Sawbones

I just eyeball it. Then again, I'm not a pro

Notorious is telling you the truth. Analog is better than IP for a very narrow range of circumstances (low budget, very low-light, tiny covert camera needed, etc)... but the pixel-density of IP makes for a superior image in virtually all other circumstances. If you want the best detail under most conditions, you're going to want IP.

I assume "council flats" are your government-subsidized housing? Only asking because I'm not a Brit.

Hmm. That's unfortunate... but good to know. Anybody have an opinion on Acti's WDR?

What you said here is flat out bull****e. A low quality, poorly applied system won't do well to help identify ANYONE, dark skinned OR light skinned. If you don't want to be offended, than don't be offensive. If you can't see it, that's the real problem. I'm gonna leave it at that. You all can have the last word. Do you have a reading comprehension problem? I said the same thing, in two different ways. The only bull****e here is your knee-jerk accusation of racism. This is a technical forum, where we discuss these issue like adults. Any portrait photographer (if they have photographed different races of people) will tell you that photographing darker-skinned people can be more challenging than photographing lighter-skinned people, especially if the background/clothing is light, or there are high contrasts within the scene. You have to be careful with lighting, though sometimes you can cheat by overexposing the scene by an F-stop or two... but darker-skinned people are more difficult to photograph than lighter-skinned people, and that goes double for for security cameras, where you don't have the control over the scene lighting, F-stops, aperture size, etc to NEARLY the same degree as you have with a proper SLR. A WDR camera will help compensate for this. That was my point. And I think that's enough thread-hijack for today. Freakin' political correctness run amok... I swear.

You apparently have something very inflammatory to say... so why don't you just say it? I'm not making a racial argument... in fact, I'm not sure ANYBODY was. You, however, rode in here on your high horse to make accusations. I despise racists, and as far as I am concerned, this is a technical discussion. I'll thank you to leave it at that. Lower quality cameras (particularly those without sufficient dynamic range) WILL have a harder time distinguishing fine details in shadowed/darkened areas... including facial features... not to mention that virtually ANY camera will benefit from better lighting. That's not racism... that's a technical fact. I'm actually pretty f*cking offended by your accusation.

Amazing how quickly people reveal so much about themselves in one short sentence. I'm having a hard time even giving the benefit of the doubt here. It sounds like some guys have been robbing his neighbors... maybe somebody spotted them? I don't know that I'd call the guy a racist just yet. But he brings up an interesting point. Sometimes getting decent resolution of facial features in African Americans can be difficult, particularly with lower-quality cameras, or in dim light. I don't know if anybody else has noticed that, but some of the shadows and lines that we use to distinguish facial features are easier to pick out on a lighter background, and harder to see on some African Americans. The darker their skin tone, the harder it gets. JoeLansing: If you're trying to get decent facial resolution on folks with darker skin tones, LESS LIGHT is NOT what you'd be wanting.

Good example.

The Mobotix B&W imagers are excellent.

3 x ACTI-ACM-3411 $250 I'll take all three of the 3411s. Do you take paypal?

Actual Siamese cable is good. Avoid cheapo thin pre-made cables. Or you can do Cat6-and-baluns to future-proof your install a bit (eg. you could transition your install to IP later, and re-use the Cat6 cable)

Yes. IR also attracts bugs... so it may increase the false-alerts on your motion-detection, as bugs fly into the lens.

Anybody having trouble getting cameras from ACTi? I'm looking for a megapixel zoom camera for an anti-vandalism application (and perhaps a second for a neighborhood entry to read license plates), but it seems like everybody I've contacted about a certain model is backordered until later December or early January. Am I just not talking to the right people?

Mine has its own room as well, with a locked steel door and reinforced frame. It also sits in a rack-cabinet (also locked). Even if they get that, many of my cameras have on-board storage, and maintain images there as well as on the central DVR. They also send images to an external server off-site. I figured that was enough redundancy

Sh*t... I like (and use) twist-on BNCs Haven't had one fail yet (of course, they're all in dry areas... I'd never use one for a wet location)

Hah! That's good stuff!

My neighbors are actually happy about my system, since I've helped nab groups of vandals on several occasions. I've also helped a couple of neighbors with systems of their own (temporary, for when they went on vacation, for instance). It's all about being a good neighbor, and not a creepy, voyeuristic busybody.

I remember the second thread you linked... missed the first one.

As an aside, kind of half-a**ed installation too. Loose wire hanging down? Couldn't even zip-tie it to the pole? Speaking of the pole, what kind of mounting job is that? Looks like a wall-mount that they ghetto-rigged... and that pole looks none too sturdy.

You absolutely can mix-and-match cameras, particularly in an analog system. As long as it puts out a signal in your particular standard (PAL or NTSC), your DVR will not know the difference. It's plug-n-play. For IP cameras, you'd have to look at the compatibility list for your NVR software. I currently have Axis, Vivotek, Mobotix, Arecont, and several models of Acti in my home system... and my NVR software supports all of them. It's not a problem as long as you do your homework first.

That's pretty rude... and creepy. Somebody send that lady a high-powered laser pointer... not bright enough to damage the camera, but bright enough to blind it. Problem solved.

You mean the Turret domes? (AKA eyeball domes). Sure they are not as big, but they stand out more than the mini bullet, I have both here. Not saying I dont use them, I just like how much less conspicuous the mini bullet is. Talking about these? I don't like 'em... it's very hard to get them to look straight down a wall if you wall-mount them. I have trouble getting sufficient range-of-motion to make them look parallel to their mounting surface.

Don't get me wrong... I like the way the old man thinks... I think his heart is in the right place, even if his landlord is upset about it. From an aesthetic POV, I can see the landlord's point. If that were my property, I'd help him clean up the wiring, and consider it a value-add to the place. As for security, nothing beats having retirees as neighbors. They have all the time in the world, take interest in their property (and yours), and are not afraid to call you (or the police) if they see something's "not right." I love my retired neighbors... they don't miss much.

Two thumbs up on dome cameras. Hell... if that was one of those five-pound (weight, not cost) Pano domes, I doubt that lens would have even budged.

Your stills aren't showing up.