Can you help with my setup

[SMW 0]

I looking at a 4 camera DVR system. After reading the fourms I have decided to go with a Dahua DVR but I am unsure on the model or on the cameras.

 

The DVRs I'm trying to pick from. What are your thoughts

 

http://www.securitycameraking.com/4-channel-ultimate-mini-series-59083-prd1.html

http://www.securitycameraking.com/4-channel-elite-mini-economy-59020-prd1.html

 

http://securitycameraagent.com/SECURITY-EQUIPMENT/Standalone-DVRs/4-Channel-DVRs/Dahua-4-Channel-Full-D1-Standalone-DVR-SAX0410HRS.html

http://securitycameraagent.com/SECURITY-EQUIPMENT/Standalone-DVRs/4-Channel-DVRs/Dahua-4-Channel-CIF-Standalone-DVR-SAD0400H.html

 

 

 

Cameras I am at a lost. I need to keep the system to 500 or below. bullet, dome, fixed lens....????

 

Attached you will see the area I am trying to cover. The red dots are where the cameras would go.

 

 

what would you guys suggest?

 

 

 

[Kawboy12R 0]

I'd forget the last one from SCA. It's a CIF recorder. That is 1/4 the resolution of the other full D1 recorders. CIF is absolutely useless for IDing from recordings after the event happened. Cheap for hooking up cams and viewing live (same as watching the cams from a D1 recorder) but no good for evidence afterwards. To me, there are only two choices in the ones you picked, and maybe only one choice. It's between the $129 and the $199 models. The $129 does full D1 at 7fps and the $199 does it at 30fps. There's nothing wrong with 7fps for home surveillance and the mild choppiness is not a big deal while watching videos, but I bet the snapshots from the $199 model look better when looking for plates or facial ID.

 

I'll make two points though. The first point is that 4 cameras isn't enough to cover a home. It's a really good start, but you might want to get an 8ch dvr to save you from replacing the 4ch in the future. The second point is that if you don't mind going with the Dahua IP bullet cams (good points and bad points, but they ARE cheap), you'll get a MUCH better saved picture with greater facial and license plate detail for not much (if any) more money than an analog system with decent cameras. It'll cost you way more than $700 to get an analog system that's even remotely close to the quality of the 4ch $700 QSee IP system that's for sale at Costco.com if you're in the States. Look at the price of the analog DVRs you're considering, add the cost of a HD ($140 installed for just a 500gb hd in any of the DVRs at SCK or SCA), probably $80 in cabling, plus 4 cameras at $80-$150 each or more for something not totally horrible at night or in complicated lighting.

 

Is the 8' yellow strip to the right of your house the driveway? If so, you'll probably want the camera to the lower right to be catching plates of everybody who pulls in. Night is tough for plates, but if daytime-only is good enough then you might get by with a 3.6mm lens for that corner. 6mm will restrict the field of view but get better pics of what pulls in, especially if you stay with analog cams. The remaining front camera might best be put directly over the door looking straight out or slightly towards your driveway. 3.6mm lens that close would give decent facial detail for anybody that comes to the door and give you an idea of what's going on pretty much all over your front yard. I'd stick another 3.6mm one or close over the back door. The 4th one I'd have covering my car. Not sure where you park your car or if that back building is a garage or not. If you always park your car inside it I'd have the 4th cam inside there somehow. That leaves big holes in coverage of the house through the windows but that can't be helped with only 4 cameras. At least this way you'll have a decent chance to ID someone who drives in what I assume is your driveway, enters the house through the doors, and has access to your car.

 

Do you have kids? How big is your lot? If they play to the left of the house you'll probably want a cam pointed that way to easily watch what they're doing if you put the cctv monitor somewhere central in your house or pipe the video to your televisions somehow.

[SMW 0]

Yes the driveway is on the right. I should note that the lot is 120' x33' and has a 6 foot wooden fence on the E,N,W sides. In front of the house is a 4' metal fence with a gate for the drive. We park in the driveway about halfway back.

 

I thought the q-see systems were low quality.

[Kawboy12R 0]

The $700 QSee IP system *IS* a Dahua NVR with Dahua 2100 6mm bullet cams (read the review on buellwinkle's networkcameracritic.com and search for the huge thread on here about Costco and Dahua). Low end as far as IP systems go but still IP with lots more resolution and detail than D1 analog. Middle of the road name brand IP cams go for your whole $500 budget per camera plus a computer with NVR software (or dedicated NVR), plus wiring, plus possibly a PoE switch. Really nice ones are $1000 or more per cam. For a complete plug and play 4 cam IP system with wiring and PoE NVR, $700 with Costco's warranty is an excellent deal. And yes, for an IP system it is low quality, but if you wanted to pop $4k-$5k (yes 4-5 thousand) for a "high quality" 4 camera NVR IP system then you probably wouldn't start out looking at a $500 analog system.