Lettuce talk about home security cameras

[chevysoldier]

Well I ended up getting a Nest thermostat, smoke/CO detector and camera. I love the thermostat and how the system "talks" to itself. For example, if I fire is detected, it shuts off the HVAC, turns on the camera and notifies me. I can also view it on my phone from anywhere.

The problem, after the month trial, I now lost the ability to see past recorded video. I could go back and see what triggered the cam but now with a notification, it only gives me a live feed. This doesn't do any good to show law enforcement. They want $100/year for 7 days history and I don't want to pay.

So I'm looking at other options. My needs, wants:

video history without a subscription

Local storage? Seems like cloud storage is always charged but it keeps a thief from taking the hard drive, and I mean local as in a drive at my place, not on the camera itself

Ability to view remotely

720 or better HD

Indoor and outdoor cam options

Audio on cam

Strong security and encryption

Wifi, i rent so it needs to be movable.

Give me thoughts and ideas

I did come across this and I'm liking it

http://us.dlink.com/product-category/home-solutions/view/network-cameras/

Edited October 21, 2015 by chevysoldier

[cmh_sprint]

Paging Max Power

[ScubaCinci]

I did a review on the Guardzilla camera (https://www.guardzilla.com/) which was brand new at the time. It had some bugs and features that weren't quite fleshed out yet. Since then, they've addressed them and it's quite a decent camera for the price. It has local storage and you can connect remotely to it, etc. I've never used it for an alarm system but the alarm is super loud. I do set it to detect movement when we are away from home in certain areas of the house. I probably shouldn't say this but I got some rather interesting footage of my wife's friend who was house sitting for us (don't ask).

 

Kodak just came out with a camera that looks interesting and I saw another one just the other day Logitech just launched the Circle camera that looks nice.

 

One problem with local storage is that if the intruders see the camera, all they have to do it grab it and/or the data card and you've got nothing.

Edited October 21, 2015 by ScubaCinci

[chevysoldier]

I did a review on the Guardzilla camera (https://www.guardzilla.com/) which was brand new at the time. It had some bugs and features that weren't quite fleshed out yet. Since then, they've addressed them and it's quite a decent camera for the price. It has local storage and you can connect remotely to it, etc. I've never used it for an alarm system but the alarm is super loud. I do set it to detect movement when we are away from home in certain areas of the house. I probably shouldn't say this but I got some rather interesting footage of my wife's friend who was house sitting for us (don't ask).

Kodak just came out with a camera that looks interesting and I saw another one just the other day Logitech just launched the Circle camera that looks nice.

One problem with local storage is that if the intruders see the camera, all they have to do it grab it and/or the data card and you've got nothing.

I'll look into those.

Sorry, by local I meant a HDD somewhere on site, not on the physical camera itself for that very reason.

[Gump]

Have you looked at Canary

Edited October 22, 2015 by Gump

[chevysoldier]

Have you looked at Canary

Just in the store and I can't mount it on a wall.

Edited October 22, 2015 by chevysoldier

[max power]

I would probably suggest buying a cheap computer and a camera monitoring program. You will need hardwire IP cameras and inputs for the computer. They can be bought in kits.

Hide it in a closet or safe (with proper cooling) and run cat 5 through the attic. Don't have a suggestion as to which one because I've only done commercial work and haven't researched it. I think that wireless is still too expensive for residential applications and the video quality isn't fantastic.

Quality dedicated hardwired DVR's start at about $500, but I'm sure someone will be along to sing the praises of the harbor freight systems.

When it comes to camera systems, quality is key.

That said, I never recommend interior cameras in living spaces for obvious reasons. I'd prefer not to have video out there anywhere of me scratching my nuts while walking down the hallway.

[Scruit]

One problem with local storage is that if the intruders see the camera, all they have to do it grab it and/or the data card and you've got nothing.

 

Back when I was running my CCTV on a PC I had a process that captured 1 fps per camera and sent the images offsite. 

[Gixxus Christ!]

Just installed the harbor freight 4 cam dvr in my house a few weeks ago. The picture quality leaves me wanting better cameras. Night vision works pretty good. Not bad for the money but there are better.

[max power]

GE makes some very good affordable IR cameras.

Keep in mind that nothing is as good as the cameras in the TV cop show fantasy world.

Higher res = higher dollars.

Edited October 22, 2015 by max power

[chevysoldier]

What's a good, minimum quality resolution you'd recommend Shawn? Any brands to look at, any to stay away from?

[Scruit]

For quality you have two options. 

 

 - Standard NTSC image (4CIF or Full D1) which is roughly 640x480 (not exactly).  This is what analog cameras product and will connect to your recording unit (DVR) using either RCA (The yellow plug in the old white/red/yellow AV cables). or BNC (the old 10Base2 network connector with lugs).  The cable can either be RG59 or Cat5+ with baluns. This is what most CCTV was for ever.  The quality is not great, but can be compensated for by aiming the camera at where the action is going to be.   If you want to read a license plate the plate must take up at least  a quarter of the width of the screen to get a comfortable read (from a resolution perspective - lighting is another can of worms).  A person's face for a "wanted poster" needs to be about the same size.  The cameras run from $25 for the cheapest nasty crap you will ever see, for several hundred for brand name cameras with active IR filter DayNight and wide dynamic range (better handles variable light conditions)

 

- Megapixel IP.   IP just means digital data stream being transferred across a network cable (cat5e, cat 6 etc) rather than an analog image.  You need the digital data stream for megapixel. Megapixels are rated just like regular cameras.  Cameras used to start in the $1k+ range but the prices are dropping.  Framerates are lower, generally, because the data stored would be much higher.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2015 by Scruit

[max power]

^ what he said.

I haven't kept up on cameras in the last four or five years as my day job has been keeping me pretty busy. That stuff changes every year much like car stereo equipment. Hard to say who has the best stuff out right now but I always liked the GE units for price and reliability/clarity.

[Ron505]

I know this is old, but Prime Day is now.  Has anyone ever tried the Arlo system?  If so, what are your thoughts/opinions?  Pros vs cons?  Any helpful info would be greatly appreciated. 

https://www.amazon.com/Arlo-Smart-Security-Camera-System/dp/B014TJFC5U/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7K13YRS99ZWWCPV6GQP0

 

Edited July 12, 2016 by Ron505

[redkow97]

Is there a battery-operated camera system that is motion activated and will wirelessly connect to my iPad, and I can record/review everything through a spiffy app???

that's what i want...  No wiring.  No storage hardware.  just cameras, and my iPad.    And I want it to be cheap

[snot]

@StrangeKnight

 

[Tonik]

2 hours ago, redkow97 said:

Is there a battery-operated camera system that is motion activated and will wirelessly connect to my iPad, and I can record/review everything through a spiffy app???

that's what i want...  No wiring.  No storage hardware.  just cameras, and my iPad.    And I want it to be cheap

Yes, there are.  Lots..mos....of the major players make that.

[redkow97]

for cheap?

[Tonik]

Just now, redkow97 said:

for cheap?

Define cheap.

[redkow97]

$50 per camera.

[Tonik]

Just now, redkow97 said:

$50 per camera.

Sure, as long as you don't mind not being able to make out a damn thing in the video in daylight.  And forget about night all together. Figure about 150 a camera for ones that actually work decently.

We have hundreds of camera's here.  It takes good money to get a decent usable image.

[redkow97]

yeah... I just wish there was a system that didn't include a bunch of stuff I don't want

Basically I want my 32GB iPad to be the "brain" of the system, or cloud-store the recordings.  I would only set it to record when motion is detected, so it wouldn't be a ton of video, and I presume you could set it to clear files after 15 days or so.

In a perfect world, I could add door/window alarms as well.

iSmart has all those features, but it packages them with stand-alone motion detectors and outlet timers I don't want.  I just want their 'brain' and the cameras ($150 each)

[Tonik]

You want Arlo, the video is saved in the cloud.

https://www.amazon.com/Arlo-Smart-Security-Camera-System/dp/B00P7EVST6