gadgetguy

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I'm having a hard time trying to determine the lens focal lengths I might need for group of 6 outdoor Pano 484s in heated fixtures. Each camera would cover a different size area. I would like to max out the camera's low light potential and image quality with fast (F1.2 or better) fixed lenses. I have seen the focal length demo on spycam's website, but still am unsure. I thought about getting a 5-50mm zoom and using it with a spot monitor to get an estimate for each of the six focal lengths I might need, but the zooms don't seem to label their range. They just say wide-tele. Any advice appreciated.

Pano 484 in pelco 3512 with heater blower all runs less than 150ft. Not sure on the current draw

The heated housings I have seen are 24 volt. Do you all recommend running seperate 18g to the heater/blower and another run for the camera, or do you run one line and power both the camera and heater from the same line? If you run two 18g lines plus an rg59, are there siamese that have dual 18g? I have only seen siamese with one 18g, perhaps for good reason? On a differnet note, if you were running new lines, would you run a cat5/6 in addition to the rg59/18g for potential future use? If so, is there a quality siamese that incorporates all three lines? Thanks in advance.

I checked with pano support and they recommend running seperate power lines. One for the camera and one for the housing. Is this just overkill? Couold I use the trimese and use the Cat5 for the other power line? Say, combine half of the ends for + and half for -?

Rory that viewfinder looks like it's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks. I assume you just hold it up to your eye and that you do not have to attach it to a camera? The Pano 484 is .5lux color and .06 lux b/w. The GE/Kalatel and others with the sony super exview chips appear to be similar in lux ratings. Am I missing something? If f.75 is significantly better for low light than f1.2, why did Pano D/C these lenses?

Guys, Thanks so much for all the excellent help. I am hoping to get away without using IR by using low voltage halogen uplighting in the landscape. As you all know, this type of lighting is not very bright. I'm hoping that a top notch Day/Night cam coupled with fast lenses will provide useable images at night when these "nightlights" are on. If anyone has tried this, please chime in. As an aside, Panasonic made some fixed f 0.75 in the 2.5, 4, and 9 mm focal lengths. They are now discontinued according to the pano website. Does anyone know if F 0.75 actually provides an advantage over the currently available f1.2 in low light situations? Some dealers seem to still have the f.75's in stock. Regarding zooms, we know from photography that the F stop increases as you increase the focal length and light sensitivity falls off significantly. Also, to some degree, image quality is reduced when a zoom is compared to a high quality fixed focal length lens. Given the relatively low res of these video cameras, perhaps this is all a mute point?

Thanks K, That "Trimese" cable looks like the hot ticket. Back to the heater/blower though, do you run a risk of too little amperage reaching the blower and camera when you run only one 18g line with a 24v PS? I plan to use Pano 484's that have a 12/24v switch on camera so I would not need a converter. Also, when you attach the power leads, do you split the 18g at the housing into 4 or doe you splice another piece of 18g and run it from the blower to the camera? Seems like a potential setup for interference when the blower/heater is on?

Thanks Jasper. That program looks very helpful. Rory mentions a viewfinder. Do you or anyone else have any info on this viewfinder? If I am trying to optimize the quality of the video, am I better off with the fast, fixed lenses or should I just go the easy route and get a quality zoom for all the cameras?