Camera sensor specs comparison and shipping cameras to Europe

[oaktreer]

Hello everyone.

I want to buy some cameras to install in my house. I have no experience with cameras, so any help will be greatly appreciated. The image below shows the house layout. The image shows 4 cameras, but I will probably buy 6...
At night, the street in front of the house have some light and I will install some ground led lights like this.
I've read some guide posts here on the forum and, based on the feedback, I will probably buy some 4Mp 1/1.8" camera, with a mix of 2.8mm and 3.6mm.

I have some questions I would like to ask:

- If a camera sensor have the same specs, will there be a big difference in image/video quality? For example, comparing IPC-T5442TM-AS with SF-IPT838CWHA-4U-AI2 (I understand that this camera is probably not well know, but it is a camera I can buy in stores in my country and that's why I'm comparing these two cameras) they are very similar sensor wise. What other features should I look when comparing cameras? I'm interested in features that can make the image/video quality better.

-I will probably buy the IPC-T5442TM-AS that is sold at the forum store (they appear to be a good all-around camera). From where are they shipped? What's the feedback/experience of sending them to Europe (Portugal)? Someone with experience in this situation? My understanding is that I will need to pay extra custom fees. If that's the case, can this value be estimated?

-At the price range of around 160$, is there a better alternative to IPC-T5442TM-AS?

-I understand that this is a forum for security cameras, but since it is a question related to security I will ask anyway - I need to buy an intruder alarm system. Any pointer on what characteristics or brands I should be looking for?

Thank you all for the feedback.

 

[wittaj]

Reach out to @EMPIRETECANDY a trusted vendor here (who supplies the cameras to the IPC store) as well as has an Amazon and AliExpress store about purchase and shipping to you. He may have other options on how to get cameras to you cost effectively.

 

[Sammyf]

I have ordered from Andy’s AliExpress shop to Europe. No problems and the delivery time was a week or a bit less. The shop displayed prices including VAT, the order was over 150€, so VAT was deducted at the checkout. Once the stuff arrived, the courier notified about the arrival and I made customs declaration with the value paid at the checkout (personally I don’t want to evade taxes, even though it makes the principle of buy once cry once to become buy once cry twice lol). VAT (amount depends on your country) was then paid to the local authorities.

Read a lot here and test first with one (or two) cameras. Watch many videos from the pics&videos section, that helped me a lot to learn about focal length (and not chasing MP) and multiple camera angles (if I recall correctly, @wittaj has started some nice topics on these matters). Note that there’s a huge difference in observe vs identify. And after getting some cameras up, you prolly notice that you want better chances to identify and always cover a camera with another camera. And still you might notice that not everything is covered as you’d like.
I thought I could get away with 5 cameras and wide field of view (yup, fell for consumer junk some years ago)… well after certain situations I realized it’s not enough. Now I have mix of fixed lenses and varifocals, having decent coverage. I have bad/zero coverage to one part of my property where (I think) there’s low risk of intrusion (no windows and a fence), but once I got the taste of what the surveillance system can do, I’d like to get even better coverage. For this the amount of cameras would add up to 12-15, depending whether I could utilize PTZs and use (existing) cameras as spotters.

Due to EU and national privacy laws I think it’s worth to make some research to find what you can view and record with the cameras. I have found it hard to find good spots for cameras but avoid recording any space outside your property, I and some friends ended up setting cameras that way since it was the most certain way to avoid breaking any privacy laws (ain’t no lawyer though).

As always, just my two (noob) cents.

 

[oaktreer]

Thank you for your reply.

I have ordered from Andy’s AliExpress shop to Europe. No problems and the delivery time was a week or a bit less. The shop displayed prices including VAT, the order was over 150€, so VAT was deducted at the checkout. Once the stuff arrived, the courier notified about the arrival and I made customs declaration with the value paid at the checkout (personally I don’t want to evade taxes, even though it makes the principle of buy once cry once to become buy once cry twice lol). VAT (amount depends on your country) was then paid to the local authorities.

In Portugal, clearing a product through customs can be a complicated process that you would like to avoid (based on stories from friends and family). I would also like to avoid having to pay VAT twice... I raised the question of customs as I have never bought goods worth more than 100$ from outside Europe. Maybe @EMPIRETECANDY can explain here the best way to proceed to avoid these problems.

Due to EU and national privacy laws I think it’s worth to make some research to find what you can view and record with the cameras. I have found it hard to find good spots for cameras but avoid recording any space outside your property, I and some friends ended up setting cameras that way since it was the most certain way to avoid breaking any privacy laws (ain’t no lawyer though).

Thanks for the information. I already knew about the existence of laws that prohibit the recording of public spaces, but the police themselves ask individuals to see the recordings to try to identify suspects . With some settings and positioning of the cameras I think it will be possible to record only the space of my property.

 

[Sammyf]

I would also like to avoid having to pay VAT twice... I raised the question of customs as I have never bought goods worth more than 100$ from outside Europe.

I think via AliExpress or Amazon you don’t need to pay VAT twice, in AliExpress I saw prices with VAT, but at checkout the final price to be paid was without VAT. In Amazon I’ve seen prices without VAT and it tells estimation of how much VAT will be collected. (Edit: to be clear, I haven’t purchased directly)

Buy once cry twice I meant that the quality of the cameras is buy oce cry once, but VAT being about one fifth of the products’ price makes me cry again

 

[oaktreer]

Could the SF-IPT838CWHA-4U-AI2 be a rebrand of IPC-T5442TM-AS? How could I check this? Would opening the camera be a way to check if it is a rebrand?

 

[VideoDad]

At night, the street in front of the house have some light and I will install some ground led lights like this.

From experience, solar powered lights don't tend to be very bright nor do they stay lit all night. I'd invest in a wired low-voltage lighting system instead.