I need Recommendations for outdoor IP Infrared Cameras

[ukrik 0]

Hi Guys,

 

I have a job for about 9 cameras, outdoor, no lights in the building. I need recommendation to get good quality IP with built in IR.

Budget $800-900 per camera, preferably 2-3 megapixels.

I was looking into Arecont, but heard bad reviews on forums, thinking about Vivotek..

 

any suggestions?

[voip-ninja 0]

Hi Guys,

 

I have a job for about 9 cameras, outdoor, no lights in the building. I need recommendation to get good quality IP with built in IR.

Budget $800-900 per camera, preferably 2-3 megapixels.

I was looking into Arecont, but heard bad reviews on forums, thinking about Vivotek..

 

any suggestions?

 

You are going to get burned using integrated IR unless you have a very narrow area that you want to cover. In my opinion you are better off going with external IR illuminators.

 

My own personal experience with Vivotek FD series fixed domes with IR is that the low light quality was not particularly good and the integrated IR was pretty awful (tiny spot beam and terrible IR bleed).

 

I am using some Samsung SNV-5080R cameras now and the spot beams aren't bad for monitoring a small area like a doorway or patio.

 

I have an Axis P3364-VE with an Axton IR illuminator and that provides pretty good performance. Axton makes some illuminators that can have their gain adjusted/controlled by compatible cameras (Axis, etc).

[ukrik 0]

Does this Illuminator works at all times or you can set the time to switch on at night? what is the model number of it and price?

 

Also how about this Sumsung camera SNO-7080R?

[voip-ninja 0]

It is Axton AT7, they make a bunch of different versions with different range and field of view, it has an automatic on/off switch for day/night operation. It was about $200. They make a higher end AT-8 that has more capability for variable intensity controlled by camera, etc. They also make some PoE powered versions, the two I mention are 12V power.

 

I don't have any experience with the Samsung bullets, only the 5080R domes.

[buellwinkle 0]

I use ACTi 3511 at home and they have a great image with zero light, albeit only 1.3MP. ACTi is coming out with new 2MP indoor IR domes this month, check their website, they may already have them for available.

 

Axis will have an IR dome coming out later this month or January, the P3346-LVE, but only 720P but with their corridor mode, You can make 1280 the heigh and 720 the width for long hallways.

[voip-ninja 0]

Do you have motion video of the ACTi working with "zero light"? In my experience this is not possible. If it has IR emitters then the issue is what is the throw distance of the beam and what is the beam width. I have not yet seen a dome that is worth a damn when it comes to light up of a wide area with a 2.5-3mm lens angle.

[voip-ninja 0]

Here's an example video of the TCM3511. From the video it looks like it is mounted about 10-15' up and it has the kind of night performance I get from the Samsung. Relatively good IR performance but only in a very limited area... totally unsuitable for a larger outdoor location.

 

m3A_kUqev-o

[SS360 0]

There are many other options that I would go with like adding white ambient light is always the best. But to honor your choice I would do the following for outdoor purposes.

 

http://www.vivotek.com/web/product/ProductDetail.aspx?Model=IP8361

 

http://www.arecontvision.com/product/MegaView+Series/AV2125

 

I have installed both. The Arecont is a little bit of a bandwidth hog at night, other than that I like it. The Vivotek has just been a good camera overall and it is cost effective.

 

The advantage of Arecont here is that it goes all the way up to 5mp, just remember the higher the megapixel rating the lower the light levels will protray onto the image. As each pixel is smaller and lets less light into the image. That is why Analog cameras actually see better at night than the higher end megapixel cameras. The technology is getting better, just not quite there yet.

 

I have yet to install indoor IR and actually test it. There are some good sony indoor IR that I have installed, but it was as a sub to another contractor who integrated it into the software. So I have no comment on that.

[SS360 0]

Sometimes getting an electrician to add just a couple of dual flood bulb fixtures on day/night and motion sensing really adds value and helps you look good, because the cameras see much better at night. The worst thing to have is the customer spending all this money and then realizing that the 30' of good light you get out of the Infrared is not enough and the image is useless.

 

Also asking the customer if they have a preferred electrician sometimes works out good because they have already directly worked/billed with them and it is more of a management end on your part.

 

I use a softer light in the flood it spreads out over the image better. Usually about a 13 watt flourescent flood will light a good 60-70 feet of space up for the camera image.

[voip-ninja 0]

Sometimes getting an electrician to add just a couple of dual flood bulb fixtures on day/night and motion sensing really adds value and helps you look good, because the cameras see much better at night. The worst thing to have is the customer spending all this money and then realizing that the 30' of good light you get out of the Infrared is not enough and the image is useless.

 

Also asking the customer if they have a preferred electrician sometimes works out good because they have already directly worked/billed with them and it is more of a management end on your part.

 

I use a softer light in the flood it spreads out over the image better. Usually about a 13 watt flourescent flood will light a good 60-70 feet of space up for the camera image.

 

I think that it depends on the installation location. My wife and I like the low profile and much more covert "look" of using IR and not having lights burning all night long all around the property.

 

Long term, there is also some issue of cost, as, in some areas of the country electricity is .25 per kwh which means that running six 30 watt lights 12 hours a day, 365 days a year carries a cost of about $150 or more per year, which, while not a lot of money is also not chicken feed. Even in areas of the country where electricity is cheap, it will work out to something like $5-$10 per month in electricity costs.

 

For comparison my IR illuminator pulls 10 watts and lights a huge area. Over a long enough period of time it will eventually break even cost wise versus using multiple 30 or 60 watt halogen flood lights.

[buellwinkle 0]

I agree. In a commercial environment where we need the absolute best solution, we use Mobotix cameras like the D14 and then fill in with illuminators or even white landscape lighting to fill in as needed.

[ukrik 0]

Thank you guys for your suggestions.

 

I decided to go with Axis P3346-VE and P3367-VE, since my client has money i decided to give them cadilac. The biggest pluses in Axis cameras is that it does not require to run extra power cable for heaters, it has low illumination at 0.5 lux, and the image quality is outstanding, plus 3 year warranty, great support in Canada.

 

Good point bySS360. Due to the low camera illumination i do not think i will add Illuminator, rather ask electrion to install more lightning, which should be enough for the cameras to capture decent images. For the next project i will try the Samsung cameras, seems decent.

 

I had a chance to install few Vivotek dome cameras and not really happy with the quality and IR function, especialy with 5MP, a bit fuzzy, picture quality looks better on 3MP for some reason, also cabling attachments are way to long and had problems hiding them. IR is separated by rubber tube inside the cover which is very difficult to adjust it back once the cover is open.

 

Now i have to decide on the DVR, either 3Xlogic or Exacqvision, no other ones..