IP Camera - Nightvision - Recommendations?

rossyl

Member
Messages
3,312
Hi

I am after an IP Camera.

I have spent ages looking and am quite honestly lost. The Netatmo or Y-Cam were the best ones I could find. The Nest seems flawed and expensive.

Something that...
- put on the front of the house,
- connects to wifi,
- motion activated,
- review/store/delete recording remotely on my phone, and
- has good night vision for about 10m away

My car is parked on the road outside the house and I'd like to have something recording it

Really appreciate the help!

Thanks
R
 

Felonious Crud

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
21,013
From what I can figure out, work on the basis that unless youir car is fairly well lit up then night vision will show you pretty much sod all of any use. You'll see if someone's sniffing round, but it's unlikely you could ID them afterwards, formally or otherwise.

Anyway, I'm interested to see if anyone with actual knowledge will be along soon to correct me and provide a more helpful answer.
 

spkennyuk

Member
Messages
5,932
IR cctv camera have a small ring of Ied IR lights around the lense. While this is a cheap way of getting night vision at an affordable cost the downside is that anyone that looks at the camera has their face flooded with IR light.

Side on views and you get a reasonable level of detail. Full face views and you tend to find the detail is washed out and the eyes will look like road cats eyes. If you already know who the person is then its likely you would regocnise them from the footage. If you dont then its going to be difficult to ID them and you stand more chance with footage that shows off full face images.

The cheapest way round that problem is to fit a motion sensitive flood light so that any intrusion into the area being covered is recorded in a decent level of light allowing the cameras to record their best level of detail.

The camera will switch from black and white to full colour recording around a 1/4 of a second after the flood light comes on.

The only other option i can think of and i have never tried it would be to fit a motion sensitive IR floodlight panel at a different angle to the camera POV and from a higher vantage point. It should lessen the wash out effect of the camera own IR lighting.

Anything that records in H.264 is now classed as low detail. Systems that record in D1 is an equivalent to HD quality.

Depending on what your recording it onto there are a couple of other things you need to bear in mind. D1 recording creates large files. If you have 4 cameras on continuous recording then you will need around 2 TB hard drive for 30 days continuous recording.

Standard hard drives dont like having data continuously written to them. Then can often fail after 12 months of use or less. The reason i mention it is because if your planning on using your normal computer to record the footage then your going to stress the HDD and it would need to be on all the time. If the HDD fails then thats all your personal computer files at risk of total loss as well.

Western digital make specific HDD (purple drives) for cctv systems more suited to the task of continuous recording.

If your planning on the cameras recording only on motion activation then the HDD issue is less of a problem as the disk will spin up and spool down as required. Your limited then by the range of the motion detection of the cameras and you would still need the recording device on at all times.
 

spkennyuk

Member
Messages
5,932
You should be able to get a swann system 2 or 4 camera for around £250 to £300. Motion sensitive or continuous recording and a stand alone recorder box. You can either connect to an old tv or computer monitor or your main tv to review or monitor the cameras.

Connect it to your router and you then have the option to use your phone or tablet if your out and about and want to view or it can alert you if the cameras detect motion if you want. The companion app is called swann view which also allows you to grab stills and footage to your phone if required.

The only real issues i have seen with the swan systems are usually caused by a failing external power supply for the DVR box. About £7 to replace. The power being supplied drops off over a couple of years. It eventually gets to the point where the dvr will be on and appear normal but setting will show no HDD is present. The power supply not producing enough Mah to wake up the hard drive or it can crash the HDD.

Hope that helps.
 

dem maser

Moderator
Messages
34,221
Hi

I am after an IP Camera.

I have spent ages looking and am quite honestly lost. The Netatmo or Y-Cam were the best ones I could find. The Nest seems flawed and expensive.

Something that...
- put on the front of the house,
- connects to wifi,
- motion activated,
- review/store/delete recording remotely on my phone, and
- has good night vision for about 10m away

My car is parked on the road outside the house and I'd like to have something recording it

Really appreciate the help!

Thanks
R

Dont do anything until you speak to me.......this is something i am selling through my work and im sure we can look after you.....im getting some for my house
 
Messages
1,687
If this system is to protect your Aston, I'd have a rethink.
An opportunist thief is unlikely to target an Aston. A professional thief, stealing to order, will recce the car and location by eyeball and electronically, beforehand.
A camera system is easily defeated. Mask, balaclava, similar.
I'm not current on civilian or military grade night vision, but I suspect the answer will be as above.
Unfortunately the Met's stolen vehicle squad was disbanded several years ago, so I'm not sure what your best source of advice might be.
 

midlifecrisis

Member
Messages
16,102
The best detterent is a narrow drive with a squeeky and sticky gate that is a begger to open in normal daylight, even by the owner and a light perfectly set as soon as you come through the noisy gate. I had a cheap camera set up at my house that I could monitor remotely made by D:link for £40. It was failry decent and had IR, just gave me reassurance when I was away that the car was still there when I was away.

I never keep the keys in the house either when I wasn't there.
 

rossyl

Member
Messages
3,312
Thanks guys.

I think you're somewhat right. But maybe a camera and some signs notifying of the camera might act as a deterrent.

Thanks
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,549
We have some cameras at home. We have an alarm system that calls us when it gets triggered.

And when that happens there is absolutely nothing we can do because, by definition, we are nowhere near the house. Zero additional piece of mind.

The best conceivable outcome is that we can watch and record someone nicking our stuff.

C
 

TridentTested

Member
Messages
1,819
A camera system is easily defeated. Mask, balaclava, similar.

Balaclava? Ha, they don't bother, motorbike helmets are less conspicuous.

I have some lovely clear footage of a ****** angle-grinding the lock off my bicycle and stealing it. He wore plain black full-face motorbike helmet and gloves, (non-distinguishable jacket and jeans too) throughout the few seconds it took him. Can't even tell what skin colour he was, never mind identify him.
 

GeoffCapes

Member
Messages
14,000
A few years ago an electrician friend of mine wired the door handle of his Sierra Cosworth up to an 8v battery.
The circuit was broken once a key was turned in the lock.

However, he was prosecuted by the plod for endangering the public (made the newspapers) as they argued if a child held the handle they could be injured.
His counter argument was that the car was always kept on his drive and that he didn't have children so any child tampering with his car got their just deserts.

£400 fine I think he got. :angry:

I know he still wires his car up in a way, but in a different manner, so a 'passer by or child' doesn't get a shock if they hold the handle.
I think he uses 12v now as anyone who gets to where they get an electric shock is definitely trying to steal his car.
 

allandwf

Member
Messages
10,958
A few years ago an electrician friend of mine wired the door handle of his Sierra Cosworth up to an 8v battery.
The circuit was broken once a key was turned in the lock.

However, he was prosecuted by the plod for endangering the public (made the newspapers) as they argued if a child held the handle they could be injured.
His counter argument was that the car was always kept on his drive and that he didn't have children so any child tampering with his car got their just deserts.

£400 fine I think he got. :angry:

I know he still wires his car up in a way, but in a different manner, so a 'passer by or child' doesn't get a shock if they hold the handle.
I think he uses 12v now as anyone who gets to where they get an electric shock is definitely trying to steal his car.
Yes, systems all wrong. I attempted to get the police to stop the Feral offspring of the undesirables from playing on my roof! Only to be told I would be held liable if they fell through it!!! Well excuse me while I go and strengthen it then!!!! Grrrrrr...
 

TridentTested

Member
Messages
1,819
Only to be told I would be held liable if they fell through it!!!

One my friends who works in the prison service tells me his "customers" biggest fear is being injured on the job. Because if they are injured they get stuck in hospital away from their drug supply. Prison is no deterrent as drugs are more available there than on the street but being immobile on a hospital bed terrifies them.

Keep the wonky roof.
 
Messages
1,687
Balaclava? Ha, they don't bother, motorbike helmets are less conspicuous

I didn't mean that literally. I was more making a general point about how easy it can be to use a cheap low tech solution to defeat something high tech. Though, balaclavas do spring to mind uninvited over here, given their widespread use by armed scumbags.

Thinking laterally for a second. Would it be possible to rent a secure parking space or garage locally? I've done this many times, when living in built-up areas with no secure parking. It always worked well.
 

D Walker

Member
Messages
9,827
Yes, systems all wrong. I attempted to get the police to stop the Feral offspring of the undesirables from playing on my roof! Only to be told I would be held liable if they fell through it!!! Well excuse me while I go and strengthen it then!!!! Grrrrrr...

You are 5hitting me....I'm off to live in Saudi ..