Help a Total Noob with Home Surveillance

[jnwu 0]

My neighborhood is constantly a target for burglary and sketchy stuff, so my family decided to put up a decent camera system. The problem is, I don't know jack about security cameras, but I do know a lot about photography, so it helps me understand some concepts if you guys want to get technical. Still, I'm going to need help getting together the right components to create a good system.

 

I need:

• ■ to have approx. 5 cameras with IR capabilities, of which 2 or 3 are super wide angles to capture the overall scene, 1 normal-ish angle for the main door to catch any visitors faces, and another 1 or 2 cameras capable of capturing car's license plates about 30-50 feet away, day or night.
  ■ a plug n play dvr box capable of 1080p or better
  ■ software that doesn't suck to use
  ■ to spend less than $2000, though that's kind of a soft number.
  ■ to buy this system through a single reliable vendor (amazon?) because I highly value easy returns in case something doesn't work out

 

That's really it. No need for remote controllable cams or anything internet connected, just something that works and is easy to install. It's just that I have no clue where to buy this stuff and I'm done with the Costco security systems in a box that just don't meet my needs.

 

Thanks everyone for the help!

[Leadertech_Brian 0]

My neighborhood is constantly a target for burglary and sketchy stuff, so my family decided to put up a decent camera system. The problem is, I don't know jack about security cameras, but I do know a lot about photography, so it helps me understand some concepts if you guys want to get technical. Still, I'm going to need help getting together the right components to create a good system.

 

I need:

• ■ to have approx. 5 cameras with IR capabilities, of which 2 or 3 are super wide angles to capture the overall scene, 1 normal-ish angle for the main door to catch any visitors faces, and another 1 or 2 cameras capable of capturing car's license plates about 30-50 feet away, day or night.
  ■ a plug n play dvr box capable of 1080p or better
  ■ software that doesn't suck to use
  ■ to spend less than $2000, though that's kind of a soft number.
  ■ to buy this system through a single reliable vendor (amazon?) because I highly value easy returns in case something doesn't work out

 

That's really it. No need for remote controllable cams or anything internet connected, just something that works and is easy to install. It's just that I have no clue where to buy this stuff and I'm done with the Costco security systems in a box that just don't meet my needs.

 

Thanks everyone for the help!

 

Are you willing to run cable for this system?

[51cent 8]

Good post in this thread from boogerman about the costco cameras. Costco has a very good return policy.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=46982&hilit=costco