.
  • 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 and you will have a solid system.
I'd recommend sending a DM to @EMPIRETECANDY a member here on the forum to get a quote for what would be more than a one or two cam purchase. He has an Amazon store as well, but you would probably get a better deal going direct and a bulk discount.

As far as number of cams, that is up to you and your budget.
 

srvfan

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The Dahua's are great choices. Here would be my general guidance for what you are trying to accomplish:

  • 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
  • 5442 Z4E - anything up to 80-100 feet
  • 5241-Z12E - anything from 80 feet to almost 200 feet
  • 5241-Z12E - for a license plate cam that you would angle up the street past the second house on the other side of the street so that you get anyone that turns around in those last 3 driveways.
  • 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 and you will have a solid system.
I'd recommend sending a DM to @EMPIRETECANDY a member here on the forum to get a quote for what would be more than a one or two cam purchase. He has an Amazon store as well, but you would probably get a better deal going direct and a bulk discount.

As far as number of cams, that is up to you and your budget.
Yep, I’ve ordered a camera off Andy before, and he was very helpful and fast to respond with a discount and firmware.
At the risk of sounding stupid and just to confirm, I could use the other cameras to trigger a PTZ through blue Iris and not purchase a separate NVR, correct?
Thank you for the list you provided to study. I’ve asked the question about cameras before, but that was prior to me measuring out and mapping out my property as well as deciding what I wanted to accomplish. Now I can review the cameras on YouTube and do some in depth research. I only wish I had done that before my Lorex box purchase, but hey, I can find some other use for those. Thanks again.
 

wittaj

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That is correct - with Blue Iris you can turn those cams into spotter cams and add a whole new dimension to the PTZ. I have several cams in BI spotting for my PTZs

The big complaint with a PTZ, especially for single coverage, is that it could be pointing the wrong place and miss something. With spotter cams, it helps ensure that the camera is facing the correct way most of the time and extends the range of which to capture images.
 

srvfan

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That is correct - with Blue Iris you can turn those cams into spotter cams and add a whole new dimension to the PTZ. I have several cams in BI spotting for my PTZs

The big complaint with a PTZ, especially for single coverage, is that it could be pointing the wrong place and miss something. With spotter cams, it helps ensure that the camera is facing the correct way most of the time and extends the range of which to capture images.
Great, thanks again.
 

wittaj

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I would suggest finding the reviews for the cameras here. You will find much better examples here than out on YouTube. The members here put them through their paces. Most of the YouTube videos just use auto settings and many do not show motion, so the images look great. It is motion at night that we are interested in, and every review of cameras here have folks providing video clips of their camera in action at multiple settings and shutter speeds, etc. Auto settings results in blur and ghosts during motion and is useless.

Plus the YouTube videos tend to be full productions for the likes and thus YouTube revenue, where the folks here post videos for the sole sake of letting others know how well or not the cameras perform.

Just look this week alone we have had at least two different posts of people buying cameras based on the YouTuber The Hookup and then being disappointed with the cameras they bought...
 
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sebastiantombs

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5442 Reviews

Review - Loryata (Dahua OEM) IPC-T5442T-ZE varifocal Turret

Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+

Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+ Turret

Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Turret, Full Color, Starlight+)

Review: IPC-HDBW5442R-ASE-NI - Dahua Technology Pro AI Bullet Network Camera
 

srvfan

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I would suggest finding the reviews for the cameras here. You will find much better examples here than out on YouTube. The members here put them through their paces. Most of the YouTube videos just use auto settings and many do not show motion, so the images look great. It is motion at night that we are interested in, and every review of cameras here have folks providing video clips of there camera in action at multiple settings and shutter speeds, etc. Auto settings results in blur and ghosts during motion and is useless.

Plus the YouTube videos tend to be full productions for the likes and thus YouTube revenue, where the folks here post videos for the sole sake of letting others know how well or not the cameras perform.

Just look this week alone we have had at least two different posts of people buying cameras based on the YouTuber The Hookup and then being disappointed with the cameras they bought...
I agree; I have read some of the posts on that clown to include a breakdown of the issues of his videos. Seems like he is a regular reolink employee from what I’ve seen. I just mentioned YouTube bc I think some of the members may post videos on that site, even though I think that is dwindling. This will definitely be my prime source of research. :thumb:
 

srvfan

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5442 Reviews

Review - Loryata (Dahua OEM) IPC-T5442T-ZE varifocal Turret

Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+

Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+ Turret

Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Turret, Full Color, Starlight+)

Review: IPC-HDBW5442R-ASE-NI - Dahua Technology Pro AI Bullet Network Camera
Another stupid question. Do these cameras come with Dahua firmware, or does that even make a difference? Was just not aware if the firmware for Dahua provided more options than the OEM firmware.
 

wittaj

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They are Dahua OEM cameras. Some of my cameras I have bought from Andy from his Amazon store come as Dahua cams in Dahua boxes with Dahua logos, and some are not logo'd - I think it depends on how many cameras Andy buys if he gets them with the Dahua Logo or not. But regardless, they are Dahua cams. If you get a camera that has Dahua on it, then the camera GUI will say Dahua; otherwise it will simply say IP Camera but looks identical except without the logo.

And the firmware is actually better because many members here provide feedback to Andy and Dahua makes modifications to the firmware and send back to him and then he sends out to his customers. These have been great improvements that Dahua doesn't even update their firmware and add to their website. So many of us are running a newer firmware than those that purchase Dahua cameras through professional installers. Smart IR on the 5442 series is one such improvement. Autotracking on the 49225 is another. Almost every other vendor the 49225 is not autotrack.
 

srvfan

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They are Dahua OEM cameras. Some of my cameras I have bought from Andy from his Amazon store come as Dahua cams in Dahua boxes with Dahua logos, and some are not logo'd - I think it depends on how many cameras Andy buys if he gets them with the Dahua Logo or not. But regardless, they are Dahua cams. If you get a camera that has Dahua on it, then the camera GUI will say Dahua; otherwise it will simply say IP Camera but looks identical except without the logo.

And the firmware is actually better because many members here provide feedback to Andy and Dahua makes modifications to the firmware and send back to him and then he sends out to his customers. These have been great improvements that Dahua doesn't even update their firmware and add to their website. So many of us are running a newer firmware than those that purchase Dahua cameras through professional installers. Smart IR on the 5442 series is one such improvement. Autotracking on the 49225 is another. Almost every other vendor the 49225 is not autotrack.
10-4. On the camera I bought from him, he provided firmware very quickly after purchase. I was just wondering because I noticed that IP logo instead of Dahua.
 

sebastiantombs

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Andy gets the firmware from Dahua. In fact firmware from him may have features built in that aren't available in Dahua versions, auto tracking in the 49225(?) PTZ is one example. In any event it is, indeed Dahua but since he is also an OEM dealer it may or may not have the Dahua logo on it. He also seems to get it out far ahead of when Dahua releases it.
 

srvfan

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Alright, so here is another set of questions. I have been utilizing the IP camera calculator in order to determine angles and camera placement for maximum coverage. I am still kicking around the idea of incorporating a PTZ on the front to cover a wide area. I already have my camera and placement picked out for capturing license and vehicle information, but I am struggling with the rest of the setup.

I know that the utilization of cameras as spotters/triggers for a PTZ in order to auto track have been mentioned in this post. With the aforementioned Dahua 49225 PTZ, would I have to utilize a Dahua camera as a spotter/trigger, or would any camera be able to handle the task (to include the existing Lorex E891AB setup I currently have)?

Next, could multiple cameras be utilized as spotters/triggers for a single PTZ? For example, if I were to place a PTZ in the middle front section of my house, could I utilize a camera on the front left and front right sections of the house to trigger? I almost envision that being a problem, especially if there were separate events occurring at both the spotter cameras at the same time. It seems like there would be confusion with the PTZ trying to determine which event to track.

Finally, what is the exact model # of the 49225 PTZ mentioned? I would like to find out the dimensions as well as weight. I would almost assume that it would be wayyyy too heavy to mount to the soffit without pulling the soffit down and placing some extreme bracing underneath. I would really like to avoid drilling into the vinyl siding of the house in order to attach, but from pictures I have seen, the PTZ cameras are rather large and weighty, and require some type of arm.
Sorry for all the questions, but the more I utilize the calculator to estimate FOV with different cameras/placements in conjunction with the estimated image blur, I am driving myself crazy.
 

wittaj

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Only buy this one from @EMPIRETECANDY as the others do not have autotracking on it....

Yes you can set up fixed cams as spotter cams. As many as you want, but like you said, go overboard and then the PTZ is always bouncing back and forth. The intent of it is to make sure that it is facing where the action is and not where it isn't. So in your instance, you could have the primary spot of the PTZ looking say to the right but only have the left fixed be a spotter to move the PTZ to the left if something is happening there (or vice versa, but you get the idea).


 
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srvfan

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Only buy this one from @EMPIRETECANDY as the others do not have autotracking on it....

Yes you can set up fixed cams as spotter cams. As many as you want, but like you said, go overboard and then the PTZ is always bouncing back and forth. The intent of it is to make sure that it is facing where the action is and not where it isn't. So in your instance, you could have the primary spot of the PTZ looking say to the right but only have the left fixed be a spotter to move the PTZ to the left if something is happening there (or vice versa, but you get the idea).


Thanks for the info. Having the spotter and PTZ facing opposite directions seems to provide the best area coverage and would eliminate the fear I had.
In looking at the specs on that PTZ, I doubt very seriously I could mount to soffit. Gross weight of 10lbs; ouch. Probably doesn’t even count the weight of mounting boxes or arms (which I assume has to be bought separate). I’m not sure I could even brace up the area to support hanging from soffit or how it could be done correctly.
Guess I will go back to cliff notes and study some more regarding installs and boxes.
 
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wittaj

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My neighbor mounted his to his wood soffit and knock on wood (pun intended) it is still there!

You could use a ceiling mount and mount it to one of the roof trusses above the soffit?
 

srvfan

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My neighbor mounted his to his wood soffit and knock on wood (pun intended) it is still there!

You could use a ceiling mount and mount it to one of the roof trusses above the soffit?
Hmm, pretty good idea. I’m thinking I could utilize an idea I saw for hanging shelves from the ceiling in a garage. Cut a post and screw down to the rafters and then run a threaded rod down to mount the ceiling box, similar to what you are saying. Since you are familiar with the camera, would you happen to have an idea on the ceiling mount box that could be utilized? Thanks!
 

wittaj

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Andy could tell you the mount for sure for this camera, but it looks close to this one:


You could also remove part of the soffit, install this on the rafter and then cut a small whole in the soffit and place back up.

Here was how someone else did it:

 
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