Help selecting indoor/outdoor cameras under $500

[David4Star 0]

We are looking to get around 4-6 cameras, probably at least two for outdoor night and the other ones for indoor also night.

 

There are so many cameras out there I am having trouble trying to find what i need! For the outdoor cameras I Would like to be able to capture license plates at night, would it be possible in this price range? And for indoor I would like to be able to see faces to recognize a person if possible also.

 

Thank you,

David

[voip-ninja 0]

Well, you probably will have to start by providing more information.

 

1. What is the weather/climate like where you are using these cameras?

2. What is the distance from the camera location to the face/license plate you want identified?

3. How much light is available?

 

Realize that many of the people on this forum are actual professionals who get paid to do this kind of work (figuring out camera resolution, distance, lighting, and pixels per inch to see if a positive ID of a license plate is possible, etc).... and might be willing to help point you in the right direction but only if you do as much of the leg work yourself as possible (draw a diagram or take photos of the area and upload it here, etc).

 

The most challenging operating environment for any of these cameras is at night in poorly lit areas. At the low end you're looking at $400-$600 per unit for cameras that perform reasonably well in "low" light areas... but if the light is "poor" then you will need units that have built in IR illuminators, or you will need separate ambient lights or separate IR lights installed to provide adequate illumination for recognition purposes.

[buellwinkle 0]

When you say under $500 per camera, are you including the costs of the poe switch, the recording device be it a PC with software or an NVR?

 

Indoors I use ACTi ACM-3511 (now I believe it's the TCM-3511 and there's a new replacment coming at the end of the year). It's a small indoor dome, gives me clear contrasty images in complete darkness. I have them wall mounted and ceiling mounted. ACTi provides very good NVR software for free, just supply a PC.

 

Outdoors is trickier, I really like the ACTi KCM-5611, very good low light performance, very good WDR so you can use it to read plates and 1080P resolution. The problem is price, not under $500. I'm hoping their new low light bullet will perform as well but closer to your price range and it's supposed to be out in January. It's difficult to find a camera with good WDR for under $500. There are very good cameras for under $500, but not ones that I've reviewed that have excellent WDR. For example, you can get a Dahua bullet or ACTi bullet for well under $500, and you'l be impressed with the image day or night, but try and capture a license plate surrounded by bright brake lights or bright headlights, not going to happen. May pay to splurge on that one camera where you need the WDR capabilities and then save money on the other cameras like your backyard or side yard where WDR is not really needed. For example, get the under $300 ACTi TCM-1111 on the side or even a used ACM-1231 and then put the better camera in front where you are covering the street. Again, what I like about ACTi is the NVR software is free and very good and they have very good service and support. Some people complain, but reality is, I get the same level of service from ACTi as I do with Mobotix with $1,500 cameras and Axis. Sometimes they get back to you right away and sometimes it takes a day.

 

As for PoE switch, look at for a Zyxel 16 port PoE switch, on sale I picked one up for a little over $100. It will support 8 cameras all at full power (some PoE switchesn like from Trendnet or even lower end Cisco say 15w per port if you have 1 or 2 cameras, but they have power totals, like 30w for a 4 port switch, so yes, 15w per port, but you can only plug in 2 15W cameras and many of the cameras with illuminators can be 8-12W). Also, assume the camera uses more power than the specs. I had 3 cameras rated at 10W plugged into a Trendnet switch and at night when the IR LEDs come on, I would lose a camera.

 

For recording, if you already have a PC, take advantage of manufacturers that give you the software for free. If you don't, there's some low cost NVR's out there, but even then, may cost more than a cheap $399 PC and free software. AXIS gives software for free called Axis Camera Companion but only works with some of their cameras. Most of the Taiwan companies like Brickcom, ACTi, Vivotek, Geovision give software for free.

[David4Star 0]

Thank you for the info guys! Sadly I do not have too much more information to give right now, because I don't have it >_<. I am the IT admin here, and the GM asked us to put together something, without giving us crap for details. I am going to have my boss speak to him again today to try to figure out what is really needed and why. I do know we most likely want to be able to catch licenses plates if possible and be able to recognize a person, if its my guess they have a problem with stealing at night. Couldn't tell you the exact distance unfortunately, but I do understand these things aren't magic and im not gonna catch a plate/face if its that far away lol.

 

As for the NVR and POE switch, I have a computer build that I have saved at newegg to act as a server for it, and I did actually pick out that exact POE switch from newegg also, since it was the cheapest and looked like it could power the most, and should work for us right now with room to expand in the future. I would say our budget is $4,000 max most likely( I know, its not much, especially for what is asked) for the NVR computer/poe/cameras/possibly licenses in the software.

 

I am not sure which software to get yet either, I was going to see if we go with one brand of camera if using their software was better.

 

 

Thanks again, I will try to get you more details later.

[David4Star 0]

Okay, I have some more information.

 

We need two cameras outdoor, one for each of our gate locations, to be able to capture licenses plates. My boss said they will be installed about 50 feet away. I can possible bump the budget upto $700 for each of them but would like to stay cheaper if possible, since I still need to get two for indoors to just generally recognize a person, nothing too fancy there.

 

If you guys have any idea what would fit my needs let me know, I'm lost!

 

Thanks,

David

[buellwinkle 0]

There's CCTV lens calculators on the net to figure out what lens you need to cover 50' and have enough pixel density to have facial recognition with many experts say the head has to be at least 80 pixels tallk to identify someone. So figure out what resolution you need to get at the angle of coverage you want and identify someone at 50'. Then you can talk price.

 

Start with drawing out the area, preferably on a napkin you just used, then mark the camera location, mark the area you want to cover and draw lines back to the camera location, then get a protractor and figure out the coverage angle. That will pretty much tell you the lens you want. Then use those numbers in calculating pixel density at 50'. The specs for the cameras usually give you the viewing angle or if it's a varifocal lens, the range of angles covered by that lens.

[dipsonn 0]

Please advise accordingly on the type and model number of cisco PoE switch that can be use for mobotix cameras.