a little advice please?

[shadowvg 0]

Hi,

 

Firstly a quick thank you for reading and for any replies I get.

 

I have been lurking on the forums for a little bit trying my hardest to figure out a setup just for me. I will try and give as much information as possible but any advice given is gratefully received. I am looking for an IP CCTV system for my home. A recent increase in burglaries makes me want to decrease the chances of it happening to me - even though I understand it’s not a full proof deterrent.

 

I have looked at so many camera's I'm now confused as to which one is best. The makes I have looked at include ACTi, Dahua and Brickcom. Brickcom seems too expensive for me - but looking at the Dahua they are partners so I'm not sure if they are the same as Duhua. The ACTi I was looking at because I'd read some good reviews on thenetworkcameracritic.com whom I believe is on these forums anyway (thanks for the great reviews it has helped if you are reading this).

 

I'm slowly settling on the Duhua camera IPC-HFW3300C - I like the review for the lower model and thought its best to go for the best one I can afford. There is also an IPC-HFW3300 not sure of the difference. My budget is about $400-$450 per camera. I already have a POE switch and CAT5 cable for the job. And I have a Synology disktstation that I would like to use. I like the look of the bullet camera's rather than the domes and they will be placed quite high up so I don't necessarily have to worry about vandalism.

 

So on to the questions:

 

1. The pigtail at the end of these units seems quite big with all the connections. As this will be mounted on a brick wall and I do not want to drill a huge hole into a room, is it best to purchase an external weatherproof enclosure and leave the pigtail inside that? And then feed the CAT5 cable into that to supply power? I would just like to run one cable to each camera and be done with it so POE is the only way for me it seems.

 

2. Do I really need WDR? It seems to make a difference but I don't see any Duhua units with this ability. Am I missing out on something big if I go for a camera without this? They do need to be day/night cameras though with the IR illuminators built in.

 

3. I'm also thinking (still not 100% sure) I would like one internal camera for now, facing the front door from the ceiling so I was thinking of a small dome camera. Vivotek seems to have a nice small FD8136 - does anyone have an views on this?

 

4. Does anyone know how the customs work in the US? In the UK where I am based we will get charged VAT on anything valued over £18. Is it the same in the US? I ask as I am looking to order either from China to my office in the US if I can bypass the customs charges in the UK as I am in the US for the next 2 weeks. Or I would be happy to order from a supplier in the US directly if the cost wasn't hugely different.

 

I think that's all for now.

 

Thanks again

[buellwinkle 0]

1. The pigtail at the end of these units seems quite big with all the connections.

 

This is an issue as a typical vandal dome has conduit hole on the side for surface mounting. With Dahua, you'll have to get creative and put a round j-box to do this.

 

2. Do I really need WDR?

 

WDR has advantages, being able to see better detail in shadows, depends on your situation. And no WDR for the Dahua cameras.

 

4. Does anyone know how the customs work in the US?

I have bought plenty of stuff from China, Venezuela, Germany, Netherlands, Canada and other countries and never had any customs issues or paid any import duties or fees. Don't know the UK, isn't that near France, the country with the naked prince in Vegas?

[bike_rider 0]

No VAT in the US. Sales tax can apply depending on if you are buying in person (yes) or over the internet (not usually - complex laws). Sales tax is usually 5%-8%.

 

WDR - For a camera looking at a door to the outside - WDR may be important. Otherwise the person coming through the door will be in shadow while the camera tries to adjust to the outside brightness. Cameras pointed where the sun will shine directly at them (sunset/sunrise) can also benefit from WDR. It all depends on where your light soruces are. Check out the image on this page. http://ipvm.com/report/wdr_surveillance_test Even if cannot access the article, you can see the affect.

[buellwinkle 0]

WDR - For a camera looking at a door to the outside - WDR may be important. Otherwise the person coming through the door will be in shadow while the camera tries to adjust to the outside brightness.

 

That's not really WDR, that's BLC (baclight compensation) and the Dahua's have that.

[bike_rider 0]

WDR - For a camera looking at a door to the outside - WDR may be important. Otherwise the person coming through the door will be in shadow while the camera tries to adjust to the outside brightness.

 

That's not really WDR, that's BLC (baclight compensation) and the Dahua's have that.

Opps, right. I tend to lump them together for my needs.

 

Oh and there is no standard for how wide that "wide dynamic range" might be. One person's WDR is another person's low contrast shot.

[buellwinkle 0]

In some cases, you can tone down the contrast to give you WDR like effect. Like my TCM-1231, says it does WDR but to me it just look like they decrease the contrast but the newer KCM-5611 actually maintains nice contrast while providing WDR.

 

But don't think WDR is exclusive to surveillance cameras. It's the holy grail of digital photography too, expecially for wedding photography to capture the subtleness of shadows and lights playing against a bright white wedding gown while preserving detail in a black tux. You compensate to make the gown look good and destroy detail in the tux, you make the tux look good and the gown detail is blown out. Products are getting better every year, but nothing like the old days of film.

[MaxIcon 0]

Yeah, I find BLC to be mostly useless except in specific situations - it moves your problem from one area to another.

 

Low contrast can help, but unless you can set different contrast settings between day and night mode, I find low contrast decreases the nighttime picture quality, since greyscale is already lower contrast than color.

 

The WDR demos I've seen here have been pretty impressive, though it always takes running it in real life to know if it fixes your problems.

[buellwinkle 0]

Demos always look iimpressive, it's marketing's job to make them go that way

[shadowvg 0]

Thank you for all the advice. I have now settled on the Dahua and I won't worry about the WDR as I think I'm just aiming too high and I need to stick to budget and after thinking about it all I really don't want to go overboard.

 

There are 2 models and I don't really know/understand the difference. Could someone enlighten me?

 

Duhua IPC-HFW3000C - is the one I am looking at primarily also they do a IPC-HFW3000. I just don't know or understand the difference. I see something in the lens but I'm just not sure.

 

IPC-HFW3000C

http://www.dahuasecurity.com/products/ipc-hfw3300c--15.html

 

IPC-HFW3000

http://www.dahuasecurity.com/products/ipc-hfw3300--13.html

 

Thanks once again

[MaxIcon 0]

The non-C has a slower lens with longer focal range - 8-16mm, F1.6. This is pretty zoomed for a CCTV cam, and wouldn't allow a wider-angle view, which is most popular for people starting out. Looks like this one could be used for license plate apps, as those often want a longer zoom with narrow field of view to get lots of pixels in the plate area, but that's just a guess.

 

It also appears to be a standard mount, while the C version has a fixed mount as part of the housing. There are also differences in the IR design and specs, and the non-C only goes to 1/30 sec, while the C goes to 1/4 sec exposure.

 

Generally, the 3.3-12mm f1.4 lens will be much more useful than the 8-16mm lens for typical CCTV apps.

[shadowvg 0]

Brilliant - awesome breakdown.

 

I'll go ahead and order now.

 

Many thanks!!

[Robbrageous 0]

Brilliant - awesome breakdown.

 

I'll go ahead and order now.

 

Many thanks!!

 

 

Hi im in the same boat as you, so thanks for asking a lot of same questions I had.

 

Can I ask where you are orderd from in China? I think I also will go that route. Did it work out well?

 

Thanks in advance

[shadowvg 0]

No worries, glad it helped someone.

 

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post where I purchased from. Can anyone confirm the forum rules?

 

It did all go well though. I still havn't put them up (mixture of tardiness and finding an external waterproof box to store the cables in from the ponytail wires)

 

Thanks

[Robbrageous 0]

No worries, glad it helped someone.

 

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post where I purchased from. Can anyone confirm the forum rules?

 

It did all go well though. I still havn't put them up (mixture of tardiness and finding an external waterproof box to store the cables in from the ponytail wires)

 

Thanks

 

 

Sorry, my bad if that is a forum rule.... rookie move on my part.

 

That would make sense as to why when I kept searching people kept referring to ordering but never saying from where.....lol