Camera Advice: Low Light, non-PTZ, quality image (car hit)

ooglek · Post by **ooglek** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:13 pm

Last night my car was parked on the street and someone hit it. I've been wanting to set up ZM before, but now I'm motivated. Already have a PC for it, but will be running in my basement, not where the camera will be.

I don't need PZT as I'll be home most of the time, and only need to record that which moves. I'd like to spend under $100, but will go up to $200 for a good quality cam. The cam will be viewing my driveway, front yard, sidewalk and street from a 2nd story window. Total area I want to cover is 40 feet wide by 30-40 feet deep, which is why higher resolution is more desirable -- 16 pixels per foot is my bare minimum.

Qualities desired:
* Good/Great Image Quality. Larger than 640x480 is a bonus.
* Good frame rate. 10 fps minimum, bonus for higher.
* Good nighttime. Doesn't need IR LEDs, but must be able to see well with ambient nighttime city street/head/house lights.
* Not super expensive.

Thanks! Feel free to post your favorites as well, I'm shopping.

Cam's I've found via other forum posts -- please give opinions on if they meet my criteria or not:
Airlink-101 SkyIPCam747(W), 777(w)
TrendNet V-IP422
DLINK DCS-900
Axis 207

coke · Post by **coke** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:33 pm

I'm a fan of Axis 207's, but the low-light quality isn't great. Depends really on how near the street-light is. I have a lobby that's pretty much unlit, and it looks horrible in the dark. I have a giftshop with a string of christmas lights in the back of the room, and it looks great at night.

ooglek · Post by **ooglek** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:37 pm

coke wrote:I'm a fan of Axis 207's, but the low-light quality isn't great. Depends really on how near the street-light is.

Closest is 150-200 feet away, and mostly obscured by a tree. The other is another 300 feet up the street. My neighbors next door leave their porch light on all night though. I would have been happy to just see the color, make and model of the car. License plate would have been a bonus.

coke · Post by **coke** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 2:56 pm

They have a try-and-buy program, where if it's not what you want after 30 days, you can return it. Unfortunately, from the not-available countries list, you might have to be in botswana for it to work. Newegg does a 30 day 15% restocking fee.

I wouldn't rush on the 207 unless you can borrow one. 221 on the other hand, can see better in the dark (in color) than I can. But that one's $900.

ooglek · Post by **ooglek** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 3:39 pm

coke wrote:I wouldn't rush on the 207 unless you can borrow one. 221 on the other hand, can see better in the dark (in color) than I can. But that one's $900.

Gah! What about some of those sub-$200 PTZ with IR LED's? If I also got an IR lamp that was on at night, would that help? Then again, I don't know what kind of cost I might incur with an IR lamp powerful enough for 40'x40' area.

coke · Post by **coke** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:12 pm

Unfortunately, it seems you get what you pay for.

From what I've read over the forums, looking at parking lot, large amusement park (well, currently dumpsite), etc. options, and large outdoor IR is expensive, and the IR on the cameras is only good for close range. And apparently attracts moths, spiders, etc.

Works pretty well close-range, though. I've got some old bullet cam that was probably cheap, has IR LED's around it, it's in essentially a shack, and you can see pretty clearly. But the one mounted outside the shack can't see anything at night.

jameswilson · Post by **jameswilson** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:00 am

i can seriously recommend axis.. but then it does work well but have you looked at the y-cam black?

ooglek · Post by **ooglek** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:27 pm

jameswilson wrote:i can seriously recommend axis.. but then it does work well but have you looked at the y-cam black?

Man, this can get expensive quick! Maybe I just need to pick something up cheap, upgrade later. The DCS-900 seems reasonable for my needs I think. The y-cam looks great, but at $275 + shipping, not for me. Even the Axis 207 (not W) is at least $236! Too much. I guess low light is out for me.

Thanks for the replies -- if you have any other wired, inexpensive suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Or if you want to sell my your axis for $150 or less...

coke · Post by **coke** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:53 pm

You'll pry them out of my cold dead hands. Well, actually, it would involve a lot of climbing, ladders, snorkel-lifts, and crawling also.

ooglek · Post by **ooglek** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:04 pm

*laugh* you crack me up coke!

Anyway, found a D-Link DCS-900 on eBay for $67 shipped, decided to go for it. The DCS-910 is its replacement, and on specs alone, might have been a better choice. But wasn't interested in being the guinea pig. Anyone know if the DCS-910 works with ZM?

Looks like the 910 has a larger sensor by almost 25%, smaller lens too, but claims better low light handling. $80 shipped most places. Curious to find out how it does vs the 900.

DCS-900:
* Sensor: 1/3â€

jameswilson · Post by **jameswilson** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:00 pm

if you have bought that we will be seeing a lot more of you then lol

wonder how long till you buy an axis?