THEhomelessONE

Totally new to this, have been reading up what I could the last few days including the stickies here. I would like to use my PC to view and store videos on separate drives. I was first looking into HDSDI but many say to go UTP, this basically means using ethernet cables but not using internet bandwidth correct? I don't want to use my internet. I only need one or two cameras to start off with, but would like to upgrade to 4-8 down the road. I'm very new to this so I don't want to set a firm cap on budget, more interested in bang for buck. Appreciate any advice given, I realize I should spend more time searching but lately I've had little to no free time and need a solution soon, thanks!

I watched one of buellwinkles videos, the one with the smart car, and the plate wasn't showing up in the driveway. There was plenty of lighting too, don't know what happened there. I think I'll get the costco 2 pack for $349, the swann hd-820cam, hikvision ds-2cd2032. Won't feel too bad if it can't read plates, better than nothing and the review looked good. As long as I can set it up to run with my PC instead of THEIR nvr, I'm happy.

Hey buellwinkle, would you pick this Axis over the ACTi E72? Thought the name sounded familiar, have been watching your videos on youtube! I have decent lighting on the street from street lights, it's never dark dark, figured I'd be fine without IR. Crap never mind, I do need IR. Just watched some videos with m3025 in low light with a plate right in front and it couldn't pick it up. Looks like E72 unless anyone knows of a better option? Just watched a video of P3384 Axis and it couldn't even pick up the plate off a car while it backed into a driveway lol I think I'm screwed, find that very sad from a $1000+ camera..

What about this Axis camera? M3025-VE

Yes it's going on a flat ceiling, what are some vendors people use here for best price? I want to spend around $300 on a camera, but will go up to $600 if it's worth it.

I can only use a dome camera unfortunately, can't afford to have a $500 box camera stolen haha. I can install bright flood lights, read LED was the best to use to help the camera. Not sure what camera to go for with my setup, I'm all ears, thanks everyone.

What's considered more affordable? Dahua seems to have a problem with images being too soft so that's off the list. Needs to be a dome camera with WDR. Camera is going to be placed fairly low, right beneath the second floor and has trees on both sides. Any recommendations on where to buy from? The Hiks are pretty pricey, might as well spend a bit more and get an ACTi E82. How are the varifocal lenses on these two compared to fixed? I'm more worried about people committing hit and runs, breaking in vehicles second. Live on a main street and it has happened twice already, cars are parked along the street. Need to be able to catch a plate from a car at speed, around 30 mph at around 20 feet, so FPS is important. I think I'm going to go for this one, http://store.immediasys.com/3mp-outdoor-dome-d-n-ir-fixed-lens-wdr-1080-30-poe-e72/

Is it worth the extra coin for the varifocal lenses or stay away? Thanks everyone, very helpful forum, I feel like a pro now haha

Thanks for the quick replies! I was under the impression that the IP, wireless, UTP cameras had to use an ISP, but if they use the ethernet cables just for data transfer and power like with PoE then that's fine. I can't afford to take a hit on my bandwidth since we use an iptv. So it will use an ethernet port on my router but not use any bandwidth correct? Thanks for the recommendations on cameras and software! I don't have any open ports left on my router, any advice there?