CCTV Camera System Recommendations?

[ghostRgg]

Been looking to get some CCTV given the times and all of that fun stuff.

Was recommended to go with:

• Hikvision DVR 8Channel
• 2x Hikvision 2MP IR Bullet Camera , HD1080P, 20M Night Vision

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.

 

[supersunbird]

I'm happy with mine, here is 8 of my cameras in the 16 cam version of that DVR (I got 22 cameras active lol). Nighttime view in clear too. Top row is Hikvision cameras that came with the unit, bottom row is Hilook brand of cameras.

 

[Neuk_]

I have the following at the moment but need to do some cleaning up of LAN cabling in my roof and get at least another 4 cameras for inside our property...

1 x HIKVision DS-7616NI-K2/16P NVR
2 x HIKVision SE-DS-2CD2055FWD-I Cameras (4mm fixed length)
2 x HIKVision SE-DS-2CD2055FWD-I Cameras (2.8mm fixed length)
1 x WD 4TB 3.5" SATA3 6.0Gbps Surveillance HDD - Purple
Linkbasic Shielded UV Protected Cat5e Cable

This is one of the 2.8mm cameras which I screen shot on my phone...

 

[calypso]

I use NX Witness. Not cheap but feature-rich. I tried motion eye before that, it works but very basic.

 

[yogidabear]

Have Ubiquiti cameras installed and here is a cellphone screen shoot from the app as above:

 

[yogidabear]

Thats the "interloper" zoomed in at 4x at dusk. The unzoomed image is too large to load

 

[ghostRgg]

I'm happy with mine, here is 8 of my cameras in the 16 cam version of that DVR (I got 22 cameras active lol). Nighttime view in clear too. Top row is Hikvision cameras that came with the unit, bottom row is Hilook brand of cameras.

View attachment 865405

From what I can see in these is that Hikvision is obviously way more detailed but besides that. It looks like a decent setup. I will start with 2, then 4 then go to 8. Chances are then I will probably get a more DIY solution if I wanted to go above 8 as there aren't many places that won't be covered here.

So DVR is going well I assume? How is the recording functions and playback? Somebody mentioned I will miss out on a lot of "smart" features but hey.

 

[ghostRgg]

Thats the "interloper" zoomed in at 4x at dusk. The unzoomed image is too large to load

I would love to go Ubiquiti UniFi Video, my issues is the R3,500 a pop per camera, that's excluding their DVR/NVR system thing they use.

 

[ghostRgg]

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.

 

[Cactus]

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.

An NVR has network ports and a DVR has analog ports. If you go the analog route, you'll buy a DVR. If you go for IP cameras, you'll buy an NVR. That should settle the NVR/DVR debate for you.

Remember, IP cameras can work standalone, and most have SD card slots if you don't have an NVR yet.

Rather spend the extra money and get a proper setup. The day when you need to zoom in on a guy's face on footage that was captured 1 am in the morning you'll be glad you got a proper setup.

I have Hikvision IP cameras. If I could afford Ubiquiti, I would. That being said, the cameras work really well. Because it's digital there's no white static on it. The cable can be as long as I want (might need a booster for very long distances though) and it doesn't affect the quality as with analog.

I power it directly from the NVR so no need to have power at the camera's locations and I can access it outside of the house with ease if I wanted to.

Here's the drawback. I spent 12k on 4 cameras and an NVR where I could have gotten the same analog variants for probably 3k.

That being said, you don't have to buy everything at once.

 

[DsBalsak]

I would love to go Ubiquiti UniFi Video, my issues is the R3,500 a pop per camera, that's excluding their DVR/NVR system thing they use.

Do u really need the high end unifi will something like these not work

Ubiquiti UniFi Protect IR 1080P PoE Flex IP Camera | UVC-G3-FLEX

Ubiquiti UniFi Flex Camera IR 1080P | UVC-G3-FLEX Ubiquiti's UVC-G3-FLEX features a wide-angle lens and 1080p video performance for expanded surveillance coverage. The infrared LEDs and automatic IR cut filter provide high-quality day and night monitoring

scoop.co.za

 

[ghostRgg]

Here's the drawback. I spent 12k on 4 cameras and an NVR where I could have gotten the same analog variants for probably 3k.

That being said, you don't have to buy everything at once.

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.

These things are R800 so 1600 for switches + Cabling R1000 = 2600. That's without the cameras, and so far I like the Ubiquiti ones but at R3,700 a pop it's getting hella expensive. Plus I will probably have to drop R4,700 on a Ubiquiti NVR which isn't ideal because you get locked into only using their stuff.

I was going to go analog, because like you said its cheap as hell to start, but again not really upgradable and the quality is a big drawback. Only going to be running max 20-40m runs. But then I might scratch the switch, get a bigger PoE one and run one cable for each camera, a lot of work but might save a little and I can keep the switch in my rack.

 

[supersunbird]

From what I can see in these is that Hikvision is obviously way more detailed but besides that. It looks like a decent setup. I will start with 2, then 4 then go to 8. Chances are then I will probably get a more DIY solution if I wanted to go above 8 as there aren't many places that won't be covered here.

So DVR is going well I assume? How is the recording functions and playback? Somebody mentioned I will miss out on a lot of "smart" features but hey.

No problem playing back or viewing it from devices. I wonder what these missing out on smart features would be? I need a lot due to shape of house and wanting near full coverage of a reasonably big yard and because we have a street at front and a veld at back,

 

[supersunbird]

An NVR has network ports and a DVR has analog ports. If you go the analog route, you'll buy a DVR. If you go for IP cameras, you'll buy an NVR. That should settle the NVR/DVR debate for you.

Remember, IP cameras can work standalone, and most have SD card slots if you don't have an NVR yet.

Rather spend the extra money and get a proper setup. The day when you need to zoom in on a guy's face on footage that was captured 1 am in the morning you'll be glad you got a proper setup.

I have Hikvision IP cameras. If I could afford Ubiquiti, I would. That being said, the cameras work really well. Because it's digital there's no white static on it. The cable can be as long as I want (might need a booster for very long distances though) and it doesn't affect the quality as with analog.

I power it directly from the NVR so no need to have power at the camera's locations and I can access it outside of the house with ease if I wanted to.

Here's the drawback. I spent 12k on 4 cameras and an NVR where I could have gotten the same analog variants for probably 3k.

That being said, you don't have to buy everything at once.

For about R14 000 I have 22 cameras (16 + 8 port DVRs) and 90% coverage of yard, just an inner courtyard (if you get there may security systems have all failed anyway) and a far out spot not covered. I don't need to see his face super clear in HD (whats the point), I just need to know he is there, and if I can follow the cats and dogs around on it I sure as hell will spot a human.

 

[ghostRgg]

For about R14 000 I have 22 cameras (16 + 8 port DVRs) and 90% coverage of yard, just an inner courtyard (if you get there may security systems have all failed anyway) and a far out spot not covered. I don't need to see his face super clear in HD (whats the point), I just need to know he is there, and if I can follow the cats and dogs around on it I sure as hell will spot a human.

Im happy to go the cheaper DVR route for 8 cameras and then upgrade in the future to a proper Ubiquiti setup or IP cameras. Because looking at the IPCamera route its crazy. A decent NVR is around R3k + R2k per a camera is going to cost me R19,000 or something crazy. Mind you im only starting with 2 cameras but thats still R7k.

I can get a basic Hikvision Turbo HD 8 channel DVR for R1500 and then R500 a decent camera = R2500 to start, then throw two cameras on a month and save for a full setup.

 

[ghostRgg]

So this is the other solution I was thinking about

NVR: UNV- Ultra H.265 – 8 Channel NVR with 1 SATA HDD up to 10TB (link) R950
Cameras: UNV-H.264 – 2MP Mini Fixed Bullet Camera (link) - R650 e.a

This should be decent I think and would let me upgrade to 8 cameras pretty quickly for a much cheaper price. I like smart features, but if I ever hear something I can just look at a monitor and see. Motion detection would be nice, but I don't see that happening near this budget.

 

[Cactus]

For about R14 000 I have 22 cameras (16 + 8 port DVRs) and 90% coverage of yard, just an inner courtyard (if you get there may security systems have all failed anyway) and a far out spot not covered. I don't need to see his face super clear in HD (whats the point), I just need to know he is there, and if I can follow the cats and dogs around on it I sure as hell will spot a human.

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.

 

[calypso]

If you buy an analog system now, it just means you gonna upgrades to IP in the future.

 

[supersunbird]

If you buy an analog system now, it just means you gonna upgrades to IP in the future.

Why? Will IP systems suddenly get a killer feature?

 

[JOEY_8]

Just recently upgraded. I had an old Analogue System, costed less than R4000 to setup myself and lasted around 3 years. Various issues started popping up, so I've switched over to a Ezviz Wireless NVR. It's with the Ezviz Husky Air Cameras.
A little pricey to get the Cameras, but well worth it. This should last a much longer time.