Home CCTV help please

[danswan]

I'm looking to get a couple of outdoor cameras set up. I'm fairly network savvy and am OK with the hardware side of this, I've got a PoE switch so can easily get the cameras and get them connected to my network - although camera recommendations appreciated.

I've also got a Windows server with plenty (I hope, got a free 8TB drive) storage. I really just need to know the most cost effective way to get the cameras recording a few days worth of data. Would be nice to be able to access remotely, from mobile devices etc. I'm hoping there's some decent free software which is Ok for purpose?

 

[Turn]

Take a look at Blue Iris, it may not be free, but sounds like it's exactly what you're looking for. It's just a one time fee... so well worth it.

 

[Jamauk]

I agree with the above, Blue Iris and Foscam cameras work really well, I’m happy with my 8 camera setup, all PoE across 3 switches.

I’m sure other cameras would work just as well, Foscam is the only cameras I’ve ever used after coming from a real basic analogue setup.

The one annoyance I had with Foscam is their claim of 4K is pointless, it zooms the camera in so much that they are pointless. I may have set them up wrong, but I’ve set them to 720p as it shows an adequate field of view.

 

[danswan]

Blue Iris looks just the job tbh. Free trial as well. Have also ordered 1 Reolink camera, as it was cheap on the rainforest. Will plug in tomorrow and see how it works. If camera is no good will maybe try Foscam.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[fobose]

Unless all of your wiring is going inside, you will need a junction box to keep the cables waterproof. If you ordered the reolink RLC-410 you will need a Reolink Junction Box B10 (I think). I was looking at that camera originally myself but then was recommended Dahua Tioc camera's. I've now got 4 different dahua model's as all are for different purposes/locations. So far I have been very happy with them!

I can't comment on the recording side of things as I am yet to bite the bullet and buy a system for mine.

 

[danswan]

Yeah it was the RLC-410. Had also spotted that the wiring is external - that's a bit of a pain, but seems to be the same across all makes/models that I can see. It would seem to make more sense to have it all contained within the unit.

However my wife is an electrician (yes really) and has loads of boxes which would do the job for waterproofing things, so not a huge deal.

Already got Blue Iris installed and camera arriving tomorrow, see how I get on

 

[WJA96]

Camera selection really boils down to what you want to see and when you want to see it.

Pretty much any camera is good in the daylight and you really see the big differences at night. If you want full colour images at night then you either need a camera with it's own independent light source (like the Dahua TiOC) or if you have decent street lights all night then Dahua Full Colour or Hikvision ColorVu are good options. If you're happy with B&W images and you don't need to see car number plates then cameras with good infra red emitters are required. Look for something with an IR range of at least 30m although 50m is better.

And then you need to decide what sort of view you want to cover. If you want very wide angle views (100 degrees plus) then you want a 2.7-3mm lens and if you want to see a bit further away and narrow that view down to about 85 degrees then 3-4.5mm lenses are what you're after. Or get one with a zoom lens to allow you to frame your shot exactly. Don't think you'll be zooming it in and out though, the responsiveness is far too slow to do anything useful with it.

It's easy to get sucked in by a high Mega-pixel count - the 8MP cameras look fantastic value but they are squishing all the extra pixels onto the same sensor size so their light sensitivity and depth of field is less. 2MP (1080P) is generally good enough for what most people want and generally give the best night images and 5MP is top end of what really works properly at night without costing the earth.

I work with surveillance cameras day-in and day-out and I like Dahua, Axis and Verkada. I looked at getting stock of Reolink in but the support was somewhat lacking from their Dutch distributor although their warranty support is superb. They just send you a new camera. And it's generally not the one you bought but the closest (upgrade) new model so you've got that to look forward to if it goes wrong.

 

[danswan]

Great, seems like I'm not far off with Camera selection. Got a decent deal on the one camera at £40, can use that to get an idea of coverage and how many more are required.

Thanks again for all the comments/advice, been a great help

 

[WJA96]

I love it when people say they got a camera for £40. Good on you!

 

[Rabtech]

I use 4 x Hiwatch 4MP cameras with Blueiris - Hiwatch is the consumer arm of Hikvision, so all the usual Hikvision tools (SADP tool, IVMS 4200, IVMS 4500 mobile app) work fine. Two of the camera's are PTZ which the wifey loves as she can look around the perimeter of the house as required (via preset, free control or even joypad).

My 4 x 4MP cameras in h.265 (not +) direct to disk recording, use around 3.5TB for 6 weeks of footage 24/7. IR is only active on my back garden camera as the street lighting is quite good around my house.

 

[Loagi]

Another thumbs up for Blue Iris - been using it for years. I run it on a 5 year old i3 Intel NUC with 5 cameras and it doesn't go past 20% CPU most of the time.

I record all cameras 24x7 and don't use the Blue Iris motion detection.

 

[Adam-r]

I’ve got 6 or 7 hikvision cameras around my place. Pretty happy with those. I use ivms to log in and access the dvr which I don’t particularly like. The phone app is ok but not great. Nice to have the house alarm connected to the same app.

 

[WJA96]

There is a bit of a challenge with recommending anything in this area because the technology is moving so fast that what was fundamentally state of the art 4 years ago is high-end mainstream today and what was mainstream 4 years ago looks downright shabby today. That’s one reason why companies like Reolink don’t supply the same camera on a warranty claim because they just don’t have any of that model left and they’ve moved on to the latest and greatest. Night vision in particular has just changed radically with colour vision now the better option for most people. If you want to see number plates or car colours at night then infra red B&W cameras are useless. So the fundamental question is “what you want to use the cameras for?” and then make an informed decision.

 

[fobose]

Blue Iris looks just the job tbh. Free trial as well. Have also ordered 1 Reolink camera, as it was cheap on the rainforest. Will plug in tomorrow and see how it works. If camera is no good will maybe try Foscam.

Thanks for the advice!

How did you get on with the RLC-410? Any pics?

 

[danswan]

How did you get on with the RLC-410? Any pics?

Still testing, just got it wired in the cupboard under the stairs, seeing how to work Blue Iris, where to put storage and that sort of thing. Seems pretty straightforward, will most likely get installed properly over the weekend.

 

[fobose]

Fair enough. I spent a few days playing with my first camera before getting it installed too. I fitted my last one (4th) in the garden yesterday afternoon. I had previously run the network cable outside when I installed my second and third camera's so it didn't take long to get it mounted.

I've put this little build log together for my install.

https://imgur.com/a/7ufV8WT