No, I didn’t buy Reolinks!

[Fitter66]

Hello all. I might be the odd man out here, my job and hobbies do not involve cameras or much tech at all. But I like to do research before making a purchase, which is why I don’t own Reolink cameras . Low light/night recordings are high up on my list.

I’m starting with a Dell Optiplex 7050 i7-7700 32gb ddr4 1tb ssd for using Blue Iris. Clean slate other than that.

Look forward to reading wittaj’s thread The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

and combing through ALOT of info.

-Kyle

 

[gwminor48]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

 

[wittaj]

Awesome! Feel free to ask questions as you learn!

You are off to a great start on the PC and software!

That thread you mention will help you the rest of the way in terms of camera selection!

 

[Rob2020]

When I came here I knew nothing. I followed the advice of those here and now have a nice setup consisting of BI-5 and a mix of Andy EmpireTech Dahua cams.

Start slow and build your system as you learn what does and does not work for your layout. I started with a 2231 Dahua varifocal, moved into the Dahua 5442 fixed lens, added a few more based on location. have a couple still not mounted as I am working on other projects.

My PC was built before I found this place and it is Ryzen based but runs great with no issues. Ryzen 2700 & 16 GB Ram, CPU stays in the 10% range + or - with 5 active cams running 24/7.

 

[RUMBLESTRIP]

I'm in a pretty similar situation, and I think this is going to be a frustrating yet fun and rewarding endeavor.

 

[TonyR]

Welcome to IPCT !

 

[sebastiantombs]

 

[Fitter66]

Awesome! Feel free to ask questions as you learn!

You are off to a great start on the PC and software!

That thread you mention will help you the rest of the way in terms of camera selection!

It helped tremendously. Thanks for taking the time to put that together!

 

[Fitter66]

I'm in a pretty similar situation, and I think this is going to be a frustrating yet fun and rewarding endeavor.

I think you left out expensive! Good luck

 

[RUMBLESTRIP]

I think you left out expensive! Good luck

That is completely subjective, but it isn't free, that's for certain.

 

[Fitter66]

When I came here I knew nothing. I followed the advice of those here and now have a nice setup consisting of BI-5 and a mix of Andy EmpireTech Dahua cams.

Start slow and build your system as you learn what does and does not work for your layout. I started with a 2231 Dahua varifocal, moved into the Dahua 5442 fixed lens, added a few more based on location. have a couple still not mounted as I am working on other projects.

My PC was built before I found this place and it is Ryzen based but runs great with no issues. Ryzen 2700 & 16 GB Ram, CPU stays in the 10% range + or - with 5 active cams running 24/7.

After watching some reviews, I’m liking the look on the empire tech dahua cams as well

 

[Old Timer]

welcome!

There's a lot of information on here for just the time. Glad to see you are using it.

 

[wittaj]

After watching some reviews, I’m liking the look on the empire tech dahua cams as well

Many of us have been there/done that with way too many camera brands to mention LOL.

Many here feel like his cameras provide the overall best bang for the buck. My first @EMPIRETECANDY camera was in 2018 and I haven't bought any different brands since. I recommend his cameras to anyone that asks me for recommendations. Several neighbors have his cameras as well. Some do not that keep trying the cheap route LOL. Our one neighbor went from Ring to Reolink to Arlo all within a year (he "upgraded" after each door checkers event and his camera images were useless). I am sure he spent way more than just buying the right camera to begin with. Buy once, cry once a member here says LOL.

 

[Gargoile]

Welcome to the forum. The hardest part in all this is running the cables to the cameras. The rest is easy.

 

[Rob2020]

Make sure you read the cliff notes!

One thing I did not mention in my post above, when I came here I was set on HIK and a NVR, all the Ipcamtalk advice led me to Dahua (EmpireTech) and Blue Iris.

 

[RUMBLESTRIP]

Reolink research led me here, so they do serve some good...

 

[Old Timer]

Reolink research led me here, so they do serve some good...

About the same as a Yugo did.