SECTECH Camera Shootout judges Norman and Ronnie Rotakin say they’re not certain which cameras will make the winner’s circle at Randwick Racecourse tomorrow.
“I’ve liked a number of the external bullets and domes this year – perhaps the key thing from my perspective is that all the camera brands are much improved – I’ve been very impressed,” Norman said.
Master of motion blur, Ronnie Rotakin believes 2018 is the year that shows elevated ISO doesn’t mean the death of detail.
“There were a number of cameras – the Vivotek really stood out – that made the most of significant levels of amplification to retain sharpness in low light colour and monochrome – other cameras used the same technique, including Panasonic,” Ronnie said.
“Another area of real improvement was WDR. At SecTech in Brisbane last year, we really stressed all the camera groups – this year I saw much better control. The Axis cameras did well against backlight, as usual, but there were also great performances from Dahua and Uniview.”
Norman said he would not be drawn on whether or not the Dahua cameras had performed best overall at SecTech Camera Shootout (sponsored by CSD and Milestone).
“Human labels are so ambiguous and security applications so diverse that it’s difficult to get a strong sense of what the word ‘best’ means when talking about surveillance cameras,” Norman said.
“One thing is certain – when it comes to approaching what humans might label ‘truth’, I’ll be eschewing scientism and using rationalism, empiricism and scepticism together.”
When it came to the PTZs, Ronnie maintained that although the comparison was linear, he still felt he had a good idea of which camera had performed best.
“But let’s be honest – it’s not only about performance,” he said, stroking his chin. “There are also issues of size and weight, as well as cost to take into account. Perhaps that’s what’s so interesting about camera shootouts – they’re expressions of operational philosophy.”
At press time, Norman and Ronnie were still holed up at the Thoroughbred Motel at Randwick watching work progressing on the light rail and drinking pea and ham soup.
“We had thought to stay in the city but something dreadful has happened to the restaurants in this town,” Ronnie said.
