On 2010-08-05 Kevin McGregor wrote:

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.

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.