clayrogers

Having trouble with theft of items out of a small room that is about 4 feet wide by 5 feet deep. I'm wondering what kind of spy camera we can use in this type of room. I am thinking something overhead, maybe something that looks like a smoke detector. Owner wants to catch the thief. After that, other actions will be taken to secure the items. Is there a self contained camera that would work for this? The ceiling above is drywall so running cabling to the area won't be easy. The problem I suppose would be that checking the video would have to be done by taking down the unit. So, we would probably have to wait until the next theft and then go through the videos to see what happened. Thanks for the ideas!

Thank you! That definitely helps. Are there any specific variants of that camera I should look for? I want to have sort of a look over their shoulder view to see what they are taking off of this board that mounts on a wall opposite of the door where you walk in. Then, the plan is that as they turn around we would get a good look of their face to get that documented. The tricky thing with this application is that people go into this room throughout the day for valid reasons and take items off of the board. The person who is stealing items off of this board probably also has valid reasons to be taking things off of the board. So, we need to track who took an item off of row B6 for example and then be able to determine it wasn't returned by the end of the day. My next concern is having a good enough camera/view to see what hook they are taking something off of which which would be a fairly close up view and be able to still see their face when they turn around. So, the camera would need to be at an angle from behind the person for that to work, not straight down from above. Any thoughts on making that work?

I did watch the video. I am hoping that I don't have to retrieve the card every time I want to watch the video. I have a network cable available that I can tie into our Network easily enough so I am wondering what my options are for recording the video elsewhere so that I can watch it easily.

I stopped by and took a look. I can make the Axis P1214 work. It's a drop ceiling above and there is a data cable nearby that I can use for POE. What do I need to be able to record the video that it captures? I do have a hikvision NVR already in place at this location if that helps. Or, I would probably prefer if Axis has a standalone NVR program to just load it on my computer there. Thanks again for the help.

I know what you are saying about something new in the room being noticed. I was thinking that between the fact that the camera would look like a smoke detector, not a camera and that it would be ceiling mounted that it wouldn't be too obvious. By self contained I mean don't need access to the opposite side of the ceiling/wall for it to work. Like I said, if I'm remembering things right only one of the walls will even be a possibility. This room is kind of built into an alcove so 3 of the 4 sides are in a walkway. Doesn't leave many options. Anything fitting my definition of self contained that you have seen that you think would work well for this?

OK, thanks. I will be going there tomorrow to verify exactly what kind of access we have to that one wall or the ceiling. Do you have a recommendation on something self contained if that doesn't work? I see those smoke detector looking models out there but it's hard to tell what is decent and what is junk.

Thanks for the input. I guess one concern I have with going this route is that it would have to be mounted behind a wall. This location doesn't have many good options for that. The one wall that could work I'm not sure would provide the best angle. I think something overhead would allow for seeing the person as well as what they are doing. This is a drywall ceiling and I really don't think there is any way to get above it. So, that is why I really thought something self contained would be the best option. Doesn't that Axis need POE?

We are recording to a computer that acts as our NVR. Originally, different software was installed on our NVR than from the client computers that view live video and view video stored/recorded on the NVR pc. I am using the iVMS NVR software mainly to record the video. Is that 2.5 version the most recent version of their NVR software or is that the client software? Looking on their website it looks like it can do both. I believe it used to be two separate programs/downloads from them. We have been using different software on the client computers for viewing live video and watching recorded video. But, the software on our NVR PC ran a different version from the start. I'm just worried about upgrading the NVR software if it doesn't retain the configuration or if the new version is not compatible with the old cameras etc. I don't have much experience with this software so I was hoping not to have to start from scratch.

We originally had a system with 8 Hikvision cameras installed about 3 years ago. The original cameras are all DS-2CD8254F-EIS IP cameras. We have a Dell PC running version 1.02.00.03 of the Hikvision NVR software. One of the cameras failed and I replaced it with a similar, but newer model: DS-2CD2632F-I I physically installed the camera and found it on the network. I then changed the IP to match the IP of the original camera that had failed. I can access it directly via it's web interface but the NVR did not recognize it automatically on the network. I was able to manually add it by using the IP address and the login info for that specific camera though. It still does not seem to be working right though. When I click on one of the cameras in the nvr software in the main view it shows the video just fine. But, if I then switch to the new camera, nothing happens for a while. Then, it finally comes up but is a still picture, not live video. Then, if you try the same thing again, the video will be live for about 3 seconds and then just stop. If you just leave it on the new camera in the main view, it will show live video every 15 or seconds ago. But, it only lasts for about 3 or 4 seconds and just stops. Then, wait another 15 seconds or so and it will show live video again. What would you guys suggest? I wasn't sure if it's a matter of the NVR software being too old or if I just have the config of the new camera wrong. Thanks for the help!

Sorry, yes, it's iVMS-4200 PCNVR version: v1.02.00.03

I use Unifi wireless equipment and I'm generally pretty happy with them. At their price point, they are hard to beat. I see that they have ip cameras (and a nvr solution) available and was wondering what your guys opinion is of them. Here is a link to one of their product pages: http://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera/

I still have not used their cameras. I was just curious to get some opinions as I use their wireless stuff. I think if I had to choose right now I would stick with Hikvision.

I am trying to figure out a good way to put a couple of cameras out in our parking lot. The lot is very large (20 acres) and is shaped like an L towards the back. We currently have wireless out in the lot for use by handheld tablets/devices. We use 2.4Ghz for client access with 5.8Ghz backhaul to the main building. Is there a good IP camera solution I could piggy back on the 5.8Ghz backhaul connection? I realize video is high bandwidth though. Let me know what ideas you have for something like this.

I am OK with bullet cameras. The problem is with the amount of parking lot to cover and the fact that it is shaped like an L, I don't see how I can just mount the bullet cameras to the main building and expect to see most of the lot. So, the issue is how to put cameras out in the lot mounted to light poles and have the video feed back to the main building.

Do you normally just use the software from Hikvision (ivms) or do you use something else?

No, I have no relationship with them. Just like I said, I use their wireless equipment and am generally happy with them so I'm curious what you guys think about their IP cameras etc. It will get expensive to experiment with the different hardware so I'm hoping to find something good to work with from the beginning. The Unifi setup seems like they are offering a unified control panel between their different products and that sounded good. I just don't see much info about people using them in production. I do understand your question though. First post to come in and speak highly of a product line etc. I have some experience with Hikvision an they seem OK. Their software seems kind of buggy to me though. It does the job though so I guess I can't complain. I'm just new to the security camera/ IP camera world as I generally deal more on the IT side of things. With IP cameras, the two world seem to be meshing more and more so I'm looking at what might make sense to utilize.