troublebot
n3wb
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2016
- Messages
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Hello all,
I live in Fort Worth, TX and do SKYWARN weather spotting for fun. I recently moved into a new apartment on the top floor of a building and have a great view facing north, and because it's so flat and we don't have a ton of tall buildings in my view, I can see for a nice long distance. A few weeks ago I was out on the balcony observing a severe thunderstorm that was moving through the area and spotted the initial formation of a funnel in an area where radar was showing rotation (the funnel collapsed shortly after, thankfully). It was dark but it was back-lit by lightning. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera available except for my cell phone, so couldn't really get any images.
I did start looking at camcorders and DSLRs, I used to own a ton of cameras but over the years sold them and never replaced them. I have some cameras I manage at work that I'm free to use, but I'm not really looking to get pretty storm pictures, so much as I want to be able to get good, reviewable images of storms.
The new apartment has a ton of high windows and high cielings throughout, and the awning does a good job keeping rain off the windows without blocking too much of the sky. I'm not allowed to hang anything on the outside of the building (except some planters on the balcony railing), but I got to thinking that mounting a camera behind the window would give me the view I need. I can enclose it in a black box to keep reflections down on the glass, and/or use a polarizer to kill reflections. It's also north-facing so direct sunlight shouldn't be an issue.
So this is what I'm looking for (I think, feel free to suggest alternatives).
Needs:
IP camera, Ethernet (PoE if possible but not required)
1080p+, 30fps
PTZ (at least +80/-80 deg side-to-side, 30+/30- up/down)
10-20X Optical zoom (the more the merrier)
Manual controls for exposure etc.,
No IR LEDs or ability to disable IR LEDs
Under $300
Nice-to-haves:
Awesome low-light performance w/o LEDs
Under $150-200
Wide-angle when zoomed out
On-board recording
Compact, non-dome
Ability to customize or remove date/time/text overlay on video feed
It will have a computer dedicated to it and whatever software I end up running, and the computer, router and camera will be on a UPS. IP is preferred because it's just easier and I've got CAT5E in the walls already, but if something like HDMI out or analog HD to a capture card makes sense, I'll consider that.
As an alternative to having lots of zoom and good low light performance, I was thinking I could add a second bullet camera mounted/slaved to the PTZ camera that has a high fixed focal length and solid low-light performance and just run them together. I can make an adjustable mount which will let me boresight the cameras together, assuming the PTZ camera is sturdy enough and/or the slave camera is light enough. The more I think of it, the more I like this approach. But if a camera that "does it all" is available, then that'd be great.
I've purchased from Alibaba and Aliexpress before so that isn't an obstacle. Buying domestically is preferred, especially since storm season is already upon us so the sooner I can get it, the happier a camper I'll be.
Thanks for reading and any ideas or suggestions you have!
I live in Fort Worth, TX and do SKYWARN weather spotting for fun. I recently moved into a new apartment on the top floor of a building and have a great view facing north, and because it's so flat and we don't have a ton of tall buildings in my view, I can see for a nice long distance. A few weeks ago I was out on the balcony observing a severe thunderstorm that was moving through the area and spotted the initial formation of a funnel in an area where radar was showing rotation (the funnel collapsed shortly after, thankfully). It was dark but it was back-lit by lightning. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera available except for my cell phone, so couldn't really get any images.
I did start looking at camcorders and DSLRs, I used to own a ton of cameras but over the years sold them and never replaced them. I have some cameras I manage at work that I'm free to use, but I'm not really looking to get pretty storm pictures, so much as I want to be able to get good, reviewable images of storms.
The new apartment has a ton of high windows and high cielings throughout, and the awning does a good job keeping rain off the windows without blocking too much of the sky. I'm not allowed to hang anything on the outside of the building (except some planters on the balcony railing), but I got to thinking that mounting a camera behind the window would give me the view I need. I can enclose it in a black box to keep reflections down on the glass, and/or use a polarizer to kill reflections. It's also north-facing so direct sunlight shouldn't be an issue.
So this is what I'm looking for (I think, feel free to suggest alternatives).
Needs:
IP camera, Ethernet (PoE if possible but not required)
1080p+, 30fps
PTZ (at least +80/-80 deg side-to-side, 30+/30- up/down)
10-20X Optical zoom (the more the merrier)
Manual controls for exposure etc.,
No IR LEDs or ability to disable IR LEDs
Under $300
Nice-to-haves:
Awesome low-light performance w/o LEDs
Under $150-200
Wide-angle when zoomed out
On-board recording
Compact, non-dome
Ability to customize or remove date/time/text overlay on video feed
It will have a computer dedicated to it and whatever software I end up running, and the computer, router and camera will be on a UPS. IP is preferred because it's just easier and I've got CAT5E in the walls already, but if something like HDMI out or analog HD to a capture card makes sense, I'll consider that.
As an alternative to having lots of zoom and good low light performance, I was thinking I could add a second bullet camera mounted/slaved to the PTZ camera that has a high fixed focal length and solid low-light performance and just run them together. I can make an adjustable mount which will let me boresight the cameras together, assuming the PTZ camera is sturdy enough and/or the slave camera is light enough. The more I think of it, the more I like this approach. But if a camera that "does it all" is available, then that'd be great.
I've purchased from Alibaba and Aliexpress before so that isn't an obstacle. Buying domestically is preferred, especially since storm season is already upon us so the sooner I can get it, the happier a camper I'll be.
Thanks for reading and any ideas or suggestions you have!
