Logitech vs Dahua - NVR vs Synology - Help Needed

[marley1 0]

Two situations

 

1) Wife's offices needs some cameras few inside and a few outside, just want to see who comes in and goes and to view the parking lot at night. I was thinking the Dahua ones, bullets for outside and dome for interior. The 1.3MP ones that are like $150 are what I was thinking. For her office was thinking of the NVR from Dahua as well with a POE switch.

 

2) House - My bro in law has the Logitech Alert camera so my wife wants these. I am not fond of these as they are black which will look horrible inside, and also not really fond of Logitech for this type of stuff. I purchased some Alert camera and one Dahua Bullet and have them both going. The Logitech seems to have slighly better quality during they day (haven't turned off the lights yet). Benefit of Logitech is you can put the SD card in and sign up for the online view. Negative to that is I am not keen on having my house activities recorded online.

 

I also have a Synology Nas which has the Dahua camera on it and it has been working fine.

 

So questions

1) Any issues with Synology NAS and running the Dahua?

2) Can I get any better quality camera then Dahua at the price?

3) Any performance issue with using the Synology as a NAS and also Security Station module.

4) Any way to add Logitech camera's to Synology?

 

We live in a very safe area so not interested in spending $500+ on cameras. Logitech Camera are the max of my budget.

 

Let me know!

[Kawboy12R 0]

How many cameras do you want to run? Which Synology do you have? Low end ones won't run much in the way of cameras. Also, you get one free license with Surveillance Station. After that they want a hair over $50/camera for a license. Not worth it (IMHO) for a bunch of cameras.

[marley1 0]

Probably about 6-10 camera.

 

Can you setup alerts with Dahua NVR?

 

I keep reading things about number of cameras and FPS which I don't fully get

 

Any experience with Logitech alert?

[buellwinkle 0]

What sort of alerts you looking for? With Dahua, with their paid smartphone app, you can get immediate alerts through the app. Just about all network cams can send you a text or email. Alerts are great because you'll get so many false alarms after a day, you'll turn them off.

[marley1 0]

Have you tried the Logitech Alert cameras?

[dexterash 0]

What sort of alerts you looking for? With Dahua, with their paid smartphone app, you can get immediate alerts through the app. Just about all network cams can send you a text or email. Alerts are great because you'll get so many false alarms after a day, you'll turn them off.

 

Depends (my opinion) on how you setup the camera. For instance, CBR not VBR, motion detection setup on zones of trigger/interest - leaving out trees of anything that can move and generate false alarms (not on whole image), tweaking the motion detection level etc

[Kawboy12R 0]

Dexter, the problem with trees here is that they cast shadows. When I tune out the trees then the motion detection catches their moving shadows in my areas of interest. Partly cloudy days are also a problem. Every time the light changes significantly there's a really good chance of a motion alert. If it's a cloudy day (best case for real motion alerts), then sometimes wind tends to blow leaves or snow around.

 

As for the Logitech brand "Alert" series of cameras, IIRC there was an engineer of theirs on here a while ago defending how good their motion detection intelligence was when someone called them a toy. This video shows how "fantastic" they are at night. It looks like a best-case scenario to catch a prowler's face at night. Not sure about you but all I can tell for sure is that it is a skinny, white male, most likely a teenager, wearing a ballcap and hoodie. The video is entitled "busted" but it could be just about anybody. It's a good wide angle shot but with not enough detail even at short range to catch a face, and not enough dynamic range to keep from whiting out what we need to see. I've got no idea how the camera is set up or if newer models are better, but I'm not in love with this sample video at least.

 

What's the model number of your NAS? Each one is rated differently on how many cameras it'll run.

[marley1 0]

I have the DS412+

 

But at $400 in licensing maybe I am better just buying the DVR

 

At my offices where I am testing I turned the lights off inside and the Dahua had better night vision

 

At one point the Logitech can record to card and can be viewed online but I don't trust it.

 

I also don't like that if I wanted to put one at the front door I need to use the large bullet.

[Hitch 0]

I'm a noob, so I could very well not know what I am taking about, but see if you can use your Synology just as a storage location for your video. I don't think you have to pay the license fee unless you are using the Synology in connection with their Surveillance Station software.

 

If not, maybe you spend a few more bucks and buy cameras that will (and not buy the DVR)?

[Kawboy12R 0]

Hitch is right. The NAS can be used merely as a NAS without their software if you want. You'd need something else for live viewing and checking footage though. Yours has enough beans to run a bunch of cameras though. 200fps worth of 720p video is quite a bit for home use. Sorry if there was any confusion there, but there are quite a few options for 3rd party NVR software after you pass the $100 mark for licensing cams for Synology's software. I'd have to be awfully pleased with it to give them $400 or more when lots of camera companies give away really good software for free if you use just their brand of camera. I agree with you on not wanting a Logitech by your front door either. I've had tiny bullets and domes at mine with no issues but the Logitech seems like it would stick out and just plain not fit in. If this makes any sense, it looks like it is actively spying on you rather than just BEING there, if you know what I mean.