Hi All

[emdiesse]

Hi All,

I'm new here and new to CCTV but am insterested in installing some at my home - partially for the additional security - but mainly because I'm interested in creating a 'smart home' - and mostly because I want to tinker!

Initially I plan to buy a PoE NVR and 2 PoE IP cameras and would be looking at purchasing (plus the needed runs of ethernet cable!)

NVR: Hikvision DS-7608-NI-E2 8P (~£180)
HDD: 2TB WD Purple (~£70)
IP Cam 1: Hikvision DS-2CD2142FWD-I (~£100)
IP Cam 2: Hikvision DS-2CD2142FWD-I (~£100)

Coming in at around £450... Except it seems Hikvision have gone the trade-only route on their professional range of cameras and have introduced HiWatch for the likes of me...

So I've looked at the 'equivalent' HiWatch kit:

NVR: Hikvision NVR-108-A/8P (~£120)
HDD: 2TB WD Purple (~£70)
IP Cam 1: Hikvision IPC-D140 (~£80)
IP Cam 2: Hikvision IPC-D140 (~£80)

Coming in at around £360

Now it does look like I might still be able to purchase HikVision stuff if the shop is selling older stock - but later I guess I'll be restricted to their 'consumer' grade equipment... either that or I'll just go for HiWatch because a) it's cheaper and b) I know it'll still be available when I want to add more cameras

Alternatively I have seen Dahua (who also seem to be 'trade-only') is an option if purchased via Andy @ Empire Tech - yet again the cost is more or less equivalent to the Hikvision stuff.

As a simple end-user looking at fitting this in a domestic setting because I can rather than because I need to, would HiWatch stuff not suffice?

As a tinkerer who ultimately has the ambition to set these cameras up so that I may use the live-streams on my own web application will I be severely limited by the use of HiWatch over Hikvision or Dahua?

Cheers

 

[emdiesse]

Welcome!

I dont know anything about hikvision but I think they are highly regarded around here. The goto cam seems to be the dahua starlights. I went with them and have zero regrets. If you are a web app tinkerer why not look into a BI setup? Then you can mix and match cams however you want.

It crossed my mind, however I feel I'd prefer to set something up that I know works and then tinker around grabbing images and streams from that - mainly so my tinkering doesn't affect anything

 

[emdiesse]

As an alternative, I may consider purchasing one PoE ip camera and a PoE switch as a cheap introduction and so I can tinker with that first until I fully know my requirements.

Looking at Andy's shop I see this:
Aliexpress.com : Buy 2017 Top selling cameras 2MP IR Eyeball Network Camera IPC HDW4231EM AS free DHL shipping from Reliable network camera suppliers on Empire Technology Co., Ltd

If I bought that and a PoE switch I presume there is plenty I could do as far as tinkering is concerned?

Forgive me as I am completely new but the camera runs it's own RTSP server? They have a web interface? I could set them up to record images to ftp when motion is detected? Eventually I could even look into BI - or I might stick to the NVR route? Anywhere I can see a demo of the IP cameras web interface if they have such a thing!?

Cheers

 

[mat200]

As an alternative, I may consider purchasing one PoE ip camera and a PoE switch as a cheap introduction and so I can tinker with that first until I fully know my requirements.
..
If I bought that and a PoE switch I presume there is plenty I could do as far as tinkering is concerned?

..

Hi Emdiesse,

If you like to tinker, definitely recommend picking up one of the Dahua OEM starlights and a PoE switch along with a microSD card for storage to give you a nice start to tinker. ( as Drunkpenguin notes you do not need to even start with a NVR )

Also, there's a good number of software VMS products ( Blue Iris being a preferred one with many here ) which you can tinker with, including some which are open source.

Free VMS Software Directory

also take a look at the following review
What you need to know about iVMS-4200

also do look for the ONVIF device test tool.

Have fun and share with us what you're learning.

 

[emdiesse]

I'm sold.

I had already planned on running ethernet through my house with a patch panel and 16 port switch in a rack... looks like I'll be looking for a 16port switch with PoE instead!

I currently own a HP N54L so I will look into what I can do with that for the meantime.

Because I am impatient I have ordered a Hikvision DS-2CD2142FWD-I from Amazon (not marketplace, but Amazon UK themselves) to play with (which will arrive tomorrow!)

I've got a 12V DC adapter kicking about which I can use ehilst I um and ah about which switch to get

Looking forward to exploring the world of IP Cams