Recommend me an internal CCTV camera
Discussion
After a car key burglary last week which resulted in one of my neighbours losing his Golf R, I'm keen to ramp up security a little bit. I'm after a decent quality internal camera which can be placed on top of our hallway cupboards looking out onto the drive through a tiny window. It would be the perfect spot to put something discreet and there is a plug socket right next to it too. I've looked at a few but I have no idea really what is a good or bad quality camera; I know I want something that records with a decent frame rate (again what's good, I don't know?) and can take an SD card. I don't want a great big hard drive or anything like that. Has anyone got something similar that would suit my needs?
There are several problems you're going to face.
All the internal cameras you will have seen, in fact pretty much all the cameras you will have seen use very wide angle lenses. This means the image pixels spread apart rapidly as you move away from the camera. This in turn means you don't capture sufficient detail to make the camera worthwhile. You need clear identification.
Many retailers substitute actual camera images for Digital SLR zoomed in images in their promotional material so you think you're getting something better. They also play the trick of placing subjects really close to the camera. In your case the car is going to be several metres away from the camera. Ultra wide angle cameras might have an effective range under 2 metres.
The other issue you will have is that when it's dark outside and light inside all the camera will see is a black window. If you try to use infra red illumination on the camera you will just get a glare like using a flash by a window on a stills camera.
Cameras that have built in SD cards tend to be the lowest of the CCTV pile and are rarely effective for the reasons mentioned, in particular the wide angle lens.
Frame rates aren't actually that critical. 6 frames per second is fine, that's twice the speed you can blink at.
My suggestion would be external cameras wired into a small 4 channel DVR. This can be connected to your internet router and accessed throughout the house or indeed the world id need be.
Have a look though our CCTV buying guide which will give you some pointers.
Always happy to be contacted during office hours, we can look at your site over the internet and advise on specific equipment. No charge & no obligation.
Henry
All the internal cameras you will have seen, in fact pretty much all the cameras you will have seen use very wide angle lenses. This means the image pixels spread apart rapidly as you move away from the camera. This in turn means you don't capture sufficient detail to make the camera worthwhile. You need clear identification.
Many retailers substitute actual camera images for Digital SLR zoomed in images in their promotional material so you think you're getting something better. They also play the trick of placing subjects really close to the camera. In your case the car is going to be several metres away from the camera. Ultra wide angle cameras might have an effective range under 2 metres.
The other issue you will have is that when it's dark outside and light inside all the camera will see is a black window. If you try to use infra red illumination on the camera you will just get a glare like using a flash by a window on a stills camera.
Cameras that have built in SD cards tend to be the lowest of the CCTV pile and are rarely effective for the reasons mentioned, in particular the wide angle lens.
Frame rates aren't actually that critical. 6 frames per second is fine, that's twice the speed you can blink at.
My suggestion would be external cameras wired into a small 4 channel DVR. This can be connected to your internet router and accessed throughout the house or indeed the world id need be.
Have a look though our CCTV buying guide which will give you some pointers.
Always happy to be contacted during office hours, we can look at your site over the internet and advise on specific equipment. No charge & no obligation.
Henry
For darkness, get a cam that you can turn of the night time LEDs yet still keep it's infrared filter on (loads of switchable versions) and put an infra red light outside (make sure the light is of a compatible wavelength).
No reflection of internal glass and still dark outside yet the cam picks everything up fine.
If you have wi-fi network and think it might be handy to access the camera anywhere, from phone, internet etc and get alerts then you could use something simple like Arlo Q. I have one in my garage. plug into mains, connect to wi-fi and working in 5 mins.
Works great at night too and 2 way audio. The audio I had to turn down the receive sensitivity as cars driving past were sending me alerts all night, otherwise all good
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arlo-Plus-Card-Local-Reco...
Works great at night too and 2 way audio. The audio I had to turn down the receive sensitivity as cars driving past were sending me alerts all night, otherwise all good
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arlo-Plus-Card-Local-Reco...
What are you trying to achieve? Does it matter if the car goes again whether you get good enough pics for a conviction?
Surely you want to prioritise deterrent target then camera quality. Make it look like Fort Knox and you won't need good pictures as your car will still be on the drive.
Surely you want to prioritise deterrent target then camera quality. Make it look like Fort Knox and you won't need good pictures as your car will still be on the drive.
paulrockliffe said:
What are you trying to achieve? Does it matter if the car goes again whether you get good enough pics for a conviction?
Surely you want to prioritise deterrent target then camera quality. Make it look like Fort Knox and you won't need good pictures as your car will still be on the drive.
I'm in the camp where I believe you're better off having "surprise" security than making the house look like Fort Knox. Hence a lot of protection/deterrents inside the garage to safeguard the motorcycles we have. My opinion is that if it looks too secure, thieves will be intrigued as to what I'm trying to protect. Surely you want to prioritise deterrent target then camera quality. Make it look like Fort Knox and you won't need good pictures as your car will still be on the drive.
A big f off camera on the outside just means when a house is cased out they know to go masked up. If they think there is no cameras then there is a chance they may not bother and hopefully reveal themselves accidentally.
V8A*ndy said:
For darkness, get a cam that you can turn of the night time LEDs yet still keep it's infrared filter on (loads of switchable versions) and put an infra red light outside (make sure the light is of a compatible wavelength).
No reflection of internal glass and still dark outside yet the cam picks everything up fine.
This doesn't make sense. If the IR filter is on it won't see IR light.No reflection of internal glass and still dark outside yet the cam picks everything up fine.
I think the point being made is if you disable IR then fit an external IR illuminator make sure the IR cut filter remains in sync.
A few things to consider:
If you're going to fit an external IR light source then aren't you just better off fitting an external camera? Someone will know you have CCTV fitted and the external camera can be fitted in the most optimal position.
Overt or Covert? A question we get asked a lot. My own thoughts are overt. The deterrent factor is high with CCTV. If it puts someone off and you never need to use the system in anger then happy days.
I don't subscribe to the school of thought that says if you have CCTV it alerts people to the fact you have stuff worth nicking. CCTV has been mainstream for a long time now. The same used to be said of house alarms, try finding a house without some sort of bell box fitted these days,
Don't lose sight of the wide angle nature of most cameras offered for sale, particularly internal cameras which tend to be über wide angle. In now I sound like a broken record but can't emphasise enough how quickly detail capture reduces as you move away from these cameras.
I did have a little chuckle to myself at the mention of HIK vision cameras. Just come back from a lovely villa complex in Portugal where it took me about 3 minutes to tap into the HIK Vision cameras fitted in the different buildings and I didn't even have administrator access to the internet router / hub. The IT side of CCTV isn't my strong point, I employ someone for that role so managed to do this as a relative novice.
Henry
A few things to consider:
If you're going to fit an external IR light source then aren't you just better off fitting an external camera? Someone will know you have CCTV fitted and the external camera can be fitted in the most optimal position.
Overt or Covert? A question we get asked a lot. My own thoughts are overt. The deterrent factor is high with CCTV. If it puts someone off and you never need to use the system in anger then happy days.
I don't subscribe to the school of thought that says if you have CCTV it alerts people to the fact you have stuff worth nicking. CCTV has been mainstream for a long time now. The same used to be said of house alarms, try finding a house without some sort of bell box fitted these days,
Don't lose sight of the wide angle nature of most cameras offered for sale, particularly internal cameras which tend to be über wide angle. In now I sound like a broken record but can't emphasise enough how quickly detail capture reduces as you move away from these cameras.
I did have a little chuckle to myself at the mention of HIK vision cameras. Just come back from a lovely villa complex in Portugal where it took me about 3 minutes to tap into the HIK Vision cameras fitted in the different buildings and I didn't even have administrator access to the internet router / hub. The IT side of CCTV isn't my strong point, I employ someone for that role so managed to do this as a relative novice.
Henry
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