CCTV Camera System Recommendations?

ghostRgg said:
Well, my plan was to get a basic NVR, not sure which one. Then have two of these Ubiquiti 5 Port Gigabit Managed 1 PoE Input UniFi Flex Switch's around the house. One front end, one back end each with 3-4 cameras on each. So I can have up to 8 cameras but as little as two to start.
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Those little flex switches are really awesome and as they are powered by my main PoE switch which is on a UPS they dont go down with load shedding. The Unifi cameras are expensive and are not the best value for money, but I had Milesight cameras before and one I had to keep resetting the port and the NVR would also just die, and sometimes remotely logging in wouldn't work. The Unifi works seamlessly every time and never goes down at all.

As I already had Unifi AP's I could move my controller from my NAS to the all in one NVR https://scoop.co.za/ubiquiti-unifi-cloud-key-g2-controller-1tb-hdd-uck-plus.html So while the cameras are pricey its nice having my whole network as one brand. Except I still use Mikrotik as a gateway as I am so used to that
 
Hikvision is pretty good... 90% of my cams are Hikvision. I would now rather look at their sister company EZViz if I had to start from scratch. I have a couple of the wireless HD EZViz cams up at my place.. In fact I use the EZViz software on my phone & PC for viewing.

1593170230024.png1593170275215.png
 
calypso said:
I guess people still play vinyl records.
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They do, but it's not really very portable to listen to on the go or in your vehicle. So one killer feature for CDs was that can play in car, vinyl can't and tapes were OK but not not the same. Then we moved onto digital music files, even more portable.

So what makes IP so much better than a AHD setup? The fact that it costs more? Wifi can be nice though, but even more expensive than just IP.
 
I mean one could just google this but basically futureproofing, picture quality, flexibility, ease of installtation and analytics.
 
So to mess around with things I actually got an old MacBook laying around (girlfriends) running ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Spent a day configuring ZoneMinder and setting up the network, set recording and all sorts of the usual network stuff. Got two Logitech webcams (C270 and C920) and are using them at 720p through the macbook.

Its actually working really well for shates and giggles. Threw IP Cam onto an old S6 and its showing beautiful 1080p 30fps quality. Going to be using this to test the software, as I could just get a PoE Switch and IPCams to add to this. Eventually I want my own little server with a VM with ZoneMinder (or better alternatives).

BUT for the main build, I am going to be going with those NVR cameras as I honestly don't see myself spending R5000 on a Cloud key for Ubiquiti and then 4k on a decent PoE switch, then spending R1700 - 5000 a camera addition.

Quality check on C920 (top through a window) and S6Edge+ laying near a window
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Customer1 said:
I̶ ̶m̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶n̶a̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶o̶p̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶o̶l̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶p̶e̶r̶ ̶e̶v̶i̶d̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶r̶o̶b̶b̶e̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶?̶ ̶Y̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶y̶ ̶d̶e̶c̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶i̶m̶a̶g̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶b̶o̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶n̶a̶l̶o̶g̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶d̶i̶g̶i̶t̶a̶l̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶e̶x̶t̶r̶a̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶?̶ ̶E̶s̶p̶e̶c̶i̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶m̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶h̶e̶l̶p̶ ̶a̶u̶t̶h̶o̶r̶i̶t̶i̶e̶s̶?̶

Edit: Having had a look at your images posted earlier I can see why you wouldn't spend money on an IP setup. That's pretty good for much less money.
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Following a burglary a friend handed the cops pix of the intruder (from his high-end CCTV system).

Said pix were of better quality than a driver's licence.

The cops, after asking him what he expected them to do with the pix, handed them back ...
 
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rrh said:
Following a burglary a friend handed the cops pix of the intruder (from his high-end CCTV system).

Said pix were of better quality than a driver's licence.

The cops, after asking him what he expected them to do with the pix, handed them back ...
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Well, that's reassuring... :cautious:
 
Is it possible for any of these systems (IP or not) to backed up by a 12v DC UPS system? I suspect not.
 
@rrh prevention is better than cure for security and the only practical example I have using my cameras to date was when the pool service company said they were on site for x time as they do GPS tracking of their vehicles. I gave them video footage of when their guys entered and left showing they were there for all of 5 minutes.

Unifi is expensive and does not justify my spend unless of course if I had a real incident one day which would likely just document not actually lead to any prosecution. The only point I would make is dont waste money on something that doesnt work or needs maintenance like I initially did. If you decide to do video surveillance make sure it will work!
 
yogidabear said:
@rrh prevention is better than cure for security and the only practical example I have using my cameras to date was when the pool service company said they were on site for x time as they do GPS tracking of their vehicles. I gave them video footage of when their guys entered and left showing they were there for all of 5 minutes.

Unifi is expensive and does not justify my spend unless of course if I had a real incident one day which would likely just document not actually lead to any prosecution. The only point I would make is dont waste money on something that doesnt work or needs maintenance like I initially did. If you decide to do video surveillance make sure it will work!
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Couldn't agree more :D
 
shooter_za said:
Is it possible for any of these systems (IP or not) to backed up by a 12v DC UPS system? I suspect not.
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There are many 12V backup solutions. In fact, Hikvision IP cameras run off of 12V or POE :) You might need an inverter for the NVR though
 
ghostRgg said:
Been looking to get some CCTV given the times and all of that fun stuff.

Was recommended to go with:
Just to start, then get another 2 when I can and slowly upgrade to 8 cameras.

I was also tempted to go the IP Camera -> PoE Switch -> Raspberry pi 4 with MotionEye software, but that full custom route sounds like a pain to setup at a similar cost.
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Get a 16ch dvr instead
Price difference should be a few hundred
You'll always want more cameras

HiLook is a Hikvison brand, specs on their cameras are the same
I have HiLook, good considering the price
 
ghostRgg said:
Anddd now I need to get into the great debate of DVR vs NVR and then Analog vs IPCam this is going to be fun.
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Digital Video Recorder
So you have analog cameras, analog signal coming in to dvr.
DVR converts the signal in to digital recording and saves as a playback file.
There will be a degradation from live view to playback quality.

Network Video Recorder
Your nvr is basically a server
IP cameras are called that because they have their own network address.
The bigger difference though is that with ip the video is digital from the start. Basic your camera is doing the recording and the nvr is just the server. As a result you get much better quality on RECORDING compared to analog and live playback quality is same as live view.

Don't look at the live view only to compare the two
IP will cost significantly more. If you just need some eyes, analog is perfect. If you need serious surveillance, go ip.
 
IssiAmd said:
Get a 16ch dvr instead
Price difference should be a few hundred
You'll always want more cameras

HiLook is a Hikvison brand, specs on their cameras are the same
I have HiLook, good considering the price
Click to expand...

But the images are not the same ;), my earlier post: top row is Hikvision, bottom row is Hilook.
 
Since I got Zoneminder setup all I really need Is a Pie switch and some IP cameras.
 
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