Topic: Domestic CCTV

[Ben S]

Anyone got any suggestions for a decent system, that will pick up faces etc in the dark?

[PaulV]

What sort of range and what area of coverage do you want for this camera?
Indoor or Outdoor cameras?
How much do you want to spend?
Do you want a DVR with it?

I am no particular expert in this field, but I got my stuff from http://www.henrys.co.uk/cctv.htm

[Ben S]

Outdoor, probably single camera at first with DVR to cover the driveway / front of house, probably add additional cameras later.

Had a look at http://www.cctvforum.com learnt quite a bit, probably looking at spending about £300 to get something decent.

[PaulV]

Depending on the size of the driveway/front of house, I am not convinced you will be able to get a single camera to cover that and give you enough resolution to recognise faces at this price point. The best sub £100 cameras I have seen, seem to have a maximum resolution of 700 lines. This does not give you many pixels if it has to cover a 70 degree cone.

[Andy @ Allerton!]

Anyone got any suggestions for a decent system, that will pick up faces etc in the dark?

Have you told your missus you're planning on filming your sexy bits?

[Ben S]

Depending on the size of the driveway/front of house, I am not convinced you will be able to get a single camera to cover that and give you enough resolution to recognise faces at this price point. The best sub £100 cameras I have seen, seem to have a maximum resolution of 700 lines. This does not give you many pixels if it has to cover a 70 degree cone.

It's not massive, not much probably the length of a car and a half, mainly just want it covering the car after some twat decided it would be a good idea to put a big fuck off plant through the rear screen.

[PaulV]

I would guess a camera  like http://www.henrys.co.uk/cctv/Colour_CCTV_Camera_Sony_ExviewHAD_CCD.html would do what you want.

Similarly, a DVR like http://www.henrys.co.uk/cctv/videorecorder.htm would work, but I would recommend you ring them up and talk to them.

We had an Asda delivery van reverse into one of our parked cars, but we could not get the number plate of the van with our 540 line wide angle camera. A more focused camera would have worked better.

[El Ninos Black Eye]

Maplins do a decent one for about £260 with 4 cameras and a dvr, can also be viewed over the web and you iphone or blackberry.

[Ben S]

Similarly, a DVR like http://www.henrys.co.uk/cctv/videorecorder.htm would work, but I would recommend you ring them up and talk to them.

Thanks, had already looked at that model, Avtech seems to be a reasonable budget brand. As for the camera, I'll probably go with something branded with a reputation.

We had an Asda delivery van reverse into one of our parked cars, but we could not get the number plate of the van with our 540 line wide angle camera. A more focused camera would have worked better.

Did Asda payout anyway since they could hardly deny it was one of their vans?

Maplins do a decent one for about £260 with 4 cameras and a dvr, can also be viewed over the web and you iphone or blackberry.

From what I've read the Maplin stuff is all cheap nasty rubbish...

[iSmiff]

one thing to remember when putting the camera up is that it should only be pointed at your property

[cim-pim-param]

one thing to remember when putting the camera up is that it should only be pointed at your property

You joking?

[PaulV]

Thanks, had already looked at that model, Avtech seems to be a reasonable budget brand. As for the camera, I'll probably go with something branded with a reputation.

Most of the budget DVRs seem to be Avtech. Mine certainly is, but I think it has now been superceded. Let us know what you go for. I am thinking about getting a new camera with better resolution and/or number plate enhancement.

Did Asda payout anyway since they could hardly deny it was one of their vans?

Claim still in progress. Getting any response from Asda is like getting blood out of a stone though, so it is going through the insurers.

From what I've read the Maplin stuff is all cheap nasty rubbish...

I tried the Maplin DVR and returned it in a day as it was awful.

Some useful features to look out for
Network functionality
Some sort of multiplex so that you can play back and review while it is still recording (not something the Maplin DVR did)

Maplin did have a camera which covered a really wide area by automatically panning from side to side. Fine until you realise that this will cause the DVR motion detection to be permanently triggered. Note that the motion detection is normally done by the DVR, so if you get WiFi cameras, they will be permanently transmitting and using up your WiFi bandwidth.

[iSmiff]

You joking?

If it points at a neighbour they can demand it be removed. They have the right. Business and home use arent the same.

[Chivasino]

Been at looking at these myself after getting burdled whilst asleep. Bastards got away with my car and the Mrs' purse. No cash in the purse but a Nando's loyalty card which was one stamp away from a full chicken!

So far been getting quotes of around £800 for a 4 camera set up fitted and installed!!

[keithcun]

Costco do a 4 camera set up for around £550 if I remember correctly. Not a clue about the quality though or fitting, although I doubt the fitting is too difficult.

[Deadlogic]

If it points at a neighbour they can demand it be removed. They have the right. Business and home use arent the same.

How much do you know on this subject mate?

I live in a small block of flats (converted pub...) and a neighbour has put some hidden CCTV cameras in the hallways/communal area.

Completely worries me for various reasons (knowing when I'm in/out, when my GF is in alone etc).

Can I get them removed?

[alett]

How much do you know on this subject mate?

I live in a small block of flats (converted pub...) and a neighbour has put some hidden CCTV cameras in the hallways/communal area.

Completely worries me for various reasons (knowing when I'm in/out, when my GF is in alone etc).

Can I get them removed?

Check your pm mate.

[iSmiff]

phone the cops

[Bushy]

we use megapixel IP cameras at work where we need to recognise faces etc, not cheap though, have a look at www.axis.com got pretty much any sort you could need.  Good quality images and seem to be good quality cameras.  PoE ones are worth a look as it makes the wiring a lot easier!

[PaulV]

Further investigation indicates that the cheap DVRs record at a lower resolution than when they display live pictures. If the specifications of the DVR refer to CIF, the resolution recorded is 360x240 (regardless of the camera resolution) which is unlikely to give enough pixels to identify an unknown (although may be enough to confirm the identity of someone you know). The better resolution is D1 which records 720x480 pixels.

Note that if the device says it records 4CIF, that means it records 4 channels/cameras simultaneously at 360x240. Note that at the cheaper end of the market, devices that record D1 are likely to record lower frame rates than those that record CIF.

[SwedenRed]

Will these Cameras only start recording when they sense movement, or do they record all the time? Thinking about a couple myself.

[Sir Harvest Fields]

Ahhhh amateur porn, me likes. How much for a copy?

[SP]

You could try homebrew rather than DVR for image capture. I read about an open source project years ago. This is probably it:

http://www.zoneminder.com/

Or it may be:

http://www.ispyconnect.com/

[PaulV]

Will these Cameras only start recording when they sense movement, or do they record all the time? Thinking about a couple myself.

Not up to the cameras to record. The DVR needs to do motion detection (which as far as I can see, most do), and then it will only record when there is movement. Some allow you to set schedules where they record everything at certain times of the day, and motion detect at other times, or you can just have motion detect all the time. For motion detection, you can often set areas of the screen where you want to ignore any motion (e.g. for passing traffic on a busy road)

[SwedenRed]

Not up to the cameras to record. The DVR needs to do motion detection (which as far as I can see, most do), and then it will only record when there is movement. Some allow you to set schedules where they record everything at certain times of the day, and motion detect at other times, or you can just have motion detect all the time. For motion detection, you can often set areas of the screen where you want to ignore any motion (e.g. for passing traffic on a busy road)

Excellent...Thank you for the good info.

[SI1978]

This year is the year I'm finally going to take the plunge and buy a camper van.  As one of my neighbours is a complete arsehole I want to buy some CCTV for outside that will 'watch' the van.  Any recommendations? I want to get an outside camera as the main camera but then a more discreet back up that I'll put inside the house.

Cheers 

[sirjames]

HIKvision

[SI1978]

HIKvision

Thanks.

[Red-Soldier]

Dahua or HIKvision

[JaimeREDnapz]

joke in Liverpool at the moment, people getting their homes broken into all over the place.

[Red-Soldier]

joke in Liverpool at the moment, people getting their homes broken into all over the place.

That's bad.

I've just had CCTV installed, I had my car rear window smashed a few weeks ago.

[Ben S]

Just had CCTV installed, I had my car rear window smashed a few weeks ago.

That was what prompted me to post this thread. Never did bother with it in the end though.

[mkferdy]

From what I hear in the industry Hikvision would be the way to go.

[owens_2k]

Not looking for a full system at the moment but can anyone recommend a single camera that will record to a HD and then keep overwriting itself over a certain period?