Hi everyone

Quick one, there's been some kids creating bother round my way, throwing stones at windows and smashing them as well as slashing car tires.

I'm looking to fit some cctv to the front of the house to keep an eye out on the front and the cars parked across the road in the parking bays. Not looking to spend a fortune however looking for some pointers and feedback from systems you have.

Needs to have a viewing range of no more than 20m and must be good for night viewing. Doesn't need to be an outdoor camera as it could be fixed in the window in the kitchen and look out so any suggestions welcome as there's so many options available I'd rather get one that's tried and tested and with a good recommendation.

Thanks in advance

 

I went for a Swann system from Maplin. 1080p resolution, good night vision, can be set to record 24/7 or just when they sense movement. You can get the system to alert you via email under certain conditions, loss of feed or movement between certain times etc.

Easy to install and setup. Not mega cheap I guess but an HD four camera system can be had for around £320. Cheaper if you have less cameras or lower resolution.

App works pretty well for remote viewing too on your phone/tablet.

 

check out the Tenvis range of cameras, only about 25 each and you can view remotely as they connect via wireless - easy to set up too and you can run several cameras using their app.

I have 2 of them here and they are reliable and can record too several ways, either SD card or pushing a image via FTP.

 

I would of thought 4k camera and lots of infra red led lamps would give superb night time video. Some cameras are stand alone others hd recorder. Hikvision are very popular

 

I upgraded mine recently .. probably more than you want to spend, but pretty decent.

Got the cameras in grey though

https://www.hdcctv.co.uk/products/hd...k8vvp1080.html

and 2TB drive

 

Some cams can even give good colour images if outdoor lighting is good enough. But sharpness of image may be worsened as the image will be noisier:

Some examples: This is a Hikvision 4K bullet IP camera with EXIR rated for 50meters (EXIR not activated): Premises lit by 7watt LED bulbs (Philips 800lm filament style ). Pretty good considering most of the light in the area is from those lights you can see.




Nightvision with same cam (after exterior lights turned off; Zero light pollution as its out in the sticks). With EXIR activated.




EXIR LEDs (external infrared LED which is one or two large LED chips mounted a few cm away from the lens ) are the best for nightvision, although the CCD used in the camera will also dictate its sensitivity. Higher resolution (4K) does not automatically mean a sharper picture (just a bigger one). Generally speaking dome cameras (lens hidden behind a glass/plastic dome). Give the worst night image quality as the glass's cleanliness affect the image. Second worst (and most common) will be cameras that use shower-head style LEDs (lots of little LEDs in a circle)

Need to advise if you put your camera behind a window, you CANNOT use the built-in infrared as all you will get is white bounce-back, you can get round this by disabling the internal infrared LEDs and using exterior infrared floodlighting.


Now two points about Hikvision; unfortunately they are no longer officially available to the British public for DIY install. Although you maybe able to get grey imports or rebranded versions from other sources (in which case warranty and firmware may differ). Secondly, you will need an IT-based skill set to work out how to configure them and get remote access.

I've used these two retailers a number of times and both have been helpful:

www.cctvkits.co.uk
www.use-ip.co.uk

There is lots of stuff out there. So prepare to be overwhelmed out there, but it can be narrowed down some what:

DIY all included kit like Swann, lesser quality/technology but easier to get up and running. Some cheapish (Coax standard definition with poor IR) some expensive (HD or IP). This should be the most simple.

Coax systems can be either standard def, or HD, use coax cable plus power leads. Will always need a recorder and all signal cables will need to attach to it. Probably the cheapest option.

IP systems use cat5 network cable for signal and power, don't need a recorder, could use a PC, NAS, or some cams have built in SD card slots for storage, not all cameras have to be directly connected to a recorder and can go via network switches, so long as they have POE (power over Ethernet). Image size can go up to 4K and more inter-brand comparability (check CCTV forums though).