Desperately need a great complete nanny-cam solution

[acceleratebiz 0]

Hi guys, I'm new here and new to the CCTV industry as well. I really urgently need to get a complete nanny-cam solution for my house as I go back to an office next week. But I'm having the most difficult time finding the best DVR and cameras. I'm willing to spend up to $5,000 including installation an 8 or 9 camera solution. That's why this is so difficult for me, I'm worried I'll spend $5,000, which is a LOT of money for me (my son deserves whatever it takes for his safety) and I'll end up with something not so great.

 

So what do you guys recommend? Vendors, I'm open to your offers as well. Please be as specific as possible as I have no clue what are the quality brands or vendors. Here are some basic features I want, please suggest any features I'm missing:

• audio recording on all cameras
  
• low light conditions (only a nightlight) on at least a few of the cameras for when he sleeps/naps
  
• color video (though I understand some cameras turn to black&white in low light conditions, that's fine)
  
• ability to view live and recorded video over my internet connection (from my office in particular)
  
• motion detection so I don't have to wade through hours and hours of video/audio from all 8/9 cameras
  
• at least 15fps per camera so I can see things like shaking or if my son quickly bumps his head, etc (needed locally, I understand the internet limitations, I can review certain clips when I get home)
  
• at least 5 cameras need to be hidden, maybe all of them should be

 

Would be great if there's a quality and affordable wireless solution so I don't have to hire someone to drill into my walls. But I do have a 2.4ghz wifi network in my house. And we have a 900mhz video monitor, along with 5.8ghz portable phones. Everything works great wirelessly in my house, but maybe the wireless camera setup will get interference from it. Not worried about my neighbors. Also, I can then easily take this setup to my new house when I move in a year.

 

I'm very technically capable, so a DVR card solution is fine with me if that's the best way to go. I read that H.264 is the best compression now, followed by mpeg-4. So sounds good.. especially for viewing over the internet. My house is about 2800 sqft between 2 floors. If wireless is not feasible due to quality or price, would be nice to wire ethernet instead of bnc or other cables as I could then have ethernet access everywhere. Not a big deal though as wifi works great.

 

I apologize for the long post... just trying to get any AMAZING person willing to help me all the info they might need.

[rory 0]

Im sure someone will jump in and PM you on the retail side. As for specs, I would steer away from wireless since you already have all that in your home now. But if you dont mind the signal dropping here and there, then no worries .. with hard wired though, you can always leave the cable when you move and just pull the cameras .. we use to pull out alarm systems all the time, caulked all holes and good as .. well almost, as new ..

 

If anything you will want to use Dual Video/Power Cables .. the RG59 or RG59 Siamese Cable is much better, but if the cameras are inexpensive anyway, the RCA Dual Video/Power should suffice. To use the network to connect cameras, you will need WebCams or IP cameras/IP Servers .. IP cameras and servers are expensive .. and webcams dont cut it.

 

Stay clear of H.264, Regular Mpeg4 is better. Some PC DVRs have both options selectable. Some also allow H264 for remote video with Mpeg4 or other for Local video (eg. GeoVision)

 

I think the System would be the most important to get right the first time, cameras .. you can always buy more expensive ones later once you get a feel for things. Only cameras that have audio built in are generally the very cheap ones, though these can work for a simple nanny cam app.

 

Remember though the DVR is only as good as the cameras connected to it ...

 

For a higher quality system, You could get some B/W GE Hidden cameras .. these look really nice too and look like actual detectors .. most no name Hidden cameras can do the job also, just dont look as "nice"

 

And add audio using Louroe Ceiling Mount mics .. that with a DVR of choice should cover it .. B/W would be for low light areas... only use color if there is alot of light in the area. There really are no decent hidden cameras with Day Night switching.

 

For DVRs .. Look for GeoVision, Video Insight .. well there are more but thats the ones our members use the most ..

 

If you are going GeoVision and want some decent speed, look at the GV800-8 channel .. its 120fps .. so that would be fine for 5 cameras . .. near real time, and more real time with motion.

[acceleratebiz 0]

Thank you so much rory for your quick and valuable response! I have seen others mention geovision a lot while perusing these forums. The demo looked pretty decent. So I guess I'll go with them.

I would steer away from wireless since you already have all that in your home now. But if you dont mind the signal dropping here and there, then no worries .. with hard wired though, you can always leave the cable when you move and just pull the cameras .. we use to pull out alarm systems all the time, caulked all holes and good as .. well almost, as new ..

Good points. I was actually not so worried about the mess I'd leave, rather the work involved in setting up the whole thing again . Not the end of the world if I lose a signal for very short periods periodically, but obviously would prefer not to miss a thing. Would these 1200mhz wireless systems work well considering that I don't have 1200mhz devices in my home?

If anything you will want to use Dual Video/Power Cables .. the RG59 or RG59 Siamese Cable is much better, but if the cameras are inexpensive anyway, the RCA Dual Video/Power should suffice. To use the network to connect cameras, you will need WebCams or IP cameras/IP Servers .. IP cameras and servers are expensive .. and webcams dont cut it.

Sounds excellent, I'll definitely use dual video/power cables. Do the video portions of the cable include audio? Or I need a separate cable for that? Does geovision work with ip cameras? Or only cameras connected directly to its card?

Stay clear of H.264, Regular Mpeg4 is better. Some PC DVRs have both options selectable. Some also allow H264 for remote video with Mpeg4 or other for Local video (eg. GeoVision)

So mpeg4 is best for recording onto the local system and H.264 is best for viewing the video over the internet? Does geovision support that combination?

I think the System would be the most important to get right the first time, cameras .. you can always buy more expensive ones later once you get a feel for things. Only cameras that have audio built in are generally the very cheap ones, though these can work for a simple nanny cam app.

 

Remember though the DVR is only as good as the cameras connected to it ...

 

For a higher quality system, You could get some B/W GE Hidden cameras .. these look really nice too and look like actual detectors .. most no name Hidden cameras can do the job also, just dont look as "nice"

 

And add audio using Louroe Ceiling Mount mics .. that with a DVR of choice should cover it .. B/W would be for low light areas... only use color if there is alot of light in the area. There really are no decent hidden cameras with Day Night switching.

Ok, so you suggest getting B/W GE (general electric?) hidden cameras without audio and then a separate audio microphone for each camera? There aren't any decent cameras with microphones? That seems odd, why not? I'd really like color, especially if I'm going to be staring and playing back all these videos all the time. No good color cameras with some kind of night vision that include audio? and are hidden? I guess I'm asking for too much... What specific camera brands or models do you recommend then?

If you are going GeoVision and want some decent speed, look at the GV800-8 channel .. its 120fps .. so that would be fine for 5 cameras . .. near real time, and more real time with motion.

ok, I looked up the GV800. Problem is it only has 4 audio inputs. I'd really like to hear the audio where my baby is. The GV-1120-8 has 8 audio inputs and otherwise seems to be the same thing for about $100 more. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "more real time with motion." Thanks again rory for helping me out here!

[Thomas 0]

I would pretty much avoid wireless at all costs. It's going to make the motion detection useless by adding alot of random interfearance to your system. And as far as the audio goes, I would drop that requirement. Take it from someone who is on a monitored camera system all during the day, you don't want your audio recorded. If it's a nanny cam, most of what you'll want is shaken baby/molestation and that's all video.

 

Second is that the legal recording of audio can be a minefield. Depending on where you are located it may range from completely illegal to just mildly illegal. At the very least you are required to let the person being recorded know that they are under audio survellence. Which means the covert cameras just became useless. And the fact that it's your home has exactly zero legal weight in the arguement. Just because you own the properity doesn't give you much in the way of legal rights when it comes to audio recording.

 

There is a balance between paranoia and being able to relax. It seems mild now untill someone finds a video clip of you doing something human, like falling out of a chair (yeah, that clip magiclly went poof from our system).

[acceleratebiz 0]

I would pretty much avoid wireless at all costs. It's going to make the motion detection useless by adding alot of random interfearance to your system. And as far as the audio goes, I would drop that requirement. Take it from someone who is on a monitored camera system all during the day, you don't want your audio recorded. If it's a nanny cam, most of what you'll want is shaken baby/molestation and that's all video.

Excellent points Thomas. Did not think about wireless and motion detection. Ok, no wireless for me. Hmm... you're right about the audio too. Audio doesn't help with the major things I'm looking for. However, as a super-paranoid father who's obsessed with his little boy I would like to know what's being said around or to him. Maybe someone is raising their voice to him for no reason and I can't tell just from the video. Or someone is using language I don't appreciate around/to him. You mention that I wouldn't want audio recorded. But does it hurt to have it recorded just in case? Legally, I think I'm going to tell my nanny that the house is being recorded, but not tell her where all the camera/mics are. Here in Florida, that's legal from what I read.

[rory 0]

Ive used audio recorded on many jobs .. it does have its flaws though and eats up extra HDD space .. down here though you dont even have to tell anyone they are being recorded .. video or audio.

[acceleratebiz 0]

Ive used audio recorded on many jobs .. it does have its flaws though and eats up extra HDD space

what are its flaws?

[Thomas 0]

I can hurt to record it. The rules for admissability of video evidence is pretty flexible on the part of a judge. Having audio recording makes it a little more likely to be tossed. And you have to tell everyone else that they are under recording if they enter the house. And you'll need to get that drawn up as a formal document that's signed.

[acceleratebiz 0]

You guys have any recommendations on particular brands or models of cameras I should get?