mcbink

Hi I am pretty new to CCTV so like you tens to look for advice on what to buy. I have a Swann kit which has 3megapixel bullet cameras, the DVR can record Analogue HD up to 3 megapixel ( so has a higher resolution than your system). Regarding the cameras: Most people, in the know, would say the cameras are not actually produced by Swann but are made by Hikevision and sold under the Swann name. You can buy cameras in bulk from China and have any name you want printed in them so it's just common practice for companies to use other manufacturers cameras with their own name printed on them. My cameras are 3megapixel with IR for night vision and have 3.5mm lenses. Like your cameras they are fine during the day but at night they show weaknesses. The problem with the entry level cheaper cameras is the lens. Quite often the entry level cameras don't have a large enough lens aperture to allow sufficient light in at night time for good night vision even with IR lighting so the manufacturers allow the shutter speed to slow down during night vision to allow longer exposure times for light to get into the lens and allow the camera to produce a picture. Basically if the shutter speed is to slow your pictures will blur when an object moves. You might slightly improve the problem you are having by buying Hickvision low budget bullet or turret cameras but I think you will probably still experience difficulty at night with moving objects with cameras from the budget end of the market no matter who makes them. IR light is what night vision cameras use to help them see at night. Putting an IR lamp in the area mots affected might help the cameras to see better at night, you could link it to a photocell so it switches on when the light drops at night. I think capturing decent night time video is a bit difficult to solve if you use budget equipment. The claims for budget equipment seem to be way over exaggerated. Cameras with a Sony Starvis sensor might help. The Sony Starvis sensor is supposed to help with night vision problems so might be worth investigating.

Hi all I recently purchased a PTZ camera from an online retailer, cost just a little over £150 so not expensive at all. It's 1080p AHD/TVI switchable with PTZ and 10x zoom, with not a bad picture. The camera is ok most of the time but it's problem is that it can and does go out of focus at night if a cars headlights lights pass in the vicinity it is focussed in, and the camera may stay unfocussed for hours or it might only be for minutes but it's a lot longer that I would expect. The same focusing problem can occur in daylight if a car passes in the line of the camera (no headlights in daytime though), it can throw the camera out of focus and the complete picture becomes a blur, this can last for a few moments, a few minutes or it can stay unfocussed until another car passes and re sets the focus. I have switched the camera to manual focus so it does not keep altering focus but it automatically switches to autofocus as soon as I try to adjust the focus manually. Even though in the menu is says manual focus it just stays on autofocus. Unfortunately I'm having to return the camera because of the focus issues but would still like to have a PTZ with around a 10x zoom. Has anyone got any suggestions for a 1080p-3megapixel PTZ with 10 optical zoom that works on a AHD or TVI DVR? My system has PELCO-D PELCO-C and PELCO-P. I'm probably going to upgrade my complete system on a few months so don't want to pay a fortune but would like a camera that works. Any suggestions? Cheers in advance.

Why not check with the camera manufacturer? I don't use interchangeable lenses on my cameras as mine are all fixed or variofocal but on my DSLr's the lenses are interchangeable. I can use lenses designed for full frame sensors on my smaller sensor cameras with no problem as they are all digital and talk the same language, but I would not be able to mount a lens from a different camera manufacturer. Sometimes when you mount a lens that is not intended for that camera it will produce a picture but wont adjust electronically as the electronics don't talk to each other. At a guess I'd think if the lens will mount on the camera it will allow a picture to be produced but you will have to check to see if the electronics will still work with your lens. Why not do a check on your lens to see if it will be compatible with the camera do the check the other way around? If you are still not sure and failing that just buy a camera with fixed lens that is compatible with your system.

Hi Tom, I did try what you just mentioned and it does not work with this camera. I have another 2.8-12mm variofocal camera that is rated to be used on PELCO-D with rs485 and that one will work on just the coax if I change to PELCO-C. I just noticed that the PTZ camera went out of focus again tonight (Camera was in IR Mode) when a car passed with it;s headlights on, it took 25 minutes to return back to focus, that's too long. I think it's just an issue with the camera sensor or electronics and may need a part replacing. It's odd how it won't go into manual focus but I think there may be a switch that needs altering inside the camera. Not going there myself, I think this one need to be returned. Shame because apart from the focus issue it's a very good camera for my current needs. Cheers for the reply Tom, much appreciated.

1.: https://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/bullet-2mp-10x-pan-zoom-outdoor-1080p-hd-tvi-ahd-analog-3544.html 2. DVR Has PELCO-D to control PTZ. I rin video via RG59 coax with BNC connector and PTZ through CAT5e solid copper UTP cable. Power is via a 3amp PSU. 3. The SWANN DVR was sold with 6x 3 megapixel cameras that can run via it so, yes it can run 3 megapixel camera. The PTZ Camera is ok apart from it can at times be distracted by light or moving objects and go out of focus and not return for minutes or even hours. Most of the time it's ok but it drifted out of focus about 6 times in 24 hours and for prolonged periods so not really doing it's job if it's cant stay in focus. Any suggestions?

What no suggestions? None

I have recently purchase a Swann system. It works out of the box and is ok but all the cameras are 3megapixel with fixed 3.5mm lenses. At 3megapixel the DVR will only capture 8 frames per second which is about 1/3 what you see on a TV, it's like a little bit choppy, but only a little bit. Swann claim that the cameras have 30m night vision which is ridiculous as the cameras can only really define objects at about 10 to 15 feet away if they are moving. Having all the cameras at a fixed focal range of 3.5mm does not help if you need to focus on objects at different ranges in different locations. I think Swann and similar re-sellers put systems together that work and give good technical support but at a price that is probably twice what you could get a similar package for if you shop around and do your research before you buy. I got my system at half price and for what I paid I can't complain but if I had of paid the full retail price I'd have been very disappointed. My intention is to ditch the Swann system once I understand exactly what I need and spend a bit more on a quality system that has an array of cameras with focal lengths that suite my needs. I could go on about why it's not a good idea to buy a package that has all the cameras with the same focal range but if you continue to ask questions on here and view reviews on utube etc you will start to understand that one camera focal range will not suite all situations. Hope this helps to get you started.

Hi all, currently I have a Swann 4750 DVR with some Swann 3megapixel 858 cameras with fixed lens at 3.5mm. It's my first security camera kit purchase and I purchased it at a very realistic price so am not complaining. To be honest for what I paid it's ok but limited. The cameras produce good clear images during the day of stationary objects and again at night but when objects move thats when the picture quality shows signs of weakness, the picture tends to blur and this is worsened at night to the extent that moving objects are hardly recognisable. I'm thinking about buying a couple of cameras to put in places where I'd expect more movement to take place and I'd like better results than the current swann cameras can produce. I think I'd also like cameras with varifocal lens up to around 12mm. Has anyone used Sony Starvis cameras and if yes could you tell me how well they cope with moving objects at night please. My current DVR can cope with AHD or TVI cameras, up to 3megapixel, BNC fittings and can use Pelco C. Cheers

Cheers for the heads up. One of my cameras can give a ghost effect in low light before the IR kicks in. As you say if there is some artificial light near by the ghosting does not happen but in the darker areas it does with my camera. I do have a 26x led light (not IR) near by to where three of my camera are aimed. Dahua seem at first hand to be quite reasonable systems the only problem I would have with their cameras at the moment is they only seem to make HD CVI cameras and my system only states AHD or TVI so they are probably not compatible. Think I need to keep to Starvis preferably I suppose. Or Hickvision. Thank you for the replies they are helpful, I am just getting to grips with CCTV technology. Might change my complete system when I know what to look for but just trying to make my current system work enough for now. Many thank's

Hi all just purchase a PTZ it says it's a sony 9600. I have the camera set to Pelco-D and can access the menu but can't see how to navigate to remove the numbers being displayed: 001 2400. I have an instruction manual that is a bit vague and it does say in the book that under "DISPLAY" you should be able to turn off the dome ID (I am assuming the above numbers are the dome ID. But I can't find how to turn them off. I am very new to this so would appreciate any help. Many thank's.

I saw a guy on utube giving a review about some cameras he had purchased two of the cameras for a review which were both branded with different names but when he checked the numbers on the cameras it turned out they were both made by the same company. He said he initially did not know that they were made by the same company and paid nearly twice as much for one than the other. When you look at claimed specifications it will probably turn out that the cameras don't actually perform any where near as good as the claims. My 3 megapixel Swann cameras claim to have "excellent night vision 30m" and that is a direct quote from their web site. The truth is you can probably see upto 30m but you won't be able to see if the object it a tree or a lamppost. At 20 feet I can make out humans but that's it, it's not until someone is about 3m away do they start to be recognisable. These claims of 30m night vision are from a company that has been around for years. Rather than look at sales claims you might want to check out the electronics that go into the camera and see how well other cameras really do with the same electronics. I've started to read about the different sensors in cameras, taking note of the number, as this is important to how well the camera performs. Try to find out how adjustable the camera is using an OSD because the more options you have that actually work the better chance you have of obtaining the correct picture. I'm going to be honest, I don't know much about CCTV but from what I have learnt, I don't think I'd buy a kit again. I would choose a system, find a recorder that fits my needs then buy cameras that fit each location/position I want them to record in. I'm going to keep asking questions so I get my next system right, I hope

Hi and cheers for the reply, when I put Starvis I should have put Starlight as I think they may be slightly better for colour. I took a look at the Dahua cameras but I don't think they do AHD or TVI which is what my DVR copes with. Hikvision may be ok but I've not found one yet that fits but will keep looking.

I don't know much about CCTV but I have looked at the spec of your Dahua HCVR4116HS-S2 recorder and to me it looks like it looks like it will record at 720p but no higher. 720p is around 1 megapixel so having buying a camera with 2mp is not necessarily going to help when you want to view the recorded footage at a later date as it will only be recorded at 720p quality. So it looks to me like your equipment will record in HD but at the lowest quality HD around today. I read the spec on one site and it says the recorder supports HD TVI but I'd look into this before buying any cameras to make sure the cameras will be supported. From what I can gather a 2mp system is probably what you should be aiming for as a minimum standard nowadays if you want to have any video that is going to be usable for recognition purposes. I have a mix of 3megapixel and 2megapixel cameras at the moment and one of my 2 megapixel cameras nocks the spots off the three megapixel cameras. Even though the pixel count is higher on the 3megapixel cameras, the 2megapixel camera performs much better. The 2megapixel camera seems to have a much better lens and sensor installed which helps with the output quality. From what I understand old standard definition Analogue cameras use coax cable to transmit the video signal to the recorder and AHD, TVI etc HD cameras can also use coax cable to transmit their signal to a recorder. So if your cable is ok and you want to keep some of your existing cameras why not upgrade the recorders so that they are both backward (Analogue capable) and forward (HD AHD TVI etc) capable? That way you could use your old cameras plus add new HD cameras, use your existing cabling and view all the footage on one platform including phones etc. I'd upgrade my recorders first with maybe a few quality HD cameras and replace the old Analogue cameras as the budget allows. Just a thought

Just an update: I tried the number 95 and this brought me to the Main Menu from the Main Menu I was able to access the DISPLAY menu and in the Display menu I turned off the numbers. It's a bit fiddly navigating the menus but with the help I received on here I managed it. Thank you very much

Not an IP camera. HD Coax 1. I can move the camera using a mouse and osd that came with the DVR (Swann 4750 DVR). 2. The camera is a AHD camera which is switchable to TVI etc. The manual says that I can switch signal if I CALL Twice Preset 102. I have tried this and it does take me to a sub menu but I can not find the sub menu headed "DISPLAY". In the sub menu "DISPLAY" is DOME ID........ON...........OFF. It seems that some of the sub menus use obscure words for meaning and I think it's this that has so far baffled me. Any further help wold be appreciated. I'll try the number 95.

Can you suggest a better alternative? I don't have your experience so perhaps you could help with another better alternative camera.

They come in both, my friend has his outside.

Take a look at TIME2 cameras. They can be put online to view the content but I guess you could set it up then let it record to the card as a stand alone. Check with TIME2 if you can use these as stand alone without internet. I have a friend who has two of these and is very happy with them. These cameras record to a micro SD card and need a power supply (they don't run of batteries). Recording is in 720P with night vision. Not bad little cameras.

Thanks Tom, can you explain what is a PIR? Hope you don't mind me jumping in here: PIR (Passive Infrared Sensor) is a device that detects infra red radiation emitted by or reflected from objects like animals, humans or anything that emits infrared. It's infrared wavelengths that the PIR detects. Heat energy emits infrared wavelengths and the PIR detects these. It's not the heat but the infrared wavelengths that the heat emits that the PIR detects. When a PIR detects a change in the surroundings such as an increase in infrared wavelengths it triggers the PIR output voltage which triggers the detection. So a human walking in front of a PIR sensor will emit infrared wavelengths that trigger the PIR sensor detection. You could possibly use a PIR sensor secured in a location to detect movement that could in turn set off alarms, turn on lights etc. I may be possible to use a PIR for alarms rather than the cameras. Others on here will have far better knowledge regarding PIR's and CCTV than me.

Suffolk. UK I did buy a Swann SWPRO 1080P HD Zoom Camera. It was rated at 1080P, 4x optical zoom and used the RJ45 input for controlling the zoom. I still have the camera but it's grainy in night vision mode so I really want something a bit better as that's when I would like the zoom to come in. The Cameras that came with the DVR are fine at night, just not got the range.

Hi all new here and new to CCTV Systems so please bear with me. I recently purchased a Swann 4750 DVR (8 Channel) with 6 swann T858 3Megapixel cameras and am looking to add a zoom camera for night use that can zoom in and have clarity at 60ft. The system I have used coaxial cable and BNC connectors with a separate 12V DC supply for the cameras. It can record at 3M but can only record at 3M if the fps are set at 8. I normally set the frame rate at 12fps which sets the recording resolution at 1080P The system uses a two wire RJ45 input for controlling PTZ functions and BNC for video. The DVR is switchable between AHD and TVI for each channel. Q: Does anyone know of a compatible camera that I can buy giving me approximately up to 22mm lens zoom so I can zoom in on my car at 60ft and still obtain good definition at night? Any advice would be much appreciated. Mark