Does anyone have any suggestions for a good place to get decent (but reasonably priced) IP cameras with day/night vision (IR)? I've seen some for $100-$120. No need for pan/tilt/zoom or wireless.
Kevin
If the camera is in a place where it is easy to get to - and there will be someone around when it gets dark / light you could buy a standard camera, and just buy a $10 IR filter from the source or the like.
I would only recommend this if you want to get the absolute minimum price.
All the best, Robert
On 2010-08-05 Kevin McGregor wrote:
It depends. Most cameras in the $100 range are just glorified web cams with low resolutions, poor optics, and inferior (and often higher bandwidth) encoding. I know, because about 15% of my business is now architecing/installing IP surveillance cam solutions.
After using a lot of different cams, and dealing with psuedo-IP cams that a lot of companies around here sell (analog cams with a computer-type backend), I can safely say that the best I've seen so far are from DLink. But they're not cheap.
The DCS-3410 is the new, best night-cam. It doesn't use IR, but you can change out the lens for an IR one (haven't tried it). However, it uses intelligent algorithms and a super sensitive lux rating. For instance, when it's very dark, it switches to B&W mode for improved clarity. http://www.dlink.ca/products/?pid=679
However, I've found that in pitch or near-pitch black scenarios it still isn't enough. Best to install some small lights somewhere (which can be IR activated).
I always set up the motion detection and record only on motion. That's a great feature. This model can also send FTP and email snapshots on motion, and write directly to a SMB share without using their ok (but not great) Windows client software. There is even a heated/vented weather-proof housing available for outdoor use.
Back to the point about cheap cams, the cheap DLinks, Linksys, nonames (and analog fake-IP ones) have all proven very disappointing with intolerable limitations. Think about what you really need out of it before wasting money.
Trevor, great to heard from someone who has some experience in video surveillance.
I was looking into purchasing some IP cameras for use with ZoneMinder a while back and was surprised how expensive they are.
So just a note to Kevin McGregor (the original poster on this thread), in my experience there really is no such thing as a good & cheap IP camera.
Trevor, I'm just curious if you've tried the cameras from Mobotix & Axis ? Those were the two I was focusing on.
BTW, the Dlink DCS-3410 is listed on the Zoneminder compatibility list so that's good. Someone should do a Zoneminder presentation at MUUG!
I've had the same experience as Trevor. I've only bought two though. Most frustrating was finding one that supposedly could be operated through a browser, which I wanted precisely because I wasn't using Windows, but depended on an IE-specific ActiveX plug-in. Nothing on the box indicated that, it only said "Operated through a browser" with no mention of IE, Windows or ActiveX, so watch out for that. I think that was even a DLink although my memory is not entirely clear. It was a brand name that I didn't expect to pull shenanigans like that, anyway.
Kind regards, Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson helgi@binary.is
On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 9:16 AM, John Lange john@johnlange.ca wrote:
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Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson -
John Lange -
Kevin McGregor -
Robert Keizer -
Trevor Cordes