Upgrading/Replacing Cameras in Laundramat

M

myknownself

Young grasshopper
Jan 3, 2017
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So some time back I got advice for installing in a laundromat. I bought a Dahua HDW4231EM-AS based on the recommendations I received. So I'm back for more opinions / advice. I don't know anything about this so correct any of my mistaken thoughts.

I really like the wide angle in comparison to the narrow fov of the foscam it replaced. I installed it indoors where there's always at least two lights on so I don't think I really need the starlight. Would a higher megapixel camera be more clear for identification of people? I'd like to have the same field of view.

For outdoor cameras I have two differen't needs.

One is looking down the drive at ~120ft and would like to see about 10ft wide drive. I believe putting up a regular light would be better than infrared in hopes to be able to read plates if need be at night. Unfortunately the angle is going to be a little high but I don't have any choice. My thought is that I could use a higher megapixel and not rely on low light camera having problems with headlights/tail lights.

The other outdoor cameras I'd probably be happy running between 33 and 45 degree fov. With these I'd probably go with a starlight. The issue I'm unsure about is there are lights on the outside of the laundromat but need to be able to see down the side roads out past the light.

I'd ordered from Empire and would like to stick with tried and true if possible.

Thanks
 
With sufficient lighting, yes, a higher megapixel camera would be more clear for identification of people. I would recommend 8 megapixels as that size is pretty affordable these days.

To read a license plate clearly at 120 feet with a 1/2.8" starlight camera, you will want at least a 20mm lens (longer would be better).

Either of these should do nicely:
IPC-HFW5231E-Z5 / IPC-HFW5231E-Z12

Note that to capture license plates at night you need to set the shutter speed manually to a fast enough value that you get a sharp picture of a moving vehicle and do not overexpose the license plate. This will make the camera mostly useless for anything else at night, because everything else will be too dark. For this reason, starlight models aren't terribly important for license plates and you may be better off finding a 4MP or 8MP model with a similar amount of zoom.
 
Thanks.

The one capturing vehicles in the driveway (it's like a ~300ft long drive from the highway) will be exclusively for that, zoomed in on the speed bump in the drive where they should be their slowest. So I plan to put an over head light there or I think better, a spot or flood light shining out at it from an angle coming from the side the camera is on. This is why I was thinking non starlight / higher megapixel would be better. Do you have a recommendation for one specifically?

Then the second set of cameras will be perimeter and go with a starlight if possible at a ~33-45 degree fov to deal with dark areas with good coverage. Not sure if I should just pick a lens I think might be close to the right angle or spend more money for one with a motorized lens and adjust it to suit.

For the indoor 8mp how are the HDW4830EM-AS ?

Thanks again
 
myknownself said:
Thanks.

The one capturing vehicles in the driveway (it's like a ~300ft long drive from the highway) will be exclusively for that, zoomed in on the speed bump in the drive where they should be their slowest. So I plan to put an over head light there or I think better, a spot or flood light shining out at it from an angle coming from the side the camera is on. This is why I was thinking non starlight / higher megapixel would be better. Do you have a recommendation for one specifically?
Click to expand...

I don't have a specific recommendation. It is hard to find long zoom with a fixed lens though, which probably limits you to a longer range varifocal or a full blown PTZ. Unless you want to buy a lens from somewhere else and swap it into a camera, with no guarantee of quality or compatibility.

My advice is to stick with Dahua. They have -Z5 versions of 4MP and 8MP cameras too, and I suspect either of those would make a decent license plate cam.

myknownself said:
Then the second set of cameras will be perimeter and go with a starlight if possible at a ~33-45 degree fov to deal with dark areas with good coverage. Not sure if I should just pick a lens I think might be close to the right angle or spend more money for one with a motorized lens and adjust it to suit.
Click to expand...

If it helps, I believe nayr found that the varifocal starlights produced a slightly better picture due to the physically larger lens letting in more light.

myknownself said:
For the indoor 8mp how are the HDW4830EM-AS ?

Thanks again
Click to expand...

Pretty good from what I've seen. I don't own one myself.
 
The one on the driveway I definitely plan to use the varifocal. It was the others I was debating on fixed or varifocal.

I had planned to put a starlight on each corner looking down the side of the building. What is the field of view on the starlight with the optional 6mm? Looks like it would still be much wider than the 33 - 45 degrees I was thinking.
 
Empire doesn't have the 8mp z5 in, and listed at $900+.

Looking out to 100-125 feet trying to get a license plate shot should I go with the 4mp z5 IPC-HFW5431E-Z5 or the 2mp z12 IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E ?
 
myknownself said:
Empire doesn't have the 8mp z5 in, and listed at $900+.

Looking out to 100-125 feet trying to get a license plate shot should I go with the 4mp z5 IPC-HFW5431E-Z5 or the 2mp z12 IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E ?
Click to expand...

If low light then recommend the 5231
 
The plan is to use a light to help offset the headlights that glare out previous cameras that were in night mode. Since it is to identify vehicles coming and going through one chokepoint I figure close zoom and flood light.

The other outdoors I'll definitely be using the starlights as it is for people around the outside of the people
 
myknownself said:
The one on the driveway I definitely plan to use the varifocal. It was the others I was debating on fixed or varifocal.

I had planned to put a starlight on each corner looking down the side of the building. What is the field of view on the starlight with the optional 6mm? Looks like it would still be much wider than the 33 - 45 degrees I was thinking.
Click to expand...

According to IPC-HDW4231EM-AS | Dahua Technology - Dahua Technology it is 51° horizontal and 30° vertical.

myknownself said:
Empire doesn't have the 8mp z5 in, and listed at $900+.

Looking out to 100-125 feet trying to get a license plate shot should I go with the 4mp z5 IPC-HFW5431E-Z5 or the 2mp z12 IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E ?
Click to expand...

4MP gives you about 33% more pixels horizontally compared to 1080p. This means you can have a wider frame or more detail or a mix of both, so I think it is the better option.

Higher light sensitivity from a starlight model shouldn't really matter because in either case you will be manually adjusting exposure settings to reduce the brightness of the plate to a readable level. However if your angle with the road is poor, you might find that you can't read the plate at all because it is too dark once exposure is set fast enough to prevent excessive blur. In this case it is possible that the starlight's better sensitivity could make a difference. So perhaps a starlight cam is the safer option.
 
Thanks

I was mostly wondering if I needed the extra zoom of the z12 over the z5 for the distance I need to see rather than the low light part of it.

I hadn't seen that bit of information when I was looking at dahua's site, thanks.
 
normally the problem with this location is head and tail lights blinding out the camera rather than being too dark. So I plan to put up flood lights to help.
 
I received my cameras in, quick shipping from empire I believe.

I received a dahua 5431ep-z5. I'm not sure what the p is for, when I google that it come up with e-z5. What is a good mount adjustable mount for this? I didn't realize it was rigid and was going to weld a plate up to mount to off the side of the building but that's not going to work since it'd have no adjustment.

I also received two turret cameras.

The waterproof network connectors are two narrow to pass through my Ethernet cables. Are these meant to be installed before terminating the ends? I already have cables installed. Am I going to have to cut off the ends and learn to put new connectors on and get the tools to go with that? or is there an alternative?

thanks
 
myknownself said:
...
The waterproof network connectors are two narrow to pass through my Ethernet cables. Are these meant to be installed before terminating the ends? ..
Click to expand...

Yes.
 
myknownself said:
I received my cameras in, quick shipping from empire I believe.

I received a dah. I'm not sure what the p is for, when I google that it come up with e-z5. What is a good mount adjustable mount for this? I didn't realize it was rigid and was going to weld a plate up to mount to off the side of the building but that's not going to work since it'd have no adjustment.
ua 5431ep-z5
I also received two turret cameras.

The waterproof network connectors are two narrow to pass through my Ethernet cables. Are these meant to be installed before terminating the ends? I already have cables installed. Am I going to have to cut off the ends and learn to put new connectors on and get the tools to go with that? or is there an alternative?

thanks
Click to expand...

Put Di-electric grease in the female connection, then use coax seal wrap.
 
Thanks. Sounds more agreeable than cutting factory ends off of wires.

Anyone know what the p is in the model number? I still haven't been able to find it by Google.
 
myknownself said:
Thanks. Sounds more agreeable than cutting factory ends off of wires.

Anyone know what the p is in the model number? I still haven't been able to find it by Google.
Click to expand...


Perhaps PAL
 
Ah maybe so. I thought all the dahua cameras were pal. The turrets were also selected as pal, the only option given on empire and they don't have an extra p. Maybe only put when there's an option if that's the case
 
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