Off Brand Cameras

[outrun 0]

Are there cameras out there that are good and are off brand? On another thread I was somewhat discussing about offbrand cameras. I have found a site that has some good deals and they are local to me. They don't even put the name of the cameras online.

 

So, today I went and looked at the cameras. They seemed great to me. I viewed a 420tvl and a 480tvl. I didn't even notice a difference except the price.

 

One thing that was weird about these cameras though or maybe it's cause I am a newb. It did't have a 24/12 volt input. It had that 12 plug in type. So you could use your standard cable from frys or where ever that has the power and bnc cable on it. I think you know what I am talking about. Where you just plug the power supply into the wall then take the power cable and plug it into that and then run your wires. I would post links but I still can't until I get my 10 days in. (Hey admin can you bump me up to 10 days?)

 

Thanks, Jason

[rory 0]

You typically wont notice a huge difference between a 400TVL and a 480TVL OEM bullet camera, but then it will really depend on what additional features that 480TVL camera has, if its just a TVL diff and everything else is the same, you probably wont tell the diff unless you know what to look for, or during playback.

 

If you compare them to a high quality brand name camera, you will typically notice a world of difference though, but once again, that depends on the cameras involved.

 

As to the power connecter, with bullet cameras that is typical, same goes for Most Fixed Dome cameras. Is this the thing you mean? (without the terminal strip though)

[outrun 0]

Yeah just like that without that terminal thing on the end. I mean I like it better that you can just plug it in. I hate that I have to have a power supply and run 12 or 24 volts. I just figured the nicer cameras used the whole power supply thing. I seriously thought about buying one of these off brand cameras. It looked really nice from what I could tell.

 

It was made by Digital or at least that is all it said on it. I would take a pic of it if I could post the link. Some of the other cameras were nice to but they didn't even have names on them. It just said what they did.

[rory 0]

Not sure I understand ...

You still have to run 12 or 24 volts, the camera still needs its power

 

The Plugins are nice for plug and play, but are found typically on cheaper cameras, the Pro cameras dont use them in most cases, as there are flaws with having that extra split in the cable. In fact I normally would just cut the connector end off and join it directly to the 18AWG cable, or join the 2 raw wires using a terminal connector such as shown in that image.

[photys 0]

Hi outrun.

I used to help a couple of CCTV guys install the computer side of their systems.

 

They used 12V OEM cameras. They all looked great on day one.

 

Over the past three years:

10 of the 30 cameras have died.

4 are about to die

2 have lost their IR capability.

 

50% failure rate over 3 years.

I think all but 4 lasted a year.

In the short term no brand cams are fine.

In the long term they are bloody expensive.

 

Brandname cameras bring 3 things,

mysterious buttons to fiddle with,

power options (12V DC, 24V AC, 120V AC, 240V AC)

and warranty's........ A nice long warranty is great.

[Ascend 0]

Warranty service and longevity of life is what separates good cameras from the bad. For instance the high end camera I sell have more programming then that of your average DVR and comes with a 3 year warranty. Remember that with the cheaper price generally there service and products won’t be as good. When looking for a manufacture or supplier see if they will give you a 30 day money back guarantee if you are unsatisfied with there you can send it back.

 

Also remember that Often time brand name companies like Bosch and Pelco generally overcharge for there products but they are high quality and you know what you’re getting. I work for DVR manufacture and times they use exact same product and from the same factory but with different names and about 30% less.

 

Also I’m a firm believer in DVR manufactures giving dealers protected areas and exclusivity so that a dealer who is loyal will not be undersold by someone who is selling CCTV products out of there garage and offering no support but in the end its the end user and DVR manufacture who get hurt.

Aslo you want to make sure that the company that makes the product you buy is going to be around for a while.

 

I work for a DVR company like that and if you are interested feel free to send me a PM.