Hello all,
As I am a new member I decided to post here. I just registered a few days ago, but I've been sneakily reading the forum for a few years now - ever since we started building a house, and I got to research on cameras. A few days ago I got the itch again and the house is almost ready for move in, I also already got an ubiquiti dream machine SE which ha 8 PoE ports (I will add a 16 PoE switch to it as well) and I also already got a BlueIris license although I haven't activated it yet as I don't need it - will set it up at some point on an old PC that I have lying around and will use for home server (i7 4790 with 32GB DDR3 should be enough right? I also have a spare GTX1080 but I am not sure if BI can benefit from some GPU power - haven't researched that)... So I found some good deals on Dahua IPC-HFW2449TL-S-PRO (or Andy's IPC-Color4M-XL which seems the same) and the rest of this lineup, so I got into thinking of maybe furnishing myself with some more cameras. I know these are budget ones, but it's nice to see a 4MP / 1.8" camera for that price, few years ago when I bought my first ones the best available at that resolution for a normal price was 1/2.8" - 1/3"
I am aware of the "perfect ratios" regarding resolution and sensor size, however the trends have changed a bit now with AI and all the advancements in WizColor, ColorVue, etc.
I currently have 4 budget cameras that I bought a year or two ago, basically 4-5MP IMOU ones with 1/3" sensors as they are essentially Dahua, and they are doing an OK job for now - especially in day time. My planned final setup includes 8 main cameras (already laid UTP cables with PoE in mind) with 3 or 4 additional ones which I have no UTP cables for, so I will probably reuse my current IMOU ones since they are wireless and have no built-in poe support anyway - had to get them wireless as I had no wiring at the time.
I have an almost squared (roughly 180 to 200 feet sides) fenced yard around 0.85 acres (3500 sq.m.) and I have selected few places around the house that would have cameras mounted to cover all angles. House is sitting somewhat in the middle, distance from the fences varies but it's around 80 feet on the three sides apart from the driveway side which is ~20 feet from the house to the fence/gate. I dont't really need good identification as even though my fences are see through right now, I plan on having a hedge - I have 1 UTP planned next to the gate which could be a doorbell or an outside camera. All the other cameras are planned to be on the outside walls of 1st floor sitting about 8-10 feet from the ground as from what I've learned it's best to keep them as low as possible - outside of easy reach but being able to capture faces and not just top of the head of a person. I will probably mount 1 more expensive camera at the second floor that will be pointed at the street in order to see people / cars that are passing outside, however that will have to be some optical zoom/varifocal lense expensive stuff as the effective distance it will need to be able to "see" is between 50 and 150 feet. I also have a small building in the yard planned for barbecue / summer kitchen but that's where I'll use the spare IMOU cameras as I only have 1 UTP there planned for wifi. The street in front of my house is not lit but there's not much traffic either as it is a dirt road at the current time - it's about 300-400 feet to the nearest asphalt road, and perhaps 150-200 feet to the nearest house. I plan on having some fence lighting but it will be on the inside, there will also be lighting on the house's facade but I am not a big fan of flood lights - it will be more of an ambient light and perhaps some more aggressive light/flood light at the garage pointing towards the driveway/gate.
So basically my main question is - seeing that new models are being launched constantly, and I currently can't find some of the ones that I find interesting for sale in example:
IPC-HDW3449H-ZAS-PV-PRO
Are there any exciting new models coming that you would consider worth waiting for or should I just buy now and outfit myself with some cameras considering that this is not an urgent purchase? I wouldn't buy all the cameras I need now, but I am itching to get 3-4 now to mount ot the facade as my temporary ones are mounted on poles around the yard. I am also not planning on spending a ton of money onthe cameras - I consider a fair price to be around $100 to $200 per piece, preferrably on the lower end. I am a fan of "best bang for your buck". I could dish out some more money on 1 or 2 cameras that would have a specific purpose - for example plate reading, identify/recognize people a bit further, etc. however I still wouldn't want to spend more than $300 or $400 per camera and these more expensive ones would be 1 or 2 cameras at most.
For example I've been also eyeing EmpireTech's:
IPC-Color4K-T
IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3
IPC-T54IR-AS-S3
As well as:
IPC-B54IR-Z4E-S3
For the far shots, however isn't this tech somewhat outdated now? From what I've read, IPC-Color4M-T seems to be the "current model" (it's an IPC-HDW3449H-AS-PV-PRO right?) however I see a lot of conflicting info regarding blurred movement - should I go for it or wait a bit more? Only difference with the ZAS-PV-PRO which caught my eye seems to be the vari-focal which however I would have use of as I have a very open yard and would benefit from some zoom at certain angles. One of my current cameras is by mistake a 2.8mm one (rest are 3.6mm) and the detail difference is significantly worse, I am not a fan of these wide angles. I know that's probably not a good example as it's also with a 1/3" sensor but still.. the 3.6mm ones have much better image quality even with the same sensor.
Anyway, it became a very long post, but I wanted to add some details about my property and well it's an introductory topic anyway
. So TL-DR - if you were currently considering outfitting your house with brand new IPC setup, however you can also afford to wait a few months as you don't need it today/tomorrow/etc. - what would you do considering the dynamics of the IPC market and all the AI hype - are any new models coming out in the next 3-6 months that would be worth waiting for, especially considering my price bracket as I wouldn't dish out $500+ on a single camera.
As I am a new member I decided to post here. I just registered a few days ago, but I've been sneakily reading the forum for a few years now - ever since we started building a house, and I got to research on cameras. A few days ago I got the itch again and the house is almost ready for move in, I also already got an ubiquiti dream machine SE which ha 8 PoE ports (I will add a 16 PoE switch to it as well) and I also already got a BlueIris license although I haven't activated it yet as I don't need it - will set it up at some point on an old PC that I have lying around and will use for home server (i7 4790 with 32GB DDR3 should be enough right? I also have a spare GTX1080 but I am not sure if BI can benefit from some GPU power - haven't researched that)... So I found some good deals on Dahua IPC-HFW2449TL-S-PRO (or Andy's IPC-Color4M-XL which seems the same) and the rest of this lineup, so I got into thinking of maybe furnishing myself with some more cameras. I know these are budget ones, but it's nice to see a 4MP / 1.8" camera for that price, few years ago when I bought my first ones the best available at that resolution for a normal price was 1/2.8" - 1/3"
I am aware of the "perfect ratios" regarding resolution and sensor size, however the trends have changed a bit now with AI and all the advancements in WizColor, ColorVue, etc.
I currently have 4 budget cameras that I bought a year or two ago, basically 4-5MP IMOU ones with 1/3" sensors as they are essentially Dahua, and they are doing an OK job for now - especially in day time. My planned final setup includes 8 main cameras (already laid UTP cables with PoE in mind) with 3 or 4 additional ones which I have no UTP cables for, so I will probably reuse my current IMOU ones since they are wireless and have no built-in poe support anyway - had to get them wireless as I had no wiring at the time.
I have an almost squared (roughly 180 to 200 feet sides) fenced yard around 0.85 acres (3500 sq.m.) and I have selected few places around the house that would have cameras mounted to cover all angles. House is sitting somewhat in the middle, distance from the fences varies but it's around 80 feet on the three sides apart from the driveway side which is ~20 feet from the house to the fence/gate. I dont't really need good identification as even though my fences are see through right now, I plan on having a hedge - I have 1 UTP planned next to the gate which could be a doorbell or an outside camera. All the other cameras are planned to be on the outside walls of 1st floor sitting about 8-10 feet from the ground as from what I've learned it's best to keep them as low as possible - outside of easy reach but being able to capture faces and not just top of the head of a person. I will probably mount 1 more expensive camera at the second floor that will be pointed at the street in order to see people / cars that are passing outside, however that will have to be some optical zoom/varifocal lense expensive stuff as the effective distance it will need to be able to "see" is between 50 and 150 feet. I also have a small building in the yard planned for barbecue / summer kitchen but that's where I'll use the spare IMOU cameras as I only have 1 UTP there planned for wifi. The street in front of my house is not lit but there's not much traffic either as it is a dirt road at the current time - it's about 300-400 feet to the nearest asphalt road, and perhaps 150-200 feet to the nearest house. I plan on having some fence lighting but it will be on the inside, there will also be lighting on the house's facade but I am not a big fan of flood lights - it will be more of an ambient light and perhaps some more aggressive light/flood light at the garage pointing towards the driveway/gate.
So basically my main question is - seeing that new models are being launched constantly, and I currently can't find some of the ones that I find interesting for sale in example:
IPC-HDW3449H-ZAS-PV-PRO
Are there any exciting new models coming that you would consider worth waiting for or should I just buy now and outfit myself with some cameras considering that this is not an urgent purchase? I wouldn't buy all the cameras I need now, but I am itching to get 3-4 now to mount ot the facade as my temporary ones are mounted on poles around the yard. I am also not planning on spending a ton of money onthe cameras - I consider a fair price to be around $100 to $200 per piece, preferrably on the lower end. I am a fan of "best bang for your buck". I could dish out some more money on 1 or 2 cameras that would have a specific purpose - for example plate reading, identify/recognize people a bit further, etc. however I still wouldn't want to spend more than $300 or $400 per camera and these more expensive ones would be 1 or 2 cameras at most.
For example I've been also eyeing EmpireTech's:
IPC-Color4K-T
IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3
IPC-T54IR-AS-S3
As well as:
IPC-B54IR-Z4E-S3
For the far shots, however isn't this tech somewhat outdated now? From what I've read, IPC-Color4M-T seems to be the "current model" (it's an IPC-HDW3449H-AS-PV-PRO right?) however I see a lot of conflicting info regarding blurred movement - should I go for it or wait a bit more? Only difference with the ZAS-PV-PRO which caught my eye seems to be the vari-focal which however I would have use of as I have a very open yard and would benefit from some zoom at certain angles. One of my current cameras is by mistake a 2.8mm one (rest are 3.6mm) and the detail difference is significantly worse, I am not a fan of these wide angles. I know that's probably not a good example as it's also with a 1/3" sensor but still.. the 3.6mm ones have much better image quality even with the same sensor.
Anyway, it became a very long post, but I wanted to add some details about my property and well it's an introductory topic anyway
. So TL-DR - if you were currently considering outfitting your house with brand new IPC setup, however you can also afford to wait a few months as you don't need it today/tomorrow/etc. - what would you do considering the dynamics of the IPC market and all the AI hype - are any new models coming out in the next 3-6 months that would be worth waiting for, especially considering my price bracket as I wouldn't dish out $500+ on a single camera.
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