Camera Sugguestions for new customer? Please advise

stevef22

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Hi, I have a new customer that needs 6 high quality IP cameras.

What is best bang for buck camera right now? $160-$210 budget for each camera.

What is the best standalone-set and forget DVR out there right now?


Thank you!
 

aristobrat

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I guess it depends on what they mean by "high quality". If any of the cameras need to record in low-light situations, the Dahua Starlight line has the bigger Sony processor in them... captures more photons per pixel, so virtually no grain in low-light pictures. They have been the go-to for best "all around" cameras on here for the past few months.

In the Starlight line, their most popular on here seems to be the varifocal (2.7mm - 12mm) turret. You can zoom it to the perfect view for where you have it mounted (vs. dealing with whatever view you get from buying a 2.8mm, 4mm, or 6mm fixed lens). Plus they look great when the light goes low. Check out the Dahua sub-forum on here. There's a pinned post at the top that lists all of the Starlight models, and has links to the ones that have review threads on here.

Hikvision recently started making models that have the bigger Sony sensor. They seem to be about half-a-year behind Dahua in this regard. Not sure if they have all of the different types of cameras that Dahua does.

For NVR, my thought is that you're usually best set to match the brand of your NVR with the brand of the cameras you get. Both Hikvision and Dahua cameras have features that detect motion more reliably than Motion Detection. Hik calls them "Smart Events" and Dahua call them "IVS". Hik NVRs will only record those events from Hik cameras. Dahua NVRs only records those from Dahua cameras... If you're only going to use Motion Detect, matching the NVR/camera brands isn't as important, IMO. But "IVS" and "Smart Events" work so much better than plain ole Motion Detection, so I'd match the brands.
 

stevef22

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Thanks for the informative reply! Will check sub-forum for Dahua starlight series. Will also match the brands.

Any specific vendor you recommend? ie on Alibaba, ebay etc. A vendor that has good support if one camera breaks etc.
 

aristobrat

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Hmm... For the Dahua Starlights (and even the new Hikvision's with the bigger Sony sensor), seems like most folks have been ordering from AliExpress. I haven't seen anyone say that they're available through US resellers yet (not that I've seen ever post on here - lol).

For Dahua, one of the forum members here (@EMPIRETECANDY) has become the go-to guy for Dahua stuff. He has an AliExpress store, and participates in a few of the busier Dahua threads. I know he offers a one-year warranty on equipment he sells, but I'm not sure how the shipping works (he's in China). Start a conversation with him on here if you have any questions, he's been great the few times I've worked with him. He does occasionally get swamped with orders, so if you do ever start a conversation on here and don't hear back within a day (remember his time zone is like 12 hours off from most of us), ping him again!
 

stevef22

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Thanks for all the help. Reached out to Empire and added him to skype.

When you order your cams who do you go with? HikVision?
 

aristobrat

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I've got six of the Dahua Starlight turrets, and one Hikivison dome (that's a few years old).

The physical build quality of both are awesome. I'm more of a fan of how Dahua laid things out in their firmware/web interface.

They're both good. Guess it's like Honda/Toyota. For me though, I'm preferring Dahua. :)
 

stevef22

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Besides Dahua and HikVision.... are there any close 3rd place runners up at 1/2 the price?

SO MANY cheap companies... $30 Poe cams that all suck.

Looking for quality and super cheap price as we all are. Dahua and Hikvision the only options?
 

Mike Mo

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Besides Dahua and HikVision.... are there any close 3rd place runners up at 1/2 the price?

SO MANY cheap companies... $30 Poe cams that all suck.

Looking for quality and super cheap price as we all are. Dahua and Hikvision the only options?
What do you need the cams for.
 

stevef22

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6 cameras for driveway. But its a commercial account
 

Mike Mo

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If you cheap out, your clients will be pissed at you when their cameras start to fail.

I don't know what kind of business you are running, but you might be better off buying a system from a big box store. At least, then you and your clients will have better warranty support.

From my testing and use of the Dahua cameras, while they are very robust, and have great features and produce great images much better than more expensive cameras, they aren't the most polished in terms of user interface and user experience.

I know people on the forum do install these as part of their business. But, it also seems that these same people provide the extended customer support that I don't know if you can provide based on your posts.

I could be wrong here. But, if you are doing this for a living, I would expect you to be a little less dependent.
 
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stevef22

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I install computers as my main gig. Done a couple camera installs. This client/friend is half commercial half personal. They are going up at his business. I dont want to cheap out too much. If Dahua is reliable then I will go with them.
 

Mike Mo

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Before diving in, spend some time reading on this forum about the different starlight dahua models.
 
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