Spec me a CCTV System

[b0rn2sk8]

Why do you need an ANPR camera hidden in a tree?

It does strike me as slightly odd to be monitoring traffic and number plates of those on a public street.

You also need to be careful if you are capturing images of or sound originating from other peoples property.

 

[kindai]

Installed the first 2 eufy cameras today.

Very simple and easy, and the image quality is great. The quality on their web portal isnt as good unless you sign upto their Cloud Storage option but locally its spot on.

Would happily reccomend it to anyone considering a WIFI setup.

 

[hartgeh3]

I have some Reolink cameras but can I run Cat 6 cable or do I need PoE rated stuff to the NVR?

 

[kindai]

Got the 3rd camera up, it caught some ducks in the pond yesterday with the fish trying to eat them lol

Super happy with the quality given how nice these are to install and set up.

 

[LeeUK]

I have some Reolink cameras but can I run Cat 6 cable or do I need PoE rated stuff to the NVR?

I think you can run the cameras directly to the Reolink NVR with Cat 6 cable, but I haven't tried it as all my Reolink cameras go into PoE switches on my network and my Reolink NVR is plugged into my router independently from the cameras.

 

[hartgeh3]

I think you can run the cameras directly to the Reolink NVR with Cat 6 cable, but I haven't tried it as all my Reolink cameras go into PoE switches on my network and my Reolink NVR is plugged into my router independently from the cameras.

I was reading about this way on a youtube review video, just wanted to know if the normal cat 6 cable will power the cameras or would I need actually poe cable instead, but looks like it should work fine.

 

[LeeUK]

I was reading about this way on a youtube review video, just wanted to know if the normal cat 6 cable will power the cameras or would I need actually poe cable instead, but looks like it should work fine.

My cameras are just on normal Cat 5e cable AFAIR into the PoE switches. Didn't know special PoE cable was a thing.

 

[Simon42]

Got the 3rd camera up, it caught some ducks in the pond yesterday with the fish trying to eat them lol

Have all the applicable neighbours agreed to have you capture their gardens?

I have more than a dozen outside cameras but all positioned or masked to only cover my property.

 

[LeeUK]

Have all the applicable neighbours agreed to have you capture their gardens?

I have more than a dozen outside cameras but all positioned or masked to only cover my property.

They might have camera up too? Who knows.

Call me a bit tin foil hatish but I've noticed a lot of press interest and YouTube lawyers going on about folk being fined for having ring door bells and cameras up. I take it is because the establishment are getting worried about the little man having an ounce of power and having evidence of everything.

Having your every move watched and recorded is no longer only exclusive to the state or big money corporations.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I have some Reolink cameras but can I run Cat 6 cable or do I need PoE rated stuff to the NVR?

Any good quality outdoor rated network cable is fine. Personally I’d do CAT5e for cameras, it’s cheaper and more flexible.

Avoid CCA.

Edit: the above cable is not outdoor rated which is usually black.

 

[WJA96]

Seeking some help/advice on a project I`ve been roped into by a friend .

He wants CCTV coverage of his steading (several large agricultural sheds & domestic home), he knows how many cameras he wants and positioning etc, my skills are networking and a rudimentary knowledge of cameras and NVRs, I would be grateful if someone with knowledge could suggest some kit that is top quality (basically to help me avoid buying wrong kit) and "cant go wrong with" sort of advice. I wouldnt say money is no object but he wants to pay for the best kit he can get, within reason etc, his property/steading will have mega value stored in it and as such he wants to spend the money to give him some comfort, night time performance is important as is the latest AI vehicle/human detection and associated NVR functionality.

He wants 8 cameras and significant storage.Would rather overspec than underspec.May need one camera to be wireless.

Apologies if this is vague but any input would be appreciated.

Axis, Hanwha if you want good without going into silly money. High end Dahua or Hikvision. There is a significant difference between Dahua cameras in particular - 2 and 3 series are significantly poorer on image quality than 5 series, although still perfectly good for most folks. Dahua 7 and 8 series are true ‘professional’ cameras.

I’m a bit surprised that your ‘friend’ can say he knows how many cameras he wants and locations but doesn’t know any specifications. I can buy the same basic camera with a 2.8, 4, 6mm or vari-focal (zoom) lens and they give significantly different fields of view and levels of edge distortion. The current trend is 180-degree double-cameras which stitch 2 x 2K images together to give a 4K wide 180-degree image. For about £200 these can be a great option. And then you get the hunter cameras where you couple a 180-degree FOV camera with an automated pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) that tracks people or vehicles in the image. These start about £400 but the images from them can be incredibly useful.

You don’t say if you want bullets, turrets or domes but I’ve suggested a few decent cameras below.

Basic full-colour alarm camera - £125+VAT

IPC-HDW3549HP-AS-PV-S3 - Active Deterrent Domes - IP Network Cameras

5MP Smart Dual Illumination TiOC 2.0 Full Colour Active-Deterrent WDR IR Turret AI Network Camera, H.265+ & H.264+ triple-stream encoding, 5MP (2592×1944) @20fps and supports 4MP (2688×1520)@25/30fps, 2.8mm fixed focal lens, IP67, 12Vdc

www.securitydynamics.co.uk

High quality full-colour night vision - £140+VAT

IPC-HDW5442TMP-AS-LED - WizMind Dome Cameras - IP Network Cameras

4MP Full Colour Pro AI WizMind Dome Camera, H.265 & H.264 triple-stream encoding, 25/30fps@2688×520, 50/60fps@1080 (1920×1080), 2.8mm fixed focal lens, IP67, PoE, 12Vdc Vac

www.securitydynamics.co.uk

180-degree full-colour alarm camera - £200+VAT

IPC-PDW3849-A180-AS-PV - NEW!

2x4MP TiOC Duo Splicing Fixed-focal Eyeball WizSense Network Camera, H.264+ & H.265+ triple-stream encoding, Outputs max. 8MP (4096 × 1860)@20fps, 2.8mm fixed focal lens, IP67, 12Vdc

www.securitydynamics.co.uk

Basic full colour PTZ - £170+VAT

SD3E405DB-GNY-A-PV1 - Mini PTZ Dome Cameras - IP Network Cameras

4MP 5x TiOC WizSense Network PTZ Camera, 2.7-13.5mm, 25/30fps@4M, H.264/H.265 triple stream encoding, IP66, PoE and 12Vdc

www.securitydynamics.co.uk

Basic hunter camera - £370+VAT

SDT4E425-4F-GB-A-PV1 - NEW!

X-Spans 4MP+4MP 25x TiOC WizSense Network PTZ Camera, 12Vdc/PoE+

www.securitydynamics.co.uk

Prices are what you could expect to pay if you’re buying without installation. You may find that it’s much cheaper to buy them installed because installers tend to make their money on labour rather than hardware. Also you may need mounting hardware for some of these cameras depending on how you want to mount them.

For a recorder I would go straight for Dahua WizMind like the NVR5126-16P-I

https://www.securitydynamics.co.uk/...zmind-ai-series/16-channel/nvr5216-16p-i.html - £650+VAT plus hard drives. This is what I use personally and it’s ridiculous in its ability to search for things like ‘people with glasses’ or ‘red coat’. The AI is phenomenal.

 

[newbiejim]

Axis, Hanwha if you want good without going into silly money. High end Dahua or Hikvision. There is a significant difference between Dahua cameras in particular - 2 and 3 series are significantly poorer on image quality than 5 series, although still perfectly good for most folks. Dahua 7 and 8 series are true ‘professional’ cameras.

I’m a bit surprised that your ‘friend’ can say he knows how many cameras he wants and locations but doesn’t know any specifications. I can buy the same basic camera with a 2.8, 4, 6mm or vari-focal (zoom) lens and they give significantly different fields of view and levels of edge distortion. The current trend is 180-degree double-cameras which stitch 2 x 2K images together to give a 4K wide 180-degree image. For about £200 these can be a great option. And then you get the hunter cameras where you couple a 180-degree FOV camera with an automated pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) that tracks people or vehicles in the image. These start about £400 but the images from them can be incredibly useful.

You don’t say if you want bullets, turrets or domes but I’ve suggested a few decent cameras below.

Basic full-colour alarm camera - £125+VAT

IPC-HDW3549HP-AS-PV-S3 - Active Deterrent Domes - IP Network Cameras

5MP Smart Dual Illumination TiOC 2.0 Full Colour Active-Deterrent WDR IR Turret AI Network Camera, H.265+ & H.264+ triple-stream encoding, 5MP (2592×1944) @20fps and supports 4MP (2688×1520)@25/30fps, 2.8mm fixed focal lens, IP67, 12Vdc

www.securitydynamics.co.uk

High quality full-colour night vision - £140+VAT

IPC-HDW5442TMP-AS-LED - WizMind Dome Cameras - IP Network Cameras

4MP Full Colour Pro AI WizMind Dome Camera, H.265 & H.264 triple-stream encoding, 25/30fps@2688×520, 50/60fps@1080 (1920×1080), 2.8mm fixed focal lens, IP67, PoE, 12Vdc Vac

www.securitydynamics.co.uk

180-degree full-colour alarm camera - £200+VAT

IPC-PDW3849-A180-AS-PV - NEW!

2x4MP TiOC Duo Splicing Fixed-focal Eyeball WizSense Network Camera, H.264+ & H.265+ triple-stream encoding, Outputs max. 8MP (4096 × 1860)@20fps, 2.8mm fixed focal lens, IP67, 12Vdc

www.securitydynamics.co.uk

Basic full colour PTZ - £170+VAT

SD3E405DB-GNY-A-PV1 - Mini PTZ Dome Cameras - IP Network Cameras

4MP 5x TiOC WizSense Network PTZ Camera, 2.7-13.5mm, 25/30fps@4M, H.264/H.265 triple stream encoding, IP66, PoE and 12Vdc

www.securitydynamics.co.uk

Basic hunter camera - £370+VAT

SDT4E425-4F-GB-A-PV1 - NEW!

X-Spans 4MP+4MP 25x TiOC WizSense Network PTZ Camera, 12Vdc/PoE+

www.securitydynamics.co.uk

Prices are what you could expect to pay if you’re buying without installation. You may find that it’s much cheaper to buy them installed because installers tend to make their money on labour rather than hardware. Also you may need mounting hardware for some of these cameras depending on how you want to mount them.

For a recorder I would go straight for Dahua WizMind like the NVR5126-16P-I

https://www.securitydynamics.co.uk/...zmind-ai-series/16-channel/nvr5216-16p-i.html - £650+VAT plus hard drives. This is what I use personally and it’s ridiculous in its ability to search for things like ‘people with glasses’ or ‘red coat’. The AI is phenomenal.

That is a fantastic response, thank you very much for taking the time to convey this hard earned information. I think he thinks because my skillset is data networks that the cameras & recording side of it can be muddled through, I'm not so confident in learning enough to be sure I'm capable of a decent job.

Again, thanks very much for the information, first class.

 

[Nasher]

They might have camera up too? Who knows.

Call me a bit tin foil hatish but I've noticed a lot of press interest and YouTube lawyers going on about folk being fined for having ring door bells and cameras up. I take it is because the establishment are getting worried about the little man having an ounce of power and having evidence of everything.

Having your every move watched and recorded is no longer only exclusive to the state or big money corporations.

You aren't allowed to film people's private property, especially back gardens. Why should you be able to.

It's covered by data protection and harassment laws and it applies to everyone, even government. If you have a camera overlooking someone's garden (and don't do something to remove it from the image), you are setting yourself up for a massive fine and/or being sued.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

The above plus you should also take great care when it comes to front doors. If you can effectively track the comings and going of your neighbours with a doorbell cam, that may also be considered a privacy invasion.

It’s not just images, recording sound from other peoples gardens, even if you can’t see it is very much a no too.

 

[Simon42]

They might have camera up too? Who knows.

Call me a bit tin foil hatish but I've noticed a lot of press interest and YouTube lawyers going on about folk being fined for having ring door bells and cameras up. I take it is because the establishment are getting worried about the little man having an ounce of power and having evidence of everything.

Having your every move watched and recorded is no longer only exclusive to the state or big money corporations.

As has already been stated you are not allowed to record people's private property its as simple as that. The camera in question not only overlooks peoples gardens which is bad enough but also records into some of their properties.

 

[WJA96]

You aren't allowed to film people's private property, especially back gardens. Why should you be able to.

It's covered by data protection and harassment laws and it applies to everyone, even government. If you have a camera overlooking someone's garden (and don't do something to remove it from the image), you are setting yourself up for a massive fine and/or being sued.

The above plus you should also take great care when it comes to front doors. If you can effectively track the comings and going of your neighbours with a doorbell cam, that may also be considered a privacy invasion.

It’s not just images, recording sound from other peoples gardens, even if you can’t see it is very much a no too.

As has already been stated you are not allowed to record people's private property its as simple as that. The camera in question not only overlooks peoples gardens which is bad enough but also records into some of their properties.

I do an ICO application for every surveillance installation we install and I have a licence at home for training as well as security purposes. This allows us to cover public areas where there is no expectation of privacy. What we then do is take stills of the unshielded camera views to all the neighbours and we ask them if they want us to apply privacy blocks and they almost always say no, they want access to the images in case anything happens. And we always have signs up stating who operates the cameras and the phone number to call to access the images if required.

So it’s about talking to the neighbours and complying with the legislation.

And in my experience the police are very relaxed about this when they want to extract images for evidentiary purposes.

And you also have to justify how long you retain images. We usually allow 4-6 weeks because that is 1 week before you went on holiday plus 2 weeks away plus 1 - 3 weeks when you get back from your holiday.

 

[Simon42]

So it’s about talking to the neighbours and complying with the legislation.

Agreed as per my initial comment:

Have all the applicable neighbours agreed to have you capture their gardens?

I used to install CCTV back in the day before I moved onto other things, but I know the neighbours where I live now and my last home would certainly not agree to such recording and neither would I.

 

[WJA96]

Agreed as per my initial comment:


I used to install CCTV back in the day before I moved onto other things, but I know the neighbours where I live now and my last home would certainly not agree to such recording and neither would I.

I wasn’t disagreeing. If anything I was pointing out that EVERY surveillance camera install (and they’re not CCTV, they’re anything but these days) requires authorisation from the ICO. Even if you’re recording inside your own home, you need to put signs up to warn friends, family, contractors, local authority workers, ambulance crews etc. that they are being recorded, and why they are being recorded.

 

[Nasher]

Agreed as per my initial comment:


I used to install CCTV back in the day before I moved onto other things, but I know the neighbours where I live now and my last home would certainly not agree to such recording and neither would I.

Nor would I. It could be people feel pressured to say yes.

Also consent can be withdrawn at any time.

 

[WJA96]

Nor would I. It could be people feel pressured to say yes.

Also consent can be withdrawn at any time.

We generally find it’s a great opportunity to sell a system to the neighbours as well.

Very few people actually give a hoot about what their next door neighbours are up to but everyone likes to feel secure.

And there are some people who don’t want anyone to know what they’re up to. And that’s fine too.

We did a very quick social experiment on a new-build home. We put two intrusion zones on a 180-degree camera. One on the side of the street with the cameras, brightly lit up at night and the other on the other side of the street with no street lighting. Almost everyone hugged the lit side of the road, near the house with the cameras but a very small minority crossed the street rather than be recorded.