Feedback on DORI-based Camera Selection (Front Door & Garage) - Did I Overkill or Misunderstand?

As long as you understand that you can only do so much with one camera, and that ideally you need more than one at both locations…especially the garage …

My suggestions without actually seeing the scene. Best image quality imho

1- Fr Door- priority is facial detail at door and immediate area within 10-15ft
- 5442TM-ASE fixed 3.6mm if you’re ok with best image quality in IR and possibly switching to color with a bright enough motion flood

View attachment Home_ch3_20241117042259_20241117042326.mp4

OR

- 3449H-AS-PV-PRO if you want the benefit of running IR with onboard white LEDs that can be activated by motion AND optional warning lights, siren, and excellent two-way talk

View attachment 192.168.1.110_ch3_20250320205300_20250320205343.mp4



2- Garage/Driveway - goal 45-60ft 90 degree overview plus ID ? Tough and will require sacrificing something

Problem here is distance vs wide angle view vs ID. As mentioned this is hard with one camera.

Couple of different ways to approach this

A- Two cameras - One with greater zoom for ID and one for overview.
In that case I would recommend a 5442H-ZHE for wide angle and still a little bit of room to zoom to desired coverage area paired with a a Z4 model to zoom and get good facial ID at 45-60ft.
Problem here is light and lack of color. You would ideally set a 4000+ lumen motion flood to activate and provide enough light for color when activated

View attachment Home_ch2_20240923204827_20240923204909.mp4

Here's a Youtube hosted version of the Z4 video as the forum software is fucked again today


* Note the target is 45ft but it’s just as good on other side of street at 60+ft

B- Two cameras but Replace the 5442H-ZHE with a new 3449H-ZAS-PV-PRO which though untested, should be similar to the fixed 3.6mm version which I use at the door and is quite good. This gives you close in color on motion with onboard white LED activation with 25+ ft of good color ID, but still relying on the Z4 for the farther ID shot at the garage

C- A PTZ combined with white motion activated flood or always on 4000+lumen flood
- Leaving model blank for now and there are tradeoffs with all of them. the newer multi lens units with a PTZ and fixed overview lenses combined are very interesting but I've not seen enough real world tests to judge quality. In theory they are made for your scene and effectively replace the two camera solution.

Maybe someone has a good example.... ^^^?

You are overthinking it.

For the 8MP cams, you have selected cameras not on the ideal MP/sensor ratio and that will significantly impact the ability for a varifocal to work in low light conditions. The 3849 series has lots of problems and here is a post with links to issues folks have had with it.

As I have said in that thread you linked, and as bigredfish suggests, one camera cannot be the be all/see all. Each camera is selected for a goal/purpose.

As it relates to distances, that is why I posted suggested distances in that thread above to help make the process easier.

One camera to serve as IDENTIFY at 15meters and serve as overview doesn't exist. Well there are now gimmick PTZs with a 180 camera on top, but they are on less than ideal MP/sensor ratios and people have shown the limitations at night.

DORI is a nice tool in the tool box, but these numbers are under ideal situations with a marketing spin and real world experiences of DORI is that those numbers are established by the manufacturer and are based on best case scenarios like an object not moving and ideal light conditions.

Real world you should cut them in half during daytime and cut that half in half or more at night time.

As an example, our long time resident camera expert Wildcat ran the Dahua 4K/X 8MP 1/1.2" sensor thru the paces. Keep in mind this 4K/X camera is incredible.

He had the 3.6mm version and here is the screenshot from 40 feet in the ideal daylight and standing still, which based on DORI numbers is the supposed IDENTIFY distance for this camera with the 3.6mm lens and I think most of would agree that this is not IDENTIFY quality, even if digitally zoomed in:




I have the 4K/X and 4K/T and they are incredible cameras, but I wouldn't use it for IDENTIFY past 15-20 feet, or half of what the DORI number is.

phdelodder said:

Thank you for the detailed feedback and the reality check on the 8MP sensor ratios and the DORI metrics. Given the geometry of the 17m long view and the reality that one fixed camera cannot do both jobs: I am ready to commit to two cameras for the driveway if needed, but I need guidance on the placement (where on the wall/corner) and the specific lens (e.g., a 2.8mm Wide/Overview and a 6mm or 8mm ID cam).

In short, I am looking for the best real-world, actionable solution for the Driveway/backyard area looking at the back of the house (about 17m deep) and 90° FoV using the floorplan I provided.

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Got it uploaded to YT

See revised post above. I think you'll find myself and @wittaj on the same page

phdelodder said:

Thank you for the detailed feedback and the reality check on the 8MP sensor ratios and the DORI metrics. Given the geometry of the 17m long view and the reality that one fixed camera cannot do both jobs: I am ready to commit to two cameras for the driveway if needed, but I need guidance on the placement (where on the wall/corner) and the specific lens (e.g., a 2.8mm Wide/Overview and a 6mm or 8mm ID cam).

In short, I am looking for the best real-world, actionable solution for the Driveway/backyard area looking at the back of the house (about 17m deep) and 90° FoV using the floorplan I provided.

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On corner of house, both VF with one being standard 2.8-12mm and the other being the 8-32mm Z4

If you are mounting at the garage same but you may choose different angles to capture the door to the garage and down the driveway

Saving $50 on a camera just usually doesn't pay.

I think you're fine just remember the 3449 PRO as a possible at entrance doors because of the great control it provides over onboard IR or Color and can be triggered to allow for both. No downside and it actually sees IR light better than the 5442.
Its hard to describe but the 5442 has a better quality image clearly. But at 10ft I can't make a strong argument that its THAT much better given the 3449's ability to put white light on the target on demand.

Having gone through the trouble of camera selections some years ago, I’d suggest defining your budget and thinking if you’re willing/able to commit all the money at 1-2 purchases or divided on longer timeline. It’s a good idea to first get a varifocal to test the real field of view in different spots. But once you realize the potential of good cams, you’ll probably want more - my experience was a 5 cam consumer grade set to 10+ Dahua cams. It came with a much higher price tag, but at least the captures are useful. Friends like the quality too, but not many are willing to commit to the quality, when you can get a whole consumer grade set with the price of 2 proper cams. They’ll still go for cheap do all see all cam(s) (which we know doesn’t work)

phdelodder said:

@bigredfish I have taken a different approach now, instead of focusing on the minimal required camera's, I have indicated the areas that need covering and possible points for camera's.


Based on what I understand:

• camera 1: 5442TM-ASE - Identification
• camera 2: leaning towards 5442TM-ASE - Identification
• camera 3: some thing that can Recognition, vari focal( 2.8 - 12mm) bullet with 4 or 5 MP
• camera 4: 5442TM-ASE - Identification to monitor the door and the garage port

for 5 and 6 still doubting, there is a window that could be used to force into the garage.

based on this picture do you think it's possible? Would I still the same type of cameras or could I use a more budget friendly?

View attachment 230216

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Is this a single family home ? or multiple family ?

Are you concerned about fence hoppers ?

If this is a single family home, and you are not so concerned about fence hoping, my primary focus would be the front of the house.

I would want anyone coming to the front door and on property to have to walk through at least 2 cameras FOVs which would give me a chance to get a good ID image capture ( 100 ppf on a facial ID image capture ). I would also want to be able to ID any car they may use.

As such I could use more affordable cameras in the yellow zones

phdelodder said:

Thanks for the reply and insights.
It's a single family home and fence hopping is not really a concern.

So start with a camera on the frontdoor would be the first place to start. Would a doorbell camera also work, I do have a traditional doorbell with 12vac transfo in place?

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I would start with one good IP PoE camera .. if you also want a doorbell camera, go for it.

In the USA we have issues with deliveries to the front door being stolen, so that is typically the first camera setup we want to get. Doorbell cameras often do not get the full image of the area we want to cover.

phdelodder said:

I'm looking for a more budget-friendly alternative to the Dahua IPC-HFW5442H-ZHE (approx. 750 Euro). Can you recommend a Dahua model that still features a Motorized Vari-focal lens and 4MP resolution but sacrifices some of the advanced features I wouldn't need? Planning on using Frigate with Home Assistant.

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Hi @phdelodder

I would drop Andy ( @EMPIRETECANDY ) here a line and see what he can do for you.

for many of us, he has been able to provide the OEM versions of Dahua cameras at decent prices.


IPC-HFW5442H-ZHE
4MP IR Vari-focal Bullet WizMind Network Camera

The parameters and datasheets below can only be applied to 5442- Z-S3 series.

4-MP 1/1.8" CMOS image sensor, low luminance, and high definition image.
Outputs max. 4 MP (2688×1520) @25/30 fps.
Built-in IR LED, and the max. illumination distance is 60 m.
ROI, SVC, SMART H.264+/H.265+, AI H.264/H.265, encoding after filter, flexible coding, applicable to various bandwidth and storage environments.
Rotation mode, WDR, 3D NR, HLC, BLC, digital watermarking, applicable to various monitoring scenes.
With deep learning algorithm, it supports: video metadata, smart sound detection, IVS, face detection, smart object detection, and people counting, etc.
Alarm: 3 in, 2 out; audio: 1 in, 1 out; RS-485; analog output; power output; supports max. 1 TB Micro SD card, built-in dual Mic.
24 VAC/12 VDC/PoE power supply; ePoE.
IP67 and IK10 protection, heater.
SMD 3.0.
Anti-corrosion model optional.

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