Spec me a CCTV System

VincentHanna · 18 Dec 2021 at 20:06

I'm having real trouble with my NEST cameras since I moved home.

At my previous address, It used to be spot on when I left home, switching to 'Away' mode consistently, but since I moved house and updated my home address on Google, it just always thinks I'm away all the time.

I've double checked all the settings in both the Nest app and Google home app and I can't see anything that's causing this.

Firestar_3x · 23 Dec 2021 at 11:28

G1 Network ColorVu coming in at £50+Vat at the moment, seems like a good price given the camera.

DB_SamX · 27 Dec 2021 at 16:32

I am after a standalone, battery-operated, wireless security camera without storage subscription for my back garden, as our estate has had a number of shed break-ins of late. Budget around £100.

I am considering the Eufy E40 or L20 as they tick all the boxes. Any equivalent alternatives I should consider?

b0rn2sk8 · 27 Dec 2021 at 18:36

Blink (Amazon) probably also fits the bill.

Just be prepared for recharging or swapping batteries more often for any of the true wireless models state.

WJA96 · 28 Dec 2021 at 09:22

I don't think I'd be looking to put a camera in my shed. What are you hoping the camera will give you? For deterrence purposes you can just put up a couple of signs. I know I'm shifting the goalposts here but consider putting an alarm system like Ajax into your home. Assuming the shed isn't in the next county then an Ajax hub in your attic will generally give you more than enough coverage to get to a shed and that would alarm when they opened the door, broke a window or moved anything inside the shed. And you can get battery operated snapshot cameras to take pictures of the miscreants while they are in there.

It's all battery operated, no wires at all apart from the mains lead into the hub and while it is substantially more than you are budgeting for, it might actually stop them from stealing anything when they break in as a 130dB(A) siren right there in the shed would send most folks heading somewhere else.

Duke · 28 Dec 2021 at 13:24

WJA96 said:
I don't think I'd be looking to put a camera in my shed. What are you hoping the camera will give you? For deterrence purposes you can just put up a couple of signs. I know I'm shifting the goalposts here but consider putting an alarm system like Ajax into your home. Assuming the shed isn't in the next county then an Ajax hub in your attic will generally give you more than enough coverage to get to a shed and that would alarm when they opened the door, broke a window or moved anything inside the shed. And you can get battery operated snapshot cameras to take pictures of the miscreants while they are in there.

It's all battery operated, no wires at all apart from the mains lead into the hub and while it is substantially more than you are budgeting for, it might actually stop them from stealing anything when they break in as a 130dB(A) siren right there in the shed would send most folks heading somewhere else.

Was going to say the same thing, spend the money on securing and/or alarming the shed. All a camera will do is allow you to see your goods disappearing to some hoody.

WJA96 · 28 Dec 2021 at 14:43

Firestar_3x said:
G1 Network ColorVu coming in at £50+Vat at the moment, seems like a good price given the camera.

I'd fill your boots at that price. They're going up in January.

Nutty_Death · 29 Dec 2021 at 07:52

Been meaning to set up some cameras for a while now and had initially planned to go with Ubiquiti cameras since I have their network gear. However it seems like you get a lot more for your money with Hikvision.

Below is a rough drawing of my house. I was thinking of getting two cameras to cover the front and back of my house.

I tend to over spec things but the hikvision ds-2cd2387g2-lsu/sl looks interesting. I like that it has a siren/strobe which I could at least turn on in the back at night.
Does this seem like an appropriate camera? and what focal lengths should I be looking at for these distances?
Both cameras can be mounted out of reach and I've already dropped network cable ready to use.

Thanks for any help

WJA96 · 29 Dec 2021 at 08:57

I think I would put the front camera on the other side of the house. You have a blind-spot to the side of the front door either way, but it's worse putting it where you have indicated.

The rear camera looks better sited but I think you have to be realistic about what you'll cover.

I would also question why you're going for the 8MP/4K camera. They're bandwidth hogs (you'll likely end up limited to something like 8MP at 15fps on a restricted bit rate) and the image quality won't be appreciably worse on the 5MP HiView that @Firestar_3x linked to above. And you could have six of those for the price of two of the 8MP Liveguards. A G1 either side of the front of the building, another one going down the side of teh building where the gates are and the last one where you've indicated at the rear of the house would let you see what was going on, light up the whole property and be a bit cheaper as well.

Nutty_Death · 29 Dec 2021 at 09:05

Thanks, the front right one was mainly to have a good view of people at the front door. I agree one either side at the front is probably best. Would mean moving a cable run but probably doable.

Is there much difference between G1 and G2? I don't mind spending a bit more for better quality if say a G2 5mp colorvue was better?

WJA96 · 29 Dec 2021 at 09:30

From memory the G1 cameras don't have any AI functions eg. line crossing or appearing or transiting through an area of the screen, picking out vehicles or humans. G2 cameras may have those functions depending on the model.

Nutty_Death · 29 Dec 2021 at 09:47

Thanks for your help.

There doesn't seem to be a 5 or 6mp G2 colorvue. However there is a 4mp which seems to be a comparable model to the 8.

DS-2CD2347G2-LSU/SL

Firestar_3x · 29 Dec 2021 at 09:49

WJA96 said:
From memory the G1 cameras don't have any AI functions eg. line crossing or appearing or transiting through an area of the screen, picking out vehicles or humans. G2 cameras may have those functions depending on the model.

G1 has AcuSense, however it was improved in G2.

WJA96 · 29 Dec 2021 at 10:03

Nutty_Death said:
Thanks for your help.

There doesn't seem to be a 5 or 6mp G2 colorvue. However there is a 4mp which seems to be a comparable model to the 8.

DS-2CD2347G2-LSU/SL

I would be loathe to pay a lot extra for an alarm function that would be rarely used. I mainly specify the Dahua TiOC cameras and they only come with the alarm function and it's usually a bit of a one-minute wonder where they get switched off early-on because of false alerts. Hikvision has a good range of ColorVu cameras with the white light without the LiveGuard feature and I would be tempted to go with the version without LiveGuard.

Nutty_Death · 29 Dec 2021 at 11:22

There doesn't seem to be anything different in price with or without liveguard. Ranging from about £110 to 140.

I imagine the light would be handy to replace my pir spots, which are meant as a deterrent or handy for me at night. Not so bothered about 2 way audio apart from maybe in the garden to only trigger during the night.

I was thinking the 4mm lens is probably best my situation?

Also do the bullets mount ok on a vertical wall whilst point horizontally say 70dedgree off center?

batfink · 29 Dec 2021 at 12:27

My New Year project is also going to be installing CCTV. Below is a very crude drawing of the layout (not to scale) and I think with 4 cameras I can cover almost everywhere. The yellow bit is the only blindspot but it's also where a car gets parked. The house isn't really accessible from the back or the sides without going through neighbouring gardens first so blindspots there are less of an issue.

https://imgur.com/a/9n5Gwx3 [/IMG]

I'm planning to order one camera first just to check focal lengths in each position but I think I'll be looking at potentially 2 x 2.8mm and 2 x 4mm. Currently looking at turret cameras and either a Hikvision setup (eg DS-2CD2347G2-LU) or Dahua TiOCs such as DH-IPC-HDW3549H-AS-PV with the same brand NVRs unless there are any better recommendations? The rest of the home network is Ubiquiti.

Are there any better locations to cover the blindspot or is it likely I would need a 5th camera. The two cameras down the side of the house cover sheds and doors.

Thanks for your help.

Nutty_Death · 29 Dec 2021 at 12:38

batfink said:
My New Year project is also going to be installing CCTV. Below is a very crude drawing of the layout (not to scale) and I think with 4 cameras I can cover almost everywhere. The yellow bit is the only blindspot but it's also where a car gets parked. The house isn't really accessible from the back or the sides without going through neighbouring gardens first so blindspots there are less of an issue.

https://imgur.com/a/9n5Gwx3 [/IMG]

I'm planning to order one camera first just to check focal lengths in each position but I think I'll be looking at potentially 2 x 2.8mm and 2 x 4mm. Currently looking at turret cameras and either a Hikvision setup (eg DS-2CD2347G2-LU) or Dahua TiOCs such as DH-IPC-HDW3549H-AS-PV with the same brand NVRs unless there are any better recommendations? The rest of the home network is Ubiquiti.

Are there any better locations to cover the blindspot or is it likely I would need a 5th camera. The two cameras down the side of the house cover sheds and doors.

Thanks for your help.

Very similar to what I'm trying to achieve it seems. Have you looked into whether you can get the cameras to show in unifi protect? I saw a GitHub with some scripts for doing it. Know idea if it works or is even worth attempting.

batfink · 29 Dec 2021 at 12:53

Nutty_Death said:
Very similar to what I'm trying to achieve it seems. Have you looked into whether you can get the cameras to show in unifi protect? I saw a GitHub with some scripts for doing it. Know idea if it works or is even worth attempting.

I run a USG so I don't think Protect is an option. Always intended to stay away from the Ubiquiti surveillance option although I have considered going down the Synology route since I also need to replace my ageing (but very reliable) DS209. Extra licence costs would come into play if I did this.

WJA96 · 29 Dec 2021 at 12:53

Nutty_Death said:
There doesn't seem to be anything different in price with or without liveguard. Ranging from about £110 to 140.

4MP COLORVU ACUSENSE - FIXED LENS (cop-eu.com) - is that what we're talking about? It should be about £95+VAT. The LiveGuards are about £140+VAT.

Nutty_Death said:
I imagine the light would be handy to replace my pir spots, which are meant as a deterrent or handy for me at night. Not so bothered about 2 way audio apart from maybe in the garden to only trigger during the night.

You'll need to keep the spots. You'll get a dim pool of light around the house. Bright enough to see but not bright enough to read a newspaper.

Nutty_Death said:
I was thinking the 4mm lens is probably best my situation?

Yes, it's not a small house but it's not massive either so 4mm should be fine.

Nutty_Death said:
Also do the bullets mount ok on a vertical wall whilst point horizontally say 70dedgree off center?

Yes, just make sure you account for the cable tail so you either need a biggish hole to take the tail back into the building or a surface mount for the camera to hide the tail in.[/QUOTE]

WJA96 · 29 Dec 2021 at 13:11

batfink said:
My New Year project is also going to be installing CCTV. Below is a very crude drawing of the layout (not to scale) and I think with 4 cameras I can cover almost everywhere. The yellow bit is the only blindspot but it's also where a car gets parked. The house isn't really accessible from the back or the sides without going through neighbouring gardens first so blindspots there are less of an issue.

https://imgur.com/a/9n5Gwx3 [/IMG]

I'm planning to order one camera first just to check focal lengths in each position but I think I'll be looking at potentially 2 x 2.8mm and 2 x 4mm. Currently looking at turret cameras and either a Hikvision setup (eg DS-2CD2347G2-LU) or Dahua TiOCs such as DH-IPC-HDW3549H-AS-PV with the same brand NVRs unless there are any better recommendations? The rest of the home network is Ubiquiti.

Are there any better locations to cover the blindspot or is it likely I would need a 5th camera. The two cameras down the side of the house cover sheds and doors.

Thanks for your help.

In that situation I would use a Boobie-Cam on a pendant mount on a corner mount. One cable, one housing, two cameras. One covering the blindspot, one facing back to cover the area your top-right camera is covering. Not cheap though. £230-ish +VAT for a 2 x 2MP although they have recently launched a 4MP version at the same price which will be available fairly soon.

2MP - 3.6MM FIXED LENS (cop-eu.com)