Camera and NVR suggestions?

[fastsvo]

My BIL recently got a quote for Hikvision cameras and NVR and interestingly they added a ring doorbell to the mix. Any thoughts on this setup (pic below)? Given the inflated pricing, I know we can do better, but should it go the way of Hikvision or Dahua or ?? Which model(s) would you recommend?

Thanks!

 

[Revo2Maxx]

Don't know the area where this quote is from so it is hard to say that the camera price is over. Issue is the camera for Hikvision is one of the higher line camera with MP to Sensor and a good f/1.0. The camera ranges from 180 to 450 from different places and a lot has to do with supply and demand..

The problem that I see is that I personally don't like packages that are all 1 type of camera because there is no 1 camera that can do it all. I mean there are some out there that get close.. Main issue is that 8 camera all with 2.8mm lens there is going to be things that just isn't going to be captured because the person or vehicle is to far from the camera.. So if all areas for install is open spaces and want to capture ID of subjects within 25-30 feet and or monitor what is going on and be able to know who you are seeing is normal everyday person of about 40 to 50 feet. Anything over 50 feet is going to be hard to get finer detail and without perfect light knowing a number from a plate might be hard..

Then 1 down side from what I read about most people anyway is that White Led cameras are not what people want.. I personally have a lot of Color night cameras and personally prefer them as it don't put to much light but I don't use only White Led cameras. I have a mix of IR and White led cameras. But if they are not in a perfect spot for 8 white led cameras to be running white led for all the cameras might be problematic.. Again I love my white led cameras..

Trees or objects between installed position and target to detect can cause issues. Like lets say you have a hedge that is 20 feet out that has a gate opening there might be an issue with seeing what is past that 20 foot mark because the light being reflected back to the camera.. Another light source at that 20 foot mark could offer longer range past that area. Just saying things seen in my years in this. However loads of people just install cameras and never even look at them until something happens and then not happy about not getting the detail they thought it would had they kept an eye on the system. Loads of people have webs or water marks on the cameras and that isn't going to capture anything when you need it most..

 

[wittaj]

Agree with the above - all cameras on the same fixed lens rarely are the right fit.

A Ring doorbell will not work with the NVR.

As far as cameras, without knowing what your goals of the camera is, this thread is used as the go to for the new person here outlining the commonly recommended cameras (along with Amazon links) based on distance to IDENTIFY that represent the overall best value/best bang for the buck in terms of price and performance day and night. It might be a 2MP camera in some instances. Many here feel 4MP is the current sweet spot for these cameras.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

And coupled with that thread is this great thread which will show why all of the same 2.8 or 3.6mm cameras is the wrong choice (these are the common focal lengths consumer brands sell):

i-want-2-8mm-cameras-everywhere-to-see-everything-this-is-why-you-need-specific-fovs-with-purposeful-focal-lengths.70053/

We would encourage you to look at those threads in detail.

It will probably raise more questions than answers LOL.

 

[dudemaar]

Hello, I would suggest buying from one of our ipcamtalk vendors here. @Andy (EmpireTech) is a solid seller here and always working with his clients for support. You can PM Andy here on forum for a possible better member price.

the Reolink wifi or POE doorbell is a ipcamtalk favourite. I also own a wifi version and can say its better than most out there.

EmpireTech IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3 1/1.8" CMOS 4MP IR Starlight 2.7mm–12mm Var

4-MP 1/1.8" CMOS image sensor, low luminance, and high definition image. Outputs max. 4MP (2688×1520) @25/30 fps. Built-in IR LED, and the max. illumination distance is 40 m. ROI, SVC, AI H.264/H.265, encoding after filter, flexible coding, applicable to various bandwidth and storage...

empiretech01.com

EmpireTech NVR16CH-16P-2EI 16CH 1U 16PoE 2HDDs Network Video Recorder

Max. decoding capability: 16 × 1080p@30 fps Supports adaptive decoding AI by NVR AI by Camera Connected to the third-party network cameras Security baseline 2.3

empiretech01.com

EmpireTech NVR16CH-16P-2AI 16 Channels 1U 16PoE 2HDD Network Video Rec

Multiple decoding formats Support AcuPick with Max. 16-Channel Support N+M cluster AI by recorder AI by camera Security baseline 2.3

empiretech01.com

https://www.amazon.ca/REOLINK-Video-Doorbell-WiFi-Detection/dp/B0B7S3JSG7/ref=sr_1_5?crid=9S1TNLV17SOF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GDhTxJk9VheF7cRXUgHMN8DmLKWOzYVA3omu4QHRibvMPv77Bw3s1ceQd6-02cjMaqNiKKa6ebtdAnh7EUlq7ZYmgjxxjAZZLiSkmXl6csRh7WcB0ldcrlflSTdxvaG1_ie22vAkl9an-IEe10F5kaOI_b_ofMeZY_-W5KKaWlDa5R5G-0E07kX9dTxV-hXaO9Gr6oJWrqj5P8Y6_2MzJKYMA5lQrB1zG2BZA5NiQXXJ5r1dV1RCwFZFEtdOMmJQmfgmc0CL-E1fViaxUHYnX3_FbKOxxXmi_RUFtmg1OxIa990AueFcaaWmb_UTKD0kan1OmjB7tsfq86b-EwTXOsEIobXfifXd3dOM5Yfc9FWt8d3BASBO93xSazCcspq6BZGKOPPBnSoH5Zju_XCWyInTSxYKZtWdWtzl38FPvmE50zSqHXooW5cKWG3EKtr8.cyji2n8UGnYbNTRE3L6gnw7-XSzSrP4IMfZZkCmjjGk&dib_tag=se&keywords=reolink+doorbell&qid=1742988237&sprefix=reol%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-5

https://www.amazon.ca/REOLINK-Video-Doorbell-PoE-Camera/dp/B0B7S1HMPC/ref=sr_1_8?crid=9S1TNLV17SOF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GDhTxJk9VheF7cRXUgHMN8DmLKWOzYVA3omu4QHRibvMPv77Bw3s1ceQd6-02cjMaqNiKKa6ebtdAnh7EUlq7ZYmgjxxjAZZLiSkmXl6csRh7WcB0ldcrlflSTdxvaG1_ie22vAkl9an-IEe10F5kaOI_b_ofMeZY_-W5KKaWlDa5R5G-0E07kX9dTxV-hXaO9Gr6oJWrqj5P8Y6_2MzJKYMA5lQrB1zG2BZA5NiQXXJ5r1dV1RCwFZFEtdOMmJQmfgmc0CL-E1fViaxUHYnX3_FbKOxxXmi_RUFtmg1OxIa990AueFcaaWmb_UTKD0kan1OmjB7tsfq86b-EwTXOsEIobXfifXd3dOM5Yfc9FWt8d3BASBO93xSazCcspq6BZGKOPPBnSoH5Zju_XCWyInTSxYKZtWdWtzl38FPvmE50zSqHXooW5cKWG3EKtr8.cyji2n8UGnYbNTRE3L6gnw7-XSzSrP4IMfZZkCmjjGk&dib_tag=se&keywords=reolink+doorbell&qid=1742988237&sprefix=reol%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-8

 

[fastsvo]

Don't know the area where this quote is from so it is hard to say that the camera price is over. Issue is the camera for Hikvision is one of the higher line camera with MP to Sensor and a good f/1.0. The camera ranges from 180 to 450 from different places and a lot has to do with supply and demand..

The problem that I see is that I personally don't like packages that are all 1 type of camera because there is no 1 camera that can do it all. I mean there are some out there that get close.. Main issue is that 8 camera all with 2.8mm lens there is going to be things that just isn't going to be captured because the person or vehicle is to far from the camera.. So if all areas for install is open spaces and want to capture ID of subjects within 25-30 feet and or monitor what is going on and be able to know who you are seeing is normal everyday person of about 40 to 50 feet. Anything over 50 feet is going to be hard to get finer detail and without perfect light knowing a number from a plate might be hard..

Then 1 down side from what I read about most people anyway is that White Led cameras are not what people want.. I personally have a lot of Color night cameras and personally prefer them as it don't put to much light but I don't use only White Led cameras. I have a mix of IR and White led cameras. But if they are not in a perfect spot for 8 white led cameras to be running white led for all the cameras might be problematic.. Again I love my white led cameras..

Trees or objects between installed position and target to detect can cause issues. Like lets say you have a hedge that is 20 feet out that has a gate opening there might be an issue with seeing what is past that 20 foot mark because the light being reflected back to the camera.. Another light source at that 20 foot mark could offer longer range past that area. Just saying things seen in my years in this. However loads of people just install cameras and never even look at them until something happens and then not happy about not getting the detail they thought it would had they kept an eye on the system. Loads of people have webs or water marks on the cameras and that isn't going to capture anything when you need it most..

This is in the SoCal area, so we have lots of suppliers in the area + Amazon + Andy as well (I have bought from him in the past). I have never messed with these white led cameras, but everything you are saying is what I am picking up in conversations with other installers as well. Are there IR cameras that also provide color vision at night? I'll have to review the camera placements and see what makes sense, outside of the usual default of springing for 2.8mm cameras.

 

[bigredfish]

Yes these
They can activate the white LEDs on Tripwire/Intrusion, or you can set them to be on with a schedule
Or You can set the time the white LEDs stay on with no movement, mine is set to 60 seconds

You can or not have the circus lights and siren activate as well. I dont use either

IPC-HDW3449H-AS-PV-PRO - Dahua International

IPC-HDW3449H-AS-PV-PRO

www.dahuasecurity.com

This is running 1/120 and its quite dark in there. The IR image is amazing in its ability to pick up light


View attachment 192.168.1.110_ch12_20250322221210_20250322221312.mp4

 

[Revo2Maxx]

You will want to look over the cameras and make sure that they do in fact work with White LEDS at night and not only for like an alarm.. There are some cameras out there that may have 1 led for IR and one for WL, Some of them drive the End user crazy trying to make it turn on the white led for Color night videos but will only turn on as a "Hello look at me I have seen you and recording you" kind of setup. My guess is that it might have been with quality or lack there of a good enough sensor or maybe the CPU it self wasn't good enough to make the switch fast enough to capture what was going on in color or the return after the fact

For instance. Different camera but an issue that drives me nuts and it don't need to be this way. I have a Flood light camera that is Dahua OEM Wifi not really great but works well enough for area. When it goes from B/W to color is almost instant and captures everything. However when it goes from Color back to B/W after a motion trigger there is a delay in the IR returning and because of that delay there is very dark screen area video until the IR returns. SO might be same issue with some of these other cameras that is IR and or White led but won't switch on event..

So just want to make sure to check out the cameras seeing that not all of these cameras work the same way. If you want a color night camera personally I would buy one that is Color night. It normally is setup with software and hardware for that task. Where sure there are cameras most all IP cameras and even some higher quality analog cameras that have option to turn off IR, in B/W or change to Color at night mode. If they were built as an IR camera, normally a quality built camera would have had things added to make it work the best in IR at night.. Dual Light camera kind of same concept. It was really made for best result to be IR at night. Seeing it has a IR Filter and the lens more then likely a IR lens. Color lens can have different type glass and was built for color at night action..

What ever you do don't fall for some people out there trying to push a brand with some great high tech software that makes the night look like day.. Cameras will ghost really bad no matter how you set it up.. Unless you have an area with LOADS of light..

In the end remember not every camera is the same or acts the same>>>>>