mikmort

Hey folks, One of my IP cameras is pointed out into my driveway and street in front of my house. There is a decent amount of light from street lamps as well as lights attached to my house. At night time the camera goes into night (b&w mode), but the IR illumination from the camera itself does not appear to be significant relative to the ambient light. My question is whether to leave the camera in night mode (actually day/night where it auto switches based on light) or just keep it in day mode? Does 'night' mode help improve the image quality in low light if IR is not (a significant) part of the illumination? I've tried both day any night and it they seem comparable in terms of detail. You get a lot of color noise in 'day' mode as the light is still fairly low but some color information which can be helpful. Obviously I can compare images myself and just choose what I prefer, but I'm curious if theoretically the 'night mode' should provide a better image if IR illumination is not a factor? -Mike

I'm pretty sure the two better cameras (with 2.8-12mm lens) are the same as what is Costco is selling for $249 each which I factored into the analysis above. Here is a link: http://www.costco.com/Swann-1080p-HD-IP-Vari-Focal-Bullet-Camera.product.100070294.html Not sure about the equivalent Hikvision model.

The package does seem expensive relative to Costco's own pricing for the components. The 2 vari-focal cameras can be bought for $250 each and the 6 other cameras can be had at $150 each (purchased in pairs of twos). Add that up and you get 2*250+6*150=$1400. That leaves $1100 for the NVR (with 16-port POE) and 3 TB drive, which seems like a lot. If you want a package the Lorex offering seems like a much better deal for $999 if you don't need more than 8 cameras. http://www.costco.com/Lorex-8-Channel-Full-HD-Real-Time-PoE-NVR-Security-System-with-2TB-Hard-Drive-and-6-1080p-Cameras.product.100048576.html If you are like the previous poster (and myself) and don't want to commit to the Swann/Lorex NVRs you can just buy the cameras and then use a PC (my choice) or a third party NVR. I do think Swann 2-pack 1080p for $300 (same cameras as in the packages) is a very good value.

I just bought a pair at $349 about 10 days ago. I know Costco has a first class return policy, so I presume it shouldn't be too hard to get your money back for the price difference. Does anyone know if you have to actually return the cameras of if you can just walk into a Costco with the receipt and get credited for the price difference?

I think I was able to disable the IR LEDs with the Swann camera by changing it to 'Day' mode instead of 'Auto' or 'Night' in the imaging section.

I suspect it depends a ton on the character and the amount of traffic in the neighborhood. I live in a very nice but urban neighborhood in Seattle where unfortunately break-ins happen. I'm guessing that in a very suburban area where people don't regularly pass-through you might get different reaction from neighbors. Interestingly across the lake where I live is Medina, WA -- which is where Bill Gates resides and is mostly 10+ million plus houses. Security cameras are omnipresent and expected there, without any known impact to home values that I'm aware of .

I think this is what I did (or perhaps I'm not understanding your suggestion). I attached the camera to a metal plate of a junction box, and in the box I attached the pigtail to a RJ45 coupler. I then ran the cat5e cable coming from the house through a small hole in the back of the junction box, which was in turned attached to the wall. Was this your suggestion? If not, I'm sure I understand where you stash the wiring from the pigtail?

It is unlikely the 24 port POE switch uses anywhere close to 170 watts without anything hooked up to it. If you want you could disconnect everything and measure the switch with a Kill-a-watt meter. Of course as the previous poster said if you lots of cameras attached it will consume the power necessary to run the cameras which is unavoidable.

I bought a couple of the Swann 1080 IP cameras from Costco. I'm in the process of mounting them and would like them to look as good as possible attached to the house. The area where I'm mounting them is all black. This may sound stupid, but has anyone tried spray painting the exterior of the camera (obviously taking great care to protect the lens and glass)? I'd simply prefer not to have a white camera sticking out with the Swann logo. Or is this obviously dumb and will damage the camera?

Thanks for the advice folks! I bought a small metal junction box and spray painted it to match the exterior wall. This seems to have done the trick.

I bought a pair of the Swann 1080p bullet cameras from Costco. They are: http://www.costco.com/Swann-1080p-2-Pack-HD-NVR-IP-Bullet-Cameras.product.100039914.html I thought they would be easy to mount, as I have a bracket that I was planning on using that has 7/8 inch diameter round hole. This is of course plenty wide to fit any cables, but it turns out it is bit too narrow to fix the largish RJ-45 connector that is at the end of the cord of the Swann camera. I can think of a couple of options: 1) File the bracket to make it big enough to fit the hole (>1" round). However I'd then need a fairly sizable hole in my wall to match. 2) I could cut the RJ-45 connector on the Swann camera, run the cable, and then attach a new RJ-45 connector. This seems like the most elegant solution, but I'm nervous about cutting the built-in cable. I presume it is just regular twisted pair inside? Has anyone else had challenges with mounting this camera or something similar? Any suggestions of brackets or alternative ways to make this work?

I'm in the same position as the original poster as I intend to get the Swann 1080p 2 pack IP Bullet camera and use it with a PC with BlueIris software. Given that I already have a server/PC that is running 24/7 with plenty of storage is there any advantage to getting a package with a NVR? I realize I'll also need PoE injectors which should be simple/inexpensive. Is there a strong consensus regarding using an NVR vs. BlueIris or similar software?