I need some advice on a new camera setup *pictures included*

[BrutusBoots 0]

Ok, so there have been a few break ins in the neighborhood and for piece of mind I'd like to install some cameras. My house is already fully networked (cat5 - can I do POE?) and I own a copy of BlueIris. My camera experience consists of a Trendnet IP422 that I have mounted in our nursery as a baby-cam. I use IP Cam Viewer on our Android devices to view the camera. It works great. I also have an IP Camera at work to monitor our office remotely with a similar setup.

 

Back to the topic at hand. I want to purchase a few outdoor IP Cameras and set them up in BlueIris as a monitoring system for my home. I live in Canada so these cameras will have to be weather proof as it can get down to -30C occasionally in the dead of winter. I would like to keep around a $1500 budget. I have no idea where to begin so I come here asking for any advice you have to offer.

 

Here's how my home is laid out:

 

Front - I believe if I put a PTZ dome camera of some sort on that corner of my house that I have circled, it would give me full coverage of the driveway and the front door area.

 

Rear - This picture is taken from my shed (which I would like to cover as well) looking up at the back of the house (excuse the mess). Each red dot is a doorway that I would like to have coverage

[BrutusBoots 0]

http://www.spytown.com/iqinvision-iqa31nx-b5.html

 

Bit pricier than I had expected but would that be a good camera for the front of the house? Any suggestions similar to that?

[shockwave199 0]

I think you'd be better off using separate cameras to cover the areas you need in front. Otherwise a ptz will have to be constantly on the move from spot to spot, with the large possibility it will not catch a problem in progress properly, and will also kill the camera quicker from constant movement. In my opinion, it's always better to have single cameras cover the specific spots you need. Then if a ptz makes sense for broader support, so be it. Not really knowing your layout in the back, I might consider a ptz to scan the full side and back property including the shed- a very wide area. But still keep all your separate cameras at your proposed locations back there. In the front, a well placed camera to cover the front door, and another to cover the driveway would be best. Check out the Dahua ESIP-MP1.3-BT1 1.3, which looks to be a great camera to consider.

[buellwinkle 0]

I have a review on a similar model IQEye Alliance Pro dome on my blog so you can see. It's not PTZ though, if that's what you need. A decent HD PTZ dome could set you back a few thousand dollars.

 

All you really need is a nice dome mounted under the eave that covers the front of your home and all name brand decent 1-3MP domes will cost in that $500-700 price range. Higher resolutions sounds cool, but in real practice, the higher the megapixels, the tougher it is to get them to work in low light. This is because as pixel density increases, pixel size decreases and it can capture less light. Sort of a generality, but I've yet to see 3-5MP cameras that do really well in low light.

 

I use an ACTi TCM-7811 dome in front of my house and works well day or night. One nice thing about ACTi is they provide the NVR recording software for free and it's really good.

[BrutusBoots 0]

Any thoughts on this camera?

 

http://www.acti.com/product/detail/Fixed_Dome_Camera/ACM-3701

 

It says it's rated to -20 C

 

It can get colder than that here. Will the camera just quit working or will it be damaged?

[BrutusBoots 0]

I think you'd be better off using separate cameras to cover the areas you need in front. Otherwise a ptz will have to be constantly on the move from spot to spot, with the large possibility it will not catch a problem in progress properly, and will also kill the camera quicker from constant movement. In my opinion, it's always better to have single cameras cover the specific spots you need. Then if a ptz makes sense for broader support, so be it. Not really knowing your layout in the back, I might consider a ptz to scan the full side and back property including the shed- a very wide area. But still keep all your separate cameras at your proposed locations back there. In the front, a well placed camera to cover the front door, and another to cover the driveway would be best. Check out the Dahua ESIP-MP1.3-BT1 1.3, which looks to be a great camera to consider.

 

Who sells the Dahua camera? Their site is pretty sparse.

[BrutusBoots 0]

Looks like the Dahua is only good to -10C which is no good to me.

[voip-ninja 0]

I am in Colorado, it does not get quite as cold but I also need winter operation for below freezing weather. Another thing you may or may not have thought of is night time illumination, assuming you don't want to leave lights on all night.

 

I bought a Vivotek IP8361 for around $500 to try out. It is actually pretty good and works well with my Synology surveillance station. It has a pretty wide lens, built in IR illuminators and has a built in fan and heater that give a very wide operating temp range off of standard POE.

 

Another camera to consider that looks good, but is on the higher end is Axis 8344-VE. It also has a really good temp range, has a better lens (one button zoom and focus vs the manual adjustments on most cheaper domes). The downside is no built in IR.

 

Mobotix are supposed to be outstanding but I have not found any used ones I can pick up at a reasonable price to play with.