tghd

I have a situation at a local apartment complex where they need four cameras. There is no practical way to connect them to a DVR/server and there is no WiFi. Each camera is in a different part in the complex several hundred feet away from each other so a cheap DVR solution for them is out of the question as well. Anyone have experience or recommendations with cheaper dahua/hikvision type cameras with a good local storage/record option that can do motion on the camera and be by itself? Cameras are indoor, do not need to be super high resolution (1 to 3 MP tops), and will most likely be somewhat close (<20').

I cannot connect them wirelessly or with wires other than to do an initial set up if need be. There is no wireless network in the complex and it would be too complex and costly to implement: several buildings, lots of thick brick walls, cameras are needed in basements, large distances, there are no Ethernet cables connecting the complex, etc. It would be a pain to use SD cards, but it is the only viable option I can think of. They want to capture some occasional theft of people stealing clothes from others in the laundry room, so they don't want too spend much. Also, due to the nature of the issue they should be able to know around when they occurred and where. I have never used local record/storage, so I was curious of others experiences with it especially in regards to cheaper brands; I am just helping them out as a favor.

I really want to set up an IP surveillance system at where I work versus a analog one, but I have a question on where to buy the software (and thus, finding the price). I am starting out with 6-7 cameras with a max less than 16. Most likely I will add one or two here or there and reach somewhere around 11 but I want to keep my options open up to 16. I am interested in using Dahua cameras, and I will probably only max at 2 MP due to cost restraints. At least half of my initial 6-7 camera set up will probably be 1.3 MP (if I can find them easy to get that is). With these in mind, it looks like Digifort Essentials and Milestone's Xprotect Essential are good choices (if I am wrong on this, please let me know). I want something reliable that supports the cameras but, hopefully, is not too expensive. I will probably install it on a Core i5 Ivy Bridge 3.1 Quad PC with an enterprise hard drive. I checked Optiview for digifort but their website says they sell to resellers and installers (I am an end user) and I have only been able to find one other site that had it and it was European (my location is in Tennessee, USA). Does anyone have any recommendations on where to purchase the software? Am I correct in thinking they are around $50 a camera in price?

Deleted

Awesome. Good to know. I will continue my current plan of purchasing from them tonight. I am looking forward to seeing your night shot. I am going to be replacing my foscam with the the dahua 2 mp. I hope the low light is descent although we have a street light and lamps semi near our cars so not too worried. Thanks for the fast reply!

You just found the site? In a post today you said you had very good experience with them...

Wow great shots. Thanks for the examples. How was your experience with empire security? I am about to purchase from their eBay store.