Quantum 0 Posted May 25, 2011 Very helpful Soundy, thanks. Especially about the depth of field; never would have guessed that aperture influences this. Inexplicable how restricting light would accomplish this, from a physics standpoint. I notice that some lenses have DC iris control, if the camera can control this. If one can depend on the specs the av10005 has good low-light capability ("Day/Night: 0 Lux", WTF? Maybe at 1f/s), and with an auto iris should have good depth of field during the day. With the av10005 there seems to be less low-light sacrifice than with most other cameras, although who can trust specs? Your direct experience is that the HIK is better with low light, although Chinese stuff is usually crap and is hard for me to trust. And the 5Mp costs almost twice as much as the av10005. Not so much hung up on license plate recog; just be nice to have as high a resolution as possible for all purposes. wire, I'm not even considering Avigilon, as good as they are, due to mandatory proprietary software and closed marketing channels. We are Linux only, for security reasons; real estate developer. I realize the marketing points, but I just don't like it. Great lead on the dome, thanks. Didn't realize that is a possibility. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thewireguys 3 Posted May 25, 2011 Very helpful Soundy, thanks. Especially about the depth of field; never would have guessed that aperture influences this. Inexplicable how restricting light would accomplish this, from a physics standpoint. I notice that some lenses have DC iris control, if the camera can control this. If one can depend on the specs the av10005 has good low-light capability ("Day/Night: 0 Lux", WTF? Maybe at 1f/s), and with an auto iris should have good depth of field during the day. With the av10005 there seems to be less low-light sacrifice than with most other cameras, although who can trust specs? Your direct experience is that the HIK is better with low light, although Chinese stuff is usually crap and is hard for me to trust. And the 5Mp costs almost twice as much as the av10005. Not so much hung up on license plate recog; just be nice to have as high a resolution as possible for all purposes. wire, I'm not even considering Avigilon, as good as they are, due to mandatory proprietary software and closed marketing channels. We are Linux only, for security reasons; real estate developer. I realize the marketing points, but I just don't like it. Great lead on the dome, thanks. Didn't realize that is a possibility. Don't say I didn't help FYI I was not pushing Avigilon I was just correcting Soundys link. But since you brought it up Avigilon is NOT a proprietary solution and they have the SDK on the price list. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted May 25, 2011 Very helpful Soundy, thanks. Especially about the depth of field; never would have guessed that aperture influences this. Inexplicable how restricting light would accomplish this, from a physics standpoint. Basic optical lens theory, nothing (directly) to do with restricting the amount of light - look at the old-school "pinhole" camera, which will have near-infinite DOF. More good reading here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field#Effect_of_lens_aperture I notice that some lenses have DC iris control, if the camera can control this. Correct; the camera needs to have DC iris drive as well. This can help DOF in the day by closing down the iris, but at night, most will open the iris all the way up anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thewireguys 3 Posted May 25, 2011 Don't get to excited about AA if you go with the 10MP. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted May 25, 2011 Your direct experience is that the HIK is better with low light, although Chinese stuff is usually crap and is hard for me to trust. That tends to be true of the cheap low-end stuff... mid- to upper-end gear, however, has so many components from other places, and often sees various stages of assembly in different places, that it can't really be pegged as being "from" any one country, other than maybe where the company's head office is located. Heck, one of the most flimsy, poorly-assembled cameras I've ever seen - the aforementioned AV3155DN - *claims* to be fully built in the US... see my opinions here: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=22353 Most segments of the electronics industries aren't much different than the auto industry in this regard. As they say in the movies, "American components, Russian components... ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quantum 0 Posted May 25, 2011 Well OK, I have to put the HIK 5Mp on the list. You're not put off by the quality and you were with Arecont, and it performs better at night. No doubt as soon as I buy 10 5Mp they'll come out with a 10Mp for the same price... Has NAS and DC iris control, though is relatively large. Exacq does not have HIK on their list, although they do support NAS and H.264. Yes thanks for pointing out the dome wire; that would be just the thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites