IP Cameras - Recommendations?

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › IP Cameras - Recommendations?

funnyfela

350 posts

Ultimate Geek

#283809 13-Mar-2021 16:35

Hey all,

So my church got broken into. If theres a positive, it gave the push required to get more cameras.

We inherited a Panasonic NL316k (16 port IP NVR, poe) free from my work during an upgrade to bigger system. We have 2 Panasonic Dome IP's, 1 Panasonic Ball-style IP and are borrowing a UNV ball style while we decide. The recorder also picked up the ONVIF stream from a generic aliexpress camera we had lying at my house (not POE so we just played with it) so Brand isn't a big deal.

The dome style don't seem to be popular anymore I've noticed, and we noted that the picture at night suffered from glare easily. So are leaning toward ball-in-housing style.

We don't need fancy features. . Don't need expensive ones. Just need something that will give an IP stream, at decent quality, ONVIF and POE.

Any suggestions to get best bang for buck? We don't have a budget as such, but the price will determine how many we can get. And where from, that isn't aliexpress haha.

(Cabling isn't an issue, we'll be climbing through the roof/terminating/mounting them) This is just new territory for myself and my friend.

Cheers :D

If you have to run heating in winter, you don’t own enough computers.

MarkM536

309 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2673939 13-Mar-2021 18:41

Best bang for buck has to be Dahua / Hikvision. But they are Chinese with their own ethical rights issues... (Hikvison is used in most Chinese concentration camps.)

There is a REALLY GOOD seller of legitimate Dahua on aliexpress, that is Empireandy https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1200032?. I've bought from him before and there's no difference to locally bought. He provides support and is very active on https://ipcamtalk.com/ .

Aside from the Chinese sellers of Hik/Dahua; Axis and Avigilon is great. I've got Axis amongst my Dahua stuff. If you've got the money then I highly recommend it.

Other brands are shady; Reolink, Swann, Concord and basically every other hardware store brand is cheap with a terrible app.

There's not much labelling to their original manufacture, but IPVM.com has hinted to RaySharp for these brands. It's nice to know the manufacture, but there's no for certainty in the apps or support. I struggled getting Swann apps to work because they'd make updates for a year then move onto the next app.

I will warn that Dahua/ Hikvision/ Uniview (and a few more Chinese brands) have sanctions from the United States, this lead to ONVIF group denying privileges to the protocol. I haven't found any issues, but you might see them down the track.

--------

Dome style is going out of fashion. Not just because of dirt causing IR glare but because of them yellowing in the sun.

"Ball style" (Eye ball or Turret) is becoming more popular. You'll see far more 'Turret' style with the IR in a separate window, same deal with IR glare.

'Eye ball' style is like the dome with IR lights around the lens and behind the same window.

technician14

122 posts

Master Geek

#2674167 14-Mar-2021 10:04

Theres lots to choose from, I recommend dahua systems easy to install and maintain, works on phones, computers etc and 3rd party cameras work eg axis, bosch and hikvision, aliexpress cams too

Domes are good for indoors where people can reach to turn them etc and light is on lots eg hotels and shops

Turret and bullet cams are more popular tho

pih

649 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2674243 14-Mar-2021 15:22

Another plug for Dahua.

Just be careful though, like many cameras out there out of the box they are insecure and easily accessed, or even hijacked for botnets: change the default passwords and go through the settings with a fine-toothed comb (there are a lot), and disable anything you don't need. Ideally isolate them on their own DMZ if possible.

A couple of examples to illustrate: In the older cameras the (firmware) root password was leaked online, and telnet was enabled by default(!). In the last lot I bought for work (several years ago now) there was a setting enabled by default to allow remote access to the video stream via Dahua's web server just by entering in the serial number (and the serial numbers were not randomised, it appeared from the batch we got to be close to sequential, perhaps with a check digit).

Don't let this put you off - these are not issues isolated to Dahua, this sort of thing is rife in the low end camera market unfortunately. But bang for buck Dahua and Hikvision are good and can be properly secured with a bit of work.

funnyfela

350 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2676532 18-Mar-2021 15:30

Thanks the replies, looks like the one experience I had with dahua was isolated.

And the nvr keeps the cameras on its own network /range separate from Internet so even less to worry 👍

If you have to run heating in winter, you don’t own enough computers.

dfnt

1511 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2676601 18-Mar-2021 16:21

The reolink app is actually pretty good now fwiw

GeekGuy

590 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2679994 24-Mar-2021 20:20

I bought a Dahua Starlight cam of Empireandy (Empire Technology Co., Ltd) years ago and never had a problem with it or him.

I recently bought a basic NVR of him and am just waiting for it to arrive.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2682025 28-Mar-2021 15:45

MarkM536:
There is a REALLY GOOD seller of legitimate Dahua on aliexpress, that is Empireandy https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1200032?. I've bought from him before and there's no difference to locally bought. He provides support and is very active on https://ipcamtalk.com/ .

It's still grey-market stuff, which means you could be on shaky ground if something goes wrong. If you want legit, supported stuff, buy it under the Amcrest brand.

Not saying there's anything dodgy about Empireandy, he's just bypassing the standard sales and support channels which can leave you out on a limb if there are problems.

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neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2682032 28-Mar-2021 15:47

pih: Another plug for Dahua.

Just be careful though, like many cameras out there out of the box they are insecure and easily accessed, or even hijacked for botnets: change the default passwords and go through the settings with a fine-toothed comb (there are a lot), and disable anything you don't need. Ideally isolate them on their own DMZ if possible.

Or put them all behind an NVR and secure that, which is what I've done. That way you only need to protect a single point of access rather than a random collection of cameras.

MarkM536

309 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2682057 28-Mar-2021 17:57

neb:
MarkM536:

There is a REALLY GOOD seller of legitimate Dahua on aliexpress, that is Empireandy https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1200032?. I've bought from him before and there's no difference to locally bought. He provides support and is very active on https://ipcamtalk.com/ .

It's still grey-market stuff, which means you could be on shaky ground if something goes wrong. If you want legit, supported stuff, buy it under the Amcrest brand. Not saying there's anything dodgy about Empireandy, he's just bypassing the standard sales and support channels which can leave you out on a limb if there are problems.

Andy does supply firmware updates and provides help.

Most of which is posted on IPCT.