Q-See 8-Channel 4K any good from Costco?

David2018

David2018

n3wb
Feb 6, 2018
3
1
Hi,

I am new to the security camera world. Currently, I am remodeling my house. With increasing rate of burglaries in my area, I am thinking adding security cameras to my property. I already have service with my local alarm company.

I don't feel "right" to pay monthly fee to have security camera service with my alarm company. Therefore, I think buying and installing my own security cameras is a better and more valuable solution.

I came across my email the other day about this Q-See Security Camera System.

Costco Wholesale

  • NVR with 8 built-in POE ports (QCK81)
  • (4) 4K IP Bullet Cameras (QCN8090B)
  • 4TB Hard Drive (pre-installed)

What do you guys think about this system? Is it worth it? Or, I should build my own system and get a quote from the online vendors here?

Thank you.

David
 
Do some reading here. Don't fall for the "more megapixels is better" stuff. Turret cameras are better, less problems with spiders and bugs, than bullets. A dedicated, used, PC running Blue Iris, and a PoE switch is a better option than an NVR
 
David2018 said:
Hi,

I am new to the security camera world. Currently, I am remodeling my house. ..

I came across my email the other day about this Q-See Security Camera System.

Costco Wholesale

  • NVR with 8 built-in POE ports (QCK81)
  • (4) 4K IP Bullet Cameras (QCN8090B)
  • 4TB Hard Drive (pre-installed)

What do you guys think about this system? Is it worth it? Or, I should build my own system and get a quote from the online vendors here?

Thank you.

David
Click to expand...

Welcome David,

Those are Dahua OEM products, good hardware - Q-see could be a bit better for customer service - so you would have to plan to spend some DIY learning as Q-see's notes for some of their products which Costco carries are short of information.

If you decide to go for that kit - I recommend augmenting it with 4 Dahua OEM starlight cameras ( look for Andy here as our preferred source for those ). [ 4+4 = 8 cameras which would max the available posts from that NVR in that kit ]

Also remember to get solid copper wire bulk cat6/cat5e cable and use that.

Plan for at a minimum 6-8 cameras for a modest sized home. I followed the advice here and went for the next step up - 16 PoE ports - and found that works well as now I found a few spots I would like to add more cameras to get better coverage.

Remember to over cable when remodeling - N+1+

Remember cameras at <= 8 feet high give better chances for ID shots.

Also note there are numerous options for your kit, I went with starlights mentioned here and a NVR5216-16p-4ks2 and they're doing well for me - others like the starlight models plus windows i5/i7 PC w/Blue Iris sw + external PoE switch

More notes here - please see the end of the thread.
Resource Guide on IP Technology for all Noobs
 
I was originally looking at Lorex 4K 8Ch with 6 bullet kit being sold at Costco. Currently, it is $699 after $100 off. The downsides of that kit is camera (Lorex LNB8005B) has plastic casing and not IP67. Also, it seems like Lorex disables IVS or IVA feature for this particular model. Whereas, Q-See's Costco Kit camera (QCN8090B) has metal casing and IP67 and IVA. By the way, is IVS or IVA important in BI? I think eventually I am going to upgrade to BI, even though I might get a NVR for now.

My plan was to get a Lorex or Q-See kit first and couple it with Dahua Starlight and/or varifocal cameras. I think, at this point of time, my plan is to have 6-8 cameras. Also, I will be getting a QNAP NAS for storage in near future. QNAP has built-in security camera software, Surveillance Station, or I can run BI in the virtual environment on that QNAP.

It is just the more I read, the more I am leaning towards BYO path, getting a variety of Dahwa cameras for different purposes and situations. However, starting off with a kit seems to an easier path.

More contemplating...

mat200, thank you for your tips. I'll keep those in mind during my planning phase.

David
 
Welcome to the forum!

Since your're remodeling: pull extra cables as mat200 suggested. It's much easier now than after the sheetrock goes up. Leave lots of extra length at the end, since many times cameras are relocated from their initial location, based on the quality of images captured. Lowering a camera from being initially mounted on eaves is very common. The 8ft height rule is good.

Locate cameras at pinch points, where people will pass by, to get good facial id.

Pull some cable for a PIR motion sensor, they've MUCH more dependable than Motion Detect (which sucks for outdoors) and even better than IVS
If some cameras are "looking long", consider pulling extra cable to an auxiliary IF floodlight that is mounted several feet away from the camera.
The IR from the cameras are only good for short to medium distances. Also, an axillary IR light will let you disable the IR in the camera, to eliminate problems with spiders and their webs causing false alerts.
If your remodeling involves any landscaping, consider running a cable (maybe underground) for an overview cam that is looking back at the house, or over the parking area for a different perspective for watching your cars, or people approaching/leaving. Or a camera near the mailbox, to catch license plates as cars drive by.

Noise: NVRs have fans. The NVR with built in poe is louder than non-poe NVR models. If the NVR will be near bedroom, office, or TV room, consider the noise factor.
Many folks prefer the non-poe model, not simply for noise, but it makes it a little easier to reach the camera to configure it from your PC. My starlight cam has features that can't be configured with the user interface of the NVR. It requires me to a)connect the cam directly to my PC to configure (a PITA after the cam is mounted outside), or b) connect through the lan. With a poe nvr, the poe lan is on the "other side" of the NVR in its own subnet, compared to my network. POE-NVR adds some headaches. Do some research here on the pros/cons of poe vs non-poe NVR.

David2018 said:
starting off with a kit seems to an easier path
Click to expand...
Yes, could be. But consider startinng with an NVR and one camera. That's easy too. With that one cam, you can check out cam mounting locations (research "test rig"), and then buy appropriate cameras (form factor, lens, FOV). The varifocal is nice, since FOV is adjustable. But it does cost more. You can still get a Starlight, but with a fixed lens, for less money. (if you're budget sensitive) - (remodeling is already a hit to the budget, I imagine)

Again, welcome to the forum! Good luck,
Fastb
 
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David2018 said:
I was originally looking at Lorex 4K 8Ch with 6 bullet kit being sold at Costco. Currently, it is $699 after $100 off. The downsides of that kit is camera (Lorex LNB8005B) has plastic casing and not IP67. Also, it seems like Lorex disables IVS or IVA feature for this particular model. Whereas, Q-See's Costco Kit camera (QCN8090B) has metal casing and IP67 and IVA. By the way, is IVS or IVA important in BI? I think eventually I am going to upgrade to BI, even though I might get a NVR for now.

My plan was to get a Lorex or Q-See kit first and couple it with Dahua Starlight and/or varifocal cameras. I think, at this point of time, my plan is to have 6-8 cameras. Also, I will be getting a QNAP NAS for storage in near future. QNAP has built-in security camera software, Surveillance Station, or I can run BI in the virtual environment on that QNAP.

It is just the more I read, the more I am leaning towards BYO path, getting a variety of Dahwa cameras for different purposes and situations. However, starting off with a kit seems to an easier path.

More contemplating...

mat200, thank you for your tips. I'll keep those in mind during my planning phase.

David
Click to expand...

Hi David,

@Fastb has some great comments.

w/re to those Lorex cameras and kit check out the thread we have on that. ( see next link )

In particular the case is actually metal, the top shield is vinyl or similar material which actually weathers well enough.
You can see an example here where @rkilpa changed out the lens of one of those cameras.
FYI - Some local Costco B&M have a Lorex / Dahua OEM 4K 6x camera kit and 8 port NVR for $800

The case of that camera is the same as the Q-see cameras and the various Dahua OEM cameras of similar shape. ( some higher end models have a bit of a nicer case for securing the angles - like the HFW82xx model I picked up from Andy )

I do believe that Q-see has done less mods to the firmware than Lorex, and thus it looks like their cameras will be closer to the OEM firmware.
( both sets will work with Blue Iris from reports I have read as they have the rtsp feeds available. )
 
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