Cameras for small business

slowwc

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Hello all,

I am looking for a quality camera set up that won't be extremely expensive.

From what I've been able to gather looking around here and the web, I should be looking for a few brands that would be more budget friendly - Hikvision / Dahua / LTS / Nelly's.

With that in mind, I've had a contractor propose using GW Security cameras that can be found on Amazon. This kit specifically - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018WKF2OI/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_Ix4HDb6H1S9D4

I'm concerned the quality of these cameras will be lacking in the long term. I'm a big believer in "if it's too good to be true, it likely is", and that's how I feel about these cameras (and a lot of products on Amazon).

I'm not a camera guru, and I'm trying to provide advice on purchasing a reliable product. Can someone help shed some light on why that kit on Amazon should be avoided?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
 
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You can save a TON of $$$ by selecting fewer and much better cameras. Budget $130-to-$150 per camera for up to six outdoor turret cameras. Then about $100 each for Hikvision or Dahua cube cameras indoors. Pick four to six locations inside. Add another $350-to-$500 for a used late model desktop or tower PC and Blue Iris. Throw in another $200 for Cat-6 Ethernet cable, and $100 for a sixteen port Power-over-Ethernet (POE) network switch. You’re still going to be well below the price of that system, and get MUCH better quality video.
 
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Mike A.

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GW Security cams were my biggest mistake in cam buying. Even getting them super cheap and knowing that they wouldn't be great I still was very disappointed. And had more failures and problems with those than any other. Threw out or gave them away. Really they just all-around sucked. Not the same cams/system but no way in hell I'd spend $3K for anything with GW on it. Or $30 for that matter.

Follow Vorlon's good advice above.
 

SouthernYankee

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Lets define the problem ?

Questions
1) what type of business ?
2) coverage of just the inside and the front door or do you have a parking lot and outside to cover?
3) size of inside building, size of total land area to cover ?
4) What type of building ? Is it standalone or part of a srip mall ?
5) if stand alone provided a google satellite screen shot of the property, mask the address or any other location identifiers ?
6) do you need low light coverage, like when the business is closed or nighttime parking lot ?
7) Do you what an NVR or a PC. I lean towards an NVR for a business, unless you are really techinical.
8) How much time do you need to keep the video ?
 

slowwc

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@SouthernYankee -

1) A retail store and service facility. Roughly 13k Sq ft.
2) Inside the store, warehouse, and front and rear parking lots.
3) 13k sq ft.
4) Standalone building.
5) I'll have to dedicate some time to do this and I don't have that atm, apologies.
6) Yes, low light coverage is desired, but quality is not necessary.
7) NVR would be ideal.
8) We would like to have 30 days on some cameras. We are looking to tailor some cameras to operate as motion driven for recording and some to be 24/7.

Appreciate the responses very much!
 

SouthernYankee

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as a general rule when using an NVR
1) the NVR should come from the same manufacture as the cameras.
2) get a bigger NVR than you think you will need, more ports and more disk space.

The two main manufactures of cameras used most are Dahua and Hikvision. For good night viewing use Dahua Starlight cameras or Hikvision darkfighter. Most good cameras for low light are 2.1 Megapixels 1080x1920 or 1080P. There are some 4MP cameras 2240×1680. Check the vendors on IP Cam Talk

for Dahua cameras see Andy at empiretech. for Hikvision see Nelly's

below is my normal greeting post , it contains a lot of details, some it does not really apply to a small business
-------------------------------------------------------
My standard welcome to the forum message.

Please read the cliff notes and other items in the wiki. The wiki is in the blue bar at the top of the page.

Read How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!) | IP Cam Talk in the wiki also.

Quick start
1) If you do not have a wired monitored alarm system, get that first
2) Use Dahua starlight cameras or Hikvision darkfighter cameras or ICPT Night eye cameras (https://store.ipcamtalk.com/) if you need good low light cameras.
3) use a VPN to access home network (openVPN)
4) Do not use wifi cameras.
5) Do not use cloud storage
6) Do Not use uPNP, P2P, QR, do not open ports,
7) More megapixel is not necessarily better.
8) Avoid chinese hacked cameras (most ebay, amazon, aliexpress cameras(not all, but most))
9) Do not use reolink, ring, nest cameras (they are junk), no cloud cameras
10) If possible use a turret camera , bullet collect spiders, dome collect dirt and reflect light (IR)
11) Use only solid copper, AWG 23 or 24 ethernet wire. , no CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum)
12) use a test mount to verify the camera mount location. My test rig: rev.2
13) (Looney2ns)If you want to be able to ID faces, don't mount cams higher than 8ft. You want to know who did it, not just what happened.
14) Use a router that has openVPN built in (Most ASUS, Some NetGear....)
15) camera placement use the calculator... IPVM Camera Calculator V3

Cameras to look at
IPC-HDW2231R-ZS Review-Dahua IPC-HDW2231RP-ZS Starlight Camera-Varifocal
IPC-HDW5231-ZE Review-Dahua Starlight IPC-HDW5231R-ZE 800 meter capable ePOE
IPC-HFW4239T-ASE IPC-HFW4239T-ASE
IPC-T5442TM-AS Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Full Color, Starlight+)
IPCT-HDW5431RE-I https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/review-ip-cam-talk-4-mp-ir-fixed-turret-network-camera.36011/
DS-2CD2325FWD-I
IPC-T5442TM-AS https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/review-oem-4mp-ai-cam-ipc-t5442tm-as-starlight.39203/ - 4MP starlight+

Other dahua 4MP starlight https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/dahua-4mp-starlight-lineup.42000/#post-388253

My preferred indoor cameras
DS-2CD2442FWD-IW
IPC-K35A https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/review-dahua-ipc-k35a-3mp-cube-camera.37581/#post-373517

If interested in Blue Iris and other setup items see the following post
https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/newbie-starter-guide-to-ip-cam-system-–-vpn-setup-–-computer-hardware-–-blue-iris-–-dahua-cameras.42278/

Read,study,plan before spending money ..... plan plan plan
Test do not guess
 
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