cctv recommendation.

[cuneus]

Henry

I am staggered by your comparison (and that's being polite!)

Why not post identical lens images from D1 and HD and identical zoomed in images

apples and apples applies

[Henry-F]

cuneus said:

Henry

I am staggered by your comparison (and that's being polite!)

Why not post identical lens images from D1 and HD and identical zoomed in images

apples and apples applies

Hi there.

I suspect you missed the point of my post, sorry if was unclear in what I'm trying to say.

Yes, had I posted up an equally optically zoomed in 1080P image it would have been even clearer. But people aren't doing that, they are using wide angle cameras.

What I'm trying to show is that using the right camera for the location is more important than just throwing pixels at the problem. If you go down the " throwing pixels at the problem " route and don't address camera optics you end up needing huge numbers in terms of megapixels and I do mean huge.

Megapixel CCTV does throw up storage issues if you are going to keep footage for any sensible amount of time. Motion triggered recording is a useful tool but I'm not convinced a solely motion triggered recording CCTV system is the total solution or correct route.

As I said, CCTV isn't a wrong or right thing. I just want to make people think a bit before rushing out and fitting a kit.

Henry

[dba7108]

any idea what focal length camera id want or how i could work it out what i needed to mount a camera under the front window to point to drive

[unclemark123]

I have a 2MP POE IP camera. It's running over cat 6, into a POE network switch. My QNAP has built in software and takes care of it 24hrs a day. Even if the power fails, it restarts automatically when the power comes back on. In daylight the image is excellent, but not fantastic in the dark. See below. Mark.

[lestag]

Henry-F said:

What I'm trying to show is that using the right camera for the location is more important than just throwing pixels at the problem. If you go down the " throwing pixels at the problem " route and don't address camera optics you end up needing huge numbers in terms of megapixels and I do mean huge.

Henry

Hi Henry,

So to follow on from that about optics, I quite like the look of these (for better or worse )
http://dl.ubnt.com/datasheets/unifi/UniFI_Video_DS...

How do we interpret "Wide angle" for a noob?

All 3 models have different view angles

Video Camera
56.14° (H)
36.86° (V)
64.33° (D)
VideoCamera Dome
88.8° (H)
63.0° (V)
98.2° (D)
Video Camera Pro ( I assume the second value is when zoomed in)
44.4° W - 15.7° T (V)
81.0° W - 27.9° T (H)
94.0° W - 32.1° T (D)

so what constitutes "Wide angle"

[Henry-F]

Given there are absolutely no controls or industry wide standards "wide angle" can mean what ever you want it to mean !

Knowing the lens on its own is only half the story, the size of the image sensor will also influence the angle of view. The very first system I ever bought from a well known retailer got me baffled in this way. Different lens but produced an identical field of view. Although they claimed not in the advertising blurb one camera had a 1/4 inch sensor, the other a 1/3 inch sensor.

My advice would be to avoid anything fixed lens / wide angle. You need to adjust the angle of view during installation to balance area covered with detail captured.

If you are going to go down the route of HD then I would suggest 1080P rather than 720P

The 3-9mm lens quoted for the "pro" camera would be the cheapest entry point into a vari-focal camera. You need to be a little careful and make sure that any zoom ability with cameras is optical rather than digital (like a go-pro for instance). Digital zoom does absolutely nothing to improve detail capture.


Mark, to make sense of your images you need to have a person standing at various distances from the camera and then see whether you could identify them (not recognise them - that's a totally different and much easier challenge). If you can't identify the person then the camera needs to be zoomed in more. If you can then happy days

Megapixel cameras aren't as good as standard definition cameras in low light conditions (although it does look like you have a street light outside the house which should make the job a lot easier). Smaller pixels on the image sensor (because there's more to cram on) mean less light hitting each one. The diameter of the lens (as opposed to the focal length) will affect how much light enters the camera. A tiny pin hole lens lets very little light in. It's why you see massive front elements on expensive telephoto lenses being used to shoot sporting events. In theory the "f" number lets you know how much light is getting in but it all depends on the relative focal length. That's why camera phones can have such seemingly impressive f numbers compared to infinitely more expensive DLSR lenses.


Henry

[cuneus]

dba7108 said:

any idea what focal length camera id want or how i could work it out what i needed to mount a camera under the front window to point to drive

http://ipvm.com/calculator

[dba7108]

any NVR recommendations around the £100-£200 mark?
Camera wise have been looking at the Hikvision - they seem to get rave reviews and are very well priced.

[Brother D]

lestag said:

Hi Henry,

So to follow on from that about optics, I quite like the look of these (for better or worse )
http://dl.ubnt.com/datasheets/unifi/UniFI_Video_DS...

How do we interpret "Wide angle" for a noob?

All 3 models have different view angles

Video Camera
56.14° (H)
36.86° (V)
64.33° (D)
VideoCamera Dome
88.8° (H)
63.0° (V)
98.2° (D)
Video Camera Pro ( I assume the second value is when zoomed in)
44.4° W - 15.7° T (V)
81.0° W - 27.9° T (H)
94.0° W - 32.1° T (D)

so what constitutes "Wide angle"

I am the world's biggest Ubiquiti fan and use tons of their products, but the cctv side is still quite new and not fully stable - nothing that new code version probably won't sort but just to be aware.

[dba7108]

Ive used the unfi wifi gear and it's spot on havent tried the cam's though but they are well priced

[dba7108]

going back to my original picture - i was going to start off by buying 1 camera and mount it under the front window by the left light. The distance roughly from that window to middle of the drive is 10-12 feet. What mm lens would you advise. Il eventually get a 2nd cam on the drive and maybe one in the porch.

[rich83]

Id say thats too far away. put it on the front of the garage!

[cuneus]

Please draw it in plan view with distances