Beginner looking for home security, plese help

[swong46 0]

Hi, someone just slashed 3 of my dad's truck tires and someone broke into our accord. Can you guys help me on getting a basic setup? I need about 3 cameras but would like to have something with good resolution. The cameras would either be outside or looking through a window.

 

I live in San Francisco, CA is this legal?

 

I was looking at this:

http://www.safemart.com/4-Camera-Complete-Kits/4-Channel-Stand-Alone-DVR-DIY-KIT-w-160-GB-HD-VC-SYS-4CHKIT.htm

 

is that good? Can you guys recommend me stuff?

 

 

Thanks!

[gsindonesia 0]

I guess it must be legal to protect your own car

 

also if you have this recorded you can go to police and hopefully got the bad guy

 

anyways, you can just grab any camera that within your budget,

but on the system, I would suggest getting one with cell phone remote viewing capability, depend on your CellPhone

 

I like Geovision product since it support blackberry and iphone

but others product support that as well

[TJCCTV 0]

"I live in San Francisco, CA is this legal?"

 

Yes, it's legal to live in San Francisco. Just not my choice.

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

 

Might check the California Statutes.

 

Not an attorney, but likely ok as long as you aren't recording or viewing your neighbors. No audio at all.

[bpzle 0]

Personally I'd recommend staying away from any kind of a " CCTV package". There is no "one size fits all" camera. Buy things separately, that way if one particular item is junk you can easily replace it.

 

Take a look at this post: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20177

[scorpion 0]

Hello!

 

above advise is great!

 

Also the lens selection is going to be more important then the actual camera.

 

Package deals will usually have wide angle cameras. The real problem is knowing how far your car is located from where you mount the cameras. Anything past 20 feet on a wide angle lens is going to be too small due to distance distortion. Wide angle lenses are in the 3.8 or 4mm range. 2.8mm is fisheye like your door peep hole. There is nothing wrong with these type of lenses. They are DESIGNED to create large peripheral view, and not to look in to the depth. You may need 12mm or higher to see a good face shot of someone on your car. You will need to put some serious lights on your house to light up your area. Just because you can see around your car at night with your own eyes does not mean a camera will "see" in the same environment. Your brain is a computer that adds to what you are viewing. Cameras do not have super computers to add to the video. (If that makes any sense).

 

If you do not add natural electrical lighting then you will need to use IR lighting such as what you see on bullet cameras.

 

Measure from where the camera will be mounted to the farthest point on your car which may be the back bumper depending on where, and how you park in relation to the camera. Double this distance. This is the rating of the camera that you need in IR distance.

 

If your car (at the farthest point) is 40 feet from the camera then you need a minimum of 80 feet of IR throw!

 

For example. The camera packages will have bullet cameras that have 30 feet of IR throw. The cameras will be effective at 15 IR distance. Think of a triangle shaped like a ramp. Close to the camera the IR is very strong. The IR can go 30 feet, but the stregnth of the IR is so minimal not to be useful.

 

Makes sense?

 

Get an IR throw that is even more stronger then the 80 foot throw.

 

Now for the hard part. For facial recognition you will actually need to use IR illuminators in several different locations pointed at your car.

 

You need to think like a photographer. They have those umbrellas that have lights, or flash in them. This diffuses, and spreads out the lighting. They may have down lighting to look like sunshine bouncing off your hair. They have back lighting, and they have side lighting.

 

IR is just like a flash light. If the guy is not standing in the "beam" then what will he look like? IR looks better if you can point it up in to a canopy of leaves, and branches, and have the tree bounce the IR back down. It will scatter the IR light like those photo umbrellas.

 

This is why DIY setups are not as effective as a system designed with "security is of the essence".

 

The biggest problem is going to be your budget. How much is your car worth? You may be willing to spend more now then you would have prior to your car being vandalized.

 

Use all 4 cameras to point at your car. No matter what why they look you will get the face. The IR from all of those cameras will enhance the IR nighttime shot of the other cameras. Get those cheap cameras closer to get better field of view with the wide angles, or with the short distance IR.

 

Is this enough info to get you started?

 

What do you think?

[swong46 0]

I actually went for

http://www.cctvhotdeals.com/store/8-camera-complete-h-264-cctv-dvr-security-system.html

with only 4 of these instead of what they include

http://www.cctvhotdeals.com/store/indoor-outdoor-surveillance-color-ccd-night-vision-security-camera-7.html

[bpzle 0]

Let us know how everything works out.

[swong46 0]

Hey, so...

 

Everything works pretty well, but everything is kind of blurry and grainy, especially at night. Anyone can recommend something that has better clarity at night?

 

Thanks!

[bpzle 0]

Yes.

 

How does this look?

 

 

With street lights

 

 

 

Built in IR only between houses

 

 

 

Built in IR only in a garage

[bpzle 0]

Here's a camera than can actually capture color in extremely low light.

 

 

with no driveway lights

 

 

 

 

WITH driveway lights

[bpzle 0]

And yes, I know the focus is soft. The plumber's house always has a leaky faucet.

[swong46 0]

This is what my cameras look like with no light outside.

 

[bpzle 0]

Yikes! that's horrible

[swong46 0]

It looks better on the screen connected to the DVR, but it still isnt as good as yours.

 

What cameras do you have?

[bpzle 0]

The zero light shots were with this:

 

http://cctvco.com/ECL-557HIA_vandal_proof_dome.html

 

I'm not allowed to post prices, but their considerably more than what you payed for that junk. But as you can see, you get way you pay for.

 

 

Here's a neat little cam that's a lot closer to what you payed for... Pretty good for the price. http://cctvco.com/ECL-599_IR_bullet_camera.html

 

 

With street light and drive way lights

 

 

With no lights. Only a street light a couple hundred feet away.

[scorpion 0]

I love the 599's!

 

I back up bpzle statements!

[jbaird 0]

Would you guys recommend these cams over the CNB Mona Lisa Day/Night domes for low/no light settings?

 

Where can these be purchased?

[bpzle 0]

Which Eclipse and CNB camera were you wanting to compare?

[swong46 0]

I think he is talking about the 599's.

In one of your pics, many of your neighbors houses are visible. Is that illegal? Can they sue you?

[bpzle 0]

Legal? I'm no lawyer but that seems ridiculous that it wouldn't be. Those cameras were setup on a portable mount for maybe 10 minutes for testing. But even if they were permanent, what's wrong with recording a street? Google Maps can do it...

[swong46 0]

I meant that you are recording other people's houses, not just the street. But that is true, google does it; then again they are google with money and loopholes.

[scorpion 0]

The law would probably kick in based on the lens selection.

 

House with 32 cameras across the front would make neighbors "nervous", but if they were all 2.8mm to 4mm lenses then there is not much to see 20 feet from where the camera is mounted.

 

In commercial districts that use PTZ cameras with "super zoom" then the cameras have a "black out mode". You can black out a window. When the camera pans across the window it creates a black area where the window is located.

 

In the local neighborhood you would have to be above 25mm to be able to get up close to the house, and I doubt you would see much except maybe at night when it is dark, and the internal lights are on giving you a view at night. Shades, and blinds would remedy this.

 

If you were aiming a 220X Zoom camera in to someone's window then other laws would probably kick in such as stalking, voyeuism, peeping tom, or whatever local laws there may be.

 

You can imagine the "hatemail" that I used to get in 2000 before it was "cool" to have cameras. Now anytime something happens my door is the first to be knocked on. Sometimes my cameras have solved "mysterys" on houses that are at the end of the opposite block.

 

If I were to take all my cameras down I think the whole neighborhood would be "up in arms" for taking them down. Ironic huh?

 

It is not illegal to sell steak knives, it is how you use them that makes them illegal.

 

Check your local laws for your true answer.

[jbaird 0]

Which Eclipse and CNB camera were you wanting to compare?

 

I was referring to your zero light shots made with a ECL-557HIA and the CNB VBM-24VF. The VBM-24VF can be had for fairly cheap, and I'm not sure how much the ECL is. I will be using these cameras in both day and night for the inside of a store.

 

Thanks

[bpzle 0]

I bought the VBM-24VF for testing so this is my very first CNB product. I can't speak for the reliability yet, but overall I am very impressed. Especially for the price.

 

The being said, these aren't the same cameras.

 

The 577HIA has internal IRs so it can see in zero light without any assistance. It also has a neat white strobe light. I thought it was stupid at first, but it continuously blinks at night and really does make you look up and wonder "what's that??" as you look into the lens.

 

The VBM-24VF is a true day/night camera with ICR but it does not have internal IRs. It also has advanced features on the OSD.

 

Both cameras are very good, but not an apples to apples comparison.

 

I can tell you this though, I will be bidding a job this week using several of the VBM-24VFs.

 

If your using the cameras indoors, use indoor models. Typically their cheaper. Both these cameras are IP65.

[Soundy 1]

I actually went for

http://www.cctvhotdeals.com/store/8-camera-complete-h-264-cctv-dvr-security-system.html

with only 4 of these instead of what they include

http://www.cctvhotdeals.com/store/indoor-outdoor-surveillance-color-ccd-night-vision-security-camera-7.html

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