3S Surveillance Cameras

[carlitosway 0]

Has anyone heard or has had any experience with this brand?

 

They have a couple of interesting 5MP models and offer something called Intelligent Video Analytics built into the camera.

 

 

Dome (Model: N3011 - 50ft IR and 3-10mm varifocal lens) - retails for about $650

http://www.3svision.com.tw/prod_info.php?pid=50

 

Bullet (Model: N6013 - 82ft IR and 3-10mm varifocal lens) - retails for about $700

http://www.3svision.com.tw/prod_info.php?pid=55

[Voipmodo 0]

These are one of the brands of Digiop. They sell a few different brands in the USA including LG. Looks like another imported white label series of cameras. We stay away from these brands as Digiop/Observant sells them wholesale, but also runs their own catalog company that sells direct and bypasses installers and resellers and so muddles the market.

[carlitosway 0]

Hello Voipmodo,

 

Thanks for your prompt reply!

 

Sorry if it seems too trivial but I'm a bit confused (I'm a newbie) and didn't understand what you meant by: "We stay away from these brands as Digiop/Observant sells them wholesale, but also runs their own catalog company that sells direct and bypasses installers and resellers and so muddles the market."

 

You hit it right on the nail since I was looking at one of the Observant company's site and they indeed provided me with a quote. The 5MPs seem like a great deal to me being new to this because of all the bells & whistles being offered. I read through the 3S vision manuals and they seem very complete and informative. I'm a systems engineer so the technical part is very easy for me to understand. However I'm very new when it comes to the IP camera world.

 

Frankly, I've been going nuts researching over the past few months. Seems like every manufacturer in the IP camera business is making a somewhat different flavor of the same thing. I'm looking to invest in a decent system for my home but the available choices all seem to be either halfway there when it comes to offerings, and there seem to be plenty of compatibility issues related to the "ONVIF standard". To me it seems that IP cameras systems are a nascent technology that is still evolving, which is why I've been really hesitant to make a decision on one system/brand.

 

Let me explain myself a bit more clearly:

I have a budget of around $2000 to $2500.

My main concern is covering an area in front of my home (where my vehicles are parked) which is about 50' from the entrance of my home (I originally guestimated 100' in a recent post for an ACTi system, but I did measure with a laser device this time and my farthest point is 44', so rounding to 50' should more than cover my range from the camera mount point) as my vehicles have been getting vandalized at night.

I would need a low-profile camera (such as a dome) that would offer excellent performance at night.

My goal is really to catch the person doing the damage (and not act as a deterrent for the person doing the damage), so in light of this I want something that is "stealthy".

I looked at the ACTi KCM-5611, and this particular unit would seem like the ideal solution, but it is a box camera, and adding the mounting arm to this camera would make the camera stand out about 2 feet from the wall. This plus the IR's would definitely make it very obvious to anyone that I have a surveillance system installed, not to mention that it would also create a problem with my home owner's association, as I live in a gated town home community.

 

The ideal camera would be something shaped like dome camera with excellent day/night capability, zoom (or possible PTZ) features and built-in configurable analytics such that I would receive email alerts with pictures of the intrusions when they happen as well as some type of DO to say, add physical notifications when an event occurs. During this mad chase I found yet another camera (last night). This camera from Bosch called the "Autodome" seems to be contained in the same container that would house a fixed-dome, but also offers the PTZ function built in.

Unfortunately, there is not much info. on it other than the manufacturers site which leads me to believe that this particular product is discontinued.

Not being able to find anything similar (I don't want a standard PTZ as these devices seem quite large), I have to rely again on what is on the market which would mean trying to decide on a system that is somewhat halfway there in features and it's very difficult to justify paying $500-$800 or even more for a camera that is lacking features just to find that I also need to invest in additional IR illuminators to compensate for lack of night coverage on all cameras. Add to that the implementation of NVRs and having the chosen device work with cameras chosen even though they all seem to implement the ONVIF standard. The only way to find out whether my chosen system will work or not is to actually purchase and install it, which brings me to another dilemma.: Finding any reputable suppliers that are willing to offer a 30-day trial without penalizing the purchaser with restocking fees. This means that we would have to be 100% sure that what we're purchasing will work, otherwise we get hit with restocking + shipping fees. For an $800 camera we would be looking at $80 or more in restocking fees if we find out that the marketing info. of the product does not support real-life implementations.

 

Considering the limitations on all features leads me to think: What am I really getting for my $2K-$2.5K? For this kind of money and limited features I can probably get a Dahua system, purchase a couple of 3MP IR fixed domes and a couple of 1.3MP turret-style fixed-dome cameras (IPC-HDW2100 which by the way no other manufacturer selling IP cams seems to have), get their NVR hybrid packaged solution (allows for both analog and IP cameras) and deal with the pain of finding firmware updates for cameras and NVRs, and save some $$ in the process, with the realization that, as all other IP-based camera systems, this system will have some limitations that I will need to live with.

One last point is that some "legacy" DVR-based camera systems already have basic capabilities built right out of the box (such as fairly good nigh vision, somewhat stealthy cameras in the form of turret-style fixed domes, and even iPhone/IPad/Android remote viewing compatibility) and eliminate the need to go chasing after firmware updates for maybe $1500 for an 8 camera system (I have a friend that has one installed at his town dome and seems to work great and has good picture quality) which are also capable of recording for several weeks on a 1TB drive. I may be missing some bells & whistles, but I would also have something that just works without worrying about firmware updates, video frame drops, etc. and will allow enough quality to catch a vandal a provide "good-enough" proof to the authorities.

 

I apologize for the long message but I wanted to express my frustration on deciding on one system when selecting an IP-based system. At the same time I'm hoping that someone will have the patience of reading through my rather long message and educate me with the feasibility of what I am trying to accomplish and hopefully some tried and tested solutions.

 

Many Thanks!

[peterdewolf 0]

That was a long post . You have a good budget for several cameras. If it was me I'd forget a dvr system, who wants to go scrolling through all that footage every day. Personally I've settled on Security Spy to manage all my CCTV needs, they are compatible with a wide range of cameras and the system allows you to manage the whole thing, monitoring and recording from a laptop, which I take upstairs at night. Security Spy can record continually or upon motion detection and dumps QT movies into a separate folder for each camera on the system.

The cameras are anybody's guess, but I wouldn't use wireless cameras, they have notoriously weak signals in my experience, don't like solid walls or metal studding in cavity walls. The footage lags and connections drop.

As for covert warning, there are several products which use a simple PIR to send a signal to a receiver that will do a range of things like give you alarms or even switch on your table lamp in your living room for instance.

[carlitosway 0]

I appreciate your reply,

 

I looked at Security Spy, and if I'm looking at the correct site, the software is made for Macs only. While I think that the Mac is a great platform for computing, I believe that Security Spy is not the right solution for my particular application as Security Spy would require for me to purchase a Mac and dedicate the Mac (minimum of $1,000) to act as a DVR. I'm not interested in dedicating a computer PC for DVR functions, as I believe a dedicated self-contained NVR is suited best for my application.

 

My main issue is finding an all around solution with a concentration on the cameras.

[Voipmodo 0]

We tend to lean heavily towards Mobotix cameras in case anyone didnt notice . They work great and have been great options for customers.

 

If you want covert and have the mounting space, you can look at their S14 model. you mount the main "brain" unit and then position 2 sensors in the wall or ceiling so the only thing visible is the lens. You can get a lens from 180 degrees to 15 degrees coverage and can mix and match so your day lens could be really wide angle and your night/IR lens could be narrower and just focus on your cars/etc. Recording and analytic are built in, so you can set to record only on motion in predefined areas. NO NVR or DVR is needed, for residential use, most cases just pop a 32 or 64GB sd card and you are good to go. Its in the top end of your budget but is a decent solution..

[carlitosway 0]

Thanks for the reply Voipmodo!,

 

I've been reading a bit more on the Mobotix (this is the first brand I looked at when I started looking at IP cameras a few months ago).

 

I have some questions regarding the S14D:

 

1) The system installed needs to be able to provide images that allow for positive identification of a person at a distance of up to 50 feet.

The attached image seems to indicate that the camera image field of view is limited to about 5 feet for positive identification.

 

 

2) I would require two lenses in order for the system to work in day/night.

3) The lenses seem to have LEDs to indicate power and camera recording. Since these cameras do not use IR, is there an option to turn these LEDs off via software?

4) The camera housing module does not seem to have any DI/DO. Is there a way that alarms can trigger a DO to for example, turn on a light?

5) I did not see an option for the cameras to send email notifications with attachments of photos capturing an intrusion.

6) There is no mention of an iPhone/iPad/Android app for this system. Is there such an option?

7) Can I also connect to the TVs in the house via an HDMI cable (as in standard NVRs)?

 

Thanks!

[Voipmodo 0]

Thanks for the reply Voipmodo!,

 

I've been reading a bit more on the Mobotix (this is the first brand I looked at when I started looking at IP cameras a few months ago).

 

I have some questions regarding the S14D:

 

1) The system installed needs to be able to provide images that allow for positive identification of a person at a distance of up to 50 feet.

The attached image seems to indicate that the camera image field of view is limited to about 5 feet for positive identification.

[attachment=0]S14-Fov.JPG[/attachment]

 

For Positive Identification at 50feet you are going to need a very narrow focused lens. For mobotix this would probably be a L65 or higher. YOu can swap lens modules on the S14 This is the same with all fixed lens cameras. The wider the coverage area the less distance for long range identification. Only other option is a really high resolution camera 10MP or higher or to find a PTZ with auto tracking.

 

2) I would require two lenses in order for the system to work in day/night.

that is correct

3) The lenses seem to have LEDs to indicate power and camera recording. Since these cameras do not use IR, is there an option to turn these LEDs off via software?

Yes, led's are fully controllable in software

4) The camera housing module does not seem to have any DI/DO. Is there a way that alarms can trigger a DO to for example, turn on a light?

 

You can add an IO module to the camera that will give you I/O as well as rs232 input.

 

5) I did not see an option for the cameras to send email notifications with attachments of photos capturing an intrusion.

You can have multiple Email profiles to be triggered by events. for example email a video clip,image, trigger by temperature, or even use the IO box and send an email if your alarm system is triggered.

 

6) There is no mention of an iPhone/iPad/Android app for this system. Is there such an option?

There are several options for Apps. Currently best for IPAD/IPhone is QcamPro which is $7 I believe. Mobotix has a native app launching March 8th.

7) Can I also connect to the TVs in the house via an HDMI cable (as in standard NVRs)?

 

As there is no NVR as part of the system there is no direct conection for a TV. What you can do is if you have a smart TV, is install an Android Camera viewer app. IF you do not have this, you can run a small pc, plugged in android device, or in some cases have heard people using Apple TV's. Most of our customers end up using their tablets more then anything for viewing.

 

 

 

Thanks!

[Fancift 0]

I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND 3S cameras.

We installed over 580 on one of our projects and have had so many issues. To this date still fighting with the Vendor about them. ALSO, I was told by an ex employee that there was a recall on those cameras. I don't want to get that person in trouble so trying to find the information on the recall....