Looking for advice for outdoor camera

[eduk 0]

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to read and lend me your expertise :)

I want to get an outside camera but am frankly bewildered by the options;

these are the features I'm looking for

1. Obviously decent image quality.

2. Ideally cloud storage, without being charged a subscription (if such an option exists).

3. Ideally I'd like it be wired rather than wireless and/or battery powered. But I'm not an electrician so looking for something simple. i.e. one hole through the wall and then plugged into a wall socket and my router. Again no idea if this option exists.

4. Budget wise I'm open to suggestions. 

Predominately I just want a sensible camera which acts as a deterrent. 

Many thanks

[Ronniezrzr 2]

A sensible camera which acts as a deterrent? You mean it should have a motion detection sensor and alarm function?

[eduk 0]

I am not looking for one with an alarm function. As I understand it most of the newer cameras come with motion detection as standard? I'm not sure on the pros and cons of an always on system versus one which only comes on when motion is detected. 

What has prompted me to look into this is finding that someone had rifled through my car (when the car was parked on my driveway). They emptied out the glove box and various compartments in the front of the car but I had nothing of value in there, I think they stole about one pound twenty, strangely deciding that the remaining ten pence wasn't worth their time! I imagine I had accidentally left it unlocked, which is rare but mistakes happen. So either there is someone (or some people) going about at night checking all the cars almost every night or it was an unfortunate coincidence (on my part). I'm leaning towards the coincidence part, but I guess it's a more regular event than I thought.

I think a camera would be enough to deter such future activity. Plus obviously the thief will be somewhat emboldened by constantly getting away with it. The police couldn't care less about such a minor incident as they simply don't have the budget to even begin to address it. 

[Cortian 9]

The current "camera to beat" for outdoor use is probably the Dahua IPC-HDW5231R-ZE 2MP Starlight IP camera.  It can be powered with Power over Ethernet (PoE), so it meets your "one hole" criterion. But these are designed to talk to an NVR of some type, rather than cloud storage.  You can save a few shekels by going with the Dahua IPC-HDW2231R-ZS - 2MP Starlight "lite".

I was also considering the Amcrest IP2M-844E ProHD IP camera, but wanted the low-light performance of the Dahua Starlight cameras.

Going with cameras like these, you're looking at camera(s) + Ethernet cabling + either an NVR that supplies PoE or some other combination of methods to supply PoE and provide for recording.  Then there's the question of access to your camera(s) and/or recordings when you're away from home.

It might help if you were to take a photo of the area you wish to cover, from as close as possible to the vantage point from which it'd be covered, and post it.  If you're looking for night time coverage, a night time shot, as well.

If the problem occurs at night, btw, a simple motion-sensing floodlight might do the trick.  (And might be a good companion for the camera, in any event?)

In fact: Ring makes a motion-activated outdoor light + camera combination that gets pretty good reviews.  If all you're ever going to want to cover is that one spot, and you'd rather cloud storage than your own, that might be the best way to go, if you can get them there.

And, yes: It is not uncommon for thieves to simply walk about "twisting knobs" to see what readily opens for them.  It's quick, it's easy, and it's noiseless.

[eduk 0]

Thanks for the detailed reply Cortian.

I live in quite a built up area with good street lighting, so I don't think a motion sensing light would do much good (other than to help potential thieves see better  ).

PoE sounds good, but obviously adds quite a bit of expense. Do you have any NVR recommendations?

Seems to me that any one camera solution is open to being bypassed quite easily. Depending on the camera they can remove the camera, remove the SD card or remove the NVR. Any intelligent and determined thief would take about five seconds to work around anything I could DIY (I think). Then again I want this as something to 'scare' off opportunists, so paying too much for this seems counter productive.

[Cortian 9]

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I live in quite a built up area with good street lighting, so I don't think a motion sensing light would do much good (other than to help potential thieves see better  ).

Motion-activated lights are as much to startle and dissuade thieves as to reveal them.

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PoE sounds good, but obviously adds quite a bit of expense.

Not really.  PoE IP cameras are pretty standard (the ones I noted range from $70USD to $177USD).  Another member here suggested in another thread adequate 2MP Starlight PoE cameras can be had in the U.K. for as little as £50.  With a dedicated, purpose-designed NVR the PoE supply comes with the NVR.  Otherwise, single PoE injectors can be had for less than $25, and 5-port PoE network switches for less than $50.

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Do you have any NVR recommendations?

Sorry, I do not.  I'm not using an NVR.  I already had a NAS for other purposes, and it has NVR capability built-in.  So I didn't even research them.

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Seems to me that any one camera solution is open to being bypassed quite easily. Depending on the camera they can remove the camera, remove the SD card or remove the NVR. Any intelligent and determined thief would take about five seconds to work around anything I could DIY (I think).

That depends.  My outdoor cameras will be mounted high enough to make disabling them somewhat difficult, short of taking a swing at them with a long-ish blunt object.  The NVR is indoors, isn't obviously an NVR, and may soon be moved to a somewhat "secured" room, anyway.  Besides which: Getting to that will require breaking into the house, which will summon the local constabulary.  (Who just successfully got a millage increase, with which they'll be increasing staffing levels.)

I'm considering dumping video to one of my off-site virtual servers, on either a scheduled or event-tripped basis.  Maybe both.

DIY'ing it right is not difficult.  It just takes a modicum of smarts, adequate study, money, and a bit of sweat equity.  It helps if the whole subject amuses you.  I'm a tech geek, so it does me

 

 

[eduk 0]

ha, I'd never even heard of a NAS before  

So it would be possible to have a PoE IP camera and not even have the NVR? More stuff for me to look in to. 

By the way the most complex DIY job I have done is wire a Cat6. To be honest I was mostly terrified it wouldn't work as from memory there are 16 connections (8 each end) and I could easily have messed any of them up

[tomcctv 190]

Hi. For 1 camera NAS is just wasting money. You can just use the software that comes with the camera on a PC or laptop and record to a dedicated hard drive.

 

only one camera. You might find that a IP camera with built in SD card is better as you don't need to leave a PC on 24/7. 

You would only need the PC/laptop to view footage in the camera.

 

IP camera and NVR is the best option .         What is your budget

[eduk 0]

Hey Tom,

If I just record to SD card on the camera then isn't the system rather weak to having the camera stolen? I was thinking about doing that, just not sure on the pros and cons. Or if there is way to automate downloading the SD card to the cloud via the Ethernet cable (I kind of assume such a thing is possible, just not sure how easy to setup).

Budget wise is a bit tough as I don't know exactly what I need. I guess up to £200, but ideally a lot less

 

[Cortian 9]

6 hours ago, tomcctv said:

Hi. For 1 camera NAS is just wasting money. 

Unless you have other uses for the NAS: Definitely.

In my case: I already had the NAS for a whole-house OTA TV DVR solution and I'll probably use it for additional network file storage. So the surveillance camera support was essentially a freebie.