Camera plus doorbell and possibly loudspeaker as video doorbell replacement possible?

[Tobias Claren]

Hello.

If you don't want a video doorbell because it could be stolen and damaged, and theoretically film the street and houses opposite, can you achieve the same functions with a surveillance camera (facing the side of the door), a doorbell and possibly a loudspeaker (if you choose a camera version without a loudspeaker?
I've never had a doorbell camera and don't know how they behave when someone rings the doorbell.
I assume that the image appears automatically on an Alexa or Google Nest display, for example, and you can hear the microphone and optionally speak.
From inside, but also via the internet.

It's a doorbell on a stand-alone letterbox.
Inside is the end of the cable and electricity in the hallway.
No network, but that could be put there.

I am looking only for advice on a video doorbell, just a smart doorbell without camera (to connect to external camera).
And no, according to local law the “Privacy Mask” function is not allowed either.
Anything that even looks like it is filming into a public space is prohibited.
There was even trouble over a birdhouse (only for birds without a camera) because it looked too much like a surveillance camera.
The case was in the media.

Thanks.

 

[Revo2Maxx]

If you are think it then it can be done.. Matter of being as easy as a doorbell camera is different story.. Main issue is that you are asking about cameras from someone I think offers a POE Doorbell you might as well just use their POE doorbell and call it a day.. About seeing others across the street? Worried about it relocate the doorbell so it is facing from side or use a Wedge mount.. Then what does it matter if you can see people across the street with your doorbell? Don't have to have the motion grid out there just setup for your walk way to front yard or what ever your front area is designed.. Mine a Doorbell camera is setup with Human Detection and all other things that happen in the street or across the street I don't know if I am not looking at it.. But then I have other cameras that see in the street and detect people that cross zones..

But about a camera with a loud speaker I mean they sale Load speakers that are POE but for the cost of one of them and a good camera with Mic then you would be able to buy 3 or 5 Doorbell cameras for same cost so might as well go with the doorbell camera save some time and money..

 

[TonyR]

Just my 2 cents worth:

1) The wheel has already been invented, no sense in re-inventing it.
2) If in your country you cannot legally video others without their permission or cannot video public areas then set up a privacy mask in the video doorbell, do a screenshot of the image, print it or send it to your phone and be able to produce it on demand should there be a question or complaint.
3) The Reolink video doorbell, of which I have 2, has the option to set up such a privacy mask.
4) I recommend that you avoid all other Reolink cameras EXCEPT their video doorbell. They use cheap and undersized sensors and try to compensate by slowing down the shutter speed to allow more light in; this allows blur if there's significant motion in reduced lighting.

I don't know about Germany but in the U.S., all of the skells that sneak around at night are NOT motionless.

 

[Tobias Claren]

I never mentioned a specific manufacturer for the technology (button, speaker...).


I mentioned that a video doorbell can be stolen or destroyed.
And that its use is theoretically illegal.
It's probably not even enough to set a “privacy mask”.
You are not allowed to point a camera at public property.
Even a dummy is forbidden because people might think it's a real camera filming them (on public or other people's private property).
I had previously asked in a local forum and written clearly that I wanted to avoid filming public spaces.
Nevertheless, I immediately received two salivating, aggressive comments that this is forbidden.
If passers-by can even believe that they are being filmed, it is forbidden.
This is not an exaggeration, this is a national mental disorder.

Have you seen 60 Minutes?
That's just the tip of the iceberg...
That's why I want to hide the cameras pointed at the house from the outside (a pole at the edge of the sidewalk) in “birdhouses”.
There's a story of a weirdo who attacked a drone pilot in the park and wrecked his professional drone, which cost thousands.
The man was acting on behalf of the city, but even if he had done it privately, it would not have been illegal.
Because if you actively operate a camera yourself, “panorama law” applies.
You are allowed to record public space and the passers-by in it with the camera in your hand or on a tripod, and you do not have to distort it for publication.
Unless your focus is on a single person. But you can theoretically film that too. You're just not allowed to publish it (unless it's made unrecognizable).
You are also allowed to film a demonstration, and participants are prohibited by law from covering their faces.
The police, on the other hand, are only allowed to film if a crime is being committed.



If I wanted to mount a video doorbell at the side, I would have to erect a head-high pole.
There are no side walls in front of the door.
The doorbell is 39 inches high in the side of a letterbox on a stand.

"But about a camera with a loud speaker I mean they sale Load speakers that are POE but for the cost of one of them and a good camera with Mic then you would be able to buy 3 or 5 Doorbell cameras for same cost so might as well go with the doorbell camera save some time and money.."

Which camera is so expensive per unit?

I have watched comparison videos with other Reolinks on YouTube.
The 8MP cameras don't have a bad picture.
During the day even better than the 12MP version.
The tester showed this at several distances in 5-foot increments.

These cameras activate a spotlight if you want them to.
I don't want that so as not to give away the position (that's why I want an extra speaker outside the camera).
But I could install a separate floodlight.
IR floodlights would also be conceivable.

 

[wittaj]

It would suck to live in an area that strict. And sounds like you are setting yourself up for some serious trouble once someone sees the cameras.

Don't worry, at night the reolink with motion is basically like not having a camera LOL. You can't provide enough light to make it practical.

 

[TonyR]

Holy crap.
Yes, please....buy some Reolink cameras and try them for yourself despite the advice against them (except the video doorbell) coming from this forum.
Besides, you seem to know what you can and cannot do from a legal standpoint a lot more than we do so please.....go for it.

</Waiting anxiously for the outcome>

 

[Ri22o]

Holy crap.
Yes, please....buy some Reolink cameras and try them for yourself despite the advice against them (except the video doorbell) coming from this forum.
Besides, you seem to know what you can and cannot do from a legal standpoint a lot more than we do so please.....go for it.

</Waiting anxiously for the outcome>

Whoa, slow down there, big guy, he never mentioned any specific manufacturer for the technology, just, only, very specific model numbers that are in no way tied to a specific manufacturer.

 

[TonyR]

Whoa, slow down there, big guy, he never mentioned any specific manufacturer for the technology, just, only, very specific model numbers that are in now way tied to a specific manufacturer.

Do you have anything else that could be considered constructive or helpful to contribute?

 

[Ri22o]

Do you have anything else that could be considered constructive or helpful to contribute?

No, and that was absolutely the reason for my post, which should have ended with ... to show it's non-serious nature.

 

[Tobias Claren]

This is not a recommendation for cameras, but a video doorbell in individual parts.
We don't need to argue about whether and which cameras are better.

Nevertheless, what kind of camera would you recommend for a house?
Remember, the front garden has a depth from sidewalk to house wall of about 210in (5.3 meters).
At an angle, the maximum distance in the front garden is 8m.
And I could also use IR spotlights instead of the spotlights (then there is light at night). This improves night vision considerably.

Although this is not the subject here, I have taken the trouble to illustrate the dimensions:

Yes, 19' (or ~6m) is usual for such streets. Also to the next village.

@TonyR

I never asked for a camera recommendation here :-( .
What kind of "cultish" thing is this :-( ?

I didn't ask for a camera at all.
I just made the mistake of writing what I wanted to use.
Without knowing beforehand that buying or mentioning Reolink is forbidden here.
I don't know the customs in this church ;-) .
OK, then I won't use a Reolink.
Please tell me a better camera? For under 100, 125, 150 dollars?
If there is a 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ... year old camera with better image quality, it's also a option.

My mom (*), whose house it's for, sure as hell isn't going to spend 200, 300, 400.... dollars for a camera.
Then it remains with no camera.
It is not in my power to decide that.
And I doubt that I can change the location of the doorbell. It's 39'' up in the letterbox. I assume this location is “sacred”.
In addition to the door, two cameras in the corners of the property at the bottom of the satellite photo are also being considered.
There may also be two or three at the back.
One camera in the lower left corner of the terrace (facing the terrace), another camera at the top right corner of the house (facing the garden), and possibly a 6th camera at the top (rear) left corner of the garden, also facing the garden.

Am I the antichrist if I would buy Reolink?
Are there cameras with better price/performance for new 100-150 dollars?

I just wanted to know if there are smart doorbells without a camera.
For example, a doorbell with a microphone and loudspeaker, but without a camera.
Or with an external loudspeaker that you can install yourself.
That was the whole question.
I could lie to you now and say that I'm not buying a Reolink but your recommendation.

Nevertheless, the question remains about a smart doorbell WITHOUT a video camera.
So I can also combine it with a tech hippster camera for 200, 300, 400... dollars.

What I'm not looking for is a doorbell video camera.
Because then I wouldn't have asked the question here.

But I'm still open to recommendations for other cameras for this scenario (see the satellite photo).
You can see, no huge front yards.
We can also make a separate thread for this.

I'm thinking of a case right now.
I wanted to know in a computer forum what kind of fully ruggedized notebook was available (buy used) 10 or 15 years ago, or used notebooks might cost 300 dollars.
A member recommended a buy-it-now offer from eBay for ~$400 for a ruggedized (not fully rugedized) notebook.
When I kindly declined because I needed FULLY ruggedized, he went berserk.
What's wrong with people like that?
This guy must have been an extreme mentally ill narcissist.
I then bought a Toughbook CF-31 for ~$300 at auction.


*)
She owns also two 5-story rental houses in a world famous million city, and this hundreds of thousands of dollars home, and drives a 2004 Opel (same like Vauxhall) Meriva A with 112,000 miles.
But she's not going to spend 200+ dollars on 3-6 cameras each. Groceries are bought at Lidl, with very few rare exceptions only no-name.

 

[Ri22o]

Please tell me a better camera? For under 100, 125, 150 dollars?

 

[Ri22o]

You would get much better responses if you weren't so defensive about your position. You came with questions, maybe ill-worded, but questions none-the-less, and don't want to hear the feedback and answers to what you're asking.

No one here cares what your mom owns or drives, it doesn't change the fact that there are some pieces of camera hardware that are good and others that are based on marketing hype and/or influencer bias.

Like with everything, you typically get what you pay for. Are there cameras that cost $25 that will show you an image? Yes. Will you be able to get any verifiable features to prove their identity?

We also don't know the laws and nuances of where you live. You mention "theoretically illegal", we don't know what that means and it seems you are wanting to skirt the laws of your locale.