I need help making an IP camera system

[unsportsmanlike 0]

Hi,

All and any information welcomed. I am looking to setup a 3-5 camera system. Primary to catch the kids damaging my fathers truck on the street. Diagram with pics below. I lived here for 10+ yrs and no problems until I got new neighbors moved in to my left. They are the only kids who play around the truck and in front of my house. I jus need video proof to call the cops or talk with their parents. If i was crazy I would jus shoot them!

 

Any ways my plans are for 2-3 cameras for now and upgrade later d/t budget. I plan to also make a new pc, get a switch and connect to my wireless router. What specs would I need to make a good NVR for my needs? Everything from motherboard to case to hds, etc.

 

Wondering what cameras would be best for day and low light to complete darkness. In the front of house in driveway and street (camera #1) there is a street light. Side of house (camera #2) there is no light. Wonder if 1-2 MP cameras are good from my needs. In the front i would like PTZ camera and back of house.

 

Some features I am interested in: email/SMS pic when motion detected from camera, control/view cameras from my iPhone.

 

Thanks in advance

[buellwinkle 0]

What's your budget for the whole system or per camera? Decent outdoor cameras with illuminators start in the $300 range but can easily go to $500-800 and up.

[unsportsmanlike 0]

What's your budget for the whole system or per camera? Decent outdoor cameras with illuminators start in the $300 range but can easily go to $500-800 and up.

 

 

$4k for now..

I was hoping to mix and match. I would like to get a highend PTZ for camera#1 for example Axis or Avigilon and Dahua for the rest... Would the free software recognize the other brand?

 

Would you happend to know why I cant PM people on the board? i did 3 PM's now it dont work????

thanks!

[buellwinkle 0]

The Axis P5534-e is a nice PTZ camera, good low light performance, probably eat up most of your budget at about $2,500). The Dahua's are good for the money, about $350 for their 1080P cameras with IR illuminators built in (dome or bullet). The Dahua NVR which is pretty cheap, about $400ish does support Axis camera, so may be worth considering. I'm trying to get my hands on one to do a review for my blog. ACTi is supposed to have their 1080P PTZ camera out soon. I expect it to be in under $2k.

 

Don't know why PM doesn't work for you. I've received PM's in the past few days. Maybe it's restricted to new members for a period of time or posts, just my guess.

[unsportsmanlike 0]

The Axis P5534-e is a nice PTZ camera, good low light performance, probably eat up most of your budget at about $2,500). The Dahua's are good for the money, about $350 for their 1080P cameras with IR illuminators built in (dome or bullet). The Dahua NVR which is pretty cheap, about $400ish does support Axis camera, so may be worth considering. I'm trying to get my hands on one to do a review for my blog. ACTi is supposed to have their 1080P PTZ camera out soon. I expect it to be in under $2k.

 

Don't know why PM doesn't work for you. I've received PM's in the past few days. Maybe it's restricted to new members for a period of time or posts, just my guess.

 

hehe kill two birds with one stone... Can you PM me where to buy thise dahua products?

 

also would a Axis P5512-E PTZ be jus as good in low light as the one you tested? where can I purchase Axis products from a legit dealer?

 

so you dont recommend build my NVR?

[securicorp 0]

i would recommend analysis of the lens as well. 4mm is best for that sort of view or even 3mm. spring for the mp, it will be worth it.

go IP, try a clould system - will save the hassle on onsite recording issues and maintenance

[unsportsmanlike 0]

i would recommend analysis of the lens as well. 4mm is best for that sort of view or even 3mm. spring for the mp, it will be worth it.

go IP, try a clould system - will save the hassle on onsite recording issues and maintenance

 

so you suggesting a 4mm camera for my camera #1 in my diagram above?

 

also what is a cloud system? sorry i am a newbie...

thx

[securicorp 0]

yes, see attached for a 2.6mm view and comparable 4mm.

Cloud is recording off site and paying a monthly subscription. if there is a potential of a home robbery usually the thieves will take the recorder, but that is not the main purpose for you. i dont think you need that righ now.

[buellwinkle 0]

It depends on how long the driveway is and if you want have facial recognition. For example, with a 1080P camera at 28-30 which is how far it is from my camera at my eave to the sidewalk, I can get facial recognition with a 5mm lens. Wider than that makes for a pretty picture, but someone would have to enter my driveway for me to recognize them. Of course with shorter driveway, you can use a wider lens.

 

As for where to buy Axis, I've purchased from PCRush in LA for a decent price. Even buying wholesale from my distributors doesn't get me much better pricing. From my experience, Axis is liberal on their support. Even camera purchased through OEM that they didn't need to support they did anyway. So get the best price you can. Amazon and B&H are also good sources.

 

As for Dahua, there's on guy on ebay, kkmets1986 , name is Kyle that carries a few models under the Dahua name. There's a couple on the internet that sell under their own brand name and model numbers. My advice is to send an email to Dahua and ask them. Their emai address is overseas@dahuatech.com

 

PS. A 8 camera NVR from Dahua is about $325, supports multiple brands of cameras, may be a better value than buying a PC and software separately, don't know, haven't tried it but worth looking into.

[tomcctv 190]

so you dont recommend build my NVR?

 

 

if it was a pick dahua nvr or build then build 100%. dahua nvr is very limited to the point you are wasting your money on MP cameras.

 

 

or look for a hybrid DVR that is controll by camera settings and not the nvr settings. for your 4 cameras you will need to use the dahua 16 just to get the best settings for 4 mp cameras

[buellwinkle 0]

What NVR software works well with Dahua cameras? I've tested with BlueIris and it works pretty well. I know some people have been trying to get it to work with Zoneminder, but have not seen anything definitive there.

[unsportsmanlike 0]

It depends on how long the driveway is and if you want have facial recognition. For example, with a 1080P camera at 28-30 which is how far it is from my camera at my eave to the sidewalk, I can get facial recognition with a 5mm lens. Wider than that makes for a pretty picture, but someone would have to enter my driveway for me to recognize them. Of course with shorter driveway, you can use a wider lens.

can you see my picture? hope i did it right?

Camera#1

anyways from the camera to the end of truck is 27 feet.

the left angle from camera to end of the truck 32 feet.

 

any idea to determine the perfect camera for that application?

MP, lense, etc? i still want a FTZ dome so please help me narrow it down. remember i am a NEWBIE LOL!

can you change lense? if so how? and do companies include them with the camera?

[unsportsmanlike 0]

so you dont recommend build my NVR?

 

 

if it was a pick dahua nvr or build then build 100%. dahua nvr is very limited to the point you are wasting your money on MP cameras.

 

 

or look for a hybrid DVR that is controll by camera settings and not the nvr settings. for your 4 cameras you will need to use the dahua 16 just to get the best settings for 4 mp cameras

 

so for my 3-5 IP camera setup, can you help me out with everything i need to build a dedicated NVR? for example how much RAM, Processor, and what options for VMS/NVR software?

[unsportsmanlike 0]

As for Dahua, there's on guy on ebay, kkmets1986 , name is Kyle that carries a few models under the Dahua name. There's a couple on the internet that sell under their own brand name and model numbers. My advice is to send an email to Dahua and ask them. Their emai address is overseas@dahuatech.com

 

thanks...

I emailed dahua but prob wont get a reply for a while. Empire Security dont carry any Dahua FTZ dome cameras. Know anywhere else where i can get some?

 

Also on Axis would you trust some of the sellers on ebay?

Was looking at this seller: http://myworld.ebay.com/ipcameraman

He has alot of Axis Cameras for like 2-3hundred less than other places...

 

thanks again for your input

[fran 0]

Axis cameras and Dahua NVR are good choices.

[buellwinkle 0]

Looks like pretty good prices for the Axis cameras and he has a 100% positive feedback, I would do it. It's barely early morning in China now, give it time.

 

As for your driveway. Here's the deal, you have an angle of about 70-90 degrees, that's a extra wide angle lens, maybe a 3mm. Look at my driveway with the Dahua 1080P camera in my blog. The angle works almost right with 3.3mm, the widest that camera can do but you won't get facial recognition at that focal lenth at that distance. To get facial recognition, you need someone's face to be 80-90 pixels tall and I was able to get about 85 pixel size face at about 28' with the lens set to about 5mm, but doing so would not cover an area as wide as what I covered, frankly, it covered just the width of my driveway. For example, in my rear yard where an intruder is more likely to come from, I have 2 cameras to give me the pixel density, 2 viewing angles and coverage I need.

 

So you have three choices, more resolution, PTZ or more cameras. If you go with a 3MP Dahua, the width of the image remains the same, 2048 pixels as the 1080P, but you pick up 50% more pixels vertically, but that lets you see 50% more area covered for the same focal length, the face would still be the same number of pixels tall. This is because one camera is 16:9 aspect ratio the other 4:3. Go to 5MP, and you'll have what you want, but you'll get much lower frame rate and probably much lower low light capability. PTZ to me is the worst choice. First you divide the time the camera see's an area by the number of areas you want to track. For example, if you want it to scan 3 areas, each area would only get 20 seconds per minute of viewing time. If you had a huge area to cover, it may make sense, but if you can have 2 or 3 cameras cover the entire area, it may be the same price as the PTZ, but each covers its area 100% of the time. To me, buying a cheap PTZ is risky because of the all the moving parts that can go wrong.

[unsportsmanlike 0]

Axis cameras and Dahua NVR are good choices.

 

know of any legit places that i can get Axis camera for a good price?

any recommendations re: what camera i should get for infront of garage/driveway/street?

thx!

[thewireguys 3]

As for Dahua, there's on guy on ebay, kkmets1986 , name is Kyle that carries a few models under the Dahua name. There's a couple on the internet that sell under their own brand name and model numbers. My advice is to send an email to Dahua and ask them. Their emai address is overseas@dahuatech.com

 

thanks...

I emailed dahua but prob wont get a reply for a while. Empire Security dont carry any Dahua FTZ dome cameras. Know anywhere else where i can get some?

 

Also on Axis would you trust some of the sellers on ebay?

Was looking at this seller: http://myworld.ebay.com/ipcameraman

He has alot of Axis Cameras for like 2-3hundred less than other places...

 

thanks again for your input

 

Keep in mind chances are your not going to get any support from someone like this.

[unsportsmanlike 0]

As for Dahua, there's on guy on ebay, kkmets1986 , name is Kyle that carries a few models under the Dahua name. There's a couple on the internet that sell under their own brand name and model numbers. My advice is to send an email to Dahua and ask them. Their emai address is overseas@dahuatech.com

 

thanks...

I emailed dahua but prob wont get a reply for a while. Empire Security dont carry any Dahua FTZ dome cameras. Know anywhere else where i can get some?

 

Also on Axis would you trust some of the sellers on ebay?

Was looking at this seller: http://myworld.ebay.com/ipcameraman

He has alot of Axis Cameras for like 2-3hundred less than other places...

 

thanks again for your input

 

Keep in mind chances are your not going to get any support from someone like this.

jus the person i wanted to send a PM to but per forum cant send any until i hit 30 post... no support for axis or dahua

 

wondering if u can help with a suggestion to my driveway in front of my garage and street area where i park my dads truck?

You a Avigilon dealer? can u price quote me on any PTZ suggestioms for my needs in the front of my house?

 

thx every1 for all the input

[unsportsmanlike 0]

any1 got suggestions re: the specs needed to run vms for 4-5 ip cameras?

[mike_va 0]

Even if you buy an Axis used Axis will support it. I've really been impressed with their support. I would check out the lightfinder domes from Axis.

[buellwinkle 0]

I agree with Mike, you will not have any support issues with Axis, buy it as cheap as you can. Dahua support is pretty close to zero. If you buy from the right reseller that can support you, that may be worth a few extra bucks.

[thewireguys 3]

Well I am hearing from the inside Axis is cracking down on unauthorized web dealers. What this means for support I don't know

[buellwinkle 0]

What does "unauthorized web dealers" mean? For example, if I buy Axis cameras from my "authorized" Axis distributor, say Anixster and I resell them on a webite, is that authorized or unauthorized? Axis didn't authorize me to do it, but I bought from an authorized distributor as a reseller with the intent to resell. Since Axis uses distibutors, how do they even know who buys their cameras? I never signed any agreement that says what methods I can use or not use to sell them.

 

It's like Best Buy goes to Ingram Micro, an authorized distributor of HP products and buys 1,000 HP printers. HP has no knowledge of who the 1,000 printers got sold to as Ingram Micro does not report this back to HP and Best Buy does not report back to Ingram Micro who they sold the 1,000 printers to and part of those 1,000 customer may have bought it as a gift and wasn't for their use or even resold on the internet.

[tomcctv 190]

Well I am hearing from the inside Axis is cracking down on unauthorized web dealers. What this means for support I don't know

 

 

 

this has already started in the UK. axis used to help till there support team were not able to help distributors with jamed phone lines.

 

like many others now who with out a distribution number your call will be re routed to a premier rate phone line. and the cost of the call is to pay for the tech support.

 

also axis do like others have cameras comming out of china not autherised by axis which they will not support at all