in-law camera recommendations

[cwilson1996]

My in-laws would like me to install some cameras on their property. 3 Buildings in total and probably 4-6 cameras. I like the idea of PoE because the hassle of replacing batteries in Michigan and they want 24/7 surveilling. My father in-law would like the ability to just pull the cameras up on his phone, motion detection, a metal housing on the cameras, and even possible PTZ. They are not very techy people so the simpler the better. Any recommendations?

 

[looney2ns]

Study this: Cliff Notes, the cameras suggested are out dated, so see the attachment for recommended cameras.
Pay special attention to this: IPVM Camera Calculator V3
The goal is to know who did it, not just what happened.
I'll lay odds, they will end up with many more than 6 cams.

 

[user8963]

Any recommendations?

1. avoid reolink
2. dont buy reolink
3. dont buy sets on amazon/ebay/aliexpress
4. dont buy cameras on amazon/ebay/aliexpress (except from andy)

 

[sebastiantombs]

^^^ What's already been said!

You realize that you will be tech support for your in-laws with this? If you have experience with IP/PoE cameras you might be OK, if not you're getting into an area of problems unless you do a LOT of research and then test each proposed camera location over a day or two at least. Even after reading and planning there's a lot more to it than you may currently realize. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Grand, sweeping views are fine until you need to know who did what, not just that something was done. I have a simple, rectangular, ranch house with two outbuildings. I have 20 cameras, so far, and still have some blind spots I'd like to cover. A PTZ sounds really nice but unless they plan on sitting there all day and all night watching it how will it know where to PTZ to? If it has auto tracking it will invariably be looking in the wrong direction just when it is needed the most.

If those three buildings are physically separated you need to plan on either a fiber link between them, trenching and conduit, or dedicated wireless links between them, not WiFi. The goal is to provide total electrical isolation so that damage from potential surges, lightning strikes in particular, can stay where they happen and not get to the whole system. Murphy says that will happen, trust me, and there are several reports every year on this forum of equipment being toasted by nearby, not direct, strikes. On the subject of WiFi, WiFi and surveillance cameras are mutually exclusive terms. WiFi is not reliable enough to handle the load of multiple surveillance cameras because surveillance cameras do not buffer like NetFlix movies. They constantly, without any interruption 24/7, stream full bandwidth data streams and that quickly overloads a WiFi system.

 

[TVille]

What everyone else said!

And, what @sebastiantombs said about tech support. Do NOT underestimate the level of support required unless you provide them with tech support now, and understand how much work it may be.

Six cameras will show you that you need twice that many to see where people/animals came and went. I have four buildings and a dozen cameras. But, one whole side of the property is basically invisible to the cameras - I would need another four or so to cover that.

 

[cwilson1996]

^^^ What's already been said!

You realize that you will be tech support for your in-laws with this? If you have experience with IP/PoE cameras you might be OK, if not you're getting into an area of problems unless you do a LOT of research and then test each proposed camera location over a day or two at least. Even after reading and planning there's a lot more to it than you may currently realize. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Grand, sweeping views are fine until you need to know who did what, not just that something was done. I have a simple, rectangular, ranch house with two outbuildings. I have 20 cameras, so far, and still have some blind spots I'd like to cover. A PTZ sounds really nice but unless they plan on sitting there all day and all night watching it how will it know where to PTZ to? If it has auto tracking it will invariably be looking in the wrong direction just when it is needed the most.

If those three buildings are physically separated you need to plan on either a fiber link between them, trenching and conduit, or dedicated wireless links between them, not WiFi. The goal is to provide total electrical isolation so that damage from potential surges, lightning strikes in particular, can stay where they happen and not get to the whole system. Murphy says that will happen, trust me, and there are several reports every year on this forum of equipment being toasted by nearby, not direct, strikes. On the subject of WiFi, WiFi and surveillance cameras are mutually exclusive terms. WiFi is not reliable enough to handle the load of multiple surveillance cameras because surveillance cameras do not buffer like NetFlix movies. They constantly, without any interruption 24/7, stream full bandwidth data streams and that quickly overloads a WiFi system.

Thanks for all the advice. What good bundle packages are out there that come with their own NVR system? I'm not about to setup one up for them on a PC.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Bundled systems are not very good. The NVRs have limited bandwidth, IE they can't support multiple high resolution cameras. The cameras are generally all have 2.8mm lenses which are too wide angle to produce useable identification video. They are fine for overview, but if you want to know who, not just what, the subject needs to be within about 15 feet of the camera and the camera needs to be down around seven feet or less. Buying a "kit" will lead to everyone being dis-satisfied.

You really need to read the information in the WiKi, in the blue bar, at the top of the page before you even commit to doing this. You don't yet know what you don't know based on your questions. Effective video surveillance is not what Hollywood depicts it to be, like in the "Accountant" with "state of the art wireless cameras in the yard hidden in bird houses" or in "Enemy of the State" with "enhance" so they can ID a face from a few hundred miles up in space.

You haven't provided any information regarding the size of the area to be covered, the distances between buildings and what the real expectations are for the system so it's very hard to recommend any specific camera to begin with.

 

[cwilson1996]

Bundled systems are not very good. The NVRs have limited bandwidth, IE they can't support multiple high resolution cameras. The cameras are generally all have 2.8mm lenses which are too wide angle to produce useable identification video. They are fine for overview, but if you want to know who, not just what, the subject needs to be within about 15 feet of the camera and the camera needs to be down around seven feet or less. Buying a "kit" will lead to everyone being dis-satisfied.

You really need to read the information in the WiKi, in the blue bar, at the top of the page before you even commit to doing this. You don't yet know what you don't know based on your questions. Effective video surveillance is not what Hollywood depicts it to be, like in the "Accountant" with "state of the art wireless cameras in the yard hidden in bird houses" or in "Enemy of the State" with "enhance" so they can ID a face from a few hundred miles up in space.

You haven't provided any information regarding the size of the area to be covered, the distances between buildings and what the real expectations are for the system so it's very hard to recommend any specific camera to begin with.

View attachment 102194

View attachment 102195

There is nothing in the wiki page regarding camera options or anything of that sort.

 

[sebastiantombs]

IP Cam Talk Cliff Notes

Information in this section was contributed by [URL='https://ipcamtalk.com/members/mat200.29441/'][COLOR=#0000b3]@matt200[/COLOR][/URL] and [URL='https://ipcamtalk.com/members/giomania.36271/'][COLOR=#0000b3]@giomania [/COLOR][/URL] [/LIST] Any dedicated manufacturer NVR should match...

ipcamtalk.com

Look at ALL the headings.

 

[TechieTech]

Unless you're doing Ubiquiti, Cambium, or similar PtP radios, plan on digging and trenching conduit for fiber runs. You can buy pre-terminated lengths of multimode fiber on Amazon.

 

[looney2ns]

There is nothing in the wiki page regarding camera options or anything of that sort.

Sure there is, use a real computer and not your cell phone/tablet to read this site.