Camera placemnt - on or off building?

[ecborgoyh 0]

Working on installing IP surveillance cameras around our residence.  I fully appreciate that this can be a complex optimization effort.  I've done a lot of reading....  Covering the front door and porch is obvious.  Thinking about a video door station and a higher mounted camera to watch the front porch, door, and entrance walkway.

The rear of the house has several options.  As the rear might be more vulnerable, I'm asking for suggestions and opinions.

Is is generally preferred to cameras 'remote' and watching the doors/windows.  For instance, I could mount a couple of cameras on our shed to watch the rear yard (including one gate) and to watch the other side of the yard.  This second camera would watch some first floor windows, a patio and a corridor between our house the neighbors fence.  This corridor leads from the street and from the properties behind out house.  This seems to be an obvious entry.  I should add that this area is also covered by a couple of motion-detector floodlights.

OR, is it preferred to mount cameras directly on the outside of the house to watch the doors and windows??  Thinking that a camera on the house itself might have a better chance of seeing the face of the intruder.

Maybe the ideal is to have both locations.  The shed mounted camera is fairly easy to install.  But house mounted cameras might get a better view.

Same story on the other side of the rear yard.  This area is fenced in and I'm thinking about a camera or two mounted on or at the fence looking back toward the house windows and doors.  Thinking about the camera in a bird-house idea.  I'm not opposed to running underground CAT cable which may be easier than running cables on the house itself.

Any input is welcome.

 

[tube tech 1]

eye level for face recognition, at the end of a corridor where they have to walk right at it. 3.6 mm focal length or higher. lower numbers distort too much. cameras in windows give you a prolonged mug shot if they pause and not enough to recognize if they walk past

8 feet up if you want to know that someone is out there, but not necessarily who. 1.7 mm to 2.8 mm lenses

I mounted two cameras on my front porch, facing the house,  in a crossfire, if you are on either you are on both. if you think you are hiding against the wall, I got your profile from both sides. 2.8 mm lenses

I have two outdoor cameras mounted in bird houses. birds actually built a nest in one of them. this is an improvement over the previous hornets nests.

cameras on the outside looking in present cabling headaches.

[ecborgoyh 0]

Mr. Tech,

  Thanks for the reply and feedback.  The cameras hidden in the bird houses was what I was thinking about.  I also have an out-building (large shed) where I was thinking about mounting a couple of cameras to 'watch' the rear and side of the property.  Wiring is trivial.  Wiring to cameras aimed toward the house from the yard actually appears to be easier than wiring to cameras mounted directly on the house  (without ugly surface mounted raceways).  I have one rear/side yard area where two cameras mounted in bird houses or some other decoration would appear to provide the best coverage.

  What type of cameras did you mount in the bird houses?  I'm designing an IP/POE system.

  Thanks.