Hi From Kent - Cctv Advice

[Service Engineer]

What does 0 LUX with IR mean?

Means that with the Infa Red it can see in total darkness.

What sort of MINIMUM LUX should I be looking for in a camera?

For night time, the lower minimum lux determines the camera's suitabillity for darker situations.

Be wary of some of the quoted lux claims for non-illuminated cameras.

[Guest]

but what are those LED's surrounding the lense in that camera you have posted? Do they not offer light at night?

The LED's on the camera will provide some IR illumination but not really effective ver the distances you require, hence the requirement for an additional IR flood with a better spread.

[Guest rjbsec]

Cool, thanks for the advice... I think I am going to use dome cameras as you suggest. Just one question. I understand I need extra lighting, but what are those LED's surrounding the lense in that camera you have posted? Do they not offer light at night?

Yes they do but you will have to satisfy yourself that the range specified by the manufacturer will meet your needs - professional I/R will always be best but as I posted previously its expensive, the type of camera I highlighted is an economical alternative for many domestic uses.

[Service Engineer]

You could try one of these:

Just be careful though not to over do the lighting..

[Guest matopia]

You could try one of these:

Just be careful though not to over do the lighting..

Wow!, but before I go on, I don't think I understand the use of the IR LEDS. When they are lit up, are the visible to passerbys?

Do they all light up the second it gets dark or only when there is motion? If the answer is "when it gets dark "do they provide enough light for the lense, and therefore I still need extra light from another source.

Not to throw a spanner in the works, but I came across this web site called AXIS Communication and they deal with IP Camera's and I found a dome network camera that works during the day and at night.

I just fancied the idea of a network camera plugged into my LAN and having the ability to remote view from work over the internet. Of course this would mean no DVR but rather a dedicated PC set up.

Of course the Axis Site didn't mention the cost of this camera (AXIS 225FD Fixed Dome Network Camera) (if anyone has a rough idea or a web link of a site selling them, that would be much appreciated).

Any comments on this type of camera...

,

Mike

P.S. I found a great PDF file answering almost all of my questions (I guess I don't need this forum anymore... ) No, I got plenty more questions and again a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who have replied to my posts above. I have learnt a great in the past two days.

[Service Engineer]

That Dome is

[Guest]

I'd steer clear of the IP cameras for now. for what you can buy a semi-decent IP camera for you can get a decent conventional camera and DVR with LAN.

Obviously if you are going to use 2 cameras then this price gap will increase making it seem even more un-feasible economically.

[Guest matopia]

That Dome is

[Guest]

500ish, Samsung 520, housing, IR flood and entry level 4 channel DVR (LAN, 80GB HDD, no CD-R). Might go a bit over the 500, but not too much.

[Service Engineer]

Entry level DVR

An essential item for CCTV systems.This 160gig hard disk, 4 camera digital recorder with CD writer to put evidence on to give to the police. It is ideal to replace old video machine recorders.Can be swapped over in ten minutes. Network connection supported.There are no tapes to change daily and gives higher quality digital images. This unit can record 4 cameras at once and can record for several weeks depending on the number of frames per second you require. Can be programmed to re- record over disk from the beginning again automatically when full, simply switch on and forget!

Flippin eBay, but not a bad little unit.

and a couple of these should do.

eBay Again