Swann Cameras - compatability with new DVR

[Glenn B]

Hi all
Hope Im asking this quetion in the right place ,

At present we have a Swann cctv IP system with 4 cameras , its been installed quite a few years now , and was ok for what we needed at the time . Due to an extension at home and a few other bits we need to add some more cameras possibly 3 or 4. JUst found out that the hard drive on the DVR has decided to pack in ( the recorder is a swann 7300)

Whilst the best option going forward would be to fit a complete new system, we would proberbly be looking to do the upgrade over a period of time

Obviously the first thing is to get a DVR that actualy records again, Im assuming that the hard drive has packed in after all this time but could be anything , with a replacement costing around £70 , and a complete new DVR at around £130 - replacing the full unit is looking the best option. If i do this can anyone recomensd an 8 channel DVR that would work with Swann cameras , but allow me to add other cameras to the system , and slowly replace the Swann cameras with something with a better resolution
the present cameras are 1080 resolution if that makes any diffrence to the reply

Present recorder is an 8 way one , but other than buying second hand cameras , cant find any new cameras that are compatable with the old recorder if i fixed the hard drive

 

[wittaj]

If the DVR is an 8 camera and you have 4 cameras and want to add 3 or 4 more but the HDD is dead, simply replace the HDD and not the whole DVR or cough it up and replace the whole system.

Swann is lower end consumer grade so another brand may or may not work.

But regardless, best practice is to match camera brand with NVR/DVR brand to ensure full functionality.

Now if by DVR you really mean DVR and these are analog cameras with BNC connectors and not IP cameras, in theory any analog DVR will work, but then you are committing yourself to another analog system.

 

[Glenn B]

If the DVR is an 8 camera and you have 4 cameras and want to add 3 or 4 more but the HDD is dead, simply replace the HDD and not the whole DVR or cough it up and replace the whole system.

Swann is lower end consumer grade so another brand may or may not work.

But regardless, best practice is to match camera brand with NVR/DVR brand to ensure full functionality.

Now if by DVR you really mean DVR and these are analog cameras with BNC connectors and not IP cameras, in theory any analog DVR will work, but then you are committing yourself to another analog system.

Thanks for your help - I know its a low end system , but its done its job for several years - Adding more cameras looks like its not an easy option as swnn dont make compatable cameras any more , and second hand cameras are as expensive as a new camera
It is an IP system - and its not recording - can see the images live , but its not recording - thats why im guessing the HDD is dead, but at 10+ years old it could be anything thats failed , thats why I would rather start on renewing it all now rather than fixing the old system - just was looking to use the old cameras that are in place for a while to spread the cost

 

[wittaj]

Just for terminology sake, DVR usually refers to analog cameras (BNC connectors) and NVR (ethernet connectors) refers to IP cameras, which is why I asked what type of cameras they are.

OK, with it being an IP system, we have seen some being able to use the old Swann cameras with another NVR and some couldn't as some of their systems were proprietary and only work with their own brand.

You could buy just the HDD and get surveillance rated like a WD purple and then move it into a new NVR later. Any NVR that is worth anything will come without a HDD. The ones that come with a HDD are usually limited to 80Mbps bandwidth and once you start adding more and higher MP cameras, they can't keep up.

You could download ONVIF manager and see if it recognizes the cameras. If it does, then there is a good chance another NVR could see the cameras. Being as old as they are, those cameras wouldn't really have any functionality that would be lost by having a different brand NVR.

Or another option may be to do like many us that started with the NVR and migrated to BI....

You can still use your NVR and feed the cameras right from the NVR into BI.

Take a laptop and download BI and when it starts select DEMO and give it a try free for 14 days.

In BI, you select add camera and put the IP address of the NVR into the IP address location. Put in username and password and hit find/inspect and let BI do its thing.

Then about halfway down is a pull down for Camera number and pick camera 1 and then hit ok. The camera should show up. Then add camera and the select copy and copy this camera and then change the number 1 to a 2 and repeat for your cameras. OR depending on your NVR, it may populate all the cameras in the main and substream pulldown boxes and you just select a camera number and then add another camera and select the next pulldown.

If you cannot pull the cameras into BI, then that probably means it is a proprietary system and you would need to get a similar NVR or just replace the HDD.