POE security camera system?

[newalarm]

I think he was assuming a PTZ type operation, which they will not do.

No. Definitely not interested in PTZ.In fact the zoom would be of limited use because once it is set, I would leave it at that. I thought the vari-focal was just the ability to focus it without going up to the camera and taking it apart on a ladder; adjust if from a computer.
 
The zoom would be pratical, but once set, I don't imagine needing to mess with it. Plus you can use a digital zoom when needed.
 
I watch enough TV shows to know that you can take any image, zoom in, and use software to get a absolute perfect image when it gets too blurry... Just kidding.

 

[pete_c]

Here still utilize a couple of very old now Panasonic PT cameras that just cover my utility room; they work fine.  Nothing fancy there.
 

 
Outdoors settled on fixed 2.8mm IP HD cams with work fine for me.  I have not had to adjust the lenses on these since installation.  I have had to clean them though (real PITA).
 
Thinking I mentioned that I use bullet cameras and domes today.  The high mounted cameras are bullet and the low easy to get to cameras are domes.  (IE: use one dome in the garage).  The higher the MP the more you can do with them.  Seems that they just have more memory and CPU power.
 
There is a large variety out their today in internetlandia.  Over the years here have noticed the cheaper ones outside never lasted more than 2-3 years.  (weather touch them on purpose with sun and ran and snow and cold - wherever they are installed)

 

[newalarm]

What specs do I need to look at for ability of a camera to be able to adjust different parts of a scene's light levels. On the front porch, parts will be shaded, but it would be great if camera could also catch things beyond, in a much brighter part of the scene.

 

[RAL]

What specs do I need to look at for ability of a camera to be able to adjust different parts of a scene's light levels. On the front porch, parts will be shaded, but it would be great if camera could also catch things beyond, in a much brighter part of the scene.

 
The camera's iris adjusts the amount of light available to the image sensor.  Many cameras have a fixed or manual iris.  The more expensive ones have an auto iris.  I'm not aware of any that allow remote adjustment of the iris, but there might be some high end cameras that offer that.
 
http://www.axis.com/us/en/learning/web-articles/technical-guide-to-network-video/types-of-iris
 
Edit:
 
An auto iris will allow the camera to adjust to changing light levels.  But if you have a scene that has both bright and dark areas, then a camera that has high or wide dynamic range (WDR) is something to look for.
 
http://www.axis.com/us/en/learning/web-articles/introduction-to-imaging/wdr

 

[pete_c]

The new ones also have auto UV very thin glass filters. 
 
I broke one tinkering with the lens assembly assembly manually focusing the lens on one until it broke through the UV filter. 

 

[Del91574]

The camera's iris adjusts the amount of light available to the image sensor.  Many cameras have a fixed or manual iris.  The more expensive ones have an auto iris.  I'm not aware of any that allow remote adjustment of the iris, but there might be some high end cameras that offer that.
 
http://www.axis.com/us/en/learning/web-articles/technical-guide-to-network-video/types-of-iris
 
Edit:
 
An auto iris will allow the camera to adjust to changing light levels.  But if you have a scene that has both bright and dark areas, then a camera that has high or wide dynamic range (WDR) is something to look for.
 
http://www.axis.com/us/en/learning/web-articles/introduction-to-imaging/wdr

BLC or HLC is also going to come into play with the contrast in the areas.
 
A lot of cameras have iris settings, but generally it's better to have the camera control them automatically (and easier)

 

[RAL]

Here's an article that explains the effects of BLC, HLC and WDR.   Also has some opinions on image sensors and DSPs from several manufacturers.
 
http://www.cctvcameraworld.com/blc-hlc-wdr-in-camera-image-sensors/

 

[newalarm]

I am going to pickup a lot of servers and switches next week. A bunch of Cisco POE switches etc. If anyone wants anything let me know. Lot was a bit bigger than I though. I will inventory and post it up in appropriate section.

 

[newalarm]

Hey Pete,
 
I ordered some cameras and am getting ready with software. If I understand, the references below is to download from ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com) a file that will install both ubuntu and ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com)?
 

ZM eats memory especially with HD.    It records all of the streams 24/7 and saves only events even though you can save everything if you want.  (direct to disk).  Time stamp with ZM are an over lay.  I split up feeds to two ZM boxes which are identical boxes.  I do not run any of the feeds at 30fps today.   It would be better to run ZM on an old (now) Haswell iSeries CPU.  I am currently using one for automation with 16Gb and it never sweats.
 
Newest release of ZM does very well today with the RTSP IP HD feeds.  Grandstream will do RTSP or MJPG such that I use both and do reverse feed RTSP to my Grandstream decoder / encoder for the OmniPro touch analog video hub stuff. 
 
The step by step for ZM is very easy.  Basically you are just building a LAMP server and adding ZM meat to it.  Years ago there was much manual configuration stuff; especially with the analog video capture cards.  With IP cams that stuff has gone away.
 
It is posted here.
 
Guides for Ubuntu Server

Ubuntu Server 12.04 64-bit with ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com)  1.25.0 the easy way

Ubuntu Server 14.04 64-bit with ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com)  1.26.5 the easy way

Ubuntu Server 15.04 64-bit with ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com)  1.26.5 the easy way

Ubuntu Server 15.10 64-bit with ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com)  1.28.1 the easy way

Ubuntu Any Version 12.04+ 64-bit with ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com) 1.28.1 the Docker way (two commands)

Ubuntu Server 14.04 64-bit with ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com) 1.29.0 the easy way

Ubuntu Server 15.04 or 15.10 64-bit with ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com) 1.29.0 the easy way

Ubuntu Server 16.04 64-bit with ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com) (http://zoneminder.com)  1.29.0 the easy way
 
Blue Iris has some very good ratings.  Linux is Linux and ZM is free.  Video is Video is Video multiple and streaming/recording is just that

 

[pete_c]

Yeah here updated two Intel CPU based ZM boxes running (one backup and test) to Ubuntu 16.04 / 64 bit.
 
basically you are following the step by steps in the links
 

• 1 - built a core Ubuntu server base (takes about 10 minutes from standard Ubuntu release stuff you can just put on a USB stick these days)
• 2 - add the pieces required for ZM...another 10 minutes
• 3 - install ZM (it is now in the Ubuntu repositories)...5 minutes.

 
Welcome to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (GNU/Linux 4.4.0-28-generic x86_64)
 
ICS-ZM:~# uname -a
Linux ICS-ZM 4.4.0-28-generic #47-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jun 24 10:09:13 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
 
Running fine. 
 
Relating to a console you can utilize the old ZM console and ZMNinja on iOS, W10, Android or Linux tablets.
 
ZMNinja has much eye candy for your telephone stuff. 
 
ZM regular console is just functional with no eye candy (which I like).

 

[newalarm]

so i downloaded Ubuntu 16.04 server, and burned disk image. I will install that on an old server machine and see how it does for now.

 

[pete_c]

Good news newalarm!! 
 
You are cutting in to the 15 minutes of installing Ubuntu server by burning an ISO to disk.
 
These days it is much easier/faster to write the ISO to a USB stick.

 

[newalarm]

Yeah, i have a regular vs (non server) on USB, but this server I was playing with did not have option to boot from USB...

 

[pete_c]

i have a regular vs (non server) on USB
 
Ubuntu 16.04 comes in a variety of flavors.
 
Server, light desktop, desktop and much more.
 
The above mentioned links only write about configuring ZM on Ubuntu Server.
 
Just an FYI. 
 
Any desktop / GUI resources on your ZM box will ding resources.  (CPU, Memory et al).
 
When done installing server all you will have is a terminal window which really is all you need.
 
Do only the defaults on the install of the server. 
 
You are building an LAMP server. 
 
LAMP is short for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP, an open-source Web development platform, also called a Web stack, that uses Linux as the operating system.
 
Once you have your base server OS installed then just SSH to the server and update it with the above mentioned adds then install ZM via an SSH terminal window that you can run from any laptop or PC or even a tablet these days.

 

[plasman]

I'm hoping someone has experience with Blue Iris and Omnipro II 5.7e touchscreens?  I've tried every URL I can think of in the PC Dealer Access HAI/Leviton software and can't bring up an image.  The same URL works in a browser.  The camera names do appear on the 5.7e, but I either get no image or a system hang.
 
Thanks much....