Newbie - Please start me off with Camera/FoV Recommendations please

[crw030]

ok, I posted this in New users Forum, and it either got missed probably due to how active the forum is.

I PM'd milkisbad once, but I'm thinking I'll have better luck if I have a CLUE what I need to start to provide coverage. I'm sure he's swamped based on the number of "posting here so I can PM milkisbad" threads in the past few weeks.

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Below find a rough graphic of my home's layout. Unfortunately no security fence or ways to guide would-be criminals into my field of view for a clear mugshot.

1. I have highlighted the various "areas of interest", the more intense areas (porch, cars, garage) I really want pretty good recognition (something I can print out or show the cops if something goes down, ideally faces day or night).
2. Ideally in the front and back yard, I'm mostly hoping to have a general idea if something is going down (like if a fight breaks out in the front yard, or someone is casing the back of the house for B&E which is impossible to see from the road)
3. The porch is just to see deliveries being made, and make sure that they don't walk off before I go down to grab them, or to see who's knocking in case it's just a door-to-door I can ignore.
4. I'd also like to be a good neighbor and keep an eye on the vacant properties to both sides, and maybe repurpose the cameras once they are occupied.

House is 2 1/2 stories, and the large eaves on the top floor are a good 30 feet up in the air but would have relatively unobstructed views except up close to the house where they would be blocked by other outcroppings etc. However some other reading seems that that height will impact FoV as wel as shooting the tops of heads instead of faces up closer to the house.

I would appreciate some recommendations on how I can start my setup with 3-6 cameras and get halfway decent coverage of most the areas highlighted. I'm really unsure how to handle covering the cars without it going fisheye, and the best way to cover large swatch on the front yard and rear drive of the house (I'm guessing PTZ with some form of motion detect).

Any comments appreciated. I show 6 ft for a reference on scale.


Oh, and the wife told me she'd prefer it doesn't look like we're running a prison when I get done! Ideally, i would use the word discreet to describe what I going for.

 

[tangent]

ok, I posted this in New users Forum, and it either got missed probably due to how active the forum is.

I PM'd milkisbad once, but I'm thinking I'll have better luck if I have a CLUE what I need to start to provide coverage. I'm sure he's swamped based on the number of "posting here so I can PM milkisbad" threads in the past few weeks.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below find a rough graphic of my home's layout. Unfortunately no security fence or ways to guide would-be criminals into my field of view for a clear mugshot.

1. I have highlighted the various "areas of interest", the more intense areas (porch, cars, garage) I really want pretty good recognition (something I can print out or show the cops if something goes down, ideally faces day or night).
2. Ideally in the front and back yard, I'm mostly hoping to have a general idea if something is going down (like if a fight breaks out in the front yard, or someone is casing the back of the house for B&E which is impossible to see from the road)
3. The porch is just to see deliveries being made, and make sure that they don't walk off before I go down to grab them, or to see who's knocking in case it's just a door-to-door I can ignore.
4. I'd also like to be a good neighbor and keep an eye on the vacant properties to both sides, and maybe repurpose the cameras once they are occupied.

House is 2 1/2 stories, and the large eaves on the top floor are a good 30 feet up in the air but would have relatively unobstructed views except up close to the house where they would be blocked by other outcroppings etc. However some other reading seems that that height will impact FoV as wel as shooting the tops of heads instead of faces up closer to the house.

I would appreciate some recommendations on how I can start my setup with 3-6 cameras and get halfway decent coverage of most the areas highlighted. I'm really unsure how to handle covering the cars without it going fisheye, and the best way to cover large swatch on the front yard and rear drive of the house (I'm guessing PTZ with some form of motion detect).

Any comments appreciated. I show 6 ft for a reference on scale.


Oh, and the wife told me she'd prefer it doesn't look like we're running a prison when I get done! Ideally, i would use the word discreet to describe what I going for.

You see different angles listed for some of the common lens sizes, and it does depend on the particular camera, sensors size, and sensor resolution.
2.8mm: 88-110, 3.6mm: 75-85, 4mm: ~70, 6mm: ~40, 12mm: ~20
Those are just the horizontal angles, the vertical angle is less than half that generally (16:9). So the height and angle relative to the ground make a big difference. I took your image and slapped some 110, 75, and 40 degree wedges on it in GIMP to give you some idea and something to play with (download the psd file and open in photoshop, paint.net, or gimp). Obviously cameras can't see through walls. The front is tricky as to how much the can can see beyond the porch. I'd be more concerned about the garage man door than the strip by the neighbors. You also might consider a camera inside the garage pointed at either both man doors or your tools. You're not likely to grab license plates unless you put up a 12mm+ lens camera at a good angle. Fixed cameras are more economical than PTZ.

I'd recommend that you do some side mockups with the vertical fov angle. I'd try to keep the cameras < 12 feet off the ground, preferably 7-10, unless you're looking father away with a larger lens or want a wide birds eye view with limited detail. If you want to give CAD software a whirl, try free cad or draft sight. Don't pay attention the the length of the wedges I added, plug actual numbers into other calculators.

The IPVM calculator is fun to play with: http://ipvm.com/calculator

The turret and small mini dome cameras won't stand out as much as the bullets and boxes. Turrets have better IR.

Advice given is other threads is to start with 1 or 2 cams (different types or lens sizes) and try them in different sports and re-evaluate before you buy more.

EDIT: swapped the image I made, some angles weren't so good.

 

[crw030]

Thanks for the response tangent.

Probably going to try two 4mm fixed cameras on the front lawn, supported by a PTZ so i can catch stuff going down when I see it in more detail. I need to just try it out, and adjust it seems.

I did order my first camera, a PTZ Dahua, which I'll probably mount under the eaves of the 3-season porch positioned so I can at least manually monitor the front yard and vehicles/driveway. I needed to at least get started and figure out what works and what doesn't. Anyone entering the property at night would be backlit by a utility light that's on across the street - so I have to figure out how that affects the Day/Night in the camera and image.

If I like the PTZ Dahua alot I might order another one and mount it up high with a good vantage point simply to look into rear portions of yard and driveway to zoom in if any trouble is detected on the wide angle cameras like you recommend. Might be hard to get a face shot, but at least I can watch the property from my desk. This one might need to be like a 10X optical because the back yard extends 100 more feet.

I think after some thought I will probably try to find a narrower fixed FoV camera and see how I like it at the front door aiming at the steps since it is about 6 vertical feet on the unenclosed side so most traffic will be coming up the steps. Gonna try it like you say and see how I like it, probably temporary mount it on a short 2x12 plank until I am happy with the position.

Aside from the obvious problems built-in IR would cause could smaller internal cameras be fixed inside the windows looking out for basic coverage of some of the vulnerable spots? Possibly with outdoor illumination and built-in IR disabled?

I guess I'll just have to buy a 3-4mm and a 6-8mm and see how I like them in some of the positions you recommend, and maybe a PoE illuminator for the really dark spots back from the road.