Please assist with choice of camera

[CarelWood]

Hi. Total noob, trying to dig through all the models and specifications on google.
Two camera's - No alternatives please. Other models on Hikvision site not available in my country. (Both Analogue) - IP not within my budget / Just replacing old camera's. / Used for parameter camera's on the driveway and road passing my house.

DS-2CE12DF3T-LFS or DS-2CE12KFOT-LFS
DF3T is the more upgraded specifcaition but only 2MP, but the KFOT is 3K. I have read about the lens difference being more important than MP, the frame rates etc. but am none the wiser.
Which one of these two camera's will perform better (they are similar in price) for viewing people walking past my house, traffic driving past and a little bit of zoom (I know it will not be great as it is analogue). Do I go for increased CMOS or better specs?

Thanks

 

[JB1970]

Hi. Total noob, trying to dig through all the models and specifications on google.
Two camera's - No alternatives please. Other models on Hikvision site not available in my country. (Both Analogue) - IP not within my budget / Just replacing old camera's. / Used for parameter camera's on the driveway and road passing my house.

DS-2CE12DF3T-LFS or DS-2CE12KFOT-LFS
DF3T is the more upgraded specifcaition but only 2MP, but the KFOT is 3K. I have read about the lens difference being more important than MP, the frame rates etc. but am none the wiser.
Which one of these two camera's will perform better (they are similar in price) for viewing people walking past my house, traffic driving past and a little bit of zoom (I know it will not be great as it is analogue). Do I go for increased CMOS or better specs?

Thanks

The DF3T is going to perform better in low light. It's a lower resolution but the specs show that it can work at half the minimum illumination of the 3K model (0.0005 as opposed to 0.001 lux). It also has better wide dynamic range.

'A little bit of zoom'. I'd simply forget that. A 1080P camera image on a 1080P screen is displayed at its native resolution and any digital zoom is just magnifying. These models have 2.8mm 0r 3.6mm lenses with a very wide viewing angle so they're useful for general overview of a large area.

 

[CarelWood]

Thank you. The native resolution makes 100% sense, so the DF3T it is.

They come in 20m and 40m white light - Would it make sense to say buy the 40m and set the light settings to a lower setting if too much white light rather than whishing you could turn up the 20m? (or does too much white light create reflection or any other issues if not needed?)

I would like to go with the 3.6mm, but I am worried that with the increased zoom due the reduced viewing angle, I will loose to much of my viewing angle.As your best guess, do you think I will loose more viewing area than what is marked in red on the image? Happy to sacrafice the "wall view" as I have another camera covering that drive way, but do not want to loose any larger section of the image.

 

[JB1970]

They come in 20m and 40m white light - Would it make sense to say buy the 40m and set the light settings to a lower setting if too much white light rather than whishing you could turn up the 20m? (or does too much white light create reflection or any other issues if not needed?)

I'd always take the distances quoted for illumination distance with a pinch of salt, but yes you can manually lower the power of the white light in the settings. Unfortunately when someone walks up to the camera you'll resolve little detail of a face with direct white light on it - just a white blob.

I would like to go with the 3.6mm, but I am worried that with the increased zoom due the reduced viewing angle, I will loose to much of my viewing angle.As your best guess, do you think I will loose more viewing area than what is marked in red on the image? Happy to sacrafice the "wall view" as I have another camera covering that drive way, but do not want to loose any larger section of the image.

3.6mm is still wide angle. Hold your hand out with your fingers and thumbs spread and you can approximate a 90 degree horizontal field of view at the cameras location. Look at how many degrees horizontal you'll get for the 2.8 and 3.6 on the data sheet - both are over 90 degrees from memory. The wider the angle of view, the more image distortion you'll get (curved horizontals), objects will appear smaller in the view. I personally never use 2.8mm unless what I'm trying to cover is right in front of the camera and I'm unable to move the camera further back.