for my 'back door camera' i have opted to put a camera indoors looking at the back door.
i would like the camera to be fully zoomed in on the door when the house is unoccupied or the occupiers are asleep (to catch detailed face shots of intruders) but in the day i would like the camera to be zoomed out so that it acts as an overview of the kitchen because... why not?

i am going to use a relay output from my intruder alarm so that if the system is set or part set the camera will fully zoom in to the door an when it is unset the camera zooms all the way out.

i do not wan't to use a PTZ purely because of the fact i can't afford one (unless one of you has one going cheap) so i thought i may aswell use a box cam like the type in old style PTZs. they have RS-485 in to control the zoom which is what i need.

can anyone recommend a camera? i need it to be as cheap as possible (but not shite image quality) and i do not mind buying second hand/from ebay.

thanks in advance...

I'm sending you a PM

with most box zoom cameras now you can have auto zoom set vis motion on camera which will be better. if you have it set via your alarm when set the rest of the room is not covered

thanks but i disagree.
the rest of the room does not need to be covered...
if intruders come in through the window, an external camera will see them.
if intruders come in via a window at the back of the house... an external camera will see them.
if intruders come in through the front door or and front windows... external cameras will see them.

so the rest of the room does not need to be covered. if it zoomed on motion then it would be zoomed out at the first break in which is not what i want.

thanks t=for your advice though

sorry i thought that what you asked for





the camera would be zoomed into the door every time motion is detected at the door no motion it zooms back out.


or a bosh box will give you picture in picture 1 zoomed in the other out

yeah, the rest of the room does not need to be covered when the alarm system is set (nobody in house) the reason for zooming out is because... why not?

i think i may use two statics and switch between them depending on if the alarm is set or unset.

the bosh would be good! but i can't afford one

what about a second camera? One zoomed one wide, then you have both!

great minds think alike!

Luke if you have a zoom camera i.e. with RS485 and controlled by RS485 then you can set it to one of two presets and in conjunction with a separate motion PIR set on a very narrow target (the back door) you can set the DVR to control the camera to zoom in on the back door as a alrm command "go to preset 2" for example.

The problems with this are that you have to identify a auto zoom camera that CAN be controlled by RS485.
Often the RS485 in such cameras only controls the built in electronic menu and not the zoom setting.
If you do manage to get a suitable camera, you will need to preset the back door coverage first and the
wider angle second unless you use a ptz camera, and third, setting a PIR alarm trigger will be a lot of
fiddling at the width of a doorway, you'll have to blind most of the PIR sensor using black tape to narrow the angle.
If you decide that a PIR and a indoor mini PTZ could work for you but frankly this IS probably outside your budget.

Given your other cameras, I would simply go with a single close-up view of the rear door. It's a losing battle to try
and make cameras do something they were not designed to do although very innovative and adventurous as I know you are.
If I can help with any equipment let me know.

sorry, i meant i would make it so that if the alarm system is set or part set (not to be confused with in alarm) (IE if the occupants are asleep or the house is unoccupied) then the camera would zoom in and when the alarm system is UNSET the camera would zoom out to give an overview of the kitchen.
this is because the back door is the most likely place for an intruder to break in through. i want the camera to be ready and waiting.

i have decided that an RS-485 zoom camera will be too costly though so i am going to either...
A: use one fixed dome zoomed into the backdoor and leave it at that.
B: use one fixed dome zoomed into the backdoor and another fixed dome with a wide view of the kitchen and then just switch between them depending on weather the alarm system is SET or UNSET.
C: put a 'peephole camera' on the back door looking out. but there are potentially big privacy issues which i will explain in another post.

i will PM you tomorrow. i am a bit tired right now