Setting up home security, need help on which route to go

[cfriedberg]

New time forum member and first time poster.

Currently I have a complete Mac home setup along with a Synology DS209 with surveillance system 3. I would like to purchase a couple of cameras to monitor the outside of my home. My desired requirements are in the following order of importance:

1. night vision/IR
2. PTZ
3. Cost
4. Wireless

Thanks

[buellwinkle]

Tall order. What's your budget? Is your goal to see what's going outside or have enough resolution to ID someone?

I would recomend Mobotox M12D-SEC D/N. It uses a black & white sensor for night time that's very sharp and clear. You can augment with IR illuminators and use the it's virtual pan/tilt/zoom feature. Then use a Ubiquiti Nanostation M access point to power the camera and be the WiFI access point. I figure at list price, you can put this together for about $2,000 per camera including wifi and illuminators.

Alternatively, Axis has an outdoor PTZ dome that works really well, but it's a lot more cost than the Mobotix.

If price is a concern, on the very lowest end, consider the Panasonic HCM735, has 2X zoom, pan/tilt and 1 MP sensor, about $650. Then add the wifi access point and IR illuminators, you can probably get away with only $1,000 per camera. For a few hundred more, if you really need some wicked PTZ, get the HCM581, it has 21x optical zoom.

[cfriedberg]

That's a bit more per camera than i was hoping. I don't need a wireless access point though, i have apple wireless throughout my property so that's not a problem. Only concern i have with separate IR lamp is if i have PTZ, but its not coordinated with IR lamp, then i will only get night vision in area of IR lamp....

[buellwinkle]

Access point is for the camera, or are you asking only for a camera with WIFI built in? There are some cameras that have WiFi built in but usually not outdoor PTZ. Check ebay, there's all sorts of unbranded chinese made cameras there you can find for under $300 but you are really scraping the bottom of the barrel. Here's one that is PTZ, but not WiFi, Sony is the most overused word in their vocabulary, they very rarely means the camera is made by Sony. Be careful, some say PTZ but are just PT and Digital Zoom which is worthless -

http://cgi.ebay.com/SONY-CCD-PTZ-Pan-Tilt-Zoom-27X-Preset-Outdoor-IP-Camera_W0QQitemZ160409008706QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item25591f3a42

Just understand you get what you pay for, and this case it may be pink trees, washed out images, sensors that start off mediocre and then slowly deteriorate, poor lens quality and PTZ motors that may last a year or less.

Built in IR immitters are OK, but outdoor cameras that have this capability usually can go out about 30' max, it's misleading a little bit because anything within a few feet are blown out. You can get seperate IR emmitters, many on ebay for not too much money, then you can control the amount and direction of light. Also, what do you do when a built in IR emmitter dies, tough to replace. You can always use the tried and true method, have motion detect flood lights lightup the area.

[sadik007]

Do you need PTZ.. most of us dont..
consider getting 2 cams for price of one PTZ..

[fatjohnny]

How dark is the area you whish to monitor? Any street lights? Any montion activated lights? What is your budget? i know you stated "cost", but to some a $100 camera is expensive while for others a $1000 camera is cheap.

I have several of the cameras Buellwinkle mentions and them some... I can let you "see'' them for your evaluation under different lighting conditions. I don't sell cameras so i don't push anything onto anyone. I do want ot mention if you think the Panasonic BB-HCM581A with the optical zoom is for you, you must also consider the cost for a dome when used outdoors. A good dome with heater and blower such as a Pelco will run several hundred dollars more in addition to the cost of the camera. The Panasonic BB-HCM735A can be thrown outdoors as is from the box, but the zoom is NOT optical and although okay at best, it will not standup to optical zoom as found in the 581A. Also, the 735A will not do 360 degrees pan unlike the 581A.

If you seek ultra clear and ultra sharp images where you will be able to count the zits on anyone in focus, then you will be stepping up into a range of more expensive cameras which may not fit your "cost' budget.

John
New Jersey

[razorack]

Hi Buellwinkle,
I have just ordered 2 mobotix m12d sec d/n cameras. I have not ordered the mobotix POE kit to go with it. I am looking at options for powering the cams over cat 5 cable.
Can you give me a rundown on the advantages of the Ubiquiti Nanostation M access point to power the cameras? Is this its primary function? Or can it be used to wirelessly connect the cameras also ? Are these more reliable than the old ubiquity nanostation which suffered from drop outs?
Thanks for your suggestions

[buellwinkle]

The most cost effective way to provide PoE to the camers is via a PoE switch. I use the Trendnet TPE-S44 switch, runs about $60 and has 4 PoE ports, 4 regular ports.

The Ubiquiti Nanostations are primarily a WiFi access point or bridge for the cameras if you want to mount them wirelessly. Just keep in mind that the downside to wireless is you need 110V to power the Nanostations. Makes sense if you have a large property where you can get AC power but running CAT5 is not worth it. For example if you had other buildings on your property, then wireless may make sense to bridge between the buildings.

Frankly, it's easier, more reliable to call an electrician and have them run Cat5 to where you need.
_________________
For network camera articles and reviews, visit my blog at http://ipcamnetwork.wordpress.com

[razorack]

running the cat 5 is no problem, and I can just use a switch as you suggested. But you seemd in an earlier post to be using the nanos in lieu of a switch, so I assume that they do that as well as wireless. The cost difference seems minimal and the nano has the added flexibility of the wireless to be utilized for other uses. Could the nano be used to extend the range of an existing wifi router whilst performing the poe function?
I plan to mount the cameras some 70-80 meters from my house that stands in a large garden, so that it sees the front of the house and the rear of the house. So the cat 5 will be run underground to the camera mount points, and be powered by the poe ie 2 cameras front and rear. The wifi in the house is pretty weak when in certain parts of it. Outside the house in the garden the signal is weak as well, so I thought the nano could be used in this way. ??

[buellwinkle]

Range is a tricky thing for wireless. The standard Nanostations are 2.4 or 5.8Ghz and for that you need complete line of site. Given that, you can bridge 5 miles with these. Without line of site, for example a tree or shed is in the way, you may only get 50', weird huh. Ubiquiti sent me an email about a month ago that they came out with 900mhz units. This is for use where line of site is not possible. So why wouldn't you want to run 900Mhz for everything, because your router is WiFi at 2.4ghz, so you need to setup a bridge, meaning you need one plugged into your router, one plugged into the camera. Then you can go miles with what's called "near line of site". The downside to 900Mhz is that its' not as fast as other frequencies but I didn't read the specs on Ubiquiti's offereing. I do know that Avalan, who historically made 900Mhz bridges are slow, maybe down to 1.5MB/sec with obsticles even though they advertise 6Mb/sec. To view your Mobotix M12 at full bore, you need ~5Mb/sec.
_________________
For network camera articles and reviews, visit my blog at http://ipcamnetwork.wordpress.com