Starter advice. Cheap setup for recording/motion detecting outdoors.

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Any advice is welcome. I'm looking to set up a camera to watch the back porch/patio area of a ground floor apartment. Neighbours have seen someone from the apartment building back there, possibly in a peeping tom situation - I'd like to catch him.

After a bit of research I'd like to set up an inconspicuous IP camera with a motion detection software. Ideally I'd spend less than $100.

It looks like there are a ton of camera and software options out there, so I'm not sure what the best combination is for my needs. I'd like something:
- cheap
- good enough video/picture quality to record faces
- relatively good motion detection, i.e. few false positives/negatives

Like I said, any suggestions welcome! Thanks!
 

mat200

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Any advice is welcome. I'm looking to set up a camera to watch the back porch/patio area of a ground floor apartment. Neighbours have seen someone from the apartment building back there, possibly in a peeping tom situation - I'd like to catch him.

After a bit of research I'd like to set up an inconspicuous IP camera with a motion detection software. Ideally I'd spend less than $100.

It looks like there are a ton of camera and software options out there, so I'm not sure what the best combination is for my needs. I'd like something:
- cheap
- good enough video/picture quality to record faces
- relatively good motion detection, i.e. few false positives/negatives

Like I said, any suggestions welcome! Thanks!
Welcome Papa,

Motion Detection is not as good as we'd like, so the best is to enable 24/7 recording.

It's easy to get swamped with information here, so I wanted to share some notes with you

Please check out @giomania 's notes:
Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

I have also made notes which are a summary of a lot of the reading I've been doing here,:
Looking for some advice and direction!

Have fun joining us here.
 
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Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate it.

Motion Detection is not as good as we'd like
Do people not rely on motion detection at all then?

the best is to enable 24/7 recording
Is there software that lets you scan through all the hours of recording? Is it just a matter of pressing fast forward and watching everything? Unlike a break in or theft, I won't know if he's been on the patio unless I see him on video.

Put an SD card in it, and set the cam up to record.
How many hours can an SD card hold, roughly? I saw somewhere that 24 hours is pushing it, so I'm assuming that means I'd download the video from the card every morning.
 

mat200

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Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate it.
Happy to help out.

Q: Do people not rely on motion detection at all then?
A: Use motion detection to high light time and/or send video clip sample.
Record 24/7 to ensure you have 100% successful video capture.

Q: Is there software that lets you scan through all the hours of recording? Is it just a matter of pressing fast forward and watching everything? Unlike a break in or theft, I won't know if he's been on the patio unless I see him on video.
A: Better systems and setup allow quicker searches of video, including using motion detection and other advanced features to mark the video time line for points of interest to review.

Q: How many hours can an SD card hold, roughly? I saw somewhere that 24 hours is pushing it, so I'm assuming that means I'd download the video from the card every morning.
A: I can't give a good answer as it depends on many issues - camera resolution, fps, compression used, view changes ( example filming a blank room with no movement in it will result in a very small sized storage requirement, vs filming a freeway )
 

looney2ns

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for the cam I suggested, a 128gig SD will get a weeks worth of recording at the minimum if you are using motion detection or IVS rules to record. If recording full time, depending on how you set the cam up, you can get 3-5 days on an SD card.

With Motion Detection, you will get some false alerts. This can be minimized with proper tuning in the cams webgui. Motion detection isn't useless.

Or if you don't like the SD card route, you can use SmartPSS software that is free for the download, and set it up to record to your computer.

Again, with the cam I suggested, you don't "need" any software other than logging into the cams WebGui from your computer if using an SD card.
 
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