Spec me a CCTV System

My parents had a Swann system they got from Costco about 4 years ago and last year, there was an iOS app update and they couldn’t see their cameras on their phones anymore. Why? Swann switched from Dahua to another Chinese OEM for their systems because of the US DoT ban on Dahua and Hikvision and the new app didn’t support the old cameras.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Consumer systems are generally excellent but when something goes wrong they’ll just send you a new camera to replace the one that broke or wash their hands of you past 2 years if the NVR goes down because they’re box shifters not manufacturers with a reputation.

it’s apropos of nothing I suppose but I was called by a massive company that had Dahua body cameras installed 17 years ago by a big security company and a critical one had just died. Everyone they called said they had to replace their system with a modern one but that would have been too big a job for me to tackle and I rang Dahua in Maidenhead to see if there was a modern straight replacement and they said no, but to recover the camera to them and they’d fix it if they could. And they did. £70. And to be completely honest I made no money on that job but the big company did buy a Thermal camera from me and I made enough on that to keep the boss happy!

Dahua and Hikvision have better kit than the consumer stuff, especially now that most of the consumer brands won’t take OEM cameras from them because of the US DoT issues. Pro stuff is quite a bit more expensive than most people want to pay for. I think everyone gets that. Most people should just put up dummy cameras because cheap ones are useless for anything after dark in reality and generally folks are really only after a deterrent. That’s Swann’s market. Reolink are possibly a bit better, but the reality is Reolink GB & Ireland is a website for a Dutch distributor that just drop-ships boxes to customers. And their support is straight replacement, no questions asked. Until they run out of bits and then it’s a whole new system, no questions asked. As I said earlier, it’s an informed decision. Cheap now for lack of support later.
 
There is no doubt that prosumer hardware, like that of Hikvision and Dahau have a lot going for it, at a price.
Our Hikvision kit has been great and that overall cost was reduced significantly by Ali.

They might still be the hardware of choice for our daughters house.

Looking more at Reolink and Amcrest options their stuff seems far more than just average and the PQ seems worth considering. Prices are pretty good to say the least.
Seems a step up over that of what I remember Swann being many years ago.

It's good to have choice and as long as you are making an informed decision understanding their limitations, along with your budget, they might be worth thinking about.
 
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Vimes said:
There is no doubt that prosumer hardware, like that of Hikvision and Dahau have a lot going for it, at a price.
Our Hikvision kit has beef great and that price was reduced significantly by Ali and the prices they were.

Looking more at Reolink and Amcrest options their stuff seems far from rubbish and the PQ seems worth considering. Prices are pretty good to say the least.
Seems a step up over that of what I remember Swann being many years ago.

It's good to have choice and as long as you are making an informed decision understanding their limitations along with your budget they might be worth thinking about.
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I would completely agree. Amcrest is Dahua OEM rebadged (albeit not the latest and greatest Dahua, but it’s perfectly good). As long as you buy it with your eyes open, it’s fine.
 
WJA96 said:
I would completely agree. Amcrest is Dahua OEM rebadged (albeit not the latest and greatest Dahua, but it’s perfectly good). As long as you buy it with your eyes open, it’s fine.
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Interesting about Amcrest.
Sometimes what is under the bonnet isn't always realised or understood as to what it can mean in terms of useable recorded material, especially from night recordings.
Noting that my cameras have the 1/3" sensor size at 3MP, with a reasonable LUX level, for when they were bought, I have been pleasantly surprised at how capable it has been when recording at night, well as capable as you could expect.
I can imagine that the larger sensor cameras could be even better.

Tough sell tho at times when you are looking at £50ish for a Reolink and close to three times that, or more, for a prosumer model. It all stacks up.
 
Not really. If I showed you a Full Colour night camera against a £50 Reolink you’d buy the full colour camera. The difference is staggering. On one system you can see what colour the car is and read the number plate. You can clearly see a face, you can clearly see what colour jacket or shirt someone is wearing. On the other everything is black & white. Number plates are just white blobs and people’s faces get More and more unrecognisable as they get closer to the camera because of ‘white-out’ from the infra-red. You’re installing these things for 5 years plus. That’s a long time to rue saving £250-£400 on a system because the one time you need it, it was little better than useless.

And while a home-owner is easily talked into a black & white night vision system, because the sale happens in the daylight when even the worst cameras look great, business buyers tend to want to see a demo install and then it’s a VERY easy sell.
 
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I suppose I'm thinking more of the domestic environment, without demo. IIRC I remember Hikvision releasing their low light ColoVu cameras. Without IR (LPR is almost guaranteed with no IR reflection) and with LED's full colour at night, in most situations, must be impressive.
What you describe would be as much as a leap from my old analogue VGA cameras to POE and HD.
No wonder that business buyers would be easily convinced after a demo, home buyers too.
I imagine that Dahua do their equivalent of what Hikvision did, in terms of a colour night camera.

Just noted this....

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000269191952.html

seems impressive.
 
Vimes said:
I suppose I'm thinking more of the domestic environment, without demo. IIRC I remember Hikvision releasing their low light ColoVu cameras. Without IR (LPR is almost guaranteed with no IR reflection) and with LED's full colour at night, in most situations, must be impressive.
What you describe would be as much as a leap from my old analogue VGA cameras to POE and HD.
No wonder that business buyers would be easily convinced after a demo, home buyers too.
I imagine that Dahua do their equivalent of what Hikvision did, in terms of a colour night camera.

Just noted this....

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000269191952.html

seems impressive.
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Paper specs look amazing... It has not reviewed well at all. If you want a decent bargain, then the 2MP Dahua is a better bet For actual image clarity. And if I’m not mistaken, that 4MP Hikvision on Ali Express is more expensive than the 5MP (larger, more sensitive detector) Dahua TiOC from Broadband Buyer in the UK. OK, if you buy from Ali Express you get the possibility that you can play the tax avoidance game with HMRC but if you lose, that camera suddenly gets REALLY expensive. And the warranty/return situation varies with individual suppliers.
 
Vimes said:
I suppose I'm thinking more of the domestic environment, without demo. IIRC I remember Hikvision releasing their low light ColoVu cameras. Without IR (LPR is almost guaranteed with no IR reflection) and with LED's full colour at night, in most situations, must be impressive.
What you describe would be as much as a leap from my old analogue VGA cameras to POE and HD.
No wonder that business buyers would be easily convinced after a demo, home buyers too.
I imagine that Dahua do their equivalent of what Hikvision did, in terms of a colour night camera.

Just noted this....

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000269191952.html

seems impressive.
Click to expand...

You are aware there are analogue versions of these cameras as well? And they’re spectacularly cheap vs. The IP cameras.
 
WJA96 said:
Paper specs look amazing... It has not reviewed well at all. If you want a decent bargain, then the 2MP Dahua is a better bet For actual image clarity. And if I’m not mistaken, that 4MP Hikvision on Ali Express is more expensive than the 5MP (larger, more sensitive detector) Dahua TiOC from Broadband Buyer in the UK. OK, if you buy from Ali Express you get the possibility that you can play the tax avoidance game with HMRC but if you lose, that camera suddenly gets REALLY expensive. And the warranty/return situation varies with individual suppliers.
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Thanks for the info. Between what I have / am reading and your advice I'm getting a better understanding at what is currently available for when our daughter wishes to spend money. Warranty and returns with Aliexpress, wow that's a new one on me, in practical terms. Point taken at import duty, some sellers do get quite creative. I'll take a look at the Dahua you refer to.

It was the test by Alistair over at IPcamTalk that first caught my eye of the Hikvision...

https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/revie...l-ipc-t2347g-lu-colorvu-ip-cctv-camera.42747/

...he also wrote a great password unlock tool and other goodies for the Hikvision cameras.

WJA96 said:
You are aware there are analogue versions of these cameras as well? And they’re spectacularly cheap vs. The IP cameras.
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.....you send me on another journey, thanks :)
 
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They work just fine with Hikvision NVRs. They are also fully ONVIF compliant.

[Edit]They will work with an HD-CVI compliant Hikvision NVR.[/Edit]
 
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WJA96 said:
They work just fine with Hikvision NVRs. They are also fully ONVIF compliant.

[Edit]They will work with an HD-CVI compliant Hikvision NVR.[/Edit]
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Thanks, appreciate the std that the Hikvision NVR needs to support for them to work.
 
Evening all,

I'm looking for a one or two simple camera setup to install in the girlfriends new shop. Probably just for looking at the main door and something she can view eaily on iOS. Anything nice, simple and affordable will suffice.
 
Anybody know much about the Swann wifi cams?

Bought one a while ago and quick battery drain resulted in me turning it into a dummy cam, essentially. In this time new app etc has been launched and wifi details changed etc etc

Although I hated it the swann cam, i could walk under neath it set it off and by the time it started recording I was out of shot, or could stand in front of it for ages moving around and nothing happened, in a bit of a need for some added security feeling. So bought the solar panel.

I just can't connect the camera to the new app. Breifly I had the cam's hotspot show on my phone. Camera now appears not to go into pair mode and stays on a pink LED (blue and red light), reset does nothing. Next thing for me to try is factory reset.

Any suggestions?

edit: I think not entering pairing mode was due to charge levels. As plugging into a wall socket has solved that.
I think the app is looking for a different hotspot name than the camera is giving out. As again I can sometimes see a Swann named wifi on my phone, but forcing a connection to this acheives nothing.
 
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I've been helping a neighbor with their Swann camera install and they have one of those swann wifi cameras.
Apparently there was some issue with their app developer that led to them starting over, the new app doesn't pair with the wifi cameras properly (do a search of their support forum) as it expects the wrong wifi ssid during pairing :rolleyes:

I thought it was fixed, or is due to be fixed, with an app update so give that a go - otherwise your waiting for them to pull their finger out and fix it i'm afraid :(
 
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Siliconslave said:
I've been helping a neighbor with their Swann camera install and they have one of those swann wifi cameras.
Apparently there was some issue with their app developer that led to them starting over, the new app doesn't pair with the wifi cameras properly (do a search of their support forum) as it expects the wrong wifi ssid during pairing :rolleyes:

I thought it was fixed, or is due to be fixed, with an app update so give that a go - otherwise your waiting for them to pull their finger out and fix it i'm afraid :(
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Thanks, that's the issue.
Looks like I have some reading to do and possible joining their ever expanding ticket line
 
Picked up some of the Tapo C310 cameras for £35 each. They tick all the boxes from my perspective in terms of connectivity and google integration, you can't really go wrong at this price point albeit they are very much entry level. The lack of PoE is a missed opportunity though, although not something I need.
 
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