Advice required

[Roddypiper 0]

Hi All,

 

I am looking into purchasing a camera, however as there are so many out there I am really at a loss of what would best suit my requirements.

 

My requirements are:

Wifi cam (with long batt life)

Discreet/small as possible, but not to the point that it is contained inside another device as it would be mounted opposite my front door (which is inside a house, therefore a camera inside an alarm clock at the height of about 10ft would look quite odd. you get the idea?)

I would also like the cam to be as light coloured as possible without any lights on it making it rather obvious.

Of course, with good to great pic quality.

I do not have a high budget, therefore the lower the price the better

 

Those are my requirements. I would appreciate any leads or advice that anyone could give me on this topic.

 

Piper.

[ssnapier 0]

The thing you need to understand in CCTV is that you very much get what you pay for. Low cost and great picture quality simply do not go together, and there are a lot of very good reasons why that is the case. Based on your needs I would recommend an IP camera for two reasons.

 

1. It can record to an SD card on the camera.

 

2. It will generally provide a far batter picture than an analog camera.

 

With that said, if you could afford it I would recommend this camera: http://www.hikvision.com/UploadFile/image/2014041511061652379.pdf

 

or possibly this one:

 

http://pd.geovision.tw/datasheet/Fisheye/Datasheet_IPCamH264FE420.pdf

[Roddypiper 0]

Thanks for the info.

 

Those cams look great, but probably too expensive and professional for my needs.

 

Is it possible to get a cam that is battery operated. If so, how long do the batteries normally last? Are they even productive for the purpose?

Can a potential intruder also remove and take the SD card? I have read something regarding saving all content to cloud. Is this a standard service with all IP cams?

Assuming I need to hardwire the cam for power. What would be the best way to do this, bearing in mind that the cam would be 10-20ft away from my front door? This distance is due to the way the house is designed.

 

Looking forward to more info.

 

Piper

[ssnapier 0]

The only thing that comes to mind would be a wildlife camera, which is neither small or decent quality. The cameras I posted are going to be in the $300-$600 range typically, and you very much get what you pay for.

[buellwinkle 0]

What you are looking for is very unique and VueZone is the answer. Seems like Netgear has bought them since I last seen them years ago - http://www.vuezone.com/use-ideas/battery-powered-camera

 

Let us know how they work out.

[ssnapier 0]

Good call, I totally forgot all about those guys!

[Roddypiper 0]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the info. Sorry I have not replied sooner as I have been very busy.

 

I have looked at the ones that you have mentioned, however I am concerned that they can be removed too easily. The situ of the cam would be in a house with four other families just outside the front door of my apartment.

 

Have you had any experience with cams inside smoke detectors? Do you know of the picture quality, or how easy they are to install?

 

Thanks,

Piper

[digadv 0]

Maybe consider the Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-I(W)(3MP). For less than $200, it looks to be a nice option. Not battery powered however.

[Numb-nuts 1]

What you are looking for is very unique and VueZone is the answer. Seems like Netgear has bought them since I last seen them years ago - http://www.vuezone.com/use-ideas/battery-powered-camera

 

Let us know how they work out.

 

WOW Great for the home user...not seen these in UK yet, we have aour industry show in 2 weeks, I'll keep an eye open for this device