Security camera systems

[razorbackx]

looing for recommendations on security cameras for the house I found a Night owl system at Costco but looking to see if anyone is using them or another better brand

 

[RainMotorsports]

I use night owl at home and half our system at work is swann. Then we have another one there as well.

The general rule of thumb is they are all exactly the same but slightly different. That's because all of the hardware is made by various Chinese manufacturers. The software is generally the same code base then modified to the brand names preferences. Tell me how 3 different brands require me to follow the same exact procedure to switch playback between days even though the software looks completely different.

The exception to the rule is if you spend an insane amount of money on a system thats from a subsidiary of a major government contractor lol.

Just get it. Use it. Love it. If you can go IP/Ethernet based. Can go well above high def that way. The swan system at work won't do mainstream playback on my laptop for some reason. While I had no issues with Night owl. But that sorta thing is a per model thing.

 

[Sargent Sadanko]

Just buy a cheap system from Amazon
Like Rain said they are all about the same.
I have had name brand and now just mix and match.
Stay away from wireless, the camera's don't seem to last and have poor range

For my Home, I use Ring.com
I love this the best! $$ but, so nice
Door Bell is great
The Flood Light is assume! has siren and you can even yell at the kids to get off the grass. all from your cell phone
www.ring.com
https://www.amazon.com/ZOSI-8-Chann...4&sr=8-4&keywords=video+surveillance+recorder

 

[ShiningN]

Not familiar with brands... but you want good night and day camera quality. Otherwise you have a worthless camera. I have reviewed many a videos where the quality is so shitty you cant even tell the race of the person breaking in or stealing something from the property. Most I view are pretty bad to be honest but every once in a while I can actually see what the person looks like.

 

[ColdIceShot]

I work since 8 years in the security industry for manufacturer's of cameras and others. There is a LOT of choices. It's more about your budget cause there is a lot of different price range from a manufacturer to another. Personally I do not suggest any kit in Costco or any retail store unless you know what your doing and you find a good brand. Main advantage of doing business with a security dealer is that the good ones guarantee there job and will replace cameras under warranty. Problem with Costco and all the other retail store is that generally if there is something defect under warranty and you want them to replaced it you need to bring back the entire system... That's a shit load of work just for a single defect cameras and the labor is at your cost...

Right now and since few years there is nothing that beat Hikvision for the price. They own the market and it's affordable for the quality. But it's not Costco price's from a dealer.

Last thing you need to know the distances you're looking at, this will tell you what kind of lenses you need. Also if there is light at night or absolutely nothing to select infra reds or not.

 

[KernelPanic]

I've sorta been "rolling my own" systems for friends and family to fit their budgets. They are all IP camera setups, but I've been running Amcrest NVRs and Amcrest ProHD cameras with good success (for close to 5 years now)

Realistically the NVRs aren't anything to write home about. Mine don't seem to like streaming 8 channels of HD at the same time, but realistically I don't watch it like that. I setup some motion detection and let it alert me of any issues. If I'm streaming, it's typically 1 or 2 channels at a time and only for a short period of time. UPS man pulls up to the driveway, I'm not watching the monitor all day, I just get an email alert.

However, I've seen some terrible reviews on all of the budget systems, so your mileage may vary.

Buddy of mine bought an off the shelf NightOwl system, however he complained about the night-time cameras weren't really good at night, too dark.