Wifi/Ethernet IP Cameras

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DravidDavid

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#133826 4-Nov-2013 11:59

Hi guys,

I know this topic has been discussed before, but I've got a car park to monitor as it has recently been tagged up. Getting a bit sick of seeing it happen all the time and not being able to give the Police any useful information, so I want to put a camera or two out front.

It's quite a wide carpark which is out the front of two factories. I think I'll be needing two cameras to cover it. Being able to pick up number plates at night is a must. Being able to identify people is a bonus. Budget is small. I was considering two of these, but they don't appear to be PoE.

I've seen in another thread that Dahua is more like what the pros use. What would be the difference between one of these and something from JayCar?
Has anything changed with regards to wireless cameras? Or is a wired camera with a wireless bridge still the best option? I've heard Dahua cameras are packaged with good software for recording?

I will be recording to a computer by the way, but the backup SD card slot is very attractive. I'm all for backups!

Any recommendations on New Zealand retailers for this stuff is much appreciated also!

Cheers,
David

Mark

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#927061 4-Nov-2013 15:34

Have a look at Foscam, they do some nice cameras for not a huge amount of money, also well supported by the DVR software.
Not sure on the range of the infrared on them, but with a bit of cleverness you could setup some other infrared lighting to blanket your carpark ?

sbiddle

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#927093 4-Nov-2013 16:27

If you want good low light conditions and number plate recognition a Mobotix camera is best the way to go.

Depending on the size of the carpark you may get away with one camera and run dual nay/night lenses with IR cut.Off the top of my head you'll be looking at around $2k per camera + instalation. If that's well beyond your budget the simple reality if anything less is going to be very average in comparison. Dahua have nothing that comes close. Jaycar don't even have a anything that comes close to Dahua.

chevrolux

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#927126 4-Nov-2013 17:45

Mobotix make awesome cameras and have great software too. As sbiddle says, the price is well up there. They do however have a great little camera that has a 180 degree viewing angle. There is distortion and the edges but image quality is still superb. They are really small too.

On the other hand though when I think about it, maybe you want something that is conspicuous to scare people off.

DravidDavid

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#927138 4-Nov-2013 18:18

sbiddle: If you want good low light conditions and number plate recognition a Mobotix camera is best the way to go.

Depending on the size of the carpark you may get away with one camera and run dual nay/night lenses with IR cut.Off the top of my head you'll be looking at around $2k per camera + instalation. If that's well beyond your budget the simple reality if anything less is going to be very average in comparison. Dahua have nothing that comes close. Jaycar don't even have a anything that comes close to Dahua.

2K is definitely way out of the price range. I will probably be installing them myself. If I get something that's PoE, it should be as simple as wiring it up to a PoE enabled switch, which I can do just fine.

I could get away with one camera if I was to blind spot one of the entrances, which i don't really want. Monitoring for unauthorized entry isn't really a concern. We have two locked doors with door codes and a monitored alarm before whoever enters gets anywhere important. We mostly just want to keep hoodlums from tagging the place up on our big concrete walls and roller doors. Or at least have something on them like a face or number plate we can give to the police.

I was thinking big and scary to start with...Then I thought our front window is covered in univision. The camera can see out but the taggers wouldn't be able to see in. Might be a bit tough on the camera though.

IR lighting sounds like a cool idea!

richms

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#927222 4-Nov-2013 20:04

Im guessing a visual deterrant would be all you need. get some fakes or else some dirt cheap outdoor analog cams off ebay (which are cheaper than the decent looking fakes) and a whole lot of signs.

Anything from jaycar is just the same as cheap ebay stuff, but not cheap because they have had to do all the importing red tape and back it up when idiots buy them and blow them up.

Richard rich.ms

DravidDavid

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#927260 4-Nov-2013 21:08

richms: Im guessing a visual deterrant would be all you need. get some fakes or else some dirt cheap outdoor analog cams off ebay (which are cheaper than the decent looking fakes) and a whole lot of signs.

Anything from jaycar is just the same as cheap ebay stuff, but not cheap because they have had to do all the importing red tape and back it up when idiots buy them and blow them up.

Blow them up?

I'm not so sure I want a fake. We have printed several signs today and coated with graffiti guard. I do want a camera that does something. Next time this happens, I want something to give to the police. Mainly because I have reason to believe what happened before was a targeted event. Also, there are a lot of traffic accidents where I work and it would be fun to catch some on camera, haha!

richms

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#927263 4-Nov-2013 21:09

Yeah, you can buy a camera from jaycar, hook it up to 24VAC and blow it up and then return it. Know someone who did it twice.

Richard rich.ms

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sbiddle

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#927355 5-Nov-2013 07:25

DravidDavid:
richms: Im guessing a visual deterrant would be all you need. get some fakes or else some dirt cheap outdoor analog cams off ebay (which are cheaper than the decent looking fakes) and a whole lot of signs.

Anything from jaycar is just the same as cheap ebay stuff, but not cheap because they have had to do all the importing red tape and back it up when idiots buy them and blow them up.

Blow them up?

I'm not so sure I want a fake. We have printed several signs today and coated with graffiti guard. I do want a camera that does something. Next time this happens, I want something to give to the police. Mainly because I have reason to believe what happened before was a targeted event. Also, there are a lot of traffic accidents where I work and it would be fun to catch some on camera, haha!

All all seriousness it's pretty much impossible for anybody here to give you any real advice without knowing the setup.

What I will tell you is that nothing else comes close to a Mobotix camera for night vision, and there is nothing out there for much less that will give you number plates at night as you need to use a lens with IR cut to see plates. You could spend ~$450 and get a Dahua dome that will give OK performance at night but it won't work in no light like the Mobotix which uses a B/W lens which gives it the ability to deliver unparalleled quality in the dark. Getting good shots of faces is also pretty critical if you want to identify somebody.

At the end of the day you have a choice - you can have something that works, or something that doesn't work. The solution that works is going to cost a lot more.

Gordy7

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#927360 5-Nov-2013 08:07

The camera you are looking at may at least be a deterent and you would have a time/date stamp on any event.

640 x 480 pixel resolution would probably have a limit of 6 to 10m in being able to read a number plate.
(based on daylight view and a different 640x480 camera that I have). Night view may be worse.

I don't do local storage anymore but email the detected motion snaps to my gmail account.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

sbiddle

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#927362 5-Nov-2013 08:13

Gordy7:
The camera you are looking at may at least be a deterent and you would have a time/date stamp on any event.

640 x 480 pixel resolution would probably have a limit of 6 to 10m in being able to read a number plate.
(based on daylight view and a different 640x480 camera that I have). Night view may be worse.

I don't do local storage anymore but email the detected motion snaps to my gmail account.

Quite simply 640x480 is a joke. A camera with that sort of resolution isn't something you'd ever seriously install these days for even monitoring your cat! A good quality analogue camera will deliver a vastly superior picture to that.

There is no point in installing CCTV gear if it's not fit for purpose. All of these cheap systems floating around these days for a few hundred dollars are of absolutely no value at all, and give people a false sense of security.

Gordy7

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#942083 28-Nov-2013 10:20

640x480 view of my neighbours cat in my driveway :-)

Gordy

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k1wi

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#942150 28-Nov-2013 11:18

TBH I think cameras are still more of a deterrent than they are an evidential quality device...

Even cameras with good picture quality (which cost a lot - outside the OP's range I'd say) are often mounted up out of reach, which really reduces their ability to accurately capture someone's face. At best you're possibly able to get their clothing...

sbiddle

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#942198 28-Nov-2013 12:31

k1wi: TBH I think cameras are still more of a deterrent than they are an evidential quality device...

Even cameras with good picture quality (which cost a lot - outside the OP's range I'd say) are often mounted up out of reach, which really reduces their ability to accurately capture someone's face. At best you're possibly able to get their clothing...

I couldn't disagree more. You've clearly never looked at properly installed system using modern install using good kit such as Mobotix.

If you've got cameras that are purely a deterrent and can't deliver any evidential quality you may as well not bother having them. People aren't scared of cameras because they incorrectly assume like you that they'll be so crap they'll never get caught.