Over the past few months, California legislation has caused an uptick in low-level street crime — we’ve definitely noticed the results citizen-side: more petty thefts, break-ins and overall mischief. Given that our Eichler-built homes have no windows to the street, security cameras have become a great option to not only monitor who’s at the door, but give overall piece of mind.
After having lived in a very bad part of West Oakland, we got into the digital security camera game early (2003)… our fist camera was a 640X480 pixel camera that recorded onto our first-generation Mac Mini… Cameras — and services — have come a long way in the past decade and folks are beginning to hop on board. Last night, I attended a neighborhood watch meeting and the topic of camera came up and I promised to share the information I have/had:
Generally camera systems break down into two categories and then a few more past that. Finding the camera system that works for you is important as it will do no good if it’s not on or if it’s not recording.
Analog: Analog camera are probably hard to find today, but they recorded footage onto tape and used technology that’s been phased out over the past decade. These are the old-school systems you saw in the 80s and 90s. Camera were large and the quality was low. The tapes were tedious to review
Digital: Digital cameras are broken down into two camps: CCTV and IP cameras.
- CCTV: CCTV-digital is very similar to the analog camera systems except that they record things digitally onto a hard-drive instead of a tape.The digital versions of the cameras are also generally high quality and often have infrared/night-vision capabilities. These are the kind of units you get at Costco — they are generally fairly high quality and do not require a wi-fi network in your home to run. They are also relatively inexpensive and do not require month monitoring costs. The downside is that they often have a very heavy bundle of cables required to hook them up and — having the recording on-site — are susceptible in a fire or a more robust theft (i.e.: thieves can steal or destroy the recorder). Often, too, the footage is hard to retrieve or see and the units don’t always link back to other services (smartphone apps)… although that is changing a bit.
- IP: IP (Internet Protocol) cameras broadcast a web-enabled camera feed that is either recordable on your computer or by a service. The cameras that you security system (Xfinity, etc.) provide are IP cameras and report back to a server on their side and become part of their ecosystem (apps, etc.). IP cameras are generally more expensive and require some sort of data network in your home (or a network established by your security system) — either wireless or wired. The wireless cameras are generally very easy to place requiring only a thin power cable. Wired units are more robust, but require an ethernet cable and a power cable to hook to your data network. Storage of the footage on-site requires a computer to be running 24/7 (like a home server or media computer). Storage off-site requires a monthly monitoring fee. These cameras are also often linked with other services and you can see what’s going on in your home via your smartphone.
My favorite of the above is the IP camera — specifically DropCam.com … the Dropcams are very high quality and have infrared/night capabilities. You can have one up and running in 10 minutes. They’re easy to mount and position and they look nice — which is a bonus. They do require a robust wi-fi signal in your home and sometimes require a signal-repeater near the units (i.e.: if your wireless gateway is on the other side of the house, they might have a hard time operating and you might need to install a signal booster in between the two). They can also cut down on your overall network speed. However, the footage is clear, stored off-site, and accessible via an app on my smart-phone. Drop cam was recently purchased by Nest (Google), so I’d expect their services to improve over the next few years.
In any case, as it’s been said about still cameras: “The best camera is the one you have with you”… you might say about security cameras: “The best camera is the one that’s installed and recording”...
Also, sharing is very important... to that point, I've started a website/e-community called Claycord Cams ... Presently, it's a Facebook page but it should allow folks to share information and ask questions. Sign up today!
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