Spec me a CCTV System

[Marky]

Has anyone used any Reolink products?

I currently use a Nest Hello on my front door, and have previously also tried Ring Pro, but both of them really suck at the delay in alert notifications (I'm often inside my house, and upstairs sitting in my front room before the Nest sends me a notification).

I was thinking of swapping out the Nest and putting back my standard door bell, and then installing a Reolink RLC-520 in the top corner of my front door porch opening.

I have built a server over lockdown, so I would plan on running an Ethernet cable from the camera to my Router, and then have my server monitor/record the feed 24/7.

If anyone has any other better options, I'd be happy to hear them

 

[qqg3]

Heard good things about Reolink (considering how cheap they are). Actually have a couple of 410s arriving later this week, going to try adding them to my existing system which is all Dahua currently.

 

[WJA96]

Reolink are fine. The cheapness in brands like Reolink and Swann is mainly in the support and the steady rotation of apps that eventually make your system unworkable. If your camera breaks, they'll either refund you or send you the closest equivalent from the current range. Which is fine in my view.

 

[NVP]

@WJA96

Would you mind using your expertise and connections to both recommend and source me sufficient Dahua equipment to cover my drive+path and front door from the below expertly crafted blueprints?

The house is 2 stories with a pitched roof (an additional 8ft or so), however the front door enters into a single story porch along the side.

Front face of the house has no roof overhang, only on either side of the house.

The drive is a comfortable 2 car drive size with an additional 1m wide path alongside leading to the door.

Due to the corner, I'm assuming 2 cameras will be required?

Thank you

[I can get exact measurements and photographs if required]

 

[robj20]

Has anyone used any Reolink products?

I currently use a Nest Hello on my front door, and have previously also tried Ring Pro, but both of them really suck at the delay in alert notifications (I'm often inside my house, and upstairs sitting in my front room before the Nest sends me a notification).

I was thinking of swapping out the Nest and putting back my standard door bell, and then installing a Reolink RLC-520 in the top corner of my front door porch opening.

I have built a server over lockdown, so I would plan on running an Ethernet cable from the camera to my Router, and then have my server monitor/record the feed 24/7.

If anyone has any other better options, I'd be happy to hear them

I'm not sure the 520 can record like that. Think your limited to recording in the SD card then using FTP to the server.
The 410 can record to a NAS/server though.
Im sure that's what I found when looking.

I think I'm going Reolink I was after some Dahua cameras but the guy on a cctv forum just seemed a bit hard work and didn't want to sell me any.

 

[WJA96]

@WJA96

Would you mind using your expertise and connections to both recommend and source me sufficient Dahua equipment to cover my drive+path and front door from the below expertly crafted blueprints?

The house is 2 stories with a pitched roof (an additional 8ft or so), however the front door enters into a single story porch along the side.

Front face of the house has no roof overhang, only on either side of the house.

The drive is a comfortable 2 car drive size with an additional 1m wide path alongside leading to the door.

Due to the corner, I'm assuming 2 cameras will be required?

Thank you

[I can get exact measurements and photographs if required]

Firstly, I don’t want anyone thinking I’m touting for business on here. I can put you in touch with someone if you send me a trust message.

What sort of night vision do you want? Full colour or black & white? The full-colour ones will light up the front of your house, so you might not want to annoy the neighbours.

What about resolution? 5MP (full colour) or 8MP (currently only B&W).

How do you intend to control and record the cameras? NVR or just run them off SD cards?

I think you could do this with one camera but you’d lose the ‘visitor’ image once they passed the corner of the house. Bear in mind that anything mounted over the front door is going to be filming ‘corridor’ for the first meter or so from your diagram so you might decide just one will do anyway.

I would suggest 1 or 2 of the 5 MP TiOC Bullet https://www.cop-eu.com/ip-cameras-nvrs/ip-cameras/IPC-HFW3549T1P-AS-PV-280 in 3.6mm form

And you’d need 1 or 2 mountings to tuck away all the cables https://www.cop-eu.com/ip-cameras-nvrs/ip-cameras/PFA130-E

And you’d need a recorder but with only 1 or 2 cameras a 1Tb would be plenty. https://www.cop-eu.com/ip-cameras-nvrs/nvrs/NVR4104-P-4KS2-1T

By my rough calculations it would be £265+VAT (£320) for 1 camera or £395+VAT (£475) for 2 cameras. At this point most folks sprint off to Ali Express!

 

[WJA96]

Just in case anyone is still spinning that old yarn about expensive cameras not being that much better than cheap ones, I added a couple of 5MP Full Colour TiOC Cameras to a scaffolders yard and the difference between the similarly mounted Flureon cameras and the new Dahuas is pretty obvious;

720P Flureon Camera at the Front Gate (4mm)

1440P (5MP) TiOC at the Front Gate (3.6mm)

720P Flureon in the yard (4mm)

1440P (5MP) TiOC in the yard (2.8mm)

 

[NVP]

Thank you WJA96, this is really appreciated.

Firstly, I don’t want anyone thinking I’m touting for business on here.

I'm sure no one does, you're offering very helpful advice and recommendations of both products and suppliers which is perfectly fine and very much appreciated.

What sort of night vision do you want? Full colour or black & white? The full-colour ones will light up the front of your house, so you might not want to annoy the neighbours.

It is the full colour night pictures you previously provided which attracted me to the product - How do these light up the front of the house? Motion activated full-spectrum lighting or continual...?

How do you intend to control and record the cameras?

Yes, I was aiming to have it connect to an NVR and, if needed, hook that up to my raid.

I think you could do this with one camera but you’d lose the ‘visitor’ image once they passed the corner of the house. Bear in mind that anything mounted over the front door is going to be filming ‘corridor’ for the first meter or so from your diagram so you might decide just one will do anyway.

So with those bullet cameras, where would you put them? Both under the roof recess, one st the front and the other further back to cover the front door? Or would that one have to be at the single story level? It says close focus is 1.2m, I get that's why you suggest it may not be worth it, would a mini-globe work at all there?

By my rough calculations it would be £265+VAT (£320) for 1 camera or £395+VAT (£475) for 2 cameras. At this point most folks sprint off to Ali Express!

Oof that is a bit hefty, but that night vision is worth it unless there are cheaper brands of similar quality?

 

[Sparx]

I'm not sure the 520 can record like that. Think your limited to recording in the SD card then using FTP to the server.
The 410 can record to a NAS/server though.
Im sure that's what I found when looking.

I think I'm going Reolink I was after some Dahua cameras but the guy on a cctv forum just seemed a bit hard work and didn't want to sell me any.

Reolink cams can definitely record 24/7 to HDD. Been doing it myself on my Home server the last 1.5 years with my 2

No issues at all, do a great job. That’s also using Reolink’s own Windows client too. Also works with Blue Iris as well tried both work spot on.

Just FYI too @Marky

 

[JohnG7]

The Reolink Argus 2 with Solar Panel Kit I had couldn't not REC 24/7 only small clips to SD and it took me jumping up and down to get it to activate.

 

[WJA96]

How do these light up the front of the house? Motion activated full-spectrum lighting or continual...?

It’s continual when it’s dark. It’s not full-spectrum as they’ve got a filter on the LED to stop it attracting insects but it’s a bit like poor street lights. It’s light enough to just about read a large print book.

Yes, I was aiming to have it connect to an NVR and, if needed, hook that up to my raid.

The NVR I linked to will back up to your NAS is you want to, but if it’s a Synology or QNAP you can use the Surveillance Station licences on that instead of the NVR and that would save £135+VAT.

So with those bullet cameras, where would you put them? Both under the roof recess, one st the front and the other further back to cover the front door? Or would that one have to be at the single story level? It says close focus is 1.2m, I get that's why you suggest it may not be worth it, would a mini-globe work at all there?

Without actually seeing it as a picture my first reaction would be to put put them both on the corner of the house where the door is. One on the front of the building pointing across the parking and one on the side of the building covering the path. That way you couldn’t skirt up the sides of the building and under the cameras. And I’d mount them at 3-3.5m on the brickwork because it’s all about seeing the face of the people approaching the property. The soffits are usually 5-6m up and you only see the tops of people’s heads.

And yes, they do make an eyeball/turret version but only in the 2.8mm lens option so it would be an extreme wide angle in that location. You could turn it on it’s side I suppose for a corridor effect. The bullets are more ‘in your face’ but after a couple of weeks you don’t notice them anymore and ‘in your face’ is exactly what you want from a deterrent point of view.

Oof that is a bit hefty, but that night vision is worth it unless there are cheaper brands of similar quality?

Sadly not.

 

[NVP]

It’s continual when it’s dark. It’s not full-spectrum as they’ve got a filter on the LED to stop it attracting insects but it’s a bit like poor street lights. It’s light enough to just about read a large print book.

Oh I see, no wonder they get such good clarity if their array is permanent for the camera to be constantly tuned in to. I'm not sure whether it'd be a problem for my neighbours but we do live directly opposite a nature reserve which it could be an issue for and the nature reserve area doesn't have any street lighting, not this far down into the street. A few houses on the street do have motion activated flood lights above their garages though, it's the constant on which may be an issue - I will have to check.

The NVR I linked to will back up to your NAS

Perfect, thank you.

Without actually seeing it as a picture my first reaction would be to put put them both on the corner of the house where the door is. One on the front of the building pointing across the parking and one on the side of the building covering the path. That way you couldn’t skirt up the sides of the building and under the cameras. And I’d mount them at 3-3.5m on the brickwork because it’s all about seeing the face of the people approaching the property. The soffits are usually 5-6m up and you only see the tops of people’s heads.

Thank you, that makes sense - the only thing being the side the front door is on is bordered only by thin hedges alongside the path, so the path "could" be avoided completely. I could maybe have the wide angle dome on that corner to cover the door and hedge?

I assume the domes have the same permanent LED lighting too, I may need to see how these are in real life to understand if permanent lighting will be an issue.

Otherwise I may have to go for motion flood lighting so it only turns on when it is needed, which should be a big deterrent too.


Thank you again for your advice.

 

[WJA96]

If you had motion-activated floodlighting then you could use almost any cameras really because what you pay for in most cameras is the night-time performance.

I’m sure I could arrange for a demo camera to be sent to you as long as you promised to send it back!

And the hedge by the path would be covered by the door camera. You’d just adjust it round to cover the full extent of the hedge. If you draw two 77-degree arcs on your diagram with one just touching the bay windows and the other covering the hedge line-edge of the path where it intersects with the end of the house the only blind spot is the other side of the bay window.

Alternatively (and probably totally blowing the budget) would be a single 2.8mm wide angle camera mounted high up on the house pointing down over the bay window and parking area linked to a 3.5m high corner-mounted starlight Pan/Tilt/Zoom that would track anything moving in the field of view of the top overview camera. And the light from the TiOC should be enough to keep the PTZ in full colour even in darkness.

That would be a camera like this one https://www.cop-eu.com/ip-cameras-nvrs/ip-cameras/SD49425XB-HNR with this corner bracket https://www.cop-eu.com/ip-cameras-nvrs/ip-cameras/PFA151 and again it starts to get really pricey - £625+VAT for the two cameras and all the mounting hardware and recorder. Mind you, it has a definite LOL factor when you see the postman’s face as (s)he realises they’re being tracked by the camera.

 

[NVP]

If you had motion-activated floodlighting then you could use almost any cameras really because what you pay for in most cameras is the night-time performance.

Thank you, I guess that's true although I have seen some additional benefits to ones with the human-motion activated lights within the camera as opposed to separate units.

Do all of the colour night vision cameras which utilise LEDs cast light? I'd rather not have constant light and, to be honest, don't really want a large floodlight due to the nature reserve. I do already have an old school lantern style censor light right next to the doorbell which is motion activated, but it is weak like a candle and not really noticeable.

And the hedge by the path would be covered by the door camera. You’d just adjust it round to cover the full extent of the hedge. If you draw two 77-degree arcs on your diagram with one just touching the bay windows and the other covering the hedge line-edge of the path where it intersects with the end of the house the only blind spot is the other side of the bay window.

Ah yes, understood. Thank you The blind spot on that side of the bay window is no problem.

Alternatively (and probably totally blowing the budget) would be a single 2.8mm wide angle camera mounted high up on the house pointing down over the bay window and parking area linked to a 3.5m high corner-mounted starlight Pan/Tilt/Zoom that would track anything moving in the field of view of the top overview camera. And the light from the TiOC should be enough to keep the PTZ in full colour even in darkness.

Haha now that is overkill... but I want!

 

[WJA96]

I have had a word with my boss and I can lend you a TiOC camera if you want to see the light output.

All the low light colour cameras (Hikvision ColorVu as well as Dahua) use some form of illumination because they need some light to work. If there is lots of street lights they don’t turn on, but in your case, they’d be powered on.

Also, you might want to beat in mind that if you have IR it’s actually worse for some insects and birds as they are IR sensitive. At least with the warm LED you know the extent of the light and, as I say, it’s been tuned to be poorly visible to insects.

 

[NVP]

Thanks, I might take you up on that.

Ah yes that's also very true. Ok maybe I should give the council a ring and ask if there are any restrictions as it is the only part of the street with no street lights - I'm assuming they may pass me on to the local trust or whoever but I think it's something I should do, look at me being a responsible adult! How times change, hey...

Are there any documented spectrum analysis or statistics to show the efficiency re: led impact to wildlife?


Is there perhaps a less intrusive option (in terms of light pollution) by simply utilising the existing porch candle light by the door to provide colour for that immediate vicinity at night, and then sacrificing night quality with the camera covering the drive by using one which has no light pollution? That way there is at least a fill colour close up available of anyone approaching the door...?

Again, thank you for all the advice.

 

[WJA96]

I suspect you're over-analysing this. I think if I hadn't mentioned the warm white light you'd never have queried the issue. In fact, you'd be delighted by the extra light at night! You certainly wont be any brighter than the bit of the road that has streetlights and the maximum illumination distance is about 120 feet, so unless it's a very small nature reserve you won't be impacting on it massively.

There is loads of published environmental health data on the impact of nocturnal lighting on all sorts of wildlife and the general outcome is that any unnatural light pollution (visible or not) has some impact on nature. I recall seeing one paper that said that switching off the street lighting in one area had reduced the number of birds killed by cats because the cats were able to maximise the available light whereas the birds still thought it was dark and slept on right until the cat nabbed them.

And yes, if you had a supplementary light by the door you could probably use a standard Dahua Starlight/Hikvision DarkFighter camera or even a full-colour 'streetlamp' camera like https://cop-eu.com/ip-cameras-nvrs/ip-cameras/IPC-HDBW4239R-ASE-360. Just be aware that if you don't have any supplementary light, any camera will just see darkness.

 

[Bounce]

So is ring still the system to get?

They currently have a sale on looking to get the Alarm System (5 piece) and two cameras (POE).

 

[NVP]

Sorry for the delay.

I suspect you're over-analysing this. I think if I hadn't mentioned the warm white light you'd never have queried the issue. In fact, you'd be delighted by the extra light at night! You certainly wont be any brighter than the bit of the road that has streetlights and the maximum illumination distance is about 120 feet, so unless it's a very small nature reserve you won't be impacting on it massively.

Yeah, perhaps you're right. I just didn't expect constant light to be produced, it's a bit "industrial" for home cctv if you know what I mean.

And yes, if you had a supplementary light by the door you could probably use a standard Dahua Starlight/Hikvision DarkFighter camera or even a full-colour 'streetlamp' camera like https://cop-eu.com/ip-cameras-nvrs/ip-cameras/IPC-HDBW4239R-ASE-360. Just be aware that if you don't have any supplementary light, any camera will just see darkness.

Oh yeh, of course, hmm so maybe just a camera with non LED night vision that auto offs when the lantern is on? ..why do I make things so hard for myself.

 

[NVP]

Ermmm I may have made an ooopsy - wife told me I was taking too long and I panicked... I went on Amazon! I thought I'd just get a couple of normal bullet ones quickly with decent enough night vision and no visible illumination but ermm you know Amazon shopping, no idea what i've got in term of led illumination now.

Ended up following a rabbit hole to the reolink website onto their flash deals page, panicked again when it said less than 2 hours left on a 20% off deal, found another 5% off the entire site voucher and ended up with this bundle for £300.95:

• 1x RLN8-410 +2TB HD
• 2x RLC-410 camera 5MP built in microphone
• 2x RLC-520 camera
• 1x NVR power adapter
• 1x HDMI cable
• 1x USB mouse
• 1x network cable 1 meter
• 4x network cable 18 meters
• 1x quick guide
• 5x hole template for mounting
• 4x sign video surveillance
• 4x Waterproof protective cap
• 1x wrench
• 4x RJ45 connectors
• 5x package with screws