CCTV installers - Best cameras on market

[aero93]

What cameras would you recommend?

Thinking of putting in CCTV at new house soon and started off with a budget of approx £1,000 for 5 cameras but quality is the critical factor so could go up to £2,500 if it really made a difference and would like notifications to go through to iPhone.

Should I be purchasing a mix of day/night cameras? Anything on the market that can create profiles for scenarios i.e 1. @ Home keep Camera 1 (cars on drive) for notifications enabled but Camera 2 Garden notifications disabled. 2. @Night All cameras notifications enabled etc..
Previous experience of:

Arlo - Loved how fast notifications came through, but video quality not great and quite a few false alerts (cats/foxs)
Ringdoorbell - Notifications were good (missed a few movements) and not many false alerts but also hit and miss with video quality.

[VEX]

For Door/Gate Intercom have a look at DoorBird, great little system.

For CCTV, we use Videcon and Dahua. But mostly look for cameras with 'Starlight' tech in them as the night video image is very good.

£1k is low for quality, but acceptable, depends on who is fitting it and what it is as to weither you will hit your upper budget.

V.

[HantsRat]

You can't go wrong with HikVision.

[eliot]

HantsRat said:

You can't go wrong with HikVision.

Indeed - and they are far cheaper than the price the op is throwing around.

[SGirl]

HantsRat said:

You can't go wrong with HikVision.

This. We've had HikVision cameras installed for several years now, they're pretty good.

[eliot]

I've seen the pictures that the 5MP TVI domes produce (DS-2CE56H0T-IT3ZE) and they are very impressive and good value (not on ebay)

[tescorank]

Hikvision, I see they use these on cruise ships so if they work in the “marine” environment, well says it all..

[aero93]

I have spoke to a couple of local installers but not that impressed so far.. They seem to want to sell me their package (i.e 6x8MP cameras+NVR) all the same model etc. I get from the impression on reading on Ipcamtalk that a mixture of type of cameras would be best.

Anyone here use Blue Iris? Or any recommendations for a camera (Hikvision or Dahua) that is a good allrounder to buy and test out? Maybe turret style??

I am thinking of sticking Blue Iris on a PC, getting a small POE switch (also any recommendations?)and having a play around with a camera before making a larger purchase.

[davek_964]

To be honest, for your requirements of mixed cameras etc. - speak to CCTV42 (Henry's company). It's exactly the kind of stuff he talked about a lot when he used to post on threads like this - specific cameras to suit specific areas, rather than a bundled package.

[aero93]

VEX said:

For Door/Gate Intercom have a look at DoorBird, great little system.

For CCTV, we use Videcon and Dahua. But mostly look for cameras with 'Starlight' tech in them as the night video image is very good.

£1k is low for quality, but acceptable, depends on who is fitting it and what it is as to weither you will hit your upper budget.

V.

Hi Vex, Any experience of Hikvision? Any reason you prefer Dahua?

[sparkythecat]

Camera positioning, lens choice and lighting are far more important considerations than equipment brand names.
You can buy the best kit in the world, but if you don't get the basics right you will inevitably be disappointed with the results.
If you are a cctv novice, Henry from cctv42 has some good video tutorials on his website.

[Brother D]

Hikvision and Dahua are basically pretty much the same, and both work with each other's NVRs. While the cameras are typically 80GBP each and the NVR around 200, most of the cost you are quoted will be for labour routing the cables around the property. 1500 sounds about right for 6 camera install as that would be about 800 in materials.

It's pretty easy to do it yourself if you are so inclined and there are many youtube videos on how to set everything up.

Do you need remote access to the CCTV?

(PS I though Henry wasn't very pro IPCCTV?)

[aero93]

Brother D said:

Hikvision and Dahua are basically pretty much the same, and both work with each other's NVRs. While the cameras are typically 80GBP each and the NVR around 200, most of the cost you are quoted will be for labour routing the cables around the property. 1500 sounds about right for 6 camera install as that would be about 800 in materials.

It's pretty easy to do it yourself if you are so inclined and there are many youtube videos on how to set everything up.

Do you need remote access to the CCTV?

(PS I though Henry wasn't very pro IPCCTV?)

Yeah not loads on Henrys website for IPCCTV -

Yes I will need remote access to the CCTV.

Quotes were roughly £2000 inc VAT for 5 cameras (8mp) and install. Worked it out to about £750-£800 for labour. Thats why I started to look at Blue Iris for the flexibility. I will have to get someone in to do the cabling and fitting of the cameras but I can prob do the Blue Iris setup..