Newbie asking for help with camera selection

[chipreibel]

I am looking to step up my IP-Camera game and have (mostly) decided on Hikvision cameras (as being a good balance between quality and cost).

I have had two Foscam cameras (mounted indoors) for a couple years and they have treated me well (I know, I know…) To date, I have been using these cameras purely to keep an eye on my two small children and have not done any recording with them (we simply fire up the iPad or iPhone and see what they’re up to).

For home security purposes, I am looking to add 4 or 5 cameras to the outside of the house and adding NVR capabilities. I have a fairly simple layout in mind (see the attached layout) – two cameras on the front corners of the house (#1 and #2) to cover the driveway and front of the house and two cameras on the garage (#4 and #5) to cover the remainder of the driveway and the back yard. If required, I may add a fifth camera on the porch to get more detail of anyone or anything on the porch – this camera will likely be added later. For the front cameras (#1 and #2), I’m thinking that a 4mm lens would be a good compromise between FOV and resolution. For the Garage cameras (#4 and #5), I’m thinking that a 2.8mm lens would be good so that I can get a full 90* view from each camera and cover the entire back yard with only the two cameras.

This is where my confidence is begins to fade. I’m stuck with the thousands of variations of Hik cameras out there. My specific questions are:
#1) Bullet vs. Turret. Once installed, I don’t plan to adjust the cameras. For that reason, I’m leaning toward the Bullet style (something like the DS-2CD2032-I), but would appreciate input/suggestions.
#2) What model? There are so many variations of each, I don’t have a clue what minute differences are between them. Is there a cheat-sheet to decipher the difference between the models? As an example, what’s the difference between the DS-2CD2332-I and DS-2CD3332-I Turret cameras? They both appear to be 3MP Turrets and are available with various lenses?

More information that you’d need to know before providing advice/input:

• I am interested in 3MP cameras
• I am planning to power them using POE
• I am interested in both day and night usage
• I am not interested in SD card capabilities
• I am not interested in audio
• The distance from the house to the street is ~35 feet
• I do park one vehicle on the street, so having enough resolution at the street is important
• I have been looking at BlueIris for NVR (hosed on my home PC which is rarely used for anything)
• I will also use my mobile device(s) to view the cameras (both while at home and while away)

I do know that camera selection is a personal thing and “YMMV”, but I would appreciate any guidance that you can provide. I’d hate to jump in and spend $500+ on cameras not knowing if I had bought THESE and not THOSE I’d have these 5 other benefits…

Thank you in advance!!!

 

[fenderman]

Welcome to the forum. Go with the turret over bullet. The turret is more vandal resistant-with a bullet its pretty easy to just push it out of the way. The turret also has a single EXIR led which has been shown to be slightly better for night-vision over the leds in the bullet..as you mentioned the turret is available in 2.8 while the bullet is not. Finally, the turret is more compact and aesthetically pleasing (although that is a personal preference)... the DS-2CD2332-I and DS-2CD3332-I are the same..i believe the 3332 is a "china only" version but it doesn't matter, they are loaded with multi language firmware.
If you plan on using blue iris make sure your pc can handle it...what processor (exact model) do you have?

 

[dalepa]

I'de suggest just getting one DS-2CD2332-I 2.8mm as a starter, and maybe a second one at 4mm.

Once you understand all the ins and outs of setting up the camera with BlueIris, and get a feel for the 2.8mm vs 4mm, then buy more. You may find that 2 4mm cams is better than one 2.8mm. 2.8mm on the porch is a good idea, and maybe 2 4-6mm towards the street.


BlueIris can take awhile to lean about all the features, but the default setting are good to go.


The hardest part (for me at least) is running POE cables into my TPlink POE switch Once I have cables run, setting up the Hikvisions are simple in blueiris.

For 5 3mp cams, i would suggest at least an i5 processor... i7 is even better, much better.

 

[chipreibel]

Thank you both for the great feedback. Buying (1) 2.8mm and (1) 4mm to start is a great suggestion - I will definitely do that.

Wow. I wasn't aware that blueiris was so resource hungry - I figured that most PC's would suffice (as long as it was dedicated as a NVR). My old PC has an Intel Core 2 Quad (Q8300) processor... Instead of building/buying a new PC, I might be better off buying an off-the-shelf NVR like the Hikvision DS-7608NI-SE/8P (link). For $400, this would take care of the POE and NVR duties...

 

[blake]

Thank you both for the great feedback. Buying (1) 2.8mm and (1) 4mm to start is a great suggestion - I will definitely do that.

Wow. I wasn't aware that blueiris was so resource hungry - I figured that most PC's would suffice (as long as it was dedicated as a NVR). My old PC has an Intel Core 2 Quad (Q8300) processor... Instead of building/buying a new PC, I might be better off buying an off-the-shelf NVR like the Hikvision DS-7608NI-SE/8P (link). For $400, this would take care of the POE and NVR duties...

If you don't need the extra bells and whistles of BI then yes, a standard NVR will do. For those of us like me who have BI, nothing beats it!

 

[fenderman]

Thank you both for the great feedback. Buying (1) 2.8mm and (1) 4mm to start is a great suggestion - I will definitely do that.

Wow. I wasn't aware that blueiris was so resource hungry - I figured that most PC's would suffice (as long as it was dedicated as a NVR). My old PC has an Intel Core 2 Quad (Q8300) processor... Instead of building/buying a new PC, I might be better off buying an off-the-shelf NVR like the Hikvision DS-7608NI-SE/8P (link). For $400, this would take care of the POE and NVR duties...

Your 8300 would not suffice for 5-6 3mp cameras...it ranks well below a modern haswell i3...and is also power hungry...An i5-4570 or 4570s can be had for about 300 (refurbished business class machines, with 2.5 years left on their next business day warranties, I buy them all the time)...I7-4770 for about 500.
There are benefits to an NVR over blue iris. The NVR will be more stable (although with BI3, I almost never see a crash on the many systems i have in service)...it is simpler to set up...requires almost no maintenance...However you give up LOTS of flexibility. Blue iris can do things that NVR's simply cannot..like two levels of motion detection 1 for alerts 1 for recording..advanced profile options, enable disable alerts/recording etc from your phone app.....mix and match cameras...You will not be able to use your foscams with the hikvision NVR. There is lots more as well.
POE in the NVR is actually not always the best solution...
First, it requires each camera be homerun to the NVR. This removes a significant advantage that network cameras have in that they can be plugged in anywhere on the network. So you can hook up 4 cameras to a switch on one side of the house and only run a single cable back to the NVR or any other network point. Second, they are noisy. Third, if the unit does not have a "virtual machine" option like the newer hikvisions you have to jump through hoops to log into the camera directly...
So bottom, line, if you want plug and play simplicity then the NVR is the way to go...if you want flexibility and options then go with blue iris...this is one area where you can have your cake AND eat it too...you can run blue iris and also just have the NVR record as well...but its going to cost you ..
Finally, you can also run hikvisions VMS on your pc...it does not require the resources BI does...however you will be limited to hikvision cameras only...also check your pc's power consumption under a bit of load...its most likely going to be high...24/7 it adds up fast.

 

[chipreibel]

As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, the IT manager from a company that I worked at ~10 years ago now owns her own IT/Tech/Services company. If I asked her to source/build a dedicated NVR, what should I be asking for?

• i5/i7 processor (i7 obviously being better)
• Memory?
• HDD capacity?
• OS? (Windows7?)

Needless to say, the HDD would simply limit the on-device storage capability. I wouldn't be interested in recording any of the cameras 24/7. I would only be interested in recording when the camera(s) are triggered. I would also plan to back-up the files to my DropBox account so that I can access them wherever (I already have a 1TB account). With that said, what capacity should I try to start with (knowing that HDDs can be added to the PC simply and cheaply)?

 

[fenderman]

I would not pay anyone to build anything...it is almost impossible to build a machine with proper windows licenses any cheaper than it is to buy one...let alone pay someone to do it...
The answers to the rest of your questions depend on what software you plan on running on the machine and how many cameras and type of camera you intend to use the machine with.

 

[spyfly81]

I agree with @fenderman as there is no profit margin these days for system builders, just buying off the shelf units is the way to do it.

 

[fenderman]

Case in point just bought a business class dell 7020 i5-4590 for 440 total from the dell outlet...(using a coupon code)..three year next business day warranty...the processor alone is $200..with windows 8 pro $130 you are already at 330..