new to cctv and need advice

[sargentbash 0]

hi i have tried to look at other threads but no one seems to be in the same boat i am in. i live in a complex, its a free standing houses, so there is no gate in the front, my car broken into last night. i want to place 1 decent camera faceing the entrance of my complex, i am bout 3rd house from the entrance, so i can track any suspicious cars or people coming and going into the complex. i have a computer so i do not need a dvr recorder. i know i would require a card to go into the pc. i need to know what is a decent camera for night time, so i can clearly see the peaope and cars plus the registration. any assist will be great.

 

one other thing i live in South Africa, but im sure ill be able to acquire the same models done here.

 

thanks stevo

[Kawboy12R 0]

You want to be able to identify faces and read license plates at night from (I'm guessing) about a hundred yards away?

[sargentbash 0]

yes i would like to identify the peeps and the license plates, they would enter the complex i would have the camera faceing the entrance to try capture as much as i can.... so they would come towards the camera? im approx 35-50 yards away from the front of complex..

[Kawboy12R 0]

Here's a recent thread about tuning some decent but inexpensive 2mp network cameras to capture plates at very short range. As dexterash mentions in the thread, normally it's best to use two cameras- one tuned just for plates and another for everything else (like faces). Here's another thread showing some daytime plate capture capabilities of some megapixel cameras with wide angle lenses.

 

I'm not a pro, but I'm thinking you'd need a box camera in a weatherproof housing with a minimum of 6-60mm zoom lens to get even remotely close enough. I've got a 5-50mm varifocal I've used before but I somehow doubt it'd grab plates even during the day at 100 yards. I'd try and dig it out but I don't have even close to a 100 yard field of view in front of my house to test it out. There's probably a lens calculator out on the net somewhere that'll give you the lens length needed for, say, 50 pixels per foot (more is better) at the exact distance you want. You'll have to specify camera resolution (D1 for analog, 1.3mp, or whatever) and sensor size as well. Preliminary fiddling with the Pelco camera tool (unless I'm doing it wrong) is telling me that 60mm isn't going to be near enough. Serious gear ($2000 plus) may be required, even if there's decent lighting. You'd be better off to have the person closest to the choke point you want to monitor mount a camera on their house (if there is a close place with hopefully a fairly straight (not angled) shot at the plates) and maybe use a directional wifi bridge to get the signal back to your place for monitoring.

[sargentbash 0]

thanks for the advice here are some pics. top view is my house and entrance to complex. street view black is my house red is were i think i should place the camera? there is a slight angle as the wall is a few meters away from the rd.

[Kawboy12R 0]

OK, those distances are a lot better from the camera to the road than I was picturing. If it were me and I was on a budget I'd try it first with a 12mm camera. A lot depends on lighting though. If there's little light (and there's really no way to describe what's enough light without actually trying something) then it's tricky. I can grab plates at about 40-45 feet at night with a dim porchlight shining onto a plate against headlights when shooting straight on with my Axis P3364VE zoomed to 6mm with no IR. It's good enough under my low-speed no angle conditions that it also functions nicely to view people. With cars driving by at night in your location I wouldn't think that 6mm is enough for even an amateur solution and you might need IR which changes the game completely. I assume that your plates reflect IR just like North American plates. You might like to check buellwinkle's post in this thread for a dedicated plate camera recommendation. You'll also probably need a second camera for good pictures of people/cars/colours.

[sargentbash 0]

thanks Kawboy12R for all your assist. if i may bother you with 1 more question, it seems, if i understand this i would require a expensive camera for the license plates. i am sure they robbers are not coming into our complex via car and rather on foot. so what sort of camera would i require a decent view of the peeps?

 

and yes our number plates are reflective

 

thanks again stevo

[Kawboy12R 0]

Well, your best luck for plates is with a more expensive cam. You can try other cams and some have decent luck by adjusting the settings but you'll miss more plates under different conditions with a cheap cam over an expensive one, sometimes a LOT more. Like most of them.

 

As far as non-plate cameras go, well, that depends on budget and the features you need. Folks on here are liking the bang for the buck quality of Hikvision megapixel network cameras (rebranded by Swann and Lorex and sold at Costco in the US dirt cheap compared to alternatives). They've got wide angle lenses though so aren't much good at a distance beyond 15-20 feet, maybe 30 or 40 feet depending on lighting, luck, and how fussy you are. Easy to tell what is going on with a wide angle lens, but unless the subject is close you won't get a mugshot, just good enough to recognise them if you already know them. Everybody used to love Dahuas at their price point, but better cams like the Swann/Lorex ones came out at about the same price as the bottom-end Dahua bullets (under $175/cam). Once you get into varifocal cams (adjustable "zoom" lenses), the larger Dahua bullets (3mp 3300C reviewed here) still aren't a bad bang for the buck as far as features (like lens adjustable to 12mm if you need it and alarm inputs) and night ability go. They're getting harder to find for a decent price because Dahua is putting the screws to the grey market on them.

 

ACTi's E44 is looking like an interesting cam for night-time but it's new enough I haven't seen any video from it yet. ACTi's other offerings, while inexpensive, still require decent additional lighting at night before the picture quality is up to snuff IMHO. It's just over $500 but not widely available yet. I'm considering adding some of these to my house and maybe at work if the night video is good.

 

I like my Axis domes (P3364VE) with Lightfinder but they aren't for tight budgets. They run about $800-$1100 each fairly commonly on Amazon depending if you want 6mm or 12mm. The 12s go for more than the 6mm and the LVE version a bit more than the VE. L is for IR, V is for Vandal dome, and E is for Enviromental protection (outdoor version). They do very nicely without IR as long as there is a streetlight or porch light or something nearby though.

 

You'll get a good feel for cams and what you'll see with them if you read buellwinkle's blog over on http://www.networkcameracritic.com/ .

 

Oh, and you don't need a card in your computer to run network cameras. Most are powered by PoE (power over ethernet), so for a cam or two you could get a PoE injector or two (or maybe a PoE switch for a bit more money) and plug the switch or the cameras into your router and you're good to go with either the free software that most network cams come with or something like Blue Iris ($50), NVR+ ($130), Zoneminder for Linux (free), or whatever.

[AmillenBlake 0]

Hey there, I think you should go for an infrared security camera. It will help you to track the faces, cars and the registration number. They will surely solve your purpose and even will be suitable in every weather. There are many cameras available with varying wavelengths according to the suitability, so you'll easily be able to choose from them.

[Cessy 0]

You can choose outdoor IP cameras, now most of them have IR function with several LEDs.

[the toss 0]

You can choose outdoor IP cameras, now most of them have IR function with several LEDs.

 

And will struggle to see 10m

[tesc_cctvpro 0]

imo, not worth the investment.

 

Go to your local electronic store get a wireless PIR beam or two and prestic them around the vehicle. after the first activation move the positions - cost you less than R400 and your car won't be broken into again.

 

Much better solution than having the car broken into, giving poor images to police,of a plate that has a high probability of being fake, and all of this after the fact.

[HSTactics 0]

In terms of CCTV, what I've found over the years is that you have to approach this investment with caution. What good is it to spend upwards of a couple hundred dollars for exterior surveillance if they are exposed? There is no logic in that. A robber with a $2 can of spray paint can easily blind your cameras and effectively nullify its usefulness. I got a simple fixed camera, integrated with alarm.com which allows me to view video through my smartphone. Very easy set up. Here's the link to the site I got it from:

 

http://www.prolinkprotection.com/#!fixedcamera/c1wsl

 

Hope that helps. Also, it's best to install your cameras inside looking out a window. That way they won't get damaged or vandalized

[Isofia 0]

well, choose HD outdoor cam with ir cut will be better.

Cam with alarm function&motion detection.