New CCTV Purchase advise

[secureiam]

@ freddy871 better does not mean optimal for what you want them for.

if you know what you want the camera to do under what conditions you can get the best fit for your budget and that's what counts.

you can spend thousands on a single camera, it can be the dogs .......s but it still might not be the right fit for what you need it to do.

what lens and what resolution is it?

now I know someone with a house that is on a hill and there garden is sunk down a fair bit enabling facial recognition with cameras high up, until they get close and then its tarcking what they are up to.

 

[Handymanjo]

If your camera is in your front window then at night when breaking happen .You will see very little with your cheap camera ? IR will not go through glass.You must have some good security lighting?

 

[freddy871]

i hear you,, was just using it as an example against swann system.. really all i need is a camera that can view front door, house sideway, small patio at rear and rear patio doors. i have decent security lighting and diy wired alarm.. just had a few undesirables knocking at doors and what looks to be checking houses .. so feel an image may help if needed. I not trying to snub all the advice received,, but just wanted to make my expectations a tad clearer.. thanks for all your help guys,,

 

[sparkymarka]

I use these on the budget end domestic cctv installs

 

[Henryf]

Something like that is a much better option due to the vari-focal lens fitted.

You need to be careful with HD CCTV. At first glance the image looks great and the human brain fills in a lot of gaps to kid you into thinking there's more detail than there really is. It's a step up from standard definition but unless you choose the right cameras wide angle fixed lens cameras positioned around a house are unlikely to provide the levels of detail required to identify people you don't know.

But I don't know the specifics of your property. This is why it is essential to look at each installation on it's own merit. General advice still remains the same though, vari-focal cameras are more effective than fixed lens wide angle cameras.

Henry

 

[freddy871]

Who would have guessed there were so many variables. Thanks again gents for a quick idiots guide to DIY CCTV installs.. Its good to get knowledge from them that know. Varifocal lenses are now firmly on my radar. I feel I at least have a broader set of information to help me make a suitable decision. I HOPE.. .

 

[Henryf]

Great stuff. Sorry if it all sounds complicated, in reality it isn't but you do need to understand what is happening and what makes an image good or bad. The biggest problem is that as an industry there is so much bad information and so many lies it makes it hard to understand. You presume a "30 metre" camera can be used for distances up to 30m when in reality it might only have an optical range of less than 5m !!

 

[secureiam]

Think the camera and its capability compared to its required function is sometimes misunderstood.

at 30M away the IR can see that far (if specified) , so you will be able to make out theres something there, and depending on the lens fitted, it will determine if you see enough to id him at 30M away or just see him/her/ something.

Its not how far the camera can see, or how much the camera can see, its about getting the right camera for that scene and whether you want to id, recognise, detect a person at a particular location within that scene.

 

[Handymanjo]

Jo Public get the wrong idea with these cheap camera kits.They see a nice PICTURE and think that it will do the job.A specific camera with the correct lens is the correct way to install a system.These cheap kits do not stand up in a court case unless the image of the person can CLEARLY be indentified . Thats why when installers quote for cctv the customer says how much!!!.Thats because we use the correct camera for the job not cheap fixed lens cameras that look the part.Also we set up the dvr for them and not just get people calling the office, can you help me i have a swann kit and it will not connect to the internet ?