I would be very grateful for advice regarding camera choice. My intension is to install a four-camera system, possibly more, linked to NAS. I purchased the NAS, a QNAP model, some time back and set it up as a RAID array. Although I purchased it for use with a CCTV system, I’ve been using it in the meantime for video, music and photos and it is working a treat. I still have quite a lot of capacity on it, which should be enough for the cctv system. If I need more, I intend to migrate the array to a higher capacity over time.
Looking at the various cameras on offer, it appears that Hikvision models work well with NAS and seem good quality. The reviews I’ve read lead me to conclude that turret style cameras would be a good choice in either 5MP or 8MP versions for my requirement. However, I have one intended camera position that may be problematic for the turret style. This relates to a position on the facia of the front porch. This camera location is the best place I can find to capture an image of the drive and front garden and is also an ideal position to film the face of anyone approaching the front door. Other higher positions have obscured views due to trees or building projections. My current thinking is to use a 2.8mm or 4mm lens but I’m undecided as to which.
The area I would like to monitor from the porch facia position is approximately 15m wide x 12m deep and the distance from the camera to the entrance of the drive is approximately 20m. A hedge obscures most of the road beyond this but the entrance gates are quite wide and anything the camera can see of the road and walkways though the gates would be a bonus. If I install a turret style camera at this location, I am concerned that I may get IR white-out on the faces of anyone approaching the door at night. There is also a concern that, although well within the grounds of my home and away from public walkways, etc. the camera will be a little vulnerable at such a low level - the ideal facia mounting position is only about 2.3m high and just to the right of the front door. As a consequence, it may be better to install a dome camera here (possibly a Hikvision DS-2CD2183GO or similar). However, I understand that, at night, dome cameras suffer badly with reflections from close surfaces and from their infrared LEDs and so aren’t the best choice. As the camera would need to be mounted flat to the vertical facia and right beneath an overhanging gutter, reflections may be particularly problematic. I would be grateful for any advice you can give. Perhaps you could suggest a different type of camera that would be more suitable or are my concerns over the turret or dome unfounded? I notice that the dome camera I mentioned does not appear to have IR LEDs surrounding the lens. Does this mean that it is has a passive infrared capability were reflections are no longer a problem?
I’ve attached a couple of images of the area concerned that help to illustrate the issue I have. Both were taken using a mobile phone, so the field of view is not as wide as it would be with a 2.8mm or 4mm lens. The fist shows the view I would like to cover taken from the position from where the camera would be mounted. The second, is a view of the porch. The intended camera location Is on the facia above and to the right of the door. This image helps show how close a person would be to the camera when that are standing at the door.
Looking at the various cameras on offer, it appears that Hikvision models work well with NAS and seem good quality. The reviews I’ve read lead me to conclude that turret style cameras would be a good choice in either 5MP or 8MP versions for my requirement. However, I have one intended camera position that may be problematic for the turret style. This relates to a position on the facia of the front porch. This camera location is the best place I can find to capture an image of the drive and front garden and is also an ideal position to film the face of anyone approaching the front door. Other higher positions have obscured views due to trees or building projections. My current thinking is to use a 2.8mm or 4mm lens but I’m undecided as to which.
The area I would like to monitor from the porch facia position is approximately 15m wide x 12m deep and the distance from the camera to the entrance of the drive is approximately 20m. A hedge obscures most of the road beyond this but the entrance gates are quite wide and anything the camera can see of the road and walkways though the gates would be a bonus. If I install a turret style camera at this location, I am concerned that I may get IR white-out on the faces of anyone approaching the door at night. There is also a concern that, although well within the grounds of my home and away from public walkways, etc. the camera will be a little vulnerable at such a low level - the ideal facia mounting position is only about 2.3m high and just to the right of the front door. As a consequence, it may be better to install a dome camera here (possibly a Hikvision DS-2CD2183GO or similar). However, I understand that, at night, dome cameras suffer badly with reflections from close surfaces and from their infrared LEDs and so aren’t the best choice. As the camera would need to be mounted flat to the vertical facia and right beneath an overhanging gutter, reflections may be particularly problematic. I would be grateful for any advice you can give. Perhaps you could suggest a different type of camera that would be more suitable or are my concerns over the turret or dome unfounded? I notice that the dome camera I mentioned does not appear to have IR LEDs surrounding the lens. Does this mean that it is has a passive infrared capability were reflections are no longer a problem?
I’ve attached a couple of images of the area concerned that help to illustrate the issue I have. Both were taken using a mobile phone, so the field of view is not as wide as it would be with a 2.8mm or 4mm lens. The fist shows the view I would like to cover taken from the position from where the camera would be mounted. The second, is a view of the porch. The intended camera location Is on the facia above and to the right of the door. This image helps show how close a person would be to the camera when that are standing at the door.
