sjmaye

Everytime I go in to WalMart I see the CCTV cameras perched up on top of the building. There is a single vertical mast about 3' high with a camera enclosure on top and brackets/mounts coming off each side with a a camera enclosure on each. I have been unable to find these on the web. I probably just don't know what terms to search under. Can someone help me find these?

Ok so it's a newbie question. Based on a recommendation in a previous post I am going to purchase a Panasonic WV-CP480 camera to trial in our parking lot. Be gentle here guys- Aside from finding the right focal length, what do I need to be looking for in a lens? Does it have to be some dedicated lens from Panasonic? A special mount? Special connections?

Nice cam. Out of my league AND price range.

The way things go for me that might be the cheaper route! Things are pretty hectic at the plant right now. I will have to get the hydraulic lift out to get back out there. May take a few days. I will take it down and give it a good going over on the bench, put it back up, and try the suggestions you all have given. One thing to note- These shots are from a Kodicom DVR. When looking at the pane views of 4 cameras the pictures are much smaller and look alot better. In order to take the snapshots I pasted here I had to go full screen which made the picture significantly worse.

Thanks very much for the link. I will try to post some photos below. The color WV-CP484 is looking at the right side of employee parking. The B&W camera is looking at the left side of employee parking. Both shots were taken at 3am with F1.4 autoiris lenses. Panasonic WV-CP484 Panasonic WV-BL204 I find the light sensitivity of the WV-CP484 remarkable. I have looked at some of the links you guys have posted to look at some of your installations. I know these photos look terrible compared to yours. I am open to input (be gentle, please). FWIW- The focus of the color camera looks about the same same day or night. All ideas are welcome and appreciated!

We focused the camera during the day with no filter installed. The picture may not be out of focus. We adjusted focus back and forth many times until we got the best focus we could. I think it is just we are tryign to take in too much of the parking lot with one camera. It limits how much detail can be seen clearly...maybe? If I could download an image or mpeg from the DVR is there a way to up load it here to show you?

I bought what most people here were recommending. It is a Computar Varifocal 5~50mm f1.3 1/3" Auto Iris Lens. The 150' is an approximation. I never actually measured it off.

A belated Happy Canada Day to all our good neighbors and friends to the North!

Hey guys, I 'm back. I received the camera and lens and got it in place Thursday. Just to be sure, the actual model is WV-CP484 (24volt model). Here's a brief run down for results- * We are comparing the images against a Panasonic WV-BL204 Daylight- Clarity of picture is not a lot different accept it is color. Based on some of your responses in other posts I think the distance is a factor. Both are looking at images from around 100' - 200' away. Color is good, but then again I have no basis for comparison. Nightime- Checked the recorded images from the DVR over night. Absolutely amazing! The picture with existing parking lot lighting was almost as bright as daytime. This was even with the camera still in color mode (forgot to set it to automatically change to B&W). I can only wonder how good it will be in B&W. The WV-BL204's were so dark we could see nothing at night. A couple questions- Now I love the camera, but since I need to buy between 3-7 more I can't be putting out $500+ (with lens) a shot for each. Any ideas on similar performance models that cost less? The issue of viewing from ~150' away. Can someone again explain why even with a telephoto lens why the image will not be as clear as a camera positioned at 25'-50'? FYI- In the manufacturing plant I work we have needed an electrical engineer to help maintain the information systems and large industrial equipment. I have hired a young man fresh out of school. Part of his initial training is to develop this DVR/camera system. He, like me, is no security expert. Just plain manufacturing folk. I told him about you guys and this forum. He has registered as EEraines. He is reading extensively to learn more about CCTV and security. The reason I tell you all this is he will be posting about this same DVR/parking lot project. I love learning about this stuff and am a little reluctant to turn it loose to him, but I will. I will try to curb my enthusiasm and keep any double posting to a minimum. Again, thanks for all the help!

I ordered yesterday with Computar lens. Thanks for all the help!

I want to order the camera and lens at the same time. I bought the viewfinder that Rory told me about. I need to get up the in cherry picker to get a view from the point the camera will mount in order find out the correct focal length. As soon as I have that I will place the order. Probably tomorrow. One question for all- Are the Tamron IR sensitive lenses that much better at enhancing night time illumination without specific IR lighting? I was planning on a Computar, but will take any help I can with aiding low light sensitivity.

Can you tell me what benefits there are with going to C mount and going up to 2/3" or 1" formats?

Was this shootout posted in this forum? Can you point me to it? Thanks.

I was wondering if there was a device to merge multiple RG59 video feeds to one RG59 cable and then split it out later when connecting to the dvr. I am guessing it would be like a multiplexer. It seems this would aid installations where there are multiple cameras at a remote location. Is there such a device or is there too great a chance for video noise doing this?

Sorry- Panasonic WV-CP480

I thought I read through the specs on this camera pretty clearly and did not see that it had the IR cut filter. Do you know if it does?

Don't laugh too hard here. I thought the IR cut filter was part/function of the camera, bot the lens. Live and learn. AI meaning autoiris? I guess I am a bit confused here. Based on a previous post from Cooperman I thought it was better to stay away from autoirises and try to stay away from pointing the camera toward direct sunlight. I think what I am getting is that with the exception of the mount any lens will work with this camera. In fact, this camera will handle both C and CS mount. I read somewhere that C is the preferred lens? If I do go with AI I understand that the defacto standard plug is Panasonic so that should not be a problem. On Computar's site for Autoiris Lens Chart it shows 1/3", 1/2", 2/3", and 1". What does it mean?

Of all the specs you guys have told me to look for I think this model has them, except I see no mention of a mechanical IR cut filter. Anyone know if this Panny has one?

Thanks for the reply G22. I would be glad to post some clips. Just all new to me. Tell me, do lenses for the cameras have to come from Panasonic? i.e. are the designed specifically for this camera? I guess I just don't know what I need to order with the exception of the focal length. I got some real good info from Cooperman and rory in previous posts. I will do some more hunting and pecking.

I work in a manufacturing plant and I need to purchase cameras for watching the parking lot day and night. Our 15 year old B&W cameras have done OK, but they are tired and need updating. I am looking for something like this: *I would like the camera to be color, but would be OK to switch to B&W at night for additional sensitivity. *We have pretty good parking lot lighting, but if I need additional lighting I will either add more lighting or infrared illuminators such as the Extreme units I have read about here. *I will be mounting most of the cameras at one point and directing them to quadrants of the parking lot, so I will need to work with lenses to get the magnification right. If anyone knows a site that gives tips on setting up camera layout on something like this I would appreciate it. * I want to setup at least one camera to catch a shot of the driver of cars entering and a shot of the license plate leaving. Anything special needed here? Thanks in advance for help and replies!

Is the Sony Ex-View CCD 500TVL any count for this application?

Hey Rory, Yeah, I'm back. Can you tell I am taking this project a piece at a time? The DVR has been up and running well now for about a month with the 10+ yr old cameras from the previous system. The pictures are fair at best. The biggest problem is the image is too dark at night no matter what I do and the clarity of the shot leaves A LOT to be desired. I want to go ahead and buy a recommended camera to test along side the ones I have. This will be for a parking lot. If I can not find a camera to get a good shot with exiting lighting I will probably just add additional light in the parking lot as necessary. It would help the camera and I think the employees would like the additional light, too (security). I was considering buying either the Panasonic listed above or Sanyo(do you have a model number?). My needs are (and in this order); best low light capability, clarity of picture. Any other recommended cameras that fit these needs?

I had the same problem. The two drives were configured with RAID 0. This saw both drives as a single 240GB drive(in your case) for video storage. I could not figure out how to partition this so I installed a third cheap 40GB drive for Windows OS. That being said there is a point during Windows OS installation that you can add or delete partitions (I think). It is at the point it is asking you what drive partition you want Windows to be installed in to.

Hey rory, Isn't it strange, though, that a single card easily gives me 8 cameras achieving 30fps at 640x480, but when you put in a second, identical card you can only get 10fps at the same resolution? The software compression issue sounds feasible. The cards are putting through all the data, but the software can not handle it all. Just for future reference, what brand cards have hardware compression?

Seems I spoke too soon. Yes, I had the single card working great at 640x480@ 30fps for all 8 cameras. I have confirmed this. So it only stands to reason that another card should give me 16 cameras capable of 640x480 @30 fps each, right? NOT. The best I can get at that resolution is 10fps for all cams. I have checked and double checked my installation and it appears everything is correct. I have checked with another seller of what appears to be the exact same card. He says that with 2 cards you will only get about 12fps at 640x480. I know I am not a pro, but this sounds strange to me. The only things I can think are limiting my ability to get the full 30fps would be the software itself or I am exceeding the throughput of the PCI bus. Have any of the pros here run in to this before or have thoughts? Thanks!