Retail Store CCTV setup

[rfidkaiser 0]

Hi Everybody,

 

How do we design a low cost CCTV system for Retail shops?

 

The floor area is 500, 1000 and 12000 Sq Feet. How many cameras we may need?

 

I assume indoor dome cameras are best selection for this type of applications.

 

I am also confused in selecting the lens for the dome cameras.

 

what is the distance a 2.8mm lens will cover and what is the difference a 8 mm lens will cover?

 

What is the lens spec for wide angle cameras?

 

Best regards,

DG

[bpzle 0]

Anything less than 4mm is usually considered a wide angle lens.

 

Anything less than 3mm is considered a super wide angle lens. These are when you start to get that bubbled fish eye effect.

 

Dome style or box style, doesn't matter. Most go with domes in retail as it's more difficult to tell where the camera is aimed. Thus giving the illusion to a theif that they're being watched everywhere. Domes are also more attractive, in my opinion. But box cameras usually have more lens options...

 

We need a whooooooole lot more information before recomending anything...

 

Most importantly, WHAT are you trying to cover? What level of detail do you need? What are the lighting conditions for both day and night? What possible mouting locations are there and how far away will the cameras be mounted from what they need to capture (aka target area)? How high will the cameras be mounted? What is your budget?

 

Don't make the mistake and buy a cheap 16 camera package from an online store or Ebay. You'll be sorry. Let us help you put together something that will be worth while...

[CCTV_Suppliers 0]

Hi Everybody,

 

How do we design a low cost CCTV system for Retail shops?

 

The floor area is 500, 1000 and 12000 Sq Feet. How many cameras we may need?

 

I assume indoor dome cameras are best selection for this type of applications.

 

I am also confused in selecting the lens for the dome cameras.

 

what is the distance a 2.8mm lens will cover and what is the difference a 8 mm lens will cover?

 

What is the lens spec for wide angle cameras?

 

Best regards,

DG

 

DG, as bpzle stated, we need more info... but for typical retail store, here are what most people use...

 

500 square feet store - maximum 4 camera package preferably mini-domes with hi res cameras and with lenses that cover 2.8mm to max 6.0mm.. many choices of good quality equipment available and at decent price..

 

1,000 square feet store - maximum 8 camera package and again, go with mini-domes with hi res cameras, but lens configuration between 2.8mm - 12.0mm range... again, many choices for good quality equipment and very decent price.

 

12,000 square feet space... you probably can get away with 16 camera package, but it could be tricky... all depends what you want covered and distance of views... mini-domes will be the best choice, as not only you can get them installed on the walls, but also suspend them from the ceiling (dependent on height)... You also can consider mixing boxed cameras in this situation allowing more flexibility on lens configuration..

 

Regardless which route you take, make sure you stay with brand name equipment and insist to get three years warranty on everything you purchase.

 

If you can not install yourself, find a good local installer - they worth every penny, as they will do a professional job once and not to worry about equipment misgivings due to inadequate installation.

 

If you need quotes, let me know and I can send you PM...

 

Good luck!

[rfidkaiser 0]

Hey,

 

Thank you for the replies.

 

What is the distance a 3.6mm / F2.0 board lens camera can cover?

 

What kind of details you need for a the following type of stores.

 

1. Apparel showroom -- Lacoste, Espirit, Levi kind of showrooms

2. Jewellery showroom -- Damas,

3. Super/Hyper market -- Walmart kind of stores

4. Footwear / leather goods showroom -- Nike, addidas, Louis vuitton kind of showroom.

 

If you need more information to design the system please ask me.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Best regards,

DG

[bpzle 0]

That depends on how far away the camera is mounted from the target.

 

For example,

 

If the camera is mounted 50' away from the target area, you would capture a 67' wide area.

 

30' away, a 40' wide area.

15' away, a 20' wide area

8' away, 11' wide area

and so on.

 

Generally speaking, a lens that wide is used for just general coverage. For just capturing what happened, when... Not for necessarily facial recognition or detailed descriptions of items in the frame.

 

Unless the camera is mounted fairly close, you'd want to get a lens with a tighter shot that would allow you to see greater details in areas like cash registers, entrance to changing rooms (to see what's in peoples hands before and after they leave), and entrances to the store for facial recognition.

 

The mistake most people make is buying those off the shelf camera systems, that all come with fixed wide angle (3.6mm) lenses. That's great for just general coverage, but when something happens you need more than just a time stamp of when it happened.

[Soundy 1]

There's one consideration nobody has addressed yet, and it's sort of the answer to the question, "What is the distance ______ lens can cover?"

 

The DISTANCE a lens can cover, is right up to the first opaque object. It doesn't matter how wide the view is, you won't see any FARTHER than the first shelf, display, hanging sign, or other obstruction.

 

How many cameras are needed will be directly affected by this, regardless of the store size. A 12,000 sq. ft. store with low racks will be less of a problem than a 2,000 sq. ft. store with shelves that approach the ceiling; in the former, a single camera can often cover several aisles, whereas in the latter instance, if you want all aisles covered, each will need its own camera.

[bpzle 0]

very true.

[rfidkaiser 0]

Thank you bpzle for the replies. That is very informative, could you please tell me the angle a 2.8mm lens cover and a 3.6, 8 mm lens will cover. I guess we can calculate the angle from the information you provided but I am not smart enough to do that.

 

Thank you soundy for your contribution.

 

Best regards,

DG

[Soundy 1]

Any handy lens calculator will do - sensor size factors into it as well. There's a simple but effective one here: http://www.sweeting.org/mark/lenses/cctv.php

 

Assuming a 1/4" sensor, looking at horizontal field of view:

2.8mm = 65º

3.5mm = 54º

8mm = 25º

 

On a 1/3" sensor:

2.8mm = 81º

3.5mm = 68º

8mm = 33º

[rfidkaiser 0]

Any handy lens calculator will do - sensor size factors into it as well. There's a simple but effective one here: http://www.sweeting.org/mark/lenses/cctv.php

 

Assuming a 1/4" sensor, looking at horizontal field of view:

2.8mm = 65º

3.5mm = 54º

8mm = 25º

 

On a 1/3" sensor:

2.8mm = 81º

3.5mm = 68º

8mm = 33º

 

Hey Soundy

 

Great !!!!

Thank you very much. The information you provided is very useful.

 

Best regards,

DG

[mal-steels 0]

Yeah, I guess, you got some great advice!

As for the CCTV software, I would reccomend to pay attention to Trassir or Xeoma...the latest is smth I found just a couple of months back and very happy with it. Trassir is awesome, of course, but way too expensive.