Which Hikvision Cams have the best low light performance?

[junkymail00w0]

Looking to install security cam system for my new house, no more than 8 cams needed. Did quite bit research and came down with conclusion hikvison is overall best for the money and performance. NVR will most likely be the I series 8 channel one. Now I need good low light cams. I know no cam can be best at everything, all I need is a cam that shows good image at night with good fps, no blur image or choppy frame rate. Preferably 8mp or 4K than 4mp/2K. But if 4mp/2K has better performance I’ll take it. Thanks!

 

[cymruchris]

How low is your low light?

Are you pitch black darkness?

Do you have all night partial ambient light?

Do the council turn the lights off at midnight?

 

[junkymail00w0]

I have an LED light at front porch, but my cams will be installed on two corner of the house, so only porch area will be lit, rest front lawn area will be pitch black. saw colorvu can have nice bright image of low light condition, just wondering if colorvu is better or night vision is better

 

[cymruchris]

You need some ambient light for colorvu cameras - if the majority of your target area is pitch black and you’re not going to fit any lights - then go with a camera that has a good infra red range and stay black and white. You’ll also need to set the default shutter speed which is usually 1/25 of a second to around 1/100 if you want sharper images of moving objects at night. The higher the shutter speed the more accurate the freeze frame - but also the more light required to produce your desired image.

 

[Triple]

I'm not a professional installer but in my experience you should also think about what type of camera to install . I made the mistake of fixing dome cameras either side of a dormer window. At first everything was great but then the wind and rain and leaves and cobwebs mean the night time vision is useless as the built in IR lighting reflects off the dirt.

I also fitted a dome camera in the porch. Although spiders love to visit from time to time it is more protected from the elements and has remained relatively clear for night time footage. This camera managed to capture a fox burying a pigeon in our flower bed during the night!

I've also fitted a turret camera and this has been fantastic. Because the IR light is offset from the camera the view is spectacular and has remained clear for well over two years.

The ColorVu range of cameras look interesting if you want colour pictures at night. I have one of those but haven't much day to day experience with it yet. I'm not sure if the neighbours will appreciate its white LED lighting up my garden all night!

 

[junkymail00w0]

Should I get 4mp or 8mp?

 

[cymruchris]

Should I get 4mp or 8mp?

It depends on what model NVR you are going for - and what video settings you want. You'll have difficulty putting 8 x 8mp cameras on an NVR in most cases and running them at max resolution and max frame rate.

 

[Dan]

Hi @junkymail00w0

To add to what @cymruchris has said above, Choosing 4MP or 8MP is really down to the area you need to cover. If the most important area to record is less than 20m from the camera then a 4MP will give you great detail, but if you need greater detail over wider/longer areas (20m+) then an 8MP model will give you better detail than the 4MP over those greater distances.

 

[junkymail00w0]

my cam distance to the street is about 17-18m, so I take it 8mp isn’t much better than 4mp?

 

[Dan]

If the street is the main area you want to record then I might consider an 8MP model with a narrower (4mm or 6mm) focal length, 17-18m would be close to the maximum distance for good detail when using a 2.8mm/4mm 4MP model and so you might struggle to make out smaller details especially on moving objects (e.g. cars, people running, etc...).

 

[Triple]

my cam distance to the street is about 17-18m, so I take it 8mp isn’t much better than 4mp?

From my own experience I would say think carefully what you need to record and when.

I've had a case where two detectives rang the doorbell and asked if I had camera footage of an event that took place in another street but the burglars had parked in our street! Even though it was daylight and the van was parked 40m away, none of the 4MP cameras were able to clearly see the number plate. Even the turret based camera couldn't quite read it as they drove within 20m. Based on that I'm seriously thinking of getting a 6mm camera and permanently pointing it at that part of the road all vehicles have to pass through.

That raises the other problem of detecting number plates at night. In my experience that is virtually impossible with IR cameras with built in lighting. The number plates are so reflective that they flare up and become unreadable. In addition the vehicle's headlamps also help obscure the plate.