Newbie almost ready to order, am I planing right?

[IPCJIM]

Hello everyone,

I am a complete Cam and Network newbie... I have been reading and learning. I've decide to order IPC-T2431T-AS (3.6mm) cameras as they seem to be a good balance of performance vs price, I might upgrade the fist cams later as I dive in and I can always use these cams on the other (not as critical) side of the house... My main goal to start is to watch the cars parked in the driveway as we have had some nighttime car breakins and car theft in our neighborhood. I think my initial plan covers the cars and entryways well. Am I planing right? I am open to all feedback and criticism, I am ready to learn!

I've include a map of my initial plan below, White marks entry doors and red marks cars parked in the driveway.



Thanks in advance!
~JIm

 

[SouthernYankee]

You are approaching to the solution to the problem incorrectly.

Read study plan before spending money.
Test do not guess

Buy only one variable focus camera and test your lens size and camera location.

============================================================

My standard welcome to the forum message.

Read Study Plan before spending money
Cameras are for surveillance to get information for after the fact.

Please read the IP Cam Talk Cliff Notes and other items in the IP Cam Talk Wiki. (read on a real computer, not a phone). The wiki is in the blue bar at the top of the page.

Read How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!) in the wiki also.

Quick start
1) If you do not have a wired monitored alarm system, get that first
2) Use Dahua starlight cameras or Hikvision darkfighter cameras if you need good low light cameras.
3) use a VPN to access home network (openVPN)
4) Do not use wifi cameras.
5) Do not use cloud storage
6) Do Not use uPNP, P2P, QR, do not open ports,
7) More megapixel is not necessarily better.
8) Avoid chinese hacked cameras (most ebay, amazon, aliexpress cameras(not all, but most))
9) Do not use reolink, ring, nest, Arlo cameras (they are junk), no cloud cameras
10) If possible use a turret camera , bullet collect spiders, dome collect dirt and reflect light (IR)
11) Use only solid copper, AWG 23 or 24 ethernet wire. , no CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum)
12) use a test mount to verify the camera mount location. My test rig: rev.2
13) (Looney2ns)If you want to be able to ID faces, don't mount cams higher than 7ft. You want to know who did it, not just what happened.
14) Use a router that has openVPN built in (Most ASUS, Some NetGear....)
15) camera placement use the calculator... IPVM Camera Calculator V3
16) POE list PoE Switch Suggestion List
17) Camera Sensor size, bigger is general better Sensor Size Chart
18) Camera lens size, a bigger number give more range but less field of view. Which Security Camera Lens Size Should I Buy?


Cameras to look at
IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED . Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Full Color, Starlight+) - 4MP starlight
.................... Dahua IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED review
IPC-T5442TM-AS ..... Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+ - 4MP starlight+
IPC-HDW5442-ZE ..... Dahua IPC-HDW5442T-ZE 4MP Varifocal Turret - Night Perfomance testing -- variable focus 4 MP Starlight
IPC-B5442E-ZE ...... Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+
IPC-HFW7442H-Z ..... Review - Dahua IPC-HFW7442H-Z 4MP Ultra AI Varifocal Bullet Camera -- 4 MP variable focus AI
IPC-T2347G-LU ...... Review of the Hikvision OEM model IPC-T2347G-LU 'ColorVu' IP CCTV camera. (DS-2CD2347G1-LU)
IPC-HDW2231R-ZS .... Review-Dahua IPC-HDW2231RP-ZS Starlight Camera-Varifocal
IPC-HDW2231T-ZS-S2 . Review-OEM IPC-T2231T-ZS 2mp Varifocal Starlight Camera
IPC-HDW5231R-ZE .... Review-Dahua Starlight IPC-HDW5231R-ZE 800 meter capable ePOE
IPC-HFW4239T-ASE ... IPC-HFW4239T-ASE
IPCT-HDW5431RE-I ... Review - IP Cam Talk 4 MP IR Fixed Turret Network Camera
IPC-T5241H-AS-PV ... Review-OEM IPC-T5241H-AS-PV 2mp AI active deterrence cam
IPC-T3241-ZAS ...... Review-OEM IPC-T3241-ZAS 2mp AI Lite series Varifocal -- 2mp AI Lite series Varifocal
IPC-HFW2831T-ZS ... Review-Dahua IPC-HFW2831T-ZS 8MP WDR IR Bullet Network Camera -- 8MP Bullet 1/1.8” sensor variable focus.
DS-2CD2325FWD-I
N22AL12 ............ New Dahua N22AL12 Budget Cam w/Starlight -- low cost entry
IPC-T2347G-LU....... Review-Loryta OEM 4MP IPC-T2347G-LU ColorVu Fixed Turret Network 4mm lens & Junction Box -- 4MP ColorVu
.................... Review of the Hikvision OEM model IPC-T2347G-LU 'ColorVu' IP CCTV camera.

Other dahua 4MP starlight

https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/dahua-4mp-starlight-lineup.42000/#post-388253

My preferred indoor cameras
DS-2CD2442FWD-IW
IPC-K35A

https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/review-dahua-ipc-k35a-3mp-cube-camera.37581/#post-373517

If interested in Blue Iris and other setup items see the following post

Newbie Starter Guide to IP Cam System – VPN setup – Computer Hardware – Blue Iris – Dahua Cameras

This is an intermediate / newbie guide for people just starting out looking for a surveillance setup. I know this setup might not be for everyone and there are many options. You can find a lot of this information in the Wiki: IP Cam Talk Wiki | IP Cam Talk A great place to start in the Wiki...

ipcamtalk.com

Read,study,plan before spending money ..... plan plan plan
Test do not guess

 

[mat200]

Hello everyone,

I am a complete Cam and Network newbie... I have been reading and learning. I've decide to order IPC-T2431T-AS (3.6mm) cameras as they seem to be a good balance of performance vs price, I might upgrade the fist cams later as I dive in and I can always use these cams on the other (not as critical) side of the house... My main goal to start is to watch the cars parked in the driveway as we have had some nighttime car breakins and car theft in our neighborhood. I think my initial plan covers the cars and entryways well. Am I planing right? I am open to all feedback and criticism, I am ready to learn!

I've include a map of my initial plan below, White marks entry doors and red marks cars parked in the driveway.

View attachment 68709

Thanks in advance!
~JIm

Welcome Jim,

"some nighttime car breakins"

I see the model you are looking at has
4MP, 1/3” CMOS image sensor, low illuminance, high image definition

I would look for a camera with a 1/1.8" sensor now.. the 4MP versions are very well liked here

If you are on a tight budget, I would just get ONE good camera

If you are learning, also as SouthernYankee notes, get one good varifocal camera to play with.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Rule of thumb - Don't chase megapixels, chase sensor size and bigger is better. Remember, fractions are inversely proportional. A 1/2.8 is bigger than a 1/2.5 for example. A good picture at 2MP is far better than a crap picture at 4MP.

 

[SouthernYankee]

@sebastiantombs

I think your sensor size is backwards. a 1/1.8 (0.5555) is bigger than a 1/3(0.3333 ). I convert it to decimal to keep it straight. Sensor Size Chart

You are correct a good low light big sensor 2mp is better than a a 4mp small sensor. If the sensor size is the same on a 2 mp and a 4 mp, the 2 mp is better, there is twice a much light per pixel, which is what you need at night.

 

[looney2ns]

Review-OEM Loryta IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal 4mp camera (Dahua) | IP Cam Talk

 

[sebastiantombs]

Blame it on a lazy Sunday afternoon and being dain bread.

 

[samplenhold]

Everyone has given you great feedback above. Personally I really think one should not try and build a system all at once. When I was new to this, I made a plan with about 5-6 cams. I thought it was a good plan. I talked about it here and got the best feedback, which said get ONE cam, preferably a VARIFOCAL cam, and make a test rig (see Cliff Notes) to test out my plan. You have chosen a 3.6mm lens and you really have no data to say that this lens is the best for your situation. A varifocal cam can tell you what the proper fixed lens would be.

Now lets talk about planning. A plan is NOT I want 4 cams and located here. A plan is derived from a list of requirements. Like I want to be able to get a good face shot at night of some perp in my driveway at my car door. From that requirement, a plan can be made. In general, we recommend two cams for a driveway. One mounted on either side of the garage door pointing in a crossing pattern zoomed in to the location of your parked car(s). This will give you two possible shots of the perp. See my setup below:



So I have a cam on either side of the door pointing in a crossing pattern. I have had good luck with this and have supplied law enforcement with shots of perps that had good face shots and one recently had been ID from that and arrested. Notice that these cams are less than 7' from the ground.

My original 5-6 cam plan has changed/evolved since I began and looks nothing like my original one. As you gain experience/knowledge you will evolve your plan. I currently have 18 cams spread out over 10 models and have five more waiting for me to finish running cable to install them. Then I have plans for about 3-5 more, mostly covering my back and side yards. This has become a hobby for me (some say an obsession).

@SouthernYankee highlighted the IPC-HDW5442-ZE cam which would be a great varifocal cam to start out with. It is 4MP on a 1/1.8" sensor and gives great low light color performance.