Camera Security Systems???

[dragoneggs]

Dahua is pretty much all I use, I installed about 20 systems last year, FYI The bullets cams will be spider magnets and you will be brooming them off every week in the warm weather. The Dome cams are OK but they have issues with night time IR reflection. I have been using the turrents for outside work when possible like this. Dahua IPC-HDW5231R-Z . The starlight technology is hands down the best nighttime low light cam on the market right now for its price point. Ask your installer if they have anything like this.

I understand the bullets are spider magnets. I did just order a Dahua Starlight to compare with my Reolink. They are double the price though. Also am considering the very same 5231 that you suggest but I do like the ease of mounting the bullets on vertical surfaces which is pretty much everywhere on my house. Otherwise I am going to have to fab up some brackets and I will have wire exposed.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Dahua, amcrest has a nice wall bracket for their dome cams.

 

[dragoneggs]

Dahua, amcrest has a nice wall bracket for their dome cams.

Saw those but wondering how they would look on bevel siding unless I fabbed tapered shims?

 

[TractorGuy]

Finally, got some time to install my DIY system. I went with Reolink 5Mp bullets. Had to string Cat5e/6 cable to replace the old Lorex proprietary cables and add a POE switch to plug the cameras into. I have cameras installed and will add 3 or 4 more. Downloaded a surveillance app called Blue IRIS and have a dedicated PC to act as my NVR.

Now I can upgrade any component (camera, hard drive, software, etc.) and not be stuck with a brand.

The learning curve is a bit steep with Blue Iris but now I am getting the hang of it. The Blue Iris program is quite powerful and very configurable for each camera. It is a CPU hog, so it is best to have an i5 chip or better and not be running other stuff on the same PC.

What I like is to be able to create 'motion zones' and trigger the recording only when those zones show motion. This allows you to 'paint' out the bushes because of wind, and other things that move in the background such as cars on the street, etc.

That last paragraph is very nice. Didn't know such a feature was available!!!

This feature is also built in to the free Reolink software if you go with their cameras. It seems to be built into the camera itself because it can also be set from a web browser interface as well as through the computer software

 

[Chris527]

I understand the bullets are spider magnets. I did just order a Dahua Starlight to compare with my Reolink. They are double the price though. Also am considering the very same 5231 that you suggest but I do like the ease of mounting the bullets on vertical surfaces which is pretty much everywhere on my house. Otherwise I am going to have to fab up some brackets and I will have wire exposed.

Dahua Does make a mounting bracket for them and also a waterproof junction box.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Dahua Does make a mounting bracket for them and also a waterproof junction box.

View attachment 585793

Thats the one i posted about a couple posts ago. They have 2 models, depending on camera used. I also used the jbox.

 

[Pixguy]

When investigating the Dahua system, I see the 16 channel dvr’s but it doesn’t state how many tb hd. Are external hd’s necessary?
Anyone have a good source for Dahua priced fairly?

 

[buckeyefarmer]

When investigating the Dahua system, I see the 16 channel dvr’s but it doesn’t state how many tb hd. Are external hd’s necessary?
Anyone have a good source for Dahua priced fairly?

Mine came without HD, i had to add one. Can put 2 hd in it.

 

[dragoneggs]

Well, I have spent some time fiddling with both Reolink and Dahua cameras along with Blue Iris surveillance software.

I wish I would have gone with Dahua in the first place. Well I can't say that... I already cut my teeth a while back and suffered with a Lorex system. But after running the Reolink's and Dahua's side by side and seeing the warts on the Reo's, I am back to subscribing to 'you get what you pay for'!

Problem with the Reolink's is that I get partial screen tears occasionally and it is annoying because I set up my recording to trigger on motion. When the camera intermittently 'freaks out' I get a recording but it is just catching the glitch not any real action. Did some research on this phenomena and it turns out that these cameras do not allow 'iframe' adjustment so you can't set them to match your fps (frames per second). I know... getting in the weeds here.

The Dahua's, still at a reasonable price, allow for much more tweaking and their 'Starlight' series are much better at night. I got fooled a bit by going with the higher resolution 5mp Reolink's that were cheaper than the 2Mp Dauhau's but it turns out that the night IR performance is much better with the lower resolution cameras. For those of you that want to really want to dive in deeper on this subject, I recommend you go over to the forums at ipcamtalk.com.

They are not real patient with newbies asking basic questions but if you read through their 'wiki' notes before asking, they are more tolerant... unlike here on TBN where we seem to be very patient and helpful regardless of how many times the same question is addressed. That said, a tremendous amount of info and knowledge there if you are going to embark on a DIY surveillance system.

Anyways, I have invested far more time and dollars than I figured I would need to going with a DIY system. New desktop computer w/ fast processor and a large hard drive, Blue Iris software, and various cameras but I am glad I did (being an engineer I can't help myself). My system is future proof, I can add/change cameras, software, hardware and am not tied into a brand/configuration. But it is a huge learning curve and not for someone that doesn't want to spend the time learning and tweaking. I could go on and on... and will probably continue my babble in later posts but I just want folks to know that for the impatient and/or non tech folks, a brand name package NVR and cameras probably is your ticket.

 

[J.Wal]

Just a word of warning.

As previously noted, I purchased a Lorex system. I very foolishly set the output resolution to one that my monitor does not support. Unlike a stupid/underdeveloped/bloated Windows system, it does not check to make sure it is visible. So far, I have sent a support request to Lorex (over a week ago) with no response as to how to fix this. The only solutions I have so far are A) buy a new NVR or B) Buy a 4k monitor.

Did you ever solve this? If not, it is easily solved by downloading FLIR cloud to your computer and accessing your DVR via internet. I made the same mistake.