I am looking to install a CCTV system here at my work. This is what I want to watch:

1- Front reception area which is aproximately 20' x 20'. This area has glass which faces west, and is tinted. There is sunshine late afternoon coming in from that side. There are no lights on in there at night. Ceiling height is 10'. I believe one dome.

1- Hallway leading to the side door. This hallway is about 10' long x 5' wide. No windows or glare. No light in there at night. I believe one dome.

2- Warehouse doors. The cameras will need to be mounted 12' to 15-high on a wall which is 30' directly in front of the warehouse door. The warehouse door has some early morning direct sun, but not much. this door stays open during the day, so the camera will be mounted so it views the warehouse and will catch what is outside of the door. The warehouse has no lights at night.

4- parking lot cameras. These 4 cameras will need to be mounted aproximately 20' up. I would like them to catch a field aproximately 50 feet from the building from where they are mounted. This area has real nice lighting at night. I do not need the ability to pan or zoom these cameras remotely.


We would like to be able to view our cameras here at work on our network, or via the internet from remote locations.

I have a Geovision set up at home, and have had real good luck with it. I built up a dedicated tower just for my Geo.

Would you suggest that we get a dedicated DVR or a Geovision? Please suggest which one I should get?

I have not purchased anything yet, and I am ready to go with this project.

We have our service vehicles parked out back and have had several break ins.

Thank you guys for your suggestions.

Lew

GV for the DVR, Samsung GVI for the indoor domes. great picture, great view!
outdoor cams personally I like the Samsung Techwin SDC-415NA, in your case fitted with Fuji 5-50mm so you can play with it for your liking.

million $ question, whats your budget?

Go for a dedicated one

Panasonic WV-CF284



Panasonic WV-CF284



Panasonic WV-CW244S



Panasonic WV-CP254H & Panasonic PLZ29/27 Lens w/ Videolarm ACH13HBWM Housing



Very standard with just about everything these days.



If you like geovision, great. It can be a personal preference. If you have had a geovision setup for awhile and no problems, then you can stick with it. We personally stick to standalones, either Panasonic or ICRealtime.



Its going to be preference for you. The geovision will save you money if you build your own PC, however you may have more service issues with geovision vs. a standalone.

If your interested in surveillance at night, the WV-CF284 cameras are not true day/night cameras. They are simple day/night cameras that provide "OK" images at night. They also have adaptive black stretch technology that helps in high contrast situations much like the light coming through the glass doors/windows. A day/night replacement would be the WV-CP254H but this is not a dome camera, its a box style that will need a dome ceiling mount enclosure and adds to the overall cost of the system.

The WV-CW244 is a color only vandal camera that is great for warehouse applications but does not see at night very well. An immediate solution would be the WV-CW484S but its going to be 2 to 3 times the money.

If your most interested in catching burglars after hours, you may be more interested in a perimeter intrusion system with video verification that will dispatch the authorities to apprehend. Video surveillance is great but if you get too broad of a shot at times, it will be difficult to identify for arrest/prosecution.

Panasonic solution is an excellent option and I concur with our member on his recommendations...

Another option will be to look at combination of Panasonic and Sanyo solutions, which should save some money.

I am sure there could be many other variations, so hopefully other members can give you some ideas.

One area that I personally will not compromise, if I were in your shoes - is warranty... regardless which models you get and who the manufacturer is, make sure that you do not discount this important options when selecting your hardware. - Industry standard is three years, so that gives you a lot of protection and service, when needed..

Here are some of my observations.



For the above locations, I will recommend Sanyo Minidome part number VDC-C1574VA and here are some of its specs:

* Sanyo Vandal Proof MiniDome
* 520 TV Lines of Horizontal Resolution
* 2.6-6.0mm Varifocal AI lens
* Wide Dynamic Range performance
* 24V AC and 12V DC, Dual Power Operation
* Easy installation, easy adjustment and easy set-up
* Vandal-resistant Dome & Weatherproof design (IP66)
* Built-in Motion Detection and Privacy Masking Functions

Pricing should around $[edit by mod-no dealer prices plz]



For this one, I will suggest Panasonic WV-CP484 camera and Tokina 2.8mm - 12.5mm AutoIris Lens (of course you will need camera mounting hardware and you can use Panavise Dual option mount). With this camera you will not have the picture to "wash off" during or after any lighting changes. Here are some of its specs:

# Higher horizontal resolution of 540-line (typical) at color mode, and 570-line at B/W mode.
# Minimum illumination: 0.5 lux (0.05 fc) at color mode, 0.06 lux (0.006 fc) at B/W mode, at F1.2 optional lens 0.6 lux (0.06 fc) at color mode, .08 lux (0.008 fc) at B/W mode, at F1.4 optional lens
# Innovative intelligent features: Auto Back Focus (ABF) adjustment function, for easy focus at installation and remote focus fine tuning (up-the-coax or via network by WJ-HD300 Series) after installation. Auto image stabilizer function for applications where vibration or wind is a concern, e.g. passing vehicles. *Scene change detection alarms when lens is covered, spray painted, removed, defocused or camera angle is changed.
# Signal to noise ratio of 50dB.
# Digital motion detector.
# Menu setup can be displayed in 8 (eight) languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese.
# 16-alphanumeric character display.
# Electronic shutter from 1/60 (off) to 1/10,000 sec.
# Electronic sensitivity enhancement (auto/manual/off).
# Digital signal processing LSI's for high quality picture: 2H vertical enhancement, chroma averaging circuit, minimum of aliasing, knee circuit, and highlight aperture correction.
# Gen-lock capability for the large system application.
# VD2 sync capability with Panasonic system products.

Combo for this camera, the lens and for the camera mounts should be around $[edit by mod-no dealer prices plz]



You should use the same Panasonic camera above and place it into an outdoor housing with heater and blower (to maintain clean evironment against dust or moisture). The housing is a dime a dozen and I will recommend it from American Dynamics.

Combo pricing for this camera and the outdoor housing should be around $[edit by mod-no dealer prices plz]



Well, this is a no brainer... most and if not all the DVRs come with remote connection...



If you have the preference with GEO, then stay with it... I am sure it will be very handy when you have to maintain the system



One suggestion that I can interject is to consider embedded system that does not require any software maintenance. There are quite of few these type of systems in the market. If you can tell us how many ports DVR you may need, then I am sure we can give you several options to choose from.

I have not purchased anything yet, and I am ready to go with this project.

We have our service vehicles parked out back and have had several break ins.

Thank you guys for your suggestions.

Lew[/quote]

The WV-CP484 has the ability to have the focus fine tuned manually up-the-coax? Nice. Same for the WV-CW484?

Yes, however you will need to be using a Panasonic DVR for this to work.

The CP480 series cameras in both the box and dome style are always going to be your best case scenario but also the most expensive. We try to push those to all of our clients but sometimes budget just doesn't allow.

Thank you for the replies.

As for a budget, I am not realy looking to hold to one, I am just looking to have a nice working system.

If you were to go with a stand alone DVR, which one would you suggest? I will most likely have between 7 and 8 cameras, and most likely would not need any more. If you feel that a Geovision would be the way to go, would a 1240 card be the way to go?
I have no problem building up a pc as long as it will be accessable thru our server, and remotely.

We have a security system which has the entire building perimiter wired, so I think we are good on the alarm.

We believe the thieves we are dealing with have keys to our company.

I will be ordering the cameras this week, as well as the DVR.

Thanks again for your help.

If you want to go with Geo option, then it is great and you can manage everything.. If you want embedded system that delivers the goods, then there are few options that give you excellent performance and very good playback picture quality.

1. Bosch DIVAR series is one option. Dependent on hard drive configuration, the pricing could vary between $1,600.00 to $2,500.00.. The model numbers in mind are DVR-8K-016A to DVR-8L-100A and few variations in the middle.

2. CBC makes one of the decent DVRs in the market.. with their DR8N series, you can get them without any hard drives or DVD burners and add what you need... The pricing could vary between $800.00 to $1,900.00. The model numbers in mind are DR8N to DR8NC-1.5TB and quite of few variations in the middle

3. Panasonic solution is yet another decent option. The models in mind are covered in WJ-HD220 series and there are two models to choose from.. 160GB and 320GB storage and pricing could vary between $1,600.00 to $1,900.00

4. Mitsubishi DX-TL4509U series - there are four models to choose from going from 250GB to 1TB internal storage and pricing around $1,900.00 to $2,900.00 range.

5. Sanyo Cheetah series (DSR-3709H).. Decent solution and yet provides very good performance. Quite of few options avail due to variations of hard drives and with or without CD burners... Pricing averages between $1,300.00 to $2,500.00

There are many other options from above manufacturers and as well as from American Dynamics, GE Security and few others that have much higher pricing.

Bottom line here is regardless which one you choose, you will get excellent performance for the price and yet still get three years warranty and unlimited technical support (in case of Bosch, once their technical support determines that the product is defective, they will overnight you another system and pay the shipping costs at both end covering the cost for you to return it back).

Hope this helps.. and if you have any other questions, let me know or PM..

For standalone units, you can also look into ICRealtime. The Flex series 8 channel with the R30 upgrade is an incredible unit. MSRP is around $2,796.00 but you can normally find it far less than MSRP, closer to $2,400.00

[quote:b2bdce6b41="securitymonster"]

Yes, however you will need to be using a Panasonic DVR for this to work.

The CP480 series cameras in both the box and dome style are always going to be your best case scenario but also the most expensive. We try to push those to all of our clients but sometimes budget just doesn't allow.