Is my concept going to work? (Long)

[GTV 0]

Hi I am a newbie and have been lurking in this forum and have decided to put together a CCTV system for monitoring the outside of my house for security. I have low lighting in most areas (outside porch lighting, some flood lights, etc.). I want to monitor the front of my house and will be putting cameras inside my garage (garage windows face the street at the front of my house). I also will put a couple of cameras in the back of my house but they will be mounted under the eves of my house outside. I am building up a PC DVR system and it will have a 4 channel capture card (SWANN card and software). So far this seems to work well with the testing I have done to date. My delimma right now is what cameras to pick for both the inside looking through windows from the garage and for the outside locations. I am thinking of going with an EXVIEW style camera. Right now I am thinking of a KT&C KPC-EX230HL1 bullet style for all locations. Any suggestions or problems with this type of camera for my situation. Thanks in advance for your advice, this forum rocks!

[GTV 0]

Another question, should I consider using a box style camera for the inside locations instead of a weather proof bullet. It appears to me there are more features (auto gain, auto white balance, backlit compensation, etc) in the box style cameras for about the same price?

 

Thanks again!

[rory 0]

Hi, and welcome.

 

For indoors, you might want to look at a dome camera, though yes a box camera will be better image normally, but only if it is a decent brand.

 

That bullet camera is BW just so you know, at least from what i found on google. It will see in low light, though ive found the lower end exview cameras to have pretty bad quality in the day time, but will see quite a bit more at night compared to regular BW.

 

Rory

[GTV 0]

Thanks Rory! The cameras will be mounted indoors and will be viewing outside locations (front of the house yard) through a window located in my garage. I am not sure what the dome camera offers over the box style camera, except the tamper proof aspect, which I am not concerned with. Is this correct assumptions? Any suggestions on low light box cameras which won't break the bank?

[rory 0]

I would rethink placing it inside looking out, only cameras that may work okay, is a wide dyanamic camera, such as the Ganz Box camera which is still double/triple the cost of those bullet cameras.

 

They will work either way, but you will have issues with sunlight, and other lighting conditions that cause glare, and the quality of the image on the outside of the home will not be that good.

[VST_Man 1]

I'd go with domes on the interior. Neater and easier to clean.

 

Why not mount camera's on the outside under eves vice inside garage looking out?

 

bullets w/ir are my first choice on outdoor install IF the lighting sucks AND cannot be improved. Imporving lighting (motion type) is the cheapest and will provide a better picture if looked at from a cost perspective.

 

If you can get the lighting improved I'd go with some nice low light camera's that have a mechanical filter.

[GTV 0]

Are the problems created by keeping the cameras inside looking outside due to reflections off the glass window? I was thinking of keeping the cameras inside next to the window, to make wiring easy, to keep the outside house asthetics better and to avoid paying for waterproof protection. Thanks again for your expert advise!

[rory 0]

You would have to keep the camera right up against the glass, and dont scratch the glass, to get a housing type effect. If you go back from the glass you "can" get glare from sunlight due to back lighting effects, and night time you may see nothing at all except for the glass.

 

You could try it, get some compact cameras, if it doesnt work out, you could then look at some of the Wren Dome housings, or similar, and place the cameras outdoors inside them.

 

Only thing is, cheap OEM box cameras wont neccassarily be that great, especially with handling light, cheapest you can get in a decent brand is the Ganz which are very good, especially for the price.

 

You could look at some cheap color bullet cameras to start with, they are pretty covert, then upgrade from there as you can afford it, use BW bullets where it is low light.

[GTV 0]

Thanks VST_MAN! What is the mechanical filter for on the cameras? If I mount the cameras inside it will be in my garage, show asthetics are not as much of a concern. From reading the forum, I kind of got the idea that it is better and more economical and effective to go with low light bullets (exview) rather than go with IR bullet cameras. I want to be able to view about 30 feet or less from the camera location at night and I will have some very low lighting conditions.

 

Thanks in advance!

[rory 0]

Actually in low light conditions, a simple BW bullet camera (or exview BW bullet) is a good choice, unless you can afford a Day Night with a mechanical IR Cut Filter, which means it blocks out the IR in the day for brilliant color imaging, and turns the flter off in the dark when it switches to BW, for more sensitivity and IR pickup. These are generally known as TRUE day night cameras and can come in Bullet cameras, domes, and box cameras, but they are not cheap.

[spytown 0]

here is an example of a bullet with mechanical IR

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[griffonsystems 0]

i wouldnt recommend this bullet if your winters get as cold as it does here in chicago. i have had these exact bullets die after a cold winter

 

my 2cents

[rory 0]

I thought they were pretty good bullets, definately have the day/night specs, then again we dont get any "cold" winters down here, more likely they will die from the heat and sun

[griffonsystems 0]

they are good cameras, good picture and good ir distance, but the weather killed them. the board heater just isnt enough some winters

[rory 0]

Yah need the EX14MNX