Quality Outdoor Night Camera

[sleclere 0]

I am a complete amateur, and need some good camera advice for my situation.

 

Requirement:

I need to monitor the fence line I share with my neighbor. I need the ability to capture someone tossing small items over the fence during the day or night. So far incidents have only occurred at night.

 

Layout:

The fence line is approximately 25 feet long, 5.5 feet tall. The closest I can place a camera would be 25-30 feet away. If possible, I'd like to place the camera 55-60 feet away, which would allow me to gain some elevation and see over the fence.

 

Lighting:

Often, the neighbors leave an outside yellow bulb on that is very bright, and hard to look at.

There is some traditional lighting in place on our side of the fence, but it casts little or no light on the fence line.

 

Conditions:

The camera will need to be weatherproof and capable of withstanding the Texas heat.

 

Other:

Before I found this forum, I purchased a Swann Bulldog camera that lasted about 3 days before the picture started to cloud up. At night the IR managed to provide only very poor visibility from 20 feet away.

http://www.swann.com.au/show_item.php?item=135

Can anyone recommend any legal resources concerning cctv and privacy? I'd like to find out if capturing any part of their yard as it relates to the description above can get us into trouble.

 

Price:

I need to spend enough to be assured that the setup will do the job well.

 

For the situation, is an IR solution feasible? If not what are my options? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We believe these folks are trying to harm our pets.

[baywatch 1]

About the legalities, what country are you in ?

[VST_Man 1]

you can legaly video your property. you need to "fucus" your camera's within the your property or area of concern. if the picture is aimed in his back yard then you are wrong. commonsense applies. public areas or areas considered public (front yard not fenced in, parking lots)

 

type of camera? you need EITHER the CVC-7706, $350.00, great varifocal IR low light. Pricey but nice. Do a WEB search and be weary of Spy Town as my recent support expierences were bad. But, you won't have much trouble with the 7706 anyway. Hang it and record.

 

If that is a bit too much then I'd go with the Eclipse ECL-598HIM, $200.00, pretrty much gives you the low and IR of the 7706 but the picture is just a bit less "perfect" than the 7706. 7706 has much better depth/distance clarity. Call 1-888-422-8826, ask for Juan. Tell him Kerry sent ya.

 

Neighbor? He won't stop until you catch it on video. And trust me, he won't change so you may as well show him that you won't take his crap by doing it legally and without violence. I have a hot head neighbor down the street that was out of control until I took the video in to his lawyer. Seems to have sent him the message that if he wants to act like a idiot he nees to go somewhere else. He did!

[kaysadeya 0]

What are the "small items" being tossed over the fence? If he’s “plinkingâ€

[sleclere 0]

We're in Texas, USA

 

Also, they have tossed a glass bottle of tomato sauce, and several chunks of meat.

[kaysadeya 0]

We're in Texas, USA

 

Also, they have tossed a glass bottle of tomato sauce, and several chunks of meat.

 

It shouldn't be hard to capture those items on video, even in Texas.

 

From what you describe, it sounds like you'll need several cameras with telephoto lenses. A varifocal that goes up to 50mm should work fine. I’d start with two cameras and think about adding a third, if necessary zoom in to capture more detail.

 

The problem, of course, will be lighting at night. Your best bet may be to install low voltage uplighting against the fence. That way you wouldn’t be disturbing your wonderful neighbor, but still be able to capture what is tossed over the fence with reasonable detail. The type of IR lighting you would need would be much more expensive and more difficult to get right, but that would be another option.

[rory 0]

We're in Texas, USA

 

Also, they have tossed a glass bottle of tomato sauce, and several chunks of meat.

 

hmmm, put up some thing like they use at golf courses, a large net ..

 

I say get a wide angle camera, even a 3.6mm Bullet or even 4mm .. get your yard in, and just let it get a peice of the other yard but make it more obious that you are watching your yard, just the lens gets theirs as well.

 

Or pay a private detective agency to record them 24/7. Dont think there is any law really that can prevent that, as once their property, even the inside of the house, is viewable to the public, then that cannot be considered a privacy issue. If they want privacy they need to put up a wall, close the curtains, get my drift. Best check you local laws though.

 

If it was me, Id just put it up and let them know im watching, if they complain id say the wind must have moved it .. aint nothing they can do but complain ... while they are complaining and you notice a null in the food throwing, then when you move the camera back off thier property, and it starts again, then put a complaint into the police if you want to keep it all legal, or deal with it in another way.