security camera, que?

Alright, I have slim to none experience with security cameras.

My goal is to have a camera on my vehicle(s) at night, I could care less about the day. I live on the 3rd story and normally park back row, measured 85 ft away from desired mounting spot is about the farthest extent my vehicle will be. parking is 10 vehicles wide, hopefully I can stretch the vision that wide.

I can run wires to a laptop about 15ft away, internet and a power outlet as well. I hope to be able to hold a week if not two weeks data at a time. night recording only. that being said, i know motion sensor is an option... will it work 85ft away or is the sensor much closer? I don't know how to do any of the software stuff, but ideally I want to be able to store it on a mutual drive and also get real time via mobile & laptop/TV.

the location keeps it from being easily visible, but i worry about the lights being visible at night. only need one camera.

suggestions and tips all are appreciated, thank you.

 

Motion sensor isn't good for more than about 20 ft. Also think about any nearby lights blinding out the camera. If you are looking to have it for anything that may involve legal action, look up the minimum frame rate for legal purposes. A friend of mine had his garage broken into, and the security camera at the restaurant next door got footage of the truck there, but wasn't a high enough frame rate to be actual evidence. Finally, will the camera have good enough resolution to see in the dark, including focusing.

None of this is really helping point in the right direction, but it might help steer away from the wrong directions.

 

the fps is very interesting. thanks for pointing that out.

 

Infrared trail camera. Stash it somewhere closer.

 

thanks for the suggestion but i'd be too worried it would be stolen considering more than 48 families live within a 75yd radius.


that being said, I didnt' really want to buy a dvr but it looks like I am going to be on that route. its unfortunate almost all dvr sets include 4-8 cameras.

 

thinking of getting this one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-CH-Channe...ight-Home-Security-Cameras/360395886066?rt=nc

my only concern is how easily the camera can be placed in different positions..? looks uniball. idk. also will need a hdd, guessing any will work? not sure. lmk if you are wise.

 

This one is set up for 4 channels, meaning up to 4 simultaneous cameras, all included that record back to one DVR once you put the hard drive of your choice in (if you put in a hitachi or IBM drive, that is like getting a ford truck, draining all fluids, and going wheeling deep in the middle of nowhere).

 

+1

IR illumination on security cameras typically maxes out at 75ft.
To get better than that, you're looking into several thousand for a Pelco or Cohu grade product that automatically switches to low-light B&W when it can not resolve color adequately.

10 spaces wide is also going to be quite a feat at 85ft.
My traffic cameras won't go more than 5-6 lanes at that distance.
Keep in mind that going that wide, you're going to drop a LOT of definition. You might be able to see that someone is fucking with your truck, but you won't be able to tell who they are or exactly what they did.

You'd be better off using a PTZ camera that you can pan/zoom onto your truck after you park.

I've never heard of a minimum frame rate for evidence. I provide low-rez traffic video to the cops all the time to help them with accident investigation, and last year was called as a witness supporting my video (about 7fps) in a murder trial (drunk driver).


IR trail-cams... they are designed to detect motion and have a DVR built into the unit. Battery powered and reasonably inexpensive.

 

That's going to be your best bet to cover 10 spaces and still be able to see what's going on.
Zoom each camera in to view 3 spots and set up 4 cameras.

 

One thing to know about motion sensing cameras is they are different than motion sensing lights. Mine web cam records when triggered by motions because it is looking for movement in image, not actual physical motion like security lights. I've used it in the past to figure out which of the neighbors kids was getting into the yard. Tried to use it to figure out how the neighborhood raccoon was getting into the bird feeders, but it didn't work worth crap in the dark.