[RndTbl] Cameras
Trevor Cordes
trevor at tecnopolis.ca
Fri Aug 6 02:55:37 CDT 2010
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.
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