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Is there any other good CCTV forums? Mainly for commercial/industrial installers.
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That's why we built this one
Seemed to me that most of the others were being used by consumers (homeowners wanting to put cameras to look at their neighbors, etc.). Invite any installers/designers you know. This one is solely for professionals -- the people working in this broad industry.
Geoff/SIW -
No, they all suck. This forum is low activity, but when there are posts, they are usually quality.Originally posted by Nelsonc0 View Post
The only other place with quality posts and more activity that I can think of is the comments section of IP Video Market, and they're mostly focused on technology and sales, not really installation.
I'll tell you what. You post something good and I'll respond to it, and so will four or five other guys. Then you can respond back, and we'll be having a conversation. Whaddya say, it'll be fun.
Here, I'll start: Tamron is absoultely the best lens manufacturer, bar none.The CCTV Blog.
"Expert" is something like "leader". It's not a title that you can ever claim for yourself no matter what you might know or might have done. It's a title that others bestow on you based on their assessment of what you know and what you have done.
-SecTrainerComment
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www.cctvforum.com Not a bad place, I check in about every other day, and there are always new postsThere are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don'tComment
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[QUOTE=Here, I'll start: Tamron is absoultely the best lens manufacturer, bar none.[/QUOTE]
Ok, if you say so...
So, since you brought this up, then please tell us what make Tamron the best lens manufacturer compared to Pentax, Fujinon, Tokina, Computar, Panasonic, Kowa and few other majors... Is it their quality of optics, the construction of the packaging, the price, the customer service or what?Comment
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Maybe you can try the CCTV forum or the CABLE forum, just google them, hope they may help you.Comment
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They have the best mix of price and quality, in my opinion. If you need a lens for low light, Tamron is your choice. Tech support is very good, too.Originally posted by MetzLyov View PostOk, if you say so...
So, since you brought this up, then please tell us what make Tamron the best lens manufacturer compared to Pentax, Fujinon, Tokina, Computar, Panasonic, Kowa and few other majors... Is it their quality of optics, the construction of the packaging, the price, the customer service or what?
Kowa and Tokina is way too expensive. Computar sucks. Panasonic is not a lens manufacturer.
Fujinon and Pentax are pretty good but they don't stand up to the low light preformance of Tamron.The CCTV Blog.
"Expert" is something like "leader". It's not a title that you can ever claim for yourself no matter what you might know or might have done. It's a title that others bestow on you based on their assessment of what you know and what you have done.
-SecTrainerComment
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Very decisive about Tamron and that is great... well, that is your personal perception of course...
Throughout the last 30+ years, I worked with many companies, including lens manufacturers. I have yet to determine that anyone of these companies is the best, as there is no such thing. Each lens manufacturer has their pros and cons and all of the have decent product that they sell... Heck, if they did not produce what we like, they will be out of business.
First off, Panasonic does make their own lenses, just to clarify your statement about them. They are not the cheapest, but nothing Panasonic makes is cheap... They make the best 2MP and 4MP lenses in the market for a price - because their MP lenses are true performers. Extremely expensive, but they hold the crown still...
On the comments for the Kowa... Kowa is not and never was a major player in our industry.. They produced decent CCTV lenses, but such lenses were derivative of their other major lines, i.e. Sporting Optics, Medical Equipment, etc. Support has been substandard, as they did not allocated resources to supply to our industry in a major ways.
Now I am sure that you have not used Tokina - if you did, then you would have seen that they offer one of the lowest pricing for very broad ranges of lenses (over 100+ variations)... actually lower than most Tamron lenses... However, the construction on all their lenses is metal and few percentage points is plastic vs. Tamron who's most lenses have very high content of plastic construction... What is the main difference in such construction of materials, well that should be another thread...
Amazingly enough and it is very surprising to hear from you that Pentax or Fujinon are categorized less in quality or selection that Tamron.. Consider these facts - industry best and most versitle lenses are made by these two manufacturers... I think Fujinon does hold up slightly higher than Pentax...
To make a general assumption that a one company has fix all solution is not a smart business and no company does or ever will cover all the basis. Looks like Tamron has roughly 100+ variations of lenses... which is great for their lineup... but because you are using their lenses exclusively, does not constitute to slam the other lens manufacturers without facts...
And of course the comments about the Computar - a division of CBC America that was the key player of providing lenses to our industry for many years.. Why do you think their lenses are so bad? What constitutes a decision that their lenses "suck"? Is it because some bad apple within their organization that really made you mad or is it the price or the service? I can tell you that "Computar" is not my favorite brand of lenses, as we do not even stock or push anything that they make, but I am very curious why you do not like them.
It is always a good business to have options for a similar products that various manufacturers make. Never put all your eggs into the same basket - experience taught us very expensive lessons in the past. It is not what we think that counts - rather what our customers want, most of which already have their own preference of products and even manufacturers.
Someone may ask why someone else pay extremely high prices for most Panasonic products in our industry? It is called brand loyalty, which is what most manufacturers hope to achieve.. May be you have Tamron brand loyalty and there is not problem with it. What is the problem however is to isolate it as the "best" and slam the rest as "bad".Comment
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I use Tamron and Computar. I've never had a problem with either. I actually started using Tamron because they came out with the Aspherical lens. I've also used Rainbow, mainly big 16-160's, though some 3.5-8mm.sigpic
Rocket Science
Making everything else look simple, since 1958.
http://my.opera.com/integrator/blog/
One Man's Opinion
The Future. It isn't what it used to be.Comment
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All my comments are based on the fact that one day I was bored, so I called up basically every lens I had in the warehouse and I put them on a Sanyo VCC-5984, one after another.
It is possible, of course, that my opinions are based on the individual lenses I had in stock rather than every lens the respective manufacturers have ever produced in their histories. Still, as a basis for reccomendations, I prefer to use my own observations and experiements rather than stuff I read in a magazine or a display I saw at a trade show. It may not be totally accurate but it is consistant. Plus, it gives me more confidence to say "I once tried that and..." rather than "I heard that...".
Being a camera geek, I am always happy to be presented with new information to consider.
To clarify: I really like Pentax and Fujinon, but the Tamrons I tested were better in low light, on the same exact camera under the same exact conditions, than the Pentaxes and Fujinons. I sell a boatload of Pentax, probably more than any other manufacturer, due mainly to the prices I get more than any other reason, unless the customer is looking to use the camera under low light conditions.The CCTV Blog.
"Expert" is something like "leader". It's not a title that you can ever claim for yourself no matter what you might know or might have done. It's a title that others bestow on you based on their assessment of what you know and what you have done.
-SecTrainerComment
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Just curious. Were they all the same focal length(mm) and f-stop?sigpic
Rocket Science
Making everything else look simple, since 1958.
http://my.opera.com/integrator/blog/
One Man's Opinion
The Future. It isn't what it used to be.Comment
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No. I tested *every* lens I had on hand at the time (I was very bored), but I am only comparing apples to apples and oranges to same.The CCTV Blog.
"Expert" is something like "leader". It's not a title that you can ever claim for yourself no matter what you might know or might have done. It's a title that others bestow on you based on their assessment of what you know and what you have done.
-SecTrainerComment
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Excellent question...Originally posted by integrator97 View Post
One way to determine if a specific focal length lens is better than others is to use exact same spec based lenses from different manufacturers... General assessment on lenses without specifics make no sense... There is even a difference in performance on the same focal length and "F" stop lenses when the lens is either manual iris or autoiris..
Too many variables to announce a clear winner in any of the categories...
Dependent on the application and the type of cameras in the loop, the correct lens will make all the difference in the world... Just because a manufacturer calls IR lenses does not quantify the end results...
This question has been addressed to many MP camera manufacturers and I have yet to receive a legitimate answers... Here is a question - if we are working with 2MP camera for an example, are they offering 2MP IR lens or a "megapixel" lens, which most of the time is lower in resolution? The bottle neck is always the lens to achieve best picture quality regardless how great of a resolution the camera may have. What if we are talking about 4MP or higher IP cameras? Do you think manufacturers offer 4MP lens?
Simple calculation shows that if your lens is a "megapixel" which is 1.2MP most of the time, then what exactly are you getting as a picture if it is part of 2MP or 4MP camera? Such lenses exist for a premium price, which most of the time costs more than the cameras...
Answer of this above question has yet been fully explained by any manufacturer. Nobody came forward to provide legitimate and real truth... and the fact is that if you do use higher than 1MP camera and using lower resolution MP lens, then you are not optimizing the overall quality of the camera picture... It will be interesting what the members think about this area of concern that not a single manufacturer is willing to address...Comment
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please excuse my ignorance since i have no clue regarding lenses but i am interested in opinions on a list of camera companies. if any lens gurus here get bored maybe they can give me some insight on their opinions of what these camera companies are using. i know this is pretty open ended but some basics if known would be good to know.
- axis
- bosch
- mobotix
- basler
- vivotek
- sentry360
- iqinvision
- lumenera
- acti
- arecont vision
- sony
- toshiba
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Total Control - Video Surveillance For Mobile Phones
www.totalcontrolapp.comComment
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Originally posted by MetzLyov View Post
Metz,
I have actually been pressing a vendor or two on this topic for the last few months... I haven't received the article I want yet, but I'm told it's coming... I will post a link to it in the forums when it is finalized.
GeoffComment
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