Security camera recommendations

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Emhall72

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Good evening folks,
This afternoon I was approached by one of my local law enforcement officers and it was suggested that I invest in security cameras. I am taking this as a "word to the wise" moment and am looking into getting a set of security cameras. Anyone have any suggestions for a good setup? Right now I'm leaning towards a set of indoor/outdoor POE cameras with recorder. I'd rather handle my own storage than pay a monthly fee. My budget is flexible but ~$500 would be ideal.
Thanks!
 
Depends on your level of knowledge and how much you want to be involved for em.

turnkey with easy set up. Amcrest.
 
Blueiris, an basic PC with a beefy HD, POE cameras off amazon, a POE switch. I like the reolink 5MP indoor/outdoor cameras. You can also get IR illuminators for more night vision. I've got some cheap 12v illuminators and it's like having a flood light on.
 
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noway2 said:
Hey, @Jayne ... this be your specialty, right?
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It is, or was, maybe not a speciality but I'm still running my 26 camera setup. :)

Mine is all homebrew with Blue Iris and a variety of IP cams, but there are probably 'better' turnkey systems on the market now in the OPs price range.

My beef with most the systems now is they're strictly proprietary for no reason other than vendor lock-in (we have standards now, no reason to be doing your own thing unless you're trying to be obtuse on purpose), and love to find ways to make you pay forever for something.
 
I run D-Link cameras at my business and home, they constantly record to the cloud (or motion activated) and you have access to the last 24 hours for free. You can pay a plan to have the videos saved longer. So far so good.
 
Lots of good looking options so far, will definitely be doing some research into these. Any idea how many megapixels would be required to say catch a license plate driving by?
 
Emhall72 said:
Lots of good looking options so far, will definitely be doing some research into these. Any idea how many megapixels would be required to say catch a license plate driving by?
Click to expand...

Depending on the distance from the proposed camera location to the road that might be a mighty tall order. You might have to find a way to covertly get a camera into position closer to the road.
 
I did (at the time) the simplest and possibly cheapest thing and bought a four camera Lorex package from Best Buy online. It was a wired system. I've since added three more cameras and have a port that I could add one more to. I also swapped out the 1TB drive that came with it for a 6TB.

I haven't caught any burglars yet, but I did find out the gutter installer did not even touch the gutter I asked him to repair. And it does come in very handy when USPS says they delivered your package, but it's not on the porch.
 
Emhall72 said:
Lots of good looking options so far, will definitely be doing some research into these. Any idea how many megapixels would be required to say catch a license plate driving by?
Click to expand...
Moving objects are really hard to capture clearly. I doubt you will find a kit or cheap camera of any kind capable of this feat. lenses, pixels, framerate, processing power (bandwidth) all play a part. cheap cameras boast high pixel density at the expense of the other factors.
 
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