Looking for advice to replace existing cameras

[thomasvh6]

Hi all,


I'm currently running Reolink RLC-1224A cameras but they haven't met my expectations (poor nighttime performance and the streams to frigate are not great), so I'm looking to replace them with a Dahua, Hikvision, or Empiretech based system. I'd appreciate advice on camera selection for my specific situation.

Property layout
I've attached a diagram of my property. The lot is long and narrow with street frontage at the north side. The driveway runs along the west side of the house for approximately 11 meters. Behind the house there's a terrace, followed by an old garage at mid-property which will be torn down in a couple of years. At the rear of the garden stands a new garage.

I have three Cat6A drops available at the locations marked with yellow dots on the diagram, plus one drop at the doorbell location. The mounting heights vary: 3.4 meters at the front, 2.8 meters at the side overhang, and 2.7 meters at the terrace overhang.

Lighting conditions

• Driveway: illuminated at night
• Terrace: lit on house side, dark on neighbour's side

Requirements

• 3x PoE bullet or turret cameras (unsure if IR is necessary given my lighting)
• 1x doorbell camera (front door, marked red on diagram)
• Frigate NVR integration (mandatory) - running Frigate with Coral TPU
• Person detection required
• Budget: €200-300 per camera, less preferred

Planned camera positions


Position 1 - Front corner (3.4m height)This camera needs to cover the street frontage of approximately 10 meters width and the driveway entrance at about 8 meters depth. Note that this is a semi-detached house, so to the right is my attached neighbour. DORI: OR

Position 2 - Driveway rear (2.8m height)This camera should cover the driveway and perhaps part of the terrace. Given the layout, a 180° field of view would be ideal here. This location has mixed lighting conditions. DORI: RI

Position 3 - Corner of the house (2.7m height)This camera needs to cover the terrace, and later possibly the garden as well. RI

Future - New garage: I'm planning to add cameras here later: one overview camera for the garden and one with more zoom capability looking back toward the house.

Brands I'm considering

• Dahua
• Hikvision
• Empiretech (Dahua OEM)

Questions

1. What specific models would you recommend for these distances and field of view requirements? 5442 s3?
2. For the front position, is a varifocal lens needed to cover the 10 meter street width, or would a fixed lens be sufficient?
3. For the terrace camera with its mixed lighting conditions, are there specific models or features that handle bright and dark areas in the same frame well?
4. What doorbell camera options are there?
5. Is a standalone NVR worth adding alongside Frigate, or would that be redundant?

Kind regards!

 

[The Automation Guy]

I would suggest that your read up on the concept of DORI. This is the distances at which you can expect to capture various quality of footage. If people are too far from the camera, you will only be able to "Detect" their presence, but not be able to "Observe" what they are doing, or "Recognize" or "Identify" anyone. As the person/object gets closer to the camera, at some distance you will be able to detect and observe what they are doing. But they will still be too far away to recognize someone you know. The closer the person gets, eventually you will be able to recognize a person you know, but still won't be able to identify a stranger. To be able to Identify a stranger, the person really needs to be within about 20-25 ft of the camera's lens. (Of coarse the camera specifics affect these numbers too).

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

At the urging of several folks here, I created a thread to show the importance of focal length and how focal length can be more important than megapixels (MP). I mentioned some of this in the post regarding The Hookup’s latest video demonstrating different cameras, including one sold from a...

ipcamtalk.com

The "street and driveway" camera will work as an "overview" camera and allow you to observe people, but you certainly should not expect to be able to identify strangers with it. The camera is simply too far away and you are trying to cover too large an area to be able to get detailed enough footage to do that. If you goal is simply an overview camera, then mission accomplished. On the other hand, if you want to get more detailed footage of the driveway and/or street, then you are going to need more cameras. You really need a camera dedicated just for the driveway between the road and the corner of the house IMHO - likely mounted on the house near the "driveway camera" you have listed - with a very narrow field of few that is focused directly on the end of the driveway.

Speaking of the "driveway" camera, it can effectively get detailed footage of about 1/2 the driveway in front of the house - closest to the camera. The rest of the driveway in front of the house is too far away from that camera location to get "identification" level footage. If you want that for the middle part of the driveway, then you will need to add another camera to the "driveway" location that has a narrower field of view that is focused specifically on the middle part of the driveway. (This is in addition to the camera that covers the end of the driveway).

I would have cameras on each "side" of the terrace which should combine to provide decent coverage of the entire area.

Basically I think you need 5 cameras to get "identification level" footage of your driveway and terrace. If you want to also cover the road, then a single camera where you have it listed now will work great. Just understand that you aren't going to get "identification" level footage from that camera, but it really shouldn't be needed. Once a person comes onto your property, the other cameras will be able to provide the "identification" level footage that most people expect from their cameras.

 

[thomasvh6]

The one in front of the house should do Detection and Overview. This covers the street and the front of the driveway, if I angle it more towards the left. I'm okay with that.
The driveway should be able to Recognize and Identify. This is where our cars are parked. We will install a gate next to the house later on. So the camera should be optimal from the front corner to the camera itself. If I take an 180° I should be able to see a small part of the terrace but I don't think it is fully optimal since I got a dark spot (see image). The terrace one is more recognize because I did Identity with the driveway one (if they are not hooded). I like the suggestion of the other camera on the terrace but I need to figure out how I should do that since I only got 1 UTP to the corner of the terrace.

 

[mat200]

FYI - due to AI demand memory prices are up .. camera prices reportedly will go up also

I'd order one good 4MP 1/1.8" varifocal Dahua OEM or Hikvision OEM camera to start testing with ASAP

 

[thomasvh6]

FYI - due to AI demand memory prices are up .. camera prices reportedly will go up also

I'd order one good 4MP 1/1.8" varifocal Dahua OEM or Hikvision OEM camera to start testing with ASAP

I know, that's why I am asking some recommendations. I want to order them quite quickly. Any recommended stores in Europe or should I ask Andy?

 

[mat200]

I know, that's why I am asking some recommendations. I want to order them quite quickly. Any recommended stores in Europe or should I ask Andy?

Hi @thomasvh6

Andy is the only vendor I know of that delivers to the EU / UK ( I am in the US so I have limited knowledge of other markets, mostly learn from what others have shared here )

I'd drop him a line

BTW - the heights you have listed on your setup are a bit higher than I would like to get good facial ID image capture with typical 3.6mm lenses, and using a varifocal or 6mm lenses to get better chances of facial ID images further away from the camera is useful, but your FOV will be reduced. You many want to look at multiple 6mm or varifocal cameras at those places. The 180 degree FOV cameras can be useful for overviews, so if you just need that you can look for those cameras.

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

Thanks guys

aha, don't need 300euros, just send you a DM, and we work on a great system for you!