ZoneMinder Forums

Hi,

My name is Mike and I am about to start building up my first Zoneminder installation. I am planning on using Debian linux with the Zoneminder package. I am a pretty proficient user and don't fore see that being a bottle neck in any way. Initially I am looking for a first camera. I suppose I would like to stay under $500, but cheaper is better if I can get all my features. Here is a priority list for me:

1) Does not integrate with some "Cloud" offering
2) Wired connection available (can have wireless too)
3) Will show it's local stream from a web interface (I would like it very much if I could navigate to the camera's individual IP and view the stream coming from it in a browser)
4) Night Capable
5) Sound capable

If anyone has an ideas, or cameras that fit most of this that they have had good luck with, I would love to hear about it.

Thanks.

Did you ever arrive at a solution?

I do not own them (yet), but I've concluded the Hikvision 2CD2032 (2132 for dome) is about the best available right now in terms of image quality, and are available gray-market for about $100, although neither has audio.

I have extensive experience with a couple D-Link cube cameras, the DCS-942L (wireless, not POE) and the DCS-2230 (wireless, but the DCS-2210 is the POE version). They do have decent audio support. The D-Link firmware is rather quirky but recent versions have been stable.

Unfortunately ZM does not itself support recording audio, so any audio will have to be direct through the camera.

Grandstream has some nice cameras that seem to fit your list. I have 5 running right now and haven't any major issues, mostly just figuring out the right configuration. Some of them have connections for microphones but I haven't played with that feature so I can't say how well it works. The models I have are under $500, but not sure how much a microphone would add to the cost.

Viewing the feed directly from the camera in a browser seems to be Windows centric, but on a linux system you can view the feed directly using vlc. So linux/firefox to configure the camera's on-board settings, vlc to verify the feed is good. If you're on Windows it should all work through IE at least if not IE & Firefox. I haven't used my Windows system for any of my camera setup/monitoring.

Whatever you choose I recommend POE and a dedicated switch with injectors post switch

Update: I received the Hikvision DS-2CD2032 bullets and have them up and running. They are discreet and the image quality is stunning. The housings are metal and the build feels solid and chunky. I ordered mine from a top-ranked vendor on AliExpress for about $85 apiece. The firmware seems solid and the video stream is thus far reliable. No audio, and these are strictly outdoor, but for the price it's hard to do better. FOV is about 77 degrees horizontal. Hikvision's turret or cameras are well-regarded options for indoor or low-hanging eaves. Networkcameracritic has sample footage on Youtube.