I set CCTV42 up after buying a CCTV kit from Maplins and spending a fair chunk of money, so it's fair to say I'm not a huge fan. On the plus side you can buy a box containing a DVR and a number of cameras cheaply, on the downside my experience was a total lack of qualified advice and products which failed to address our needs. If you want some cameras to film a couple of metres inside then you're in with a chance. If you want to cover larger distances or film outside then you might struggle.
There is a guide for CCTV cameras on our website here:
CCTV camera buying guideThe biggest problem is that the numbers people use when describing their CCTV products are pretty random. the are no industry standards, no way of knowing if the figures are real and the way figures are presented are incredibly misleading.
Take a "25 metre IR" camera. It would be reasonable to assume the camera was designed to film distances up to 25 metres. Unfortunately the IR or Infra red "distance" has no bearing whatsoever on the effective range of the camera. In fact it has little to do with the effective range of the IR either!!
The problem is if the camera has a wide angle lens fitted (as most people assume they need) then the effective range of the camera could be as little as 5 metres. Quite a difference. So the trick is aligning expectations to reality.
Have a read of the guide and if you have any questions feel free to call us. I suspect we are going to be too expensive to supply your equipment. I can't get a price up but I'm guessing yo want to spend a couple of hundred pounds or so. We are going to be £500 plus as a ballpark but I think we can justify the extra cost.
Anyway, always happy to advise on here regardless of whether or not it leads to a sale.
Henry
