Amcrest Forum

I’m very new to this security camera thing and have probably a lame question.

I purchased the IP8M-T2499 40mm and after the fact I noticed there is a 28mm version. From my very little knowledge the 28mm has a wider field of view is this correct? Is there a downside with the 40mm? It’s too late to change the order since it shipped today.

Again please bare with me I’m learning this stuff as I go.

Yes and not problem asking questions that is how we learn...

So yes the 2.8 isn't only a wider FOV but is longer field as well.

That is one reason I like camera that a VF lens or better yet a Motorized VF aka VF is Vari Focal and some can be 2.8 to 12 to as much as 5-50 and some even longer depth depending on what your trying to capture is what is important.. a 4mm will give you a closer view and again depending on where you are installing it could give you better clear picture of someone say coming in your back yard gate.. However if your yard was wide then a 2.8mm might give you total coverage of that open back yard if in fact it was open...

One of my Cameras that is a Motorized VF is 2.8mm to 12mm and 85% of the time it is at 12mm and I can read the street sign that is about 150' away and I can read a speed sign that is another 100 feet past that.. Then with a 8mp like your talking about it would be able to see them and even have ability to get a clear zoom past what mine could do seeing it is old tech not as high MP.. SO on mine at around 4mm setting I can see to much of the area of what I am trying to view.. I also have another OLD OLD camera with a 6-60mm lens it is good at day time night time not so much lol I have it set at about 40mm any more I will be looking at the road because of the angle of the camera... It was my first view of that area I just never removed it seeing I have 3 cameras at that view point...

So for that camera your talking about, so your not really wondering.. the 28 is 2.8mm and 40 is 4.0mm not 40mm where when I say 6-60mm and it is at 40mm it really is at a 40mm very narrow path

Thanks for the reply.

I bought two of the cameras which one will be setup watching a driveway and the other watching a small deck so neither will be monitoring a large space by any means so hopefully they will work out.

Not realizing the whole 2.8 and 4.0 thing until I was doing more research on the camera, I realized after I put the order in that I may have made a mistake and the order had already been picked up so there was no option to exchange them.

I've been a couple of weeks researching trying to get familiar with the options on these systems and was discouraged after so long of trying to figure out which setup to purchase I made such a bad mistake with not catching lens difference.

I was using a couple of Wyze cameras in mounts so I'm thinking this will be a huge upgrade.

Well I don't want to talk about the Quality or lack there of from another company. I know that a few people I know with them after they upgraded to some different cameras a couple from Amcrest did says it was night and day difference.. However from what I know and the cameras offered they don't cost very much and might be the big attraction to them.. I had a couple of friend last year that moved from them to Night Owl and after having that for less then a month they sold them and replaced them with Amcrest.. It would have been ok with the Nite owl stuff had I went to help setup the system because looking at it he didn't like the IR wash because his system was not installed right he has told me a few times thanks that he likes the look and quality of the Amcrest better anyway..

Well I will say on a 20 by 20 with camera at 15 feet to the scene it is 4.8mm as a good lens for that.. So that means a 20 foot from the camera to the Scene, with 20 foot wide scene and the camera mounted 15 feet above the scene 4mm would be a good choice.. That is from a 1/3" sensor lens camera...

So kind of same area 20 by 40 at 30 would be good for a 2.4mm lens at the same sensor type... If that gives you a better wide about your current scene that might be helpful...

Thanks again Revo2Maxx

I also purchased the NV4108E-HS NVR along with 2 of the IP8M-T2499 cameras and noticed some posts here having issues with the latest firmware on the NVR. I've spent a couple of weeks now trying to research and make somewhat of a decent decision on a system so I'm hoping that I didn't go wrong with the devices I've purchased.

Well I wouldn't want to say anything is going to be wrong with what you have.. Most times the Hardware will come to you with Factory FW and to be Honest if it is from 2018 or before I would maybe stay with the old FW and not do an update yet to the NVR Firmware...

That should solve that issue..

About the Cameras it is hard to say.. I don't see anything in the Numbering that says they are POE cameras however they could be.. But if they were I would say connect one to a POE switch and your Network and the other to the NVR direct.. This will give you some idea what you can and can not change within the NVR and what you can change in the WebUI of the camera...

Not that One would want to spend 600 for camera and NVR to run the camera but there are some new AI Hardware that is out and buying new now I personally would have started with Tech that is being added to the market However the good thing about buying what you did is that it has had some time to work out some bugs and hope that the System you get will be one that was before the 2020 FW with the issues...

So one of the things that I was told about FW from Techs is that there is some issues with the JS and keeping a Format rule that can live inside the standard of what the JS FW could run.. Someone that has had the NVR with OLD FW might notice smaller pictures and some lag over the older setup.. Someone new to the FW may not notice anything because there was nothing for them to Reference the hardware too... So while my 4108h is not able to get new FW sadly my 2116-hs is and as of now I will not be using the New FW and if the future Release is just the same then I might be moving over to the New AI NVR seeing it has features in the NVR that will make my normal Cameras better anyway.. For this time I am up in the air on a new Recorder I have to many as it is now lol...

From my personal experience you might be happier with the 4mm lens as the 2.8mm exhibits more fisheye distortion and isnt suitable for some mounting situations.
I had to replace a couple 2.8mm cameras that were mounted in corners because they displayed too much of the wall behind the cameras, and the main subjects were too far away because of the distortion. The 4mm replacements were much better at framing relevant objects. The 2.8mm cameras are also more prone to exposure problems because the camera sees more reflections of its own infrared light source than the 4mm.

The "Ultra-wide" 2.8mm definitely has some uses but I wouldnt make it my universal choice.

Thanks for the replies.

So is the FOV affected any by the MP of the camera? For instance 4mm 3MP vs 2.8mm 8MP

On a 8mp or 4mp it is hard to know really what the FOV would be because not all cameras are made the same infact some cameras might have a 120 degree FOV no matter the MP ratting it would still be 120fov alot of that has to do with Lens and Sensor type..

So on my 5mp 2.8mm lens it has a FOV of around 105 degrees where my 4mm will have a fov of around 87 degrees... This could be the same for a 8mp camera as well... Again depends on Lens and Camera