Home PoE CCTV setup: Questions

[freddyq 0]

Hi all,

 

This is my first time posting on here!

 

I'm looking to setup CCTV monitoring around the house and have been doing some detailed research recently to help me purchase the kit I'll need. I have a bunch of questions from that which hopefully you can help with. I should point out that as part of a recent home renovation I had CAT6 cable run to three points around the house (front, side and rear) where I would want the cameras located so that bit is done and allows me to go for PoE cameras.

 

Rather than putting all my questions here in one shot I'll ask in related groups, starting with the cameras. I'm going to try and go for Hikvisions as they seem to get positive reviews in general and should come within my budget although open to others if better suited to my requirements. The one I'm currently thinking of is the Hikvision DS-2CD2042WD-I 4mm mini bullet. I've looked into the bullet vs dome debate but to be honest I still don't have a compelling reason to go for one over the other. My questions on the cameras are:

 

1. Any thoughts on the Hikvision above? Hopefully it's a good choice for general domestic monitoring.

In terms of bullet vs dome, is it dependent on where I'm planning to put the cameras? So the front drive is 7.8m deep and 10m wide. It's currently not all concrete so the car is parked in a 3m wide space on one side of the drive but I'd like to be able to cover the whole or most of the front garden. I like the idea of a bullet making itself obvious on the front of the house looking across the front garden - thoughts?

 

2. The side area I'm looking to cover is 6.7m long and 2.6m side - not sure if bullet or dome would be advantageous given these dimensions?

 

3. The rear garden is probably again 10m wide and 20-25m long - I'm not fussed about covering the whole lot, just the patch closest to the house but here I feel a small lens with wide FOV would be best in which case a dome? I understand I could get a dome in 2.8mm lens for example but not a bullet.

 

4. Is there a way to work out the right lens size to go for in each camera? My current feeling is 4mm for the front and side and 2.8mm on the back. But because the side is a narrower space I don't need as much width on the FOV so maybe 6mm for that?

 

5. Should I consider a PTZ camera for the front? I'd obviously prefer to avoid due to cost unless it will allow me to achieve more effective monitoring in my case.

 

Other points:

- I need to be able to view a live feed of the cameras remotely via an app or browser - if I can rewind and playback remotely as well then even better.

- The cameras should have functionality which notifies me when they detect movement.

 

In terms of local storage and recording on motion detection requirements, I'll come to that in my next set of questions as it links to setup

 

TIA!

[mattaggie 0]

personally I prefer dome because they are more vandal resistant. You could throw a football at a bullet and change where it is aimed. Also with a dome, people cannot tell where it is being aimed. A bullet shows you exactly where the lens is pointed. But, as you point out, bullet stands out more and says to people "hey im watching you!"

 

Bullet vs dome doesnt matter in terms of area it covers. Its all about the lens to know the field of view. You can get vari-focal cameras that have a lens range from like 2-8mm so that you can configure each camera to the area's needs.

 

Unless you are going to be monitoring the cameras constantly, there is no point in a PTZ, other than the convenience of changing angles and view from PC vs at the camera itself.