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sbettencourt

need a little help with selecting a system for my house

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Hello all!

 

I'm in the market for a IP camera system for my house. My wife is is nervous all the time when i'm not around and we have always wanted a camera system for the house so she has given me the green light to purchase something. I've always looked at the packaged systems from costco but it seems most are against that route. Reading some of the posts here it seems like hikvision is a well recommended brand. I'm looking currently at the 3MP cameras. Now i've always been confused with a few things.

 

1. what are the reasons someone would chose a 4mm over a 2.8mm focal length?

2. are there any benefits to using a dome camera over a bullet camera? is it just looks?

 

Also if anyone has a recommendation on a NVR? i'm thinking of getting a 16 port Hikvision model. Anyone have a part number they recommend?

 

Thanks a ton and great forums here!

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The answer for 1 and 2 are almost the same; personal preference. Other than that, your cameras lens size will dictate your angle of view, so just keep that it mind, and dome cameras might be a little less unsightly, but bullet cameras are generally accepted as the more weather resistant.

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Note, some dome cameras cannot be mounted on a wall, only on an even horizontal surface (unless using a large mount)...For wall mount you need a 3 axis dome. Domes also pose more of a problem with IR reflection. Bullets are not as good looking and also less vandal resistant. Bullets are much easier to aim. You may want to look at a turret like this http://www.hikvision.com/en/us/Products_show.asp?id=9125

No ir reflection, you can mount it anywhere you want.

 

2.8 will be a wider view but less detail than 4mm...

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Are there any benefits to using a dome camera over a bullet camera? is it just looks?

 

If you want to hang it down on the ceiling, it is best to use dome camera. It is also better for INDOOR applications. However, if you're planning to hang it on the wall, use bullet camera. These type of cameras bullet are better for OUTDOOR applications.

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Hello all!

 

I'm in the market for a IP camera system for my house. My wife is is nervous all the time when i'm not around and we have always wanted a camera system for the house so she has given me the green light to purchase something. I've always looked at the packaged systems from costco but it seems most are against that route. Reading some of the posts here it seems like hikvision is a well recommended brand. I'm looking currently at the 3MP cameras. Now i've always been confused with a few things.

 

1. what are the reasons someone would chose a 4mm over a 2.8mm focal length?

2. are there any benefits to using a dome camera over a bullet camera? is it just looks?

 

Also if anyone has a recommendation on a NVR? i'm thinking of getting a 16 port Hikvision model. Anyone have a part number they recommend?

 

Thanks a ton and great forums here!

 

Dome cameras are much more aesthetically pleasing to most. Generally the cons of a dome camera outdoors is night time IR LEDs reflecting off of the dome cover. 2.8mm is a pretty wide view, but like stated above it will really depend on your needs.

 

As far as equipment, I would recommend Hikvision and Dahua. If you are going to do it yourself, you can pick up the kits from Costco but they are generally one type of lens for all the cameras included in the kit.

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I too am designing a system. I went from two an analog OpenEye 4CH & 16CH channel system to now Dahua cameras (which I am loving the quality). I snagged one of those tiny "MiniNVR White Boxes" for testing and am having a hell of a time with it. Of course the system wants you to use their iOS apps called GooLink which are fine for instant live viewing. I have yet to get it to record which was a bummer because my across the street neighbor had his car stolen in plain perfect view of my camera.

 

The thing I love about OpenEye is it's all in English and their Radius and web clients are solid. I want to view maintain this on any system (not just internet explorer on a PC with a weird active X plugin) if thats all thats available than so be it. iOS viewing on iPhones and Apps is important.

 

All the cameras are Onvif compatible (there are a selection of 8-10 different ones from OpenEye IP based, Dahua, and a few off brands. I was looking at a Dahua 8CH or 16CH NVR but wasn't sure if there was a web interface or you needed their software. I noticed Dahua has some NVR apps on their website but wasn't sure if that was a full fledged NVR that if you had a spare PC it could be used as that.

 

One last think I was going to get a Drobo FS someone had locally for network attached storage, wasn't sure if that was any help at all in the long run.

 

Thank you for any assistance in sorting this out. I'm hoping to make it as "wife friendly" as possible.

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