Please help confirm camera choice for front door

S

steve457

Getting the hang of it
Jan 7, 2016
113
37
USA
I've decided to go with Hikvision cameras, but am trying to decide whether I should go with a 4mm or 2.8mm lens for my front door. I've marked my proposed camera location with a red X, which is approximately 6' high. I could go higher or lower, whichever makes more sense.

front_door_camera.png

I was thinking of going with 4mm. What do you think?
 
2.8mm
 
I am no expert so take this with a grain of salt. I have a 4mm 2332 on my front door. If Hik made a 3.6mm, I might have tried one. I don't think I want an angle as wide as a 2.8mm.
I currently have it aimed a little higher than in the pic. I don't see the door mat any more and now I see the street and driveway.
I would probably do 4mm on your door since it looks like the typical access will be head on. I guess it depends on if you want to cover your front yard or really just your front entry. (My front door can be accessed from center, left or right.)
I have a 4mp 4mm turret in the mail to try at that spot as well.
See here.
 
They pay me for this, does that make me an expert? I don't know. Your placement is good, the reason for a 2.8mm at that placement is you are looking for face shots. At 2 or 3mp you can get those very well with a 2.8. At close range 3.6 or 4.0 mm is to narrow of a shot. Think about kids knocking on your door and hiding from the window... If you can't trust me, look on youtube or google images of ATM video camera views. They are all at either 2.4 or 2.8, newer ones use 180's... 2.8mm. Actually looking at your photo, I'd use 2.8 all around your house... :)
 
Ok, thanks for the feedback. I didn't realize that 4mm would be too tight of a shot even if most traffic would be approaching the door head on. Sounds like 2.8mm would be the better option in my case.
 
Don't get paid but have wasted way too much time and money on this stuff.

That close to the door. 2.8mm and DS-2CD2542FWD-IS or DS-2CD2532F-IS are the two best choices.
 
Del Boy, I was thinking of going with the 4mp turret style camera, DS-2CD2342WD. Would you recommend the mini domes over that one?
 
steve457 said:
Del Boy, I was thinking of going with the 4mp turret style camera, DS-2CD2342WD. Would you recommend the mini domes over that one?
Click to expand...

For there yes, because it's more discreet and it records audio.

Negative is the night-vision isn't good. But then you should have another camera covering the entire front of your property (such as the DS-2CD2342WD-I). Personally, I have DS-2CD2542FWD-IS at the doorbell and DS-2CD2032-I covering house. Not a bad combo but would have DS-2CD2342WD-I instead of 2032 if I was buying now.
 
Great point about being more discreet. I will change my selection to the mini-dome as suggested!

I was also planning on having another camera cover the front of the house. I was originally thinking of the turret 4mm so that I could also hopefully catch some license plates from cars on the street, but am not sure if I would be able to make those out or not. Another option I was thinking about was the 4mp PTZ Dome, DS-2CD2742FWD, which would allow me to either zoom out to see more of the yard, or zoom in to read license plates.
 
DS-2CD2742FWD-IZ isn't PTZ, it's just Z. Massively overpriced. Better off having two cameras than one of them IMHO.

Get mini-dome and turret up first. Once you have footage you start realising what other footage you would like. Then you can get another camera for that.
 
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Del Boy, do you feel that 4mm for the camera that covers the front of the house would be too tight of a view? I didn't realize that 4mm is only ~70 degrees of viewing. Here is how the street looks. The street is a court and dead ends going North, so most traffic is from the south or west.

top_by_street.png
 
Another vote for 2.8.

I don't see value in a unless you plan on sitting in front of it for many hours/day keeping an eye on things. Chances are it will be left 99% by itself, so you need something that can see what you need without intervention.

Eventually a cheap PTZ will be brought on market that can intelligently chase down cars and zoom in on the plates as they drive by but that isn't a thing yet :) OR we'll just all have 100 MP cameras and not need zoom anyway.
 
I had DS-2CD2532-ISW 2.8mm covering the front door in a similar height and location for a while, but I didn't like it for two reasons. It was...

- giving me good view of the face, but I couldn't see anything happening below belt. I couldn't see packages when I needed to.
- too obvious and within easy reach

Now, my location allowed me to put Huisun PTZ 30 feet away and zoomed on the porch giving me a good view of everything going on,
 
Can't hear anything from 30 feet away though. He he.

Yes it's within reach but you'll have to approach it backwards in order to cover it up. Not sure if it's a problem where you are but once the tarmac scammers have checked you are in and then spot the camera, it's amazing how fast they want to leave.
 
steve457 said:
Del Boy, do you feel that 4mm for the camera that covers the front of the house would be too tight of a view? I didn't realize that 4mm is only ~70 degrees of viewing. Here is how the street looks. The street is a court and dead ends going North, so most traffic is from the south or west.

View attachment 7608
Click to expand...

No 4mm would be perfect to cover the door and the walkway plus a bit more. The higher the lens length that allows you to see 99% of what you want to see the better. I have a 4mm covering similar and similar distance. No way would I change for a 2.8mm.
 
Ok, perfect thanks!

Del Boy said:
No 4mm would be perfect to cover the door and the walkway plus a bit more. The higher the lens length that allows you to see 99% of what you want to see the better. I have a 4mm covering similar and similar distance. No way would I change for a 2.8mm.
Click to expand...
 
Del Boy said:
Can't hear anything from 30 feet away though. He he.

Yes it's within reach but you'll have to approach it backwards in order to cover it up. Not sure if it's a problem where you are but once the tarmac scammers have checked you are in and then spot the camera, it's amazing how fast they want to leave.
Click to expand...

Not a problem when you can have another indoor camera pointing to the entry with microphone. I don't really need to record audio outside.
 
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