Why are cctvs so confusing? :( need an ip cameria UK

[yoyo59 0]

ok well we have decided we need an ip camera for security purposes as alot of cars lately have been getting damaged around the area

 

reason for wanting an ip camera is I want to connect it to my computer & have it running 24/7 recording to the HD

 

I have no idea which camera to get personally.. I have stumbled on the dahua brand but they are pretty hard to get in the UK

 

also people say some are re-branded? I don't know whether to believe it or not on eBay as they may be fakes

 

I am willing to pay up to £200 for an ip camera.. maybe 250 tops if its worth it..

 

camera will be at the front of my house, pointing forward, also would like it to be good in the dark too

 

much appreciated

 

Edited January 20, 2014 by Guest

[buellwinkle 0]

What cameras brands are you able to get in the UK?

[yoyo59 0]

What cameras brands are you able to get in the UK?

 

 

I don't know which cameras are good or not tell me a few which you recommenced & ill search and tell you if they are available in the UK

[buellwinkle 0]

I personally use ACTi, Hikvision, Dahua, AVTech and Axis on different properties and they all make cameras in your price range of well under 250 quid or about $400 USD.

 

Next choice is indoor, outdoor, indoor looking outdoors and what sort of lighting exists at night from street lights are on all night like in London or total darkness like in a rural area or somewhere in between? What sort of mounting location, like at your front door, in front of a store, garage, etc.

[yoyo59 0]

I personally use ACTi, Hikvision, Dahua, AVTech and Axis on different properties and they all make cameras in your price range of well under 250 quid or about $400 USD.

 

Next choice is indoor, outdoor, indoor looking outdoors and what sort of lighting exists at night from street lights are on all night like in London or total darkness like in a rural area or somewhere in between? What sort of mounting location, like at your front door, in front of a store, garage, etc.

 

its for outdoor so im guessing outdoor would be best as I can't think of how id fit a camera inside to look outside without it restricting the window

I would have it mounted 80% up the house in height, there is light at night but not much, a few street lights thats all

[buellwinkle 0]

Sure, any type will work, mostly personal preference, outdoor bullet, dome, eyeball. See what brands are available. For example, for a bullet an ACTi D32, Hivision DS-2CD2032-I, Dahua IPC-HFW4300S, all good value 3MP cameras with built in IR Illuminators that should be in your budget and surely would if you were here in the U.S.

[varascope 0]

reason for wanting an ip camera is I want to connect it to my computer & have it running 24/7 recording to the HD

 

IP is just the transport. Just like you go to work, you can take a taxi,, drive, ride a bike or take the subway.

 

What you need to ask yourself is:

 

Do I need low light? What is your lux level. If you use IR, will it reach.

Real time recording 24fps or higher. The more frames the better to catch what you want

Resolution

Distance from camera to object. 2.8mm lens give you a wide view with little detail. 16mm give you detail but a narrow view.

 

If you use your PC for other things like surfing, email and gaming, I would not recommend using it to record. You maybe disappointed in performance. There are drives designed for surveillance that allow constant spin-up and the firmware allows sequential writing vs random.

 

Everyone wants to take the shortcut and save money but you waste time and money in the long run.

[yoyo59 0]

reason for wanting an ip camera is I want to connect it to my computer & have it running 24/7 recording to the HD

 

IP is just the transport. Just like you go to work, you can take a taxi,, drive, ride a bike or take the subway.

 

What you need to ask yourself is:

 

Do I need low light? What is your lux level. If you use IR, will it reach.

Real time recording 24fps or higher. The more frames the better to catch what you want

Resolution

Distance from camera to object. 2.8mm lens give you a wide view with little detail. 16mm give you detail but a narrow view.

 

If you use your PC for other things like surfing, email and gaming, I would not recommend using it to record. You maybe disappointed in performance. There are drives designed for surveillance that allow constant spin-up and the firmware allows sequential writing vs random.

 

 

Everyone wants to take the shortcut and save money but you waste time and money in the long run.

 

the computer will only be used for the camera, its a spare computer still decent specs.. & I have a new 1tb western digital hd for it

 

why what would you suggest?

[yoyo59 0]

Sure, any type will work, mostly personal preference, outdoor bullet, dome, eyeball. See what brands are available. For example, for a bullet an ACTi D32, Hivision DS-2CD2032-I, Dahua IPC-HFW4300S, all good value 3MP cameras with built in IR Illuminators that should be in your budget and surely would if you were here in the U.S.

 

are these decent prices

 

http://www.use-ip.co.uk/acti-d32-3mp-bullet-camera-with-d-n-ir-and-a-fixed-4-2mm-lens.html

 

http://www.use-ip.co.uk/hikvision-ds-2cd2032-i-4mm-3mp-ir-mini-bullet-camera.html

 

 

could not find the dahua but did see this camera yesterday on eBay.. they sold out really quick must of been good?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2MPX-Bullet-Camera-CMOS-CCTV-IP-ECO-SAVVY-POE-IR-DAHUA-TVCC-CCTV-/171219108880?pt=UK_CCTV&hash=item27dd744410&nma=true&si=qPSB%252BippAb27EVOCOPq5WKSsUmo%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[buellwinkle 0]

They all seem about right for the UK and all below you budget.

 

The advantage of the ACTi is that they provide very good NVR software for free, their website has manuals, firmware and knowledge base, and their support may be better, albeit for a higher price than what Hikvision and Dahua charge. Would not equate someone you don't know "selling out" to product quality or demand. Hikvision is the largest CCTV company in the world but ACTi is better known for their commercial grade products. I don't think you will be disappointed with any of these. The Dahua you linked to is 2MP, so not the same as the other 2 which are 3MP.

 

If it's just one camera, make sure you buy a PoE injector to power the camera. If you plan on more than one, consider a PoE switch. PoE allows you to power and connect the camera using ordinary Ethernet cable which makes for an easier and cleaner install.

[yoyo59 0]

They all seem about right for the UK and all below you budget.

 

The advantage of the ACTi is that they provide very good NVR software for free, their website has manuals, firmware and knowledge base, and their support may be better, albeit for a higher price than what Hikvision and Dahua charge. Would not equate someone you don't know "selling out" to product quality or demand. Hikvision is the largest CCTV company in the world but ACTi is better known for their commercial grade products. I don't think you will be disappointed with any of these. The Dahua you linked to is 2MP, so not the same as the other 2 which are 3MP.

 

If it's just one camera, make sure you buy a PoE injector to power the camera. If you plan on more than one, consider a PoE switch. PoE allows you to power and connect the camera using ordinary Ethernet cable which makes for an easier and cleaner install.

 

out the two would you recommenced the ACTi?

 

also for example I buy the ACTi, i have my computer ready what else would I need to buy if I do need to buy anything else?

 

also might spray the camera black/dark grey to be less noticeable

 

Thanks for your help!

[voip-ninja 0]

I think you might have an unrealistic view of what an IP camera is going to accomplish based on your description. How far away are these cars? Can you post a picture of the "view" from roughly where you'd like to place the camera? If the goal is to make facial identification and report people doing the vandalism to police then you will need pretty good resolution at the distance away the perpetrator is from the camera.

 

If the activity occurs at night with only a couple of street lights then you will need a camera with very good low light performance.

 

I don't know about spray-painting the camera being a good idea. Seeing that a camera is there is sometime a deterrent to petty criminals and it's usually better to deter a crime than try to catch someone in the act with footage that may or may not be useful to local police.

 

Also, what's your budget?

 

You should look through the forum because there are a couple of other threads with people who similarly set up cameras to catch local vandals and petty criminals and in some cases the systems are quite expensive and elaborate, involving multiple cameras so that once motion is detected a 2nd camera can zoom in on the perpetrator.... external sensors to activate the cams instead of just relying on basic motion detection, etc. A $300 dome camera will record something but it may be of no use to the cops.

[buellwinkle 0]

 

out the two would you recommenced the ACTi?

 

also for example I buy the ACTi, i have my computer ready what else would I need to buy if I do need to buy anything else?

 

also might spray the camera black/dark grey to be less noticeable

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Yes, because when you are a newbie, all the support you can get would be of big help. Also, having the software included makes it easier knowing that it will work together. Also, the D32 uses a typical camera tripod mount, meaning if the included mount does not work for you, you can easily buy different types of mounts that are cheap. One issue I have with the mini-bullets that have integrated mounts is sometimes it's not ideal, in my case, the eave is recessed a few inches and the fascia board causes reflections back onto the camera.

 

The camera comes as silver/gray already, but it's metal so you can easily paint it.

[tomcctv 187]

Sure, any type will work, mostly personal preference, outdoor bullet, dome, eyeball. See what brands are available. For example, for a bullet an ACTi D32, Hivision DS-2CD2032-I, Dahua IPC-HFW4300S, all good value 3MP cameras with built in IR Illuminators that should be in your budget and surely would if you were here in the U.S.

 

are these decent prices

 

http://www.use-ip.co.uk/acti-d32-3mp-bullet-camera-with-d-n-ir-and-a-fixed-4-2mm-lens.html

 

http://www.use-ip.co.uk/hikvision-ds-2cd2032-i-4mm-3mp-ir-mini-bullet-camera.html

 

 

could not find the dahua but did see this camera yesterday on eBay.. they sold out really quick must of been good?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2MPX-Bullet-Camera-CMOS-CCTV-IP-ECO-SAVVY-POE-IR-DAHUA-TVCC-CCTV-/171219108880?pt=UK_CCTV&hash=item27dd744410&nma=true&si=qPSB%252BippAb27EVOCOPq5WKSsUmo%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

 

 

another problem with cameras is the mounting bracket. the ACTi you have listed is over priced

fixed lens no alarm inputs no audio

 

 

 

at top end of your price range aver.

 

motorized lens allows for easy focus and zoom adjustment (MFZ) directly via the camera’s GUI

built-in mechanical ICR (IR-cut filter removable) and adjustable Osram IR LEDs (30m) for excellent day and night visibility

supports sensor-based True Wide Dynamic Range (True WDR) to greatly increase visibility by minimizing the effects of extreme lighting contrast from backlight or glare

supports dynamic Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) to deliver cleaner, sharper images in low-light environments

supports Smart Stream and Region of Interest (ROI) and Event Booster technology, allowing for smart bandwidth / storage optimization through targeted image capturing

EN50130-4 certified, ensuring high surge and electro-thermal resistance

local storage backup (microSDHC/SDXC card, up to 64GB) when an event is triggered or the network is down