Looking for an outdoor Megapixel IP camera

[drvnbysound]

My only concern/issue with ZoneMinder is the lack of updates in the past year(s). While I like that 1) it's free and 2) it runs on Linux... there just hasn't been much movement if any with updates.
 
BlueIris on the other hand, is ~$50, can support up to 64 cameras (not that a residence is going to have that many), and it's been updated a number of times in the past 6 months and new features are being added on a fairly regular basis.

 

[pete_c]

BlueIris is a very nice Windows program and the price is right and support is great.
 
Yup; I have to agree to disagree here as I have been using ZM for around 10 years now.  The updates have always been there.  Thing was it's also been very stable for me such that I have not wanted to update it.
 
Historically it has worked with just about any analog / IP camera right out of the box with no modifications. 
 
It does run headless today.  Most embedded NVR's are Linux today much like Tivo was / is. 
 
I did though just update my two ZM boxes from 1.26.5 to 1.27.1.  It was easy and fast (10 minutes).  I am seeing more features faster than I have seen in the past.  Historically there many subtle changes (well to the engine more than the GUI).
 
Noticed too that now it integrates eyeZM which is an iPhone/iPad application.

 

[standon]

Late to the game, but I've been buying my Hikvision cameras to replace my Acti cameras from about 5 years ago.  Back then I paid several times more than my current Hikvisions, and the IR is much better. For about $120 on aliexpress, I've been converting my cameras one at a time. I use BlueIris as well on an i7 machine, because 3mp per camera adds up.  Unfortunately though, BI needs to have the cameras tuned down to about 2mp to 1mp to work.

 

[damage]

Standon, how many ip cameras are you running with BI?

 

[Monk]

Good stuff! Thanks for the link.

Just a quick helpful note for everyone on this thread...
 
Do yourself a favor and check out the following site. 
 
http://www.networkcameracritic.com/
 
He does great in depth reviews of cameras mounted from the same positions each time.  Both day and night pics and video as well as setup, features, etc.  He also replies to all questions in the subsequent chat sections.  He has reviewed these cameras you discuss (Hikvision, Brickcom, Dahua, Acti, Mobotix, Etc)  as well as others.
 
GREAT site.  He is a regular over at CCTV forum as well.

 

[Monk]

You folks who are using the TrendNet or Hikvision cameras, what NVR are you using? I'm currently using a Geovision NVR with a GV-1480 analog video card. Most of my cameras are analog but I'm moving to IP. With the Geovision NVR, you have to purchase a license dongle to run non-Geovision IP cameras. It's not cheap, about $250 for four cameras.  I don't really want to spend that money if there is a better and cheaper (read free) solution. Anyone using the TrendNet NVR software? pros and cons? Does it allow the use of non-Trendnet IP cameras? I'm assuming I could run the Trendnet or other IP NVR software alongside the Geovision software while I migrate to the IP cameras?

I'm got a mix of cams but my NVR of choice was a Qnap
http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/25103-eight-channel-dvr/?p=203993

 

[drvnbysound]

BlueIris is a very nice Windows program and the price is right and support is great.
 
Yup; I have to agree to disagree here as I have been using ZM for around 10 years now.  The updates have always been there.  Thing was it's also been very stable for me such that I have not wanted to update it.
 
Historically it has worked with just about any analog / IP camera right out of the box with no modifications. 
 
It does run headless today.  Most embedded NVR's are Linux today much like Tivo was / is. 
 
I did though just update my two ZM boxes from 1.26.5 to 1.27.1.  It was easy and fast (10 minutes).  I am seeing more features faster than I have seen in the past.  Historically there many subtle changes (well to the engine more than the GUI).
 
Noticed too that now it integrates eyeZM which is an iPhone/iPad application.

 
http://www.zoneminder.com/downloads
 
Before March of this year, it shows the previous release being 2011... that's a LONG time!

 

[drvnbysound]

Standon, how many ip cameras are you running with BI?

 
I know you didn't ask me, but I recently sold a Core2Quad PC/NVR to a friend who has dedicated it to BI. He is currently running (4) Hikvision cameras (all at 1080p, 30fps) along with an additional indoor camera (unsure of brand, I believe at 640x480, 30fps). The PC runs at about 50-60% with BI application open, TightVNC running, and streaming to the mobile app simultaneously.
 
Having said that, I've also installed BI on an older AMD Dual Core processor. With (2) Grandstream cameras @ 720p, 15fps, it's running around 60-80%.
 
Both of these systems are configured with motion detection on all cameras, and utilizing continuous Direct-to-Disc recording setting.
 
I've just ordered all the parts to custom build a NVR for a client, who is getting the (4) Hikvision cameras mentioned above. This will be an i7 machine, with 16GB RAM, a separate 4TB drive dedicated to video archive, etc. All (4) cameras will be configured to record at 1080p, 30fps.

 

[pete_c]

Yup; that is a long time shown between versions of ZM.  That said there were versions / links posted in the forum.
 
ZM just worked for me though as the releases were stable. 
 
The upgrades only added features where as each version was always stable.
 
I never did find any issues with the software or compatibility relating to different cameras.  
 
Never installed any desktop on any of my ZM boxes always managing the boxes via SSH and ZM via its web GUI. 
 
I have too now downsized the build some while utilizing a smaller footprint case and a faster CPU with more memory and 2.5" SATA drives for a mini NVR look.
 
I did also make ZM/Grandstream IP cams work with my Omnitouch stuff as I transitioned (well still transitioning) from analog to IP cameras.  I am using the proprietary to Grandstream encoder / decoder box which allows this OmniPro II integration for me using the older Omnitouch / CCTV video hub. 

 

[standon]

Standon, how many ip cameras are you running with BI?

 
11 cameras total. 3 are the 3mp Hikvision set at 1280x720. I also have an Arecont camera set to the same 1280x720 resolution. The rest are at 640x480. Almost all the cameras run at 30fps, record clips on motion with pre-trigger frames and 3 of the cameras email me a snapshot and clip on motion.  With BI running as a service it uses 50-60% of my CPU, and around 950,000K of my memory.
 
The system I put it on is an i7 920 with 12GB of ram, a 10 year old vga video card for local video, running Windows Home Server 2011 and 12TB of hdd's pool together (only 8TB dedicated to clip storage). The data backs up to Crashplan (crashplan is a memory hog as well) and a file server I run. It's also my master server for CQC.

 

[jdk972003]

Good stuff! Thanks for the link.

No problem!
 
Sadly I have not gotten to the camera stage yet but I try to stay up to speed on the options.
 
I think the NVR side of the equation is more the issue now a days.  I would ideally like a 1080p 30fps camera with audio and alarm connections AND edge recording (straight to SD card and/or NAS).  That way the camera does all the work and it gives you redundancy on getting access to the recordings.  The server was stolen or burned up? No problem, grab the SD card directly from the camera.
 
Brickcom was right there but lacked on resolution and price.
 
I think one of the China made cameras will add that NAS recording sooner or later.

 

[damage]

thanks drvnbysound & standon for the data points!

 

[smolino]

Put up my replacement TrendNet TV-IP310PI camera the other day, the image looks great, both problems are gone, must have been a defective camera. I've ordered a couple more IP310PI's and one Hikvision DS-2CD2132 dome camera to continue my migration from analog to IP.
 
I'm still undecided on an NVR solution. I like the Geovision software which is free if you use Geovision IP cameras (which are REALLY pricey). Their price to license non-Geovision IP cameras is fairly high, about $60 per camera depending on how many cameras you license on the dongle. That adds significantly to the cost per camera. I have two Geovision IP cameras (GV-BL220 and GV-CB220) which I would not like to trash if I move to another NVR solution but at $60 per camera to stay with Geovision, I guess it doesn't take too long to spend the cost of the Geovision cameras I already own. I have done trial installs of BlueIris, Genius Vision, and the TrendNet software and can't get any of them to connect to my Geovision cameras. I have tried configuring the various programs to "Geovision" cameras and "ONVIF" with no success.
 
I may try a couple more NVR trials to see if I can find something that will connect with the Geovision GV-BL220 camera.

 

[Dogman]

+1 for Hikevision and BlueIris.  I have 3 3MP Hikevision cameras  and use Blue Iris on my I7 server with no issues what so ever.  My server also is my CQC server and my Squeezeserver as well and never have any issues.  As above post says networkcameracritic.com is a great resource with objective info at least from what I can tell. i was originally going to spring for either motobix or AXIS IP cameras but after reading that site I decided to buy one Hikevision camera at 1/4 the cost of those others and tried it for a couple of months to see how it did.  Needless to say it convinced me to get a few more.  I am sure the AXIS or Motobix are still of much higher build quality but the Hikevisions I bought do what I need.

 

[smolino]

My current NVR PC is an i7, 8gb ram and 12tb of disk storage. I currently run a Geovision GV-1480 analog card with 11 analog cameras and 4 IP cameras. My intent is to migrate all cameras to IP, all being 3mp and run at that resolution.
 
What's everyone's opinion on the ability of that PC and Blueiris to run that configuration?