Help with camera selection please

[Stereo_rob]

Hi everyone, new to the forum and looking to get some security fitted. Been doing various bits of research before taking the plunge but wanted to see what you guys would advise. I'm thinking a 4 IP camera system, maybe an 8 channel NVR for later camera additions. I have attached pictures to see what design of cameras would be best and if sofit cameras really as the best option. I'm thinking dome cameras for all but I'm open to ideas and happy to install whichever gives the best image. I'm not looking to spend thousands but think cameras are a bit of a waste of time if you can't make out reg plates or reasonable figures so something decent.

Red - covers back garden and gate
Orange - covers front door and entrance to the road
Yellow - covers exit from the cul de sac and car next to the house
Green - covers my other car in the carpark and works van (tools etc).
Thanks for any input

 

[Dan]

Hi @Stereo_rob

Our recommendation for most residential installs is Hikvision Turret cameras, we would recommend either DS-2CD2347G2-LU 4MP ColorVu Turret or the DS-2CD2346G2-IU 4MP AcuSense Turret.

The main difference between these is the way they work at night, the ColorVu model has an advanced lens/sensor and a built-in white light LED to achieve a colour image at night (if the ambient light in the scene - street lights, security lights, etc... - is bright enough you can disable the built-in white light), the AcuSense model, on the other hand, has built-in IR LEDs which emit an invisible infrared light to create a black & white image at night.

For the orange and red camera positions, we would probably recommend 4mm or 6mm focal lengths as these are covering smaller/narrower areas where the wide field of view of the 2.8mm focal length would be wasted and reduce the image detail. For the other 2 positions, the 2.8mm focal length would probably be ok.

In regards to NVRs, we would pair these cameras with a DS-7608NI-I2/8P 8-channel NVR as this will offer the best support for the features of the AcuSense and ColorVu cameras.

We also recommend using Western Digital Purple Surveillance HDDs with the Hikvision NVRs, these HDDs are available in sizes from 1-18TB but for a 4 x 4MP camera system a 4TB HDD will be enough for more than 2 weeks of continuous recording.