Recommendation for outdoor camera?

[sammael]

Hi,
I've seen the compatibility list but honestly it's so long it doesn't really help me choose. I'm wondering if anybody has an experience with and can recommend an outdoor camera with IR for night, full hd, no cloud or mobile app nonsense pure IP only (wireless preferred), waterproof, able to withstand temperatures from -10 to 30 degrees celsius that can send out rtsp stream with username and password (my flatmate likes to snoop around on local LAN and calls it "penetration" testing) that's compatible with zoneminder, purchasable from uk amazon (or ebay).

Many thanks for any suggestion.

[Magic919]

Have a look at Hikvision turrets. It'll have to be an old one to be HD res. It won't be wireless and I think that's a good thing.

[winstontj]

We have five of these (domes): https://www.amazon.com/Anpviz-Microphon ... B07PNF7DQT
and two of these (bullet): B08POE-3MPL-A https://sv3c.com/product-item/b08poe-5mpl-a/

We got them all on Amazon. Except for one single dome camera, they are all great... But they are all running PoE and not wireless compatible. Wireless is tough: Batteries, WiFi... Not always reliable, etc. If you want privacy and no online/cloud then you'll probably also want to run on copper (hard-wired).

You mention "penetration testing". The cameras I have (referenced above) are all open to brute force attacks --meaning they don't time out after N failed login attempts, they have no trusted IP or MAC filtering, etc. If you care about privacy I'd hard-wire everything you can.

Cheers

[RedHeart]

I too am looking for a recommendation for an INEXPENSIVE camera (no pan or tilt needed, 1080p preferred, IP, MUST BE WiFi, and I will NOT be using it with a phone or tablet)... we have two desktops (we both work from home) - one W10 and one Ubuntu and both computers will be used with the camera while working. Indeed, once I get it set up, I'm going to set our router to allow the camera to communicate with our computers only... no access to the 'cloud' or internet whatsoever. We need something so we can see if someone comes in our driveway (or something, we have had bad vicious dog problems lately). Since it's IP, if I need to watch it from a tablet, I can do that by connecting to our router's WiFi (the desktop have ethernet) - but I won't be doing it remotely. Oh, and it has to be really weatherproof/waterproof, as we live in Florida (rain and humidity all the time).

If I have to use an android app to set it up, that's an irritant but I can live with that, as long as I can do everything from my desktop after that. This, however, is firm: NO hardwiring. It must be WiFi because of where it will be placed (and we live in a lightning-prone area). (AC is available for the camera.)

I've been asking around and cannot afford the $100 to $500 'recommended' cameras that people have pushed at me. We're on very limited means (our pay isn't great) and I'd hoped someone with experience with a inexpensive camera could make a recommendation.

[winstontj]

Here is one that is on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Security-Surveil ... 154&sr=8-2

I don't know anything about that brand but it's WiFi and seems to fit most of your requirements. As with everything else... You usually get what you pay for.

The cheap dome and bullet cameras we have work fine. I'm not sure how waterproof they really are. No problems after over a year of use (under soffits, somewhat protected from direct rain/snow). Only thing I'd say is that with a $35 price... If you can get a year or two out of a "water proof" camera... Consider it disposable. If it dies after a year or two, just buy a new one.

The only thing I really don't like about the cameras we have (linked to in earlier post) is the pigtails. They are really short. I'd rather have them be longer --or have the power and Ethernet cables plug directly into the unit vs. the short pigtails. For the domes it's fine (they connect in the soffit boxes) but the bullet cameras connect up at our roof peaks and at gable ends of the house. Those pigtails barely reach inside the house and the connections are really crappy. Again, it would be nice if the pigtails were either much longer --or non-existent. (plug power/Ethernet directly into camera's board, inside the camera housing)

In terms of WiFi: The 2.4ghz frequency has better building and wall penetration so not the end of the world that a camera doesn't have a 5ghz radio. It ended up being that what I wanted in a camera was the cheapest version of the product line (PoE, no SD card). I wouldn't want an SD card for storage. I think that would be a royal pain in the backside. We are in New England. For us, with our cameras and ZM: Snow is the devil... When it snows big-flakes... ZM thinks that's a motion event. When the sun comes out and melts the snow off the roof and water drops down... ZM thinks each drip is a motion event. Also --if we don't park our cars in the driveway in the same exact spot --birds or clouds overhead reflecting in the car windshields cause motion events. This is part of the reason why I want to add some GPU processing for AI recognition, to avoid motion events like that. But with something WiFi that has an SD card: I feel like we would fill up a 32GB SD card in a day (probably about two-three weeks).


The dome camera I'm having an issue with (is also PoE, hard-wired, no WiFi)... I flashed an OLDER firmware version on it so all of our cameras are now running the same firmware --and it's now fine. Not sure what happened but seems like there was an issue with that firmware.

Also regarding SD cards: Not sure if you'd want to keep your files/data or not but when you fill up an SD card, you may want a second card to change out so you can copy over the files. That'll add cost. At that point it may be worth considering spending a little more on a camera with more features.

Good luck with the camera search!

[RedHeart]

Thanks! I'd looked at the brand you linked to... but wasn't sure how it would work with our system and if it REQUIRED an app to be used (we have one of those Harbor Freight wireless "WiFi" systems, but it only works with THEIR app). I've tried with absolutely no luck to get that system {Cobra} to work with Zoneminder.

(The Cobra system has been reliable and does a pretty good job, but it looks like it goes to a cloud account and you have to have their app to view.)

With us, it's limbs growing down into the view area and then hit by gusts of wind during the daily Tstorms - I filled a 64gb drive in about 4 months. Our kitties also occasionally trigger them, but we don't mind that very much.

If the camera you linked to would work with Zoneminder, I think we'll get one.

Thanks again!

[burger]

Be careful when buying cheap, no name brand cameras. Poor quality cameras can become maintenance headaches.

Wired is always better. There are surge protectors if lightning is a concern.

See: https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Beginner_hardware

[dougmccrary]

Boavision has some pretty cheap.
I have two, and so far working pretty well.
Setup is a tad tricky, but doable. PTZ might be a problem with zm, but I don't really use it...

[Magic919]

I wouldn’t bother to engage with the spammers.