MaxIcon

You can order lenses with IR blocking on the web, but you have to be careful, as there are 2 kinds of IR coatings - one that blocks IR, and one that changes the focal point of IR so that the IR focuses the same as white light. You can also buy IR filters in various sizes and materials. On ebay, search for ir filter laser, ir filter pcs, ir filter pieces to find various size filters that may work for you. Be sure to get ones that block IR (they'll be greenish or clear), not the ones that pass it (which will be black or red). Alternately, you can search for ir filter block, but most of these are for cameras, and are big (like 1" diameter), so would have to be cut down. Here's one that may do - they call it ir pass, but it's an ir block filter, it appears: http://www.ebay.com/itm/cctv-lens-camera-filter-IR-pass-new-/370312574186?pt=US_Surveillance_Accessories&hash=item56385974ea To find lenses that have it built in, try sending a message to ebay vendor RageCams. They carry quite an assortment of lenses, and I've had good luck with them, but they are more expensive than the normal ebay cheap lenses. Here's a link to an IR cut filter you can install yourself - not recommended for the faint of heart! http://www.surveillanceparts.com/products/Dual-IR%252dCut-Optical-Filter-for-MTV-Mount-Board-Camera.html

What you're seeing there is frame coding issues, related to updates between key frames. You may be dropping or corrupting packets. It looks like it's missing frame updates between the key frames, leaving behind partial images that should have been overwritten with new frame segments. I'd expect it to clear up when it receives a key frame, then start over. With my Messoa, it gets a key frame every 30 frames, so at 10 fps, the corruption builds for 3 seconds, the resets to a clear pic. My Messoa NCR870 has a lot of trouble with that, and Wireshark shows a lot of corrupted packets coming from it. I'll have 2 NVRs recording with the exact same settings, and one gets corrupted streams, the other is fine. Likewise, my current setup is recording with no problems, but watching on my phone gives frequent corrupted images. I also tried both DC, POE (my normal setup), and both on at the same time, with no change. I've never been able to clear it up, and it takes getting all the settings just right so that I can record ok. Not too happy with my Messoa, I'm afraid.

Yeah, it's a jungle out there. For instance, there are 2 kinds of IR coatings on lenses - one blocks IR, and the other corrects the IR focal point so that it's close to the white light focal point, avoiding a focus shift when you go to IR mode. Sounds like your previous lens had IR blocking, and your new lens doesn't, assuming your Dahua isn't IR capable. If it is, well, it's the other way around! Aside for the 1/4" and 1/3" issue Buellwinkle mentioned, MP rated lenses are more likely to have good resolution on MP cams, especially around the edges, so that's something else to look for. I've had mediocre luck with cheap board cam lenses - many of them have specs of dust or lint in the lens. I've had good luck with the vendor RageCams on ebay - they're helpful, and have a good selection of gear. The last few lenses I bought from them were in the $20-25 range.

Not exactly current, but I'm running an NV6240-16 on an Intel DH57JG Mini-ITX MB with an i3-540. It uses Win7 Embedded (pretty identical to Win7-32), 8 GB RAM (only 3.5 GB usable due to 32 bit OS), and the CPU's onboard video. Currently running about 18MP of cams - mostly 1MP, with a 2MP and 5MP thrown in. CPU usage is good as long as I stay with a 3x3 view or smaller; bumping up to 4x4 maxes me out with this low-end CPU. This is all older generation stuff, but the install went very smoothly. If I were building a new box instead of re-using older hardware, I'd be using an i7 for a dual card setup. The only hitch was black screens for all cams, which went away when I upgraded the video driver.

Do you mean when you zoom in with the camera, or when you zoom in on the recorded video?

Many POE switches don't have a POE power budget to support 15.4W on all ports at the same time, so you have to look at what the full set of cameras will draw. Also, many don't support POE on all ports. For instance, the Netgear FS726TP mentioned above is 24 ports, 12 are POE, and it and has a 100W POE budget, so you can only average 8.3W per POE port. Individual ports will support the full 15.4W, but that reduces the total power budget for the rest of the ports.

Your 6480 should be able to record a wide variety of IP cams if you've got a channel open. I've got an AV5105DN connected to an NV6240 along with a half-dozen other IP cams, and it's working fine. What's the problem you're having with the 6480 and the Arecont?

You might want to look into the maximum MP and frame rate, as many of the inexpensive hybrids limit this. It looks like it supports 2MP/channel for the 4 IP channels, but it's not clear what the max frame rate is.

Nice overview of the screens - looking forward to some night time video! Is there a setting for maximum exposure to avoid motion blur? I saw the mode setting for low noise vs low motion blur, but is there a place where you can specify, say, 1/30 sec max exposure, or do they explain what settings the modes use?

Wouldn't multicast reduce the bandwidth needed, by letting all the users tap into the same stream? I'm not a network geek and I never support lots of users, but that's how I understand it. The server has to support multicast, of course.

The distinction between Manual and Auto Iris lenses is starting to dawn on me. But it would seem that, for an Auto Iris lens I would need a cam that has whatever it takes to drive it. But do I really want Auto? I'm thinking maybe not bc this cam is only useful during daylight hours and it seems possible that a single manual setting might accomodate the variation in light between full sun and overcast - if not with professional photographic quality, at least well enough to see if windsurfers are planing or not. Have I got it right so far? Either way, what am I missing here: Auto-Iris $60: http://tinyurl.com/c59czl4 Manual-Iris $165: http://tinyurl.com/c97h7gd Seems backwards on the face of it - which tells me that there's something I don't know. I prefer auto-iris lenses, as I've found that the exposure control via the lens iris is better than the exposure control of the manual iris IP cams I've been using. Unfortunately, you don't always have a choice about that unless you're spending more, as most mid-range IP cams don't have auto-iris drives. Other people may have other experiences. So, the Rainbow lens you link to for $165? One sold a few days ago for $37 shipped, one got no bids at $55 shipped, and one sold with a Panasonic CP454 analog cam (great low-light cam!)for $90 shipped. I forget how much mine cost me, but it was in the $50-ish price range, which puts it in the same range as the auto-iris version. You have to watch the listings and be patient to get the good deals. The cheap ones sell, and the overpriced ones (like the $165 lens) get relisted over and over. These Rainbow lenses are pretty old designs, are big and bulky, and are 1/2" C mount, all of which make them less desirable on the modern market, but they're pretty good performers for the money if you get the cheap ones. Also, many Rainbow lenses are fairly low end (I've got a box full of plastic 1/3" Rainbow lenses that are worth little), but these big boys are quite solid and well made. They're not MP rated, and I've found that good quality MP lenses are definitely sharper and clearer than similar quality non MP lenses, but you do have the marketing problem that many lenses are called MP that are modern inexpensive junk. For a surfcam, I'm thinking MP lens resolution isn't really a critical need. To find great deals on decent 1/2" or 2/3" lenses, you have to search a variety of brands and filter the searches because there's so much junk out there. I search ebay for these brands: Computar, Fujinon, CBC, Rainbow, Arecont. To filter it down (you have to search in the body of the listing), use things like "1/2" and "2/3" (quotes required; search ignores punctuation, so this would also find 1-2, 1:2, etc), "c mount", cs or "cs mount", "manual iris", etc. Also note that the focal length you need for 2/3 is different than for 1/2". That is, a 20mm 1/2" lens will give you a wider field of view than a 20mm 2/3" lens on a 1/2" sensor, since the sensor is only sitting in a portion of the lenses projection. There's a bit of an art to getting great deals on used gear, and it does take time, so it's not for everyone (plus you get burned sometimes). I look for great deals and buy stuff I don't really need sometimes because, well, you never know!

You can save money on POE switches buying used from ebay (especially if you want more than 8 ports and/or corporate quality), but it can be a bit of a jungle. Some older POE switches don't support the 802.3af standard, many don't have a GB port, and many are no longer supported by the OEM, so you have to pay attention. Also, newer switches tend to be more energy efficient and less noisy due to less need for cooling fan speed. My Linksys SRW2008P is a reliable, solid, managed 8 port full GB switch, and can be found for under $100. It sounds like a jet engine, one port is used to connect to the network so there are only 7 camera ports, the power budget is 80W (more than enough for my 7 cams), and the interface only works well with IE, but it's been a trooper in the network rack. If you're not in a hurry, you can find some pretty good hardware for reasonable prices. I also read the reviews of the model I'm interested in at Amazon and Newegg to make sure I'm not getting a lemon. No reviews, little support? Use caution! Things to watch for, depending on your needs: - 802.3af support - At least one GB port for connecting to the network - Total power budget and power available per port - Managed vs unmanaged - Do all (or enough) ports support POE? - Does the manufacturer still support it, and do they have firmware updates available?

If you don't mind used, IQEye cams take CS mount lenses for maximum flexibility, and can be pretty affordable. You can get them with sturdy, heavy duty external enclosures as well. They take manual iris lenses. There's a fair assortment of them on ebay now, many without a lens. Most CCTV cams don't come with lenses in the longer zoom you want, so buying one separately may be a good bet. C mount lenses can be fairly cheap, and just need an inexpensive adapter to work on a CS camera. You'll want to watch the frame rates, as many of the older models only go to 15-20 fps, but I'd guess that may not matter for a surfcam. The one potential problem with long zoom lenses is that they're... long! I have a couple of 8-48mm 1/2" zooms, and both of them are big and bulky, so they wouldn't fit in my IQEye enclosure, or many standard enclosures, depending on the size of the cam. It would work well for testing and finding a good zoom setting, though. There's a Rainbow H6X8-II 8-48mm F1.0 on ebay that's ending in a few hours and may go cheap if there's no bidding war, but it's one of these big, bulky lenses.

Can you ping each camera at the IP settings you believe they have? That's always a good first step. My Uverse router assigns IP addresses based on the MAC address, so once it's assigned an IP address the first time, it's essentially fixed for that device. If not for that, I'd be running them all as fixed addresses. A few Arecont cameras have IP address trouble anyway, and I've set them for fixed IP addresses, which cleared that up.

As Soundy says, it'll work - the IQ752 also uses fixed iris 1/2" lenses. One thing to note with a fixed iris lens on a MP camera is that setting the focus can be very finicky when the iris is wide open, especially with a little bit of network lag. My Areconts are very difficult to focus precisely, and a Siemens focus star is a necessity for me. If you close down the iris a bit, it's easier to focus, but you lose some low light performance, of course.

Yeah, the IR, if on at all, is pretty dim. Looks like there may be a vague illuminated spot to the left of the car, but it's not very bright. Maybe the IR filter's not moving out of the way, so it switches to B&W but only has visible light to work with. My fixed-filter cams will show slight brightness from another cam's IR, but not much. You could tell by using a remote control like a flashlight - my experience is that remotes show the IR LED as a glowing dot if the IR filter is in, and show a clear flashlight-like spot projected if the IR filter is out. The graininess and the speckle of the night shots looks like over-sharpening to me. Try turning down the sharpness and see if it softens up and gets clearer. That can sometimes help the frame rate as well, if you're seeing any issues there.

That looks like a 1/2" CS mount lens. It could be C mount, but most modern MP lenses are CS mount. You'll want one rated for both MP and IR use to get the best results, though any 1/2" CS mount lens will work. They recommend Computar, and I've had good luck with Computar's MPIR series lenses, though I've only used the 1/3" versions. They're a little pricey, but clear and solid. Another decent lens for a reasonable price is the Arecont MPL4-10 (4.5-10mm, 1:1.6, manual iris, IR corrected, around $100). It's not super fast or super clear, but is good for the money.

One thing I've really grown to like about IP cams is the flexibility in viewing, recording, testing, and adding/swapping cameras. I can have multiple recorders going at once, and can also view over the internet using either the camera connections or the DVR connections. Right now, I'm recording my 6 main cams on one PC using Blue Iris, 4 of the most critical ones on a separate PC using an NVR5000, and can view them on my client PCs or phones using a variety of interfaces, depending on what my goal is. I can also add or switch cams quickly and easily, with no pesky license issues, and have another PC that's used as a test bed in parallel without disrupting my recording systems. I realize I'm not the target market for these systems, but it would be hard to go back to a dedicated single-vendor solution. They'd have to offer pretty awesome capability for a very reasonable price.

Blue Iris supports the Sanyo and is inexpensive. You can download a free demo version to see how it works out, and the registered version, which supports as many cameras as your CPU can handle, is only $50. It's easy to set up and manage, and has lots of flexibility in the configuration, though the search is fairly primitive compared to the higher end software. I'm running 6 various 1 and 2 MP cams on it with a dedicated Core i3 PC, and it's been very good. Adding more cams starts to tax the CPU a bit, depending on my settings and how many clients are connecting. I tried Xprotect Go for a while, and didn't have much luck (aside from not liking the 5 day limit). Setting up cameras was a huge pain, and out of 3 similar Vivoteks, one worked fine, while it never could connect with the others. I admit I didn't try too hard, due to the 5 day limit.

I've been trying a variety of lenses on my IQ832N, and the one I've left on for testing is the Arecont MPL4-10 (F1.6, 4.5-10mm, 1/2") that came with one of my Arecont cams. It's not super fast or super sharp, but it's compact, the quality is decent, and they're not expensive ($100-ish). I have a couple of long 1/2" and 2/3" zooms, including a big, heavy Rainbow H6X8-II 8-48mm F1.0, but quality's not the greatest, the depth of field is very finicky, and focus is tricky. Getting an MP rated lens in a long zoom with decent speed will be costly and bulky.

You don't really need a DVR for this, though it would be handy for potential liability issues. Blue Iris, at $50, is the value leader in DVR software, if you've got a decent PC or laptop to run it on - very powerful and flexible. Any IP cam that's supported by IP Cam Viewer (and that's quite a few) can be viewed over Android and iPhone once you've forwarded the port for it. The app is $4, is quick and easy to set up, and each owner could be connected to their dog's cam. There are other cheap and free viewer apps out there, but ICV has been very reliable and robust for me on iPhone.

So, all videocams need to be registered with the government? That seems a bit extreme! Is this for analog and IP cams both, and does it also include webcams, cell phones, digicams, etc? The line between dedicated surveillance cams and consumer recording devices is blurring, it seems, and some people use webcams for surveillance. I don't think these cases hold up in court, but that doesn't stop the police from trying.

Another useful example is Blue Iris. You set the frame rate for the camera with its software, and you also set the frame rate in BI. If the two don't match, you can get jerky recordings, depending on how the frame rates sync up. BI has an indicator that shows when a camera's output doesn't match the channel frame rate. In theory, having the frame rates exact multiples of each other minimizes problems with smoothness. If the camera puts out 10 fps and BI records 5 fps, it should be smooth, as BI gets every other frame and stays in sync. If the camera puts out 7.5 fps, though, BI can't keep in sync, and you get jerky video.

MaxIcon, can you POST some day/night stills off that Arecont Vision 5MP camera. Thanks, Den I should be able to in a few days. It's not connected right now, but I can pop a lens on it and get some shots.

BI supports my Arecont AV5105DN 5MP cam, but the frame rate isn't very good, and it really chews up the CPU cycles. I haven't spent much time troubleshooting or tweaking yet, though.