Repeated police reports, they still don't care. Help, please

[SFBayArea 0]

After some car breakins and an attempted home break-in, I started looking for a camera system. Long story short, after reading reviews here: temp setup with Swann from costco, augmented by ebay mini dvr's. The point was to have something over nothing since I didn't much free time.

Swan mounted through inside window = useless at night. Mini dvr's are only so-so quality at night.

 

Last straw was broken last night.

 

So first, do any installers registered on this board work in the San Francisco Bay Area?

Second, are there camera's that don't get glare/whiteout when used in close proximity to glass? Alternatively, any recommendations on cameras where I can disable built-in IR and add external IR?

Third, IP megapixel vs digital??? <= Do I ask that in the other section?

 

Budget is preferably sub 1k. I can provide the HDD for the dvr myself. Preferably, able to accommodate 1 TB.

 

Any help is appreciated.

[sinbad 0]

don't mount cameras inside facing window. glare will hunt you. mount them outside. if you want quality forget Swann/lorex crap. get a cheap Digital watch dog/Nuvico 4 channels DVR for ~$500 and spend ~$250 per outdoor camera if you want OK results. anything less is money down the drain imo.

[Firefighter 0]

x2. At minimum get the 720P system from costco.

 

Don't have much free time, Make the time. If it's important enough to do something about your problem, you'll make the time.

Get an hour less sleep each night for a few nights to set everything up/together.

[aibudo 0]

The only way that camera's mounted on the inside looking through a window works well at all, is to place the lens directly against the glass. Still doesn't compare with outside, but if you insist on having them inside, don't have any space between the glass and camera.

[Kawboy12R 0]

No IR is a must when looking through glass. Totally ruins the image at night. Straight through with the lens mated to the glass is best but then you don't always want to be looking STRAIGHT out. For this job I picked a KT&C B&W bullet with 5-50mm zoom lens. Superb in low light without IR for peeping out windows and enough zoom to get a decent ID even with low analog resolution. Works best as a specialty cam, IMHO. Use another one with a wide angle lens to tell what's going on in the big picture with the zoom cam on a choke point where people MUST walk through or on an object of interest like a car that's always parked in the same spot. Image quality and detail won't be as good as the 720P QSee IP system from Costco, but then you'll HAVE to mount those outside for night use because of their IR that can't be switched off.

[Bullseye 0]

My cams are inside the window, try blackout the window behind the cam, this hides it a little better and prevents the reflection, I have no IR but Low lux cam.

My picture quality isnt great at night but thats due to fuzz, changed the cable etc but still not changed anything

[QC444 1]

don't mount cameras inside facing window. glare will hunt you. mount them outside. if you want quality forget Swann/lorex crap. get a cheap Digital watch dog/Nuvico 4 channels DVR for ~$500 and spend ~$250 per outdoor camera if you want OK results. anything less is money down the drain imo.

 

I disagree with this. "OK results" is a subjective concept.

 

Any camera that returns true 600 TVL or better and has adequate compensation, balance and good nightime lighting will give you a useable image quality. Most homeowners are buying the Costco or BJ's or other package consumer systems. There are many cameras like this on ebay UNDER $50 There are also a lot of sellers claiming things they shouldn't be and delivering VERY poor quality.

 

Sure, you get what you pay for, but the majority of casual users aren't going to need to spend thousands to get satisfactory performance. I recently lost a camera due to lightning inductance from a close strike. Lower priced cameras make more sense and the image quality (if you buy the right inexpensive camera) is quite good.

[Numb-nuts 1]

Looking through glass day and night use a camera with a pixar CMOS processor and BLC processing.

Still the camera needs to be as close to the glass as practicable. You sometimes have to play with positioning

These cameras tend not to have infrared anyway and rely on low ambient light at night.

 

Hang it all, get a professional in you'll pay more initially but you will get it done properly. either that or stop

bellyaching about the time it takes, professionals spend years learning through their experience.

 

Do it yourself=mediocre results, spend hours platzing about the results

Professional= Fit it and forget it you can get on with the business you know best

 

hope this didn't sound like a moan, it wasn't menat to sound that way so don't take it as criticism please, I know not everyone can afford pro prices. I meet them every day. lol

[SectorSecurity 0]

I would say put the camera outside, but I am assuming you are using premade cables, which will mean an inch big hole in your wall to fit the connector end.

 

If you don't have time break it out, mount 1 camera call it quits, mount a second camera call it quits, wire a camera call it quits, continue like this until you are finished.