buellwinkle

Having IR illuminators that come on automatically at dusk is the best bet. I got some from China that were cheap and very effective. The brand is Okeba and it has 8 large LEDs and can project out 80m in a perfect world but I would vouch that they work to 80'. I got one on Amazon, one eBay, the prices range varies depending on if they include the power adapter (12V 2A) and runs from $35-45. Even with cameras with built in illuminators, I use this to supplement in some cases for two reasons, having additional lighting from different angles provides better even lighting. Additional lighting means the camera does not have to use as much gain, meaning less noise. Even cameras with noise reduction benefit as sometimes they look blurry just from the noise correction. They also save on disk space. Noise creates larger files as it doesn't compress as well. Last thing is video motion detection can be tricky at night as noise can be interpreted as motion, again using up more disk space.

I use ACM-3511 at home, good image quality day or night. The 1.3MP gives you plenty of resolution for an indoor room and the varifocal lens gives you flexibility. There's new models like the E51 and E52 that sort of replace the ACM and TCM series meaning there may be end of life deals on the older models that save you money or you may want to splurge to get the latest and greatest. I expect a slew of new stuff to be released at ISC East in NYC in 2 weeks. Wish I could go but ironically, I'll be at another trade show in NYC the week before and at $500 a day for the hotel, not sure if I want to stay over another week.

Check out the ATCi KCM-5611, it has very good WDR capabilities that you would need to capture plates. Listis $900 but I believe you may find it under your budget.

I saw the image at night and it look really good but I have a extra illuminator. If I remember, I'll do it tonight. And no difference in the interface other than it says Q-See in the upper left hand corner. I've never gotten ONVIF to work with any Dahua camera using Milestone. It works fine with RTSP and have used that with BlueIris, IPCamViewer and VLC.

Here's the image from the Q-See bullet in 1.3MP mode. Click on the image to see it larger and then click on the 4 arrows in the lower right side of the image to see it full size

I wouldn't risk it, it works better than Dahua basic firmware in some regards. I have it mounted and working now with IP Cam Viewer. When I have more time, I'm going install BlueIris on the NVR PC so I can have my mix of Dahua and ACTi. The only way you would no it's different is the Q-See logo on the camera and on the software.

I got them in, not bad, 2 days from Costco. Works great, 1.3MP no problem, actually better because when you select 1.3MP it shows you the proper aspect ratio where Dahua branded cameras stretch the 1.3MP to wide screen. The TCP/IP is setup for DHCP which is different than the 192.168.1.108 that Dahua has as a default. The 6mm lens is actually a good size for me. The other oddity is the HTTP port is 85, they don't tell you that as they probably don't want you to use the web interface and use their NVRs instead. I used a port scanner to find it. Lenses are still on a slow boat from China, so bear with me and I'll test that too.

Motion detect lights have two problems, 1) all your pre-event frames will be unlit and to me, that's important to capture, 2) your camera takes time to adjust it's exposure settings, so the first few frames or more after motion is detected may be overblown, again, key frames that may be lost. It's best to use day/night cameras and use either built in IR illuminators or external IR illuminators so as not to annoy neighbors with lights shining in their bedroom windows.

Nobody does, it's supposed to be released at the end of November.

Not many cameras rated that low without a heater. Keep in mind that the camera generates heat and the -10C rating is the cameras temperature. The ACTi bullets are rated -20C if that helps and they give off a good amount of heat.

So are ours, doubled paned, we keep the place at around 58F during the winter. We get about 4' of snow every year and overnight temps dip into the teens so certainly not the Yukon Territory but cold by So Cal standards and cold enough to make that M10 freeze.

My Axis M10 that I had looking out a window wouldn't work in a So Cal winter, haha. When the temps dipped down to 20F, the camera stopped working. The proximity to the cold of the window was enough.

Can't find the spec on the sensor size which probably means it's 1/4" so you should be fine with those lenses. I used the 2.1mm and it made a good difference. For one, the stock lens is f2.4, so the replacement lens should do better in lower light.

None, you can use outdoor cameras indoors, but using outdoor cameras outdoors has multiple problems. Just don't get one with IR LEDs built in to look out a window because it will reflect back and you'll see the inside of your home instead of the outside. Ideally an outdoor camera mounted outdoors is best but if you live in a condo or a place where that's not possible, then find a camera with really good low light capability without having to use illuminators and point it out window.

Bullet style camera is the way to go, less problems than domes.

If it's a camera made exclusively for indoors, then you may burn out the sensor as there may not be UV protection. I've burned out an Axis indoor camera looking out a window in about 1 1/2 years. But during that time, the image quality was awesome.

Thanks for the warning on their website. The lenses are rated for 1/4" or 1/3" and for sure it will give a different viewing angle depending on the sensor size. Use a good lens calculator that takes in all the information you have and spits out viewing angle, pixel density at a certain distance, face pixels for recognition to find the appropriate lens. I find that rookies get lenses that are far too wide an angle to capture everything but that comes at the expense of being able to recognize a face because the distance to their face is too great.

I've used their lenses before, and they do not have an IR filter coating, so can be used with IR at night. Also, they work with 1/3" sensors. I should get the lenses in about 10 days and will update everyone.

See if you can find a wall bracket for the camera. It's what I have to do sometimes when I can't get the angle I want and believe me, it's a last resort as it's not pretty.

Most cameras have alarm inputs, check yours to see if it has ports on the back, may be hidden behind a cover if they are outdoor cameras. You wire a switch for example to all the cameras alarm input. Then you set an event to record when the alarm input is triggered and record until you flip the switch back. Could even be momentary switch that you trigger to record for 1 hour if the camera firmware lets you set that long of a record period. When you flip the switch, all the cameras should start recording at the same time. Of course you have to ask, were is it recording too? Most cameras will not let you record a single file that's 1 hour long. It may be broken up into multiple files. As for AVI, tough one as most surveillance cameras record in a propriatory format on purpose so the video can't be edited on purpose for legal evidence reasons. There is one camera that does it all, outdoor, HD quality, amazing wireless, alarm inputs and that's Brickcom and there's a review on my blog that has more details. It will not be cheap, but the quality and features may be worth it to you. It will record as AVI files and it will FTP the video or you can use an SD card for recordings.

Yes, being a mini dome, it doesn't have the full range of motion that bigger domes have. The lens does rotate, it's like a tab on top of the lens and just rotate it, if it doesn't budge, you haven't losened the set screw. I wish I took better pictures when I had the camera to show you. I had it mounted under an eave at about a 30 degree angle to the hoizon and I was able to rotate it to make it level as you can see in my review of the camera.

Did you try and remove the lens yet? That will tell you if it's replaceable.

That's usually where IR domes have issues, when you push the lens to the very edge and the gasket can't seal properly.

I don't have one here at the moment to so you but it is possible. If I remember correcty, there's set screws you have to losen first.

First, the FI8910W you first mentioned is not 720P, it's a VGA camera just like the Foscams of 2 years ago. They do make a 720P camera, the FI8920W. Either way, the lense from DX claim they work with 1/4 and 1/3" sensors, and I doubt Foscam went beyond 1/3" in sensor size. The IR cut filter is behind the lens, it's mechanical, so the lens should not matter. Try and unscrew your lens and look at it, it should look similar to the lenses at DX except the Foscam lenses have a large edge bezzle to them to make it easier to turn and remove. A typical board lens has a small front bezel so a little harder to grip. It will take many turns to remove the lens.