Need help making Camera decisions for a 16 channel DVR

Hello everybody, i harassed members of the Geovision forums

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=26664

and the standalone DVR forums

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=26585

and i came to a consensus, im going with a

DAHUA QVIS 16 channel D1 30fps

And now, i need cameras.

The store dimensions are very basic,

Rectangle,

20' x 60' x 11' ceiling.

Lighting during the day is very optimal, its a combination of metal halides and fluorescent. The

metal halides are 4000k

and

florescents are 5000k or 5200k.

I need atleast 8 - 10 cameras for my showroom and the rest i will use in the back and HOPEFULLY 1 PTZ on the roof, and i don't know where to begin. What i have now are IR bullet camers, but really low end, about 40 dollar each and they suck. (it was a package, we were suckered, plus this was 4 years ago)

When looking for a camera, what am i looking for specificly?

The way i thought about it, is that, if its 20' x 60', i will put:

- 4 on one side,

- 4 on the other,

- 2 at the back half overlooking the front?

- 2 in the front half overlooking the back?

I would love it if they were dome cameras, that way i can put them right into the drop ceiling and it will look really nice and low profile, but i was thinking because of the height, i will only see the top of peoples heads, im stumped.

I will be putting a camera for people walking into the store, so even if i only see the top of there heads, i still have a image of there face. and if they cover there face walking in, one of the 12 camera should catch a glimpse of there face.

any suggestions people?

any camera ideas?

I want to take advantage of the D1 quality of the DVR.

So, this is what i was working with when i said really low end 40 dollar cameras

the heigh of these is about 8 to 8 and a half feet

Images were cropped from 320 x 240, i didn't shrink the image so that i could show you exact quality i was viewing on my end.

That's the max. quality your recording at now? 240x240? That's not even CIF. You will enjoy your new DVR!

Yea, those cameras seem like typical cheapies. My go-to cameras are from CNB:

As long as they have the Monalisa chip, they perform very well, especially in their price range ($130+ for vandal domes, and $120+ for indoor domes). See my thread in my sig. for loads of test-shots of them! If you need any outdoors, I'd use the VCM-24VF. Its a TDN vandal-dome. Indoors, I've used the DBM-24VF (also TDN), (DBM-24VD for 12VDC only). They are nice and compact, look good. If you want almost the same quality, at $50+, look at the DFL-20S.

Here's all of their domes:

http://cnbusa.com/en/html/product/product_list.php?maxx=1&midx=4

Looks like they even have in-ceiling domes for low ceilings...

How high up is your drop-ceiling? Because you definitely don't want to just see the tops of people's heads! I'm pretty sure they offer "pendants" that will lower the cameras some.

How high up is your drop-ceiling? Because you definitely don't want to just see the tops of people's heads! I'm pretty sure they offer "pendants" that will lower the cameras some.

The Ceiling is 11 feet high and its going to be 2' x 2' t-bars, and like i said i would LOVE to use domes, But if i cant then i guess i have to use different cameras and mount them against a wall.

That's the max. quality your recording at now? 240x240? That's not even CIF. You will enjoy your new DVR!

I forgot to mention, it was 320 x 240 and i had cropped the image rather then compress to show EXACTLY what i was viewing in terms of quality on my end.

Here's all of their domes:

http://cnbusa.com/en/html/product/product_list.php?maxx=1&midx=4

Looks like they even have in-ceiling domes for low ceilings...

is CNB the manufacturer and Reseller? or are they just the manufacturer?

ignore this question, Ive been researching and i'm quite fond of what i see with CNB, now i have to go see these live.

I also downloaded a program that one of the partners here makes and that's helping me out big time. If only i can figure out how to use the 3d placement of cameras works. Once i got that, then i'm answering all my own questions.

CNB is the manufacturer in Korea ....

They are sold all over the web.

A decent inexpensive goto camera .. much better than a cheap budget camera ... though not quite the quality of bigger brands like Samsung etc - and not as expensive as them either

DBM-24VD

I ordered the DVR,

APOLLO HD PRO

D1 30FPS

And as soon as i can figure out what colour i'm making my t-bar ceiling, then i will order a couple cameras to test this all out.

DBM-24VF (BLACK)

DBM-24VD (WHITE)

And atleast one VANDAL PROOF unit for a parking lot camera.

Ill keep you all posted