Texas

I'm new here and just now seeing this, but $700 for 8 HD cameras and a central recording system is never going to happen. If you want 8 cameras, you're going to have to increase your budget. I use HikVision DS-2CD2332 cameras, which I believe ware about the best quality (3MP) POE cameras you can get for the money. That being said, the best deal I ever find on them (not copies) is about $125 each. Then you need a central recording system, like a quality NAS with 4+GB of space (because you have 8 cameras). If you are lucky, you might still be able to find a good NAS like a Synology 213j (this is an entry level NAS) will run you at least $170, then you need a couple of drives, add another $350+, then cables, switch, port injector, etc.. If you are not willing to spend at least $1,600, then you need to reconsider your goal.

If you already have 6 ports open on your switch, then it doesn't make any sense to buy another switch. Injectors are cheaper, and it is a LOT cheaper to replace an injector than a switch. These are the injectors that I use: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0086SQDMM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01 An 8 port 60W injector is only $40. They are both cheap and rock solid. I wouldn't go any other way.

Matt, I know this doesn't answer your question, but this is just one of the reasons why I won't use a NVR. If something goes wrong with it, you could loose everything. I record to a NAS with mirrored drives, which gives me redundancy. It also gives you the ability to easily upgrade hard drives. Each one of my cameras has it's own volume on the NAS and I can real-time view, view logs, recordings and even remotely configure the cameras using IVMS-4200.

Sorry about that. I'm using the IVMS-4200 Software to view real-time and playback recordings. The cameras are doing their own recording to a NAS. They are streaming 2048x1536 H264 @ 8192kbps & 6fps for recording, and the real-time stream (which isn't even an issue) is 320x240 H264.

Hi Everyone, This is my first posting on the forum. My security camera setup consists of several HikVision DS-2CD2332-I cameras recording to a central location 24/7. They work great; daytime quality is great, and there are enough settings for the cameras to make nighttime quality very good as well. There is one issue though. I can see deer walk across my property at night when I am looking at the cameras in real-time, but for some reason, when I playback the video later, the deer are invisible. Sometimes a glow might appear where their eyes are, and on rare occasions, parts of their bodies will show up. The cameras will playback other animals like cats and possums, but for some reason, deer seems to elude the system. Does anyone have any idea what is going on to make this happen, and what I can do to resolve the issue?