12/16/11, 02:28 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Western Washington
Posts: 47
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The complexity of setting up a camera system depends a great deal on what you are trying to accomplish, how much area you are trying to cover, and how much money you have to spend.
I've been tinkering with security cameras for a few years now and I'm still very sure that I have a lot more to learn. First of all, I'm not the Gov't, so I have to pay of this project out of my own pocket. That puts the high end gear out of reach (at least for me). So with that in mind, this is some of what I've learned, and I hope it will help you.
The first thing you need to do is determine what the goal of the system will be. Is it to catch someone in the act, prevent someone from trying something, just keeping an eye on your place when you are not around just for the heck of it, a mix of all the above or something else.
If you are trying to catch someone in the act, smaller "covert" cameras are nice, because they let the bad guy think they are safe. If you are trying to prevent something before it happens, then larger more visible cameras may be a better choice because the bad guy may choose a easier target when they see your cameras or dummy cameras.
The size of the area you are trying to cover is also important. The cameras you see at costco are up close cameras and will not allow you to ID someone at range. The higher resolution the camera the better chance you have at IDing someone because the picture is better. Needless to say the lens has a great deal to do with performance as well.
Cameras:
There are lots of cameras out there, to many to cover really. We've all seen them, the outdoor bullet cameras with the built in IR lights.. They look nice but at night (at least where I live) the bugs just love them to, and they set off the motion detection all night long. Another thing about the IR cameras, is that IR light bends differently than white light bends. What that means is that you will have to choose between good daylight picture, or good night time pictures unless the camera has an IR cut filter built in.
Depth of field:
Depth of field, is the amount of the picture that is in focus at a given distance. Just like film cameras, security cameras have limited depth of field, when choosing cameras and or lens for your cameras, keep that in mind. If you have a camera watching a building 100 feet away, don't expect the picture of a person 10 feet from the camera to be very good unless the camera has auto focus/auto zoom ability.
That's just a little bit of what's involved, from what I know. I would be happy to try and help, but again, I'm still learning my self...
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