dolladave

The DVR has a VGA out and a BNC out. My television doesn't have a VGA input. So the DVR goes BNC to RCA at the TV. And vga from the DVR to my computer monitor. I use the TV for general viewing but if I need specifics I just switch on the computer monitor and view on it since the quality is a lot better.

I'm using a 40 inch Samsung that's a plasma for my general viewing. Its connected via the BNC out to RCA on the TV. It works but the quality isn't the greatest. I've got a 20 inch flat screen computer monitor I use for viewing the specifics. It's quality is superb. My TV doesn't have a DVI input so I couldn't tell you the difference in quality on a 32+ screen using the proper cabling.

I don't honestly know of there is a way to check the connector or not. I just know after completing an install I was disappointed in the results and went through everything trying to resolve it. I finally bought a pack of connectors that I knew were 75ohm and put a new BNC on each end and it fixed that particular camera. I emailed the ebay seller to ask him about it and he told me that the connectors I'd purchased from him were in fact 50ohm even though the listing didn't state it. Ended up having to replace connectors on 10 different cameras. Dave

Have you verified that your cable and BNC connectors are rated for 75ohms? I bought a pack of 40 BNC compression connectors off of ebay awhile back and found out the hard way after the install was done that I had a similar issue. As it turned out, my BNC's weren't rated for 75 ohms... On a side note, are they bullet/dome cams with IRs or box cams using IR illuminators? You said it was fine and came back a couple of hours later and it was a bit blurry? Was it daylight when it was fine and darker outside when they were blurry? If so could be an issue of focus shift with the cameras not having IR corrected lenses.

I'm in Louisiana and I've got several bullets and haven't had any issues with them. We've ranged from 25 to 85 Fahrenheit this winter and I haven't had a problem. 75% of my cameras don't even have any protection from the elements except the bullet camera's housing, their just mounted on a pole or on a building. So far they've held up to severe rain and wind with no problems.

I ran into a similar situation.... I changed the lens on one of my bullet cams and then the cover/IR's wouldn't fit back on. I mounted the bullet in an enclosure and left the IR's off. I added external IR's to the housing. Option 2 is for you to use pvc or some material to go around the lens between the IR's to separate them when they face the glass.

I don't have a clue about the camera but you can take it apart and see. That's the best way to make sure your ordering the correct lens.

I haven't looked very hard but I've never personally seen Effio-P... I think you'll be just fine with the Effio-E though. It does most of what any general user asks it to do. Just remember, the Effio isn't the only thing you after... The image sensor/pickup device is important to consider also. David

You sure hit that on the head Dan and I couldn't agree more. Anyone of the ebay cameras I purchased could produce a picture capable of capturing a crook if placed correctly with adequate lighting. I wasn't intending to take a jab at you if that's how it came out, it wasn't intended that way. I was only intending to make a point of how impressed I was with a simple lens change. I tried the lens on several cameras with different chipsets and the results were all the same. My point is, I'm guessing one of the biggest differences in a great camera and a decent $75 dollar camera given all other variables are the same is in the lens. Afterall, if a good lens runs you $100 bucks on average, you can't sell a camera at $75. The one thing all the cheaper cameras I purchased had in common was they all had an un-named lens that was constructed from some form of plastic instead of glass. I love this forum and I love everyones opinions and ideas, it makes us all a little bit smarter and even helps us to not make some of the same mistakes Dave

Shockwave, One of the cameras I purchased from ebay is the exact same model as one of the cameras you listed. It's a gadspot GS4009CF and even came in the gadspot box. I gave $78.65 for it and the quality was decent but no where near the advertised claim of 650TVL; however, as soon as I put a COMPUTAR T5Z8513CS-IR lens on it, the quality improved 10 fold. I removed the IR board off of the front for the lens to fit and mounted the camera in an enclosure and the quality is absolutely awesome without an IR for it at all in seriously low lighting. I got a steal on the lens but it can be picked up for less than $100 bucks brand new. Camera and lens new would equal $178 and I'd rank it up there in performance to a name brand $500 analog camera. Not to mention the lens is IR corrected so I can use it with external IR illuminators and it's got a zoom of 8.5-40mm! I'll see if I can't do some still photos tonight of the new and old lens and upload them tomorrow.

This comes from personal experience through trial and error. I've picked up several cameras off of ebay over the last couple of weeks just toying around to see if the cameras were as good as the specs claimed them to be for the price I paid, between $75 and $100.... And none of them were. They were all bullet cams with built in IR's, I stuck with cameras that had a CS mount lens because they are readily available, however most of your bullet/cheaper cams use the M12 mount and it's more difficult to get a quality lens for those. A simple lens change and it produced astounding results that were 100 times better. I discovered that using a better lens and no IR produced better results. Your best bet is to get something with the best specs you can afford and make sure you get a good quality lens to go with it. You say they Have to be weather proof and will be mounted outside but you make no mention of the lighting they will be provided therefore making it impossible to give an educated recommendation as there are several choices. IR illuminators, built in IR and no IR at all. If money isn't an option, I would personally choose a good box camera(make sure it has a removable IR cut filter) with enclosures and select varifocal lens but make sure the lens are IR corrected. By choosing the box camera, it will allow you to choose the quality lens you want on it without getting some cheap off the shelf lens. And by getting a camera with a removable IR cut filter, it will allow you to use IR illuminators if your application requires it. David

I've never used the Zeus myself but I've heard good things about it. In your case, I would lean towards the HD is going out. It boots up and runs for a bit and the drive works but after awhile a mechanical error inside the HD occurs and it quits. Then you reboot and it works again until it overheats etc and the quits again. I've encountered issues like this on several occasions. David

When I picked up the Pelco, I knew it wasn't an IR corrected lens but I figured I'd give it a shot, it's an awesome lens and puts the stock lens that came on my cheaper cams to shame but just can't get it to focus for day and night. Hoping to try out the Computar this evening.

Anyone here use the computar lenses? I just scored a heck of a deal on a brand new T5Z8513CS-IR lens varifocal, manual Iris 8.5-40mm. Gave $35 bucks for it brand new in the box. I know buying them retail they go for about $90.00 plus/minus a few. I picked up a pelco 13VA5-50 for really cheap the other day also and was extremely impressed with it but was unable to overcome the IR focus shift while using it on an IR camera.

you could make money if you take two off and resell them ...... 1 control will control over 100 cameras. no need for 1 on each. but for anything to work your camera has to have rs485 control. some cameras will do coax control for osd That never occurred to me! I seem to have a problem over engineering everything I do and making it more complicated than it has to be.