Need help choosing a camera system or camera components

J

Joegreen

Young grasshopper
May 5, 2018
54
18
Hi, I have been doing a lot of research on camera systems and i am a little overwhelmed. At first i was going to do a cheap dvr system then i decided i wanted to do an nvr with a seperate poe switch. I was looking at the reolink 4 camera system https://www.amazon.com/Reolink-Surv...ncoding=UTF8&refRID=V5JTF9KZHJMB3PW7JACK&th=1. The problem i am finding is that all of these non commercial camera systems all have mixed reviews. Here is what i want. I want good night vision, the ability for the nvr to prerecord events for 20 seconds or more the ability to handle 8 cameras and i want it to be reliable. i was originally looking at a budget of $200 but i see that that is probebly not going to happen with an nvr system. $400 is the most i would like to spend. Please dont say what is your personal security worth.
 
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Joegreen said:
Hi, I have been doing a lot of research on camera systems and i am a little overwhelmed. At first i was going to do a cheap dvr system then i decided i wanted to do an nvr with a seperate poe switch. I was looking at the reolink 4 camera system https://www.amazon.com/Reolink-Surv...ncoding=UTF8&refRID=V5JTF9KZHJMB3PW7JACK&th=1. The problem i am finding is that all of these non commercial camera systems all have mixed reviews. Here is what i want. I want good night vision, the ability for the nvr to prerecord events for 20 seconds or more the ability to handle 8 cameras and i want it to be reliable. i was originally looking at a budget of $200 but i see that that is probebly not going to happen with an nvr system. $400 is the most i would like to spend. Please dont say what is your personal security worth.
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Weclome Joegreen,

Numerous members have tried out and purchased Reolink products and have found their products to not be a good value. Please take some time to search the form more on that.

Also do take a closer look at the notes which giomania has assembled.
IPCamTalk WiKi | IP Cam Talk

Take some time to determine what your needs are.

Then start to balance those needs with your budget constraints and determine how you can find a good compromise which works for you.

If you are tight on budget one option is to just purchase one good camera to start.

Others on this forum are also having to deal with similar concerns as you are to find an appropriate solution which works within what you can afford, feel free to take a look at Gary's thread on that:
Which Cameras/Setup would go for with your home?

Feel free to also look at the notes I have been taking
Looking for some advice and direction!

Joegreen said:
.. Here is what i want. I want good night vision, ..
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You will need to take a closer look at the Dahua OEM 2mp starlight models for quality low light images. ( note, more affordable camera models will not be able to meet your requirement of "good night vision" )

Joegreen said:
Hi, I have been doing a lot of research on camera systems and i am a little overwhelmed. At first i was going to do a cheap dvr system then i decided i wanted to do an nvr with a seperate poe switch. I was looking at the reolink 4 camera system ..
Click to expand...

Also note, the Amazon reviews for Reolink have been manipulated / stuffed... fake spot indicates a grade of "D" for the reviews... 36% of the reviews are low quality reviews. This is typically what the moderators have experience here, with Reolink employees astroturfing and attempting to unduly influence the forum instead of spending more money engineering a better product.

Trustworthy indicates that Reolink kit is only worth 2.5 stars.. not 4.

Fakespot | Home Business Video Security Camera System Wired W 4 Bullet Super Fake Review Analysis
 
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Thanks for the heads up. I'm not going to purchase reolink. I don't mind purchasing one camera at a time. The two biggest problems I found during my searching was how hard it was to find a good nvr and cameras. Example: whenever I go on different forums people always recommend dahua or hikvision for a decent home system but I can never easily find where to buy there equipment. I see there are also two different versions some of the manufacturers put out like hikvision has the English version and the international version. The international versions are much cheaper but how does warranty problems work? I also have a hard time finding prices because I can't find where to buy dahua or hikvision.
 
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I (and multitudes of others on this forum) have positive experiences with @EMPIRETECANDY (on these forums, you can start a private conversation with him).

Cameras are received quickly, you can even ask about specific models and get answers within 1-2 days (please account for time difference and Chinese holidays). I believe Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) just distributes the Dahua minus the Dahua label. Price is great, Starlight camera performance is top notch.

I don’t have as much experience on the Hikvisions, I think most here are using international with modded firmwares. I only have 1 camera (half of 1 camera) due to my own mistake and not having a good contact to ask the necessary questions of.

The next 5 cameras I buy plan to buy to expand my collection will be 2MP Starlights and they will be from Andy, from China because they are such a good value.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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I called Hikvisiion USA Corporate to find out where I could buy legitimate USA versions of Hikvision Cams. Corporate said I must buy from a authorized Hikvision dealer or receive no warranty or support. They gave me my local distributor's name and location. It was ADI in Sacramento. I called them. They stated they only sell to licensed authorized professional installers, not to end users. Goodbye Hikvision.
 
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Joegreen said:
I was looking at getting this nvr.NVR ADT (NVR4208-8P-ADT-4) with 8Port PoE Switch built-in for IP Cameras | eBay I believe its a dahua nvr with adt software that can be changed to dahua. What kind of dahua cameras could i use with this? Can i use starlight cameras or ptz cameras?
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Hi Joe,

If you're looking for used equipment I would go the Blue Iris route and get a used i5/i7 windows PC instead.

Also, in general ebay, amazon, newegg, and numerous sellers on Ali can be very questionable. Best to go with a trusted vendor on NVRs and Cameras.
( Look for Andy as a recommended source see #15 in my notes Looking for some advice and direction! )
 
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Thanks. I would/ will be buying from Andy once I decide what route to go with the nvr/pc. I'm just not sure what kind of i5/i7 pc I need. What generation CPU? Is a GPU needed? How much ram? How many 2mp starlight cameras can I connect before CPU gets maxed out?
 
Joegreen said:
Thanks. I would/ will be buying from Andy once I decide what route to go with the nvr/pc. I'm just not sure what kind of i5/i7 pc I need. What generation CPU? Is a GPU needed? How much ram? How many 2mp starlight cameras can I connect before CPU gets maxed out?
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Hi Joe,

Do look at the notes for more info on Blue Iris and the generation of chip you'll need.

In general skip the oldest versions. Look for Fenderman and Looney2ns recommendations here to others w/ regards to Blue Iris.

Avoid the super small form factor boxes, try to get one which can hold at least 2 3.5" HDDs.

No GPU needed, the intel chip will handle of lot of that compute thanks to the newer i5/i7 chips supporting video encode/decode compute.
 
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Joegreen said:
Will a gpu help. i have an older hd6870. Ill look for those blue iris pc recommendations.
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Hi Joe,

From what I recall reading here, GPUs currently will not help - so look for a decent i5/i7 cpu.
 
Joegreen said:
Will a gpu help. i have an older hd6870. Ill look for those blue iris pc recommendations.
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PLEASE read the notes that @mat200 has suggested. Your answer's are there.
Also read the wiki at the top of the page.
For $40-50 more than that used Ebay, you can purchase a new Dahua nvr.
Buy once, cry once. Then you won't be back here in a year wanting to know what replacements to get. ;)
 
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implieece said:
Hi,
I have searched about Reolink too but now consider to by this LaView Wifi Kit, four cameras are enough for my business, so I choose this 4 channel NVR and wifi kit will be more suitable for my store, for i do not want the wires all across. if you would like a 8 channel NVR, they got a 8 channel too, but also with 4 cameras. You may have a look at it, and with coupon, you can get it with the budget under $400.

But if the wifi signal is not that good in your apartment, try a POE system or DVR pls.
Hope it helps.
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Hi Implieece,

looney2ns is providing solid advice. WiFi will be a headache over the long term... and in terms of wires all across - well you still need to wire those cameras to power, so why not just go the extra step and setup a solid IP PoE system.
 
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I am definately not running wireless cams. I think im going to run blue iris. What are your opinions on an i5-4570 with 8gb ddr3 vs i7-3770 8gb or 4gb ddr3. The i7 pc is ending soon on ebay so im looking for quick advice whether either is viable for a couple of dahua starlights and some other cams. maybe 4 total give or take.
 
Joegreen said:
I am definately not running wireless cams. I think im going to run blue iris. What are your opinions on an i5-4570 with 8gb ddr3 vs i7-3770 8gb or 4gb ddr3. The i7 pc is ending soon on ebay so im looking for quick advice whether either is viable for a couple of dahua starlights and some other cams. maybe 4 total give or take.
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Read the wiki at the top of the page.
 
I did read the wiki and I checked out the link that shows what CPU people are using and how many cams they have. I just thought maybe someone knew something I didnt. The i7-3770 and the i5-4570 seem to be pretty comperable. I think I'm going to look for an i5-4570 as they seem to be cheaper on eBay. Let's say I run a couple dahua starlight's and a couple other 1080p and up cameras. What amount of ram do you think I would need? Almost all the computers I have been seeing either have 4gb or 8gb of ram. I would hate to get the 4gb to realize it's not enough but I also don't want to splurge on 8gb if I only end up using 2gb.
 
Joegreen said:
I did read the wiki and I checked out the link that shows what CPU people are using and how many cams they have. I just thought maybe someone knew something I didnt. The i7-3770 and the i5-4570 seem to be pretty comperable. I think I'm going to look for an i5-4570 as they seem to be cheaper on eBay. Let's say I run a couple dahua starlight's and a couple other 1080p and up cameras. What amount of ram do you think I would need? Almost all the computers I have been seeing either have 4gb or 8gb of ram. I would hate to get the 4gb to realize it's not enough but I also don't want to splurge on 8gb if I only end up using 2gb.
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HI Joe,

I prefer to have 8GB at least in all my PCs, I think that's a fairly good size for RAM.
 
Yeah I was pricing out sticks of ram and they are pretty pricey. It seems a better value to buy a pc with 8gb already if that's what I need. Thanks
 
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