Hi
I recently had to buy a CCTV system because of local trouble and vandalism, and the kit I went with is a Sentinel EL821 8 channel kit with 4 bullet cameras (http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/sentient-el821-dvr-8-channel-cctv-kit-with-4-cameras-a18nl)
What I'm finding is that the cameras (or is it the kit as a whole maybe?) aren't delivering very good images, enough to accurately identify faces beyond about 20 feet. I've already increased the capture from CIF to HD1 and the system is operating in 960h mode. I also find that I have no control over when the infrared kicks in late in the evening and so have seen that certain cameras, even in reasonably well lit areas, go to infrared while another right beside it pointing at another well lit area does not. I don't know if this is something wrong with the cameras or just "how things work", but it's hard to work within the parameters when I don't know how they're making the decision to go to night vision mode.
So, I'm looking into one or more new cameras to either add to the existing system or replace existing cameras already connected to it. The things important thing to me are (1) be compatible with my DVR, (2) getting the maximum image clarity available to my DVR system and then (3) having as much control over the camera settings as possible. The EL821 appears to offer just brightness, contrast, saturation, (and one other that I can't recall, but pretty standard sliders) for the bundled cameras.
The crux of my issue is that I'm an absolute beginner here, already well out of my depth with trying to compare specifications and guessing about a camera's compatibility with my EL821 or wiring requirements. I've seen HD PTZ cameras, which look like they would completely fit the bill but I get the feeling that my system wouldn't support them or use them as a source to record and motion detect etc. Plus they're into the high hundreds of pounds, a lot of them stretching in the thousands of pounds too.
Does anyone have pointers to a resource that someone at my level could check to bottom this stuff out, or even recommendations on cameras to go for that fit requirements? I'll be googling for ages but am hoping that I'll gain clarity at some point, however the advice that I might get in this forum could vastly shorten my search.
Thanks
Theresa
