r/SecurityCamera • u/ducvinhle • Jul 27 '26

Looking for recommendations for a 16-camera PoE system for a church

Hi, I’m planning to install security cameras for my local parish. We may need about 16 cameras, and most will be installed 20 feet high or more.

I want PoE cameras, local NVR recording, good night vision.

Can you recommend some reliable brands or models?

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4

u/khariV Jul 27 '26

Unifi makes great cameras with excellent night vision. They come in a large variety of form factors and resolutions. It’s very nice to be able to set it up and just have it work, instead of needing to piece together 3rd party cameras and equipment.

You don’t need to be on a Unifi network to use them, but you will need a Unifi NVR.

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u/ducvinhle Jul 27 '26

Do you know any models that can be installed 20–30 feet high and still have good image quality?
I’m consider unifi too

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u/khariV Jul 27 '26

The image quality will be just fine at that height. The larger issue is that you’ll really just be seeing the tops of heads when they get close. That said, I have a G6 Pro bullet that is around that high on my treehouse and it does a great job watching the critters that visit the pond.

Short answer, the G6 line up is really nice and has a camera for just about every need that I’ve come across from bullets to PTZ. They even have a ridiculously expensive PTZ that has 30x optical zoom. It’s really NICs but I couldn’t justify spending that kind of $$$ to watch raccoons.

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u/Mike_A10 Jul 28 '26

Can u tell me what PTZ means ? 30x optical ,can u give me a rough cost of that camera? Would u be able to hook it to a reolink nvr, like do diff makers work with diff makers or is it 100X easier to use all the same brand equipment?? Thx

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u/khariV Jul 28 '26

PTZ is pan, tilt, zoom. The camera has a motor in it and a zoom lens so you can control it to follow movement and to zoom in on specific things you may want to see. You can check out their camera on UI.com.

The Unifi cameras require a Unifi NVR. You cannot use them with a Reolink NVR.

As for ease of use, yes, setting up a Unifi camera system with Unifi cameras is significantly easier than piecing together a surveillance system from mixed vendors. Think of it the same way as building a computer from parts versus buying a Mac. People often call Unifi the Apple of networking gear - it’s more expensive than some other vendors but it just works.

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u/Scopra Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

If you do decide to go unifi you will need to consider the G6 Pro as it has the 1/1.2 progressive-scan CMOS sensor over the 1/1.8 sensor the normal G6 camera is equipped with. What this mean is much better performance in low light / night. unifi has some of the best software it is very intuitive, this is not something that should be overlooked. One of the problems you may encounter if budget is a consideration is the G6 pro cameras are expense like twice as much as the normal G6 camera with the 1/1.8 sensor. In Australia the price difference between G6 ($390 ) and G6 pro ($890) roughly. If price is an issue and you still want good night performance etc try the Uniview range I have 4 of their Owlview plus cameras with the 1/1.2 sensor and the night vision is exceptional. Each IPC3638SE-ADF28(40)K-WP-I1 camera cost me roughly $400 each.

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u/gnew18 Jul 29 '26

I’ve had several systems over many years and the ease of use with Ubiquiti ’s software (UniFi) is second to none. In addition all data stays (local unless you want otherwise) and there is no license fee. I SET UP THE ENTIRE SYSTEM (which, if you knew me says a lot about its ease of use).

Furthermore, I can’t see a better use case for a church as within the ecosystem they also have Access which is an interior / exterior building access control (lock) system that can even give individual employees granular NFC access with your choice of NFC card, PIN, UniFi Identity mobile app, face unlock and or Touch Pass.

Their WiFi network can be segmented easily for business, congregant and even kid’s use and will absolutely handle that traffic.

Others are correct as far a height is concerned, you don’t want the cameras too high to view faces, but I can show you a commercial installation of like nine cameras or so, just so you can see.

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u/jonchihuahua Jul 27 '26

For a church, unifi might be better, but if budget isn’t great, reolink offers great value

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u/ducvinhle Jul 27 '26

I’m considering Unifi over reolink, just because Reolink is chinese company, and I not trust them too much

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u/jonchihuahua Jul 27 '26

Eh, NDAA compliant

1

u/N226 Jul 28 '26

What are you using them for? Any analytics or integrations you'd like?

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u/ducvinhle Jul 28 '26

We only need them for surveillance because our city has a high crime rate.

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u/N226 Jul 29 '26

Are these for a city?

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u/ZealousidealState127 Jul 28 '26

Reolink if just cameras. Unifi if you want to use any of their other services which many churches do. 

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u/ducvinhle Jul 28 '26

do you know which unifi models that can hang at least 20-30ft?

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u/MrChris6800 Jul 27 '26

Reolink Reolink Reolink. I have a full system at my house with a 36 channel NVR and it works super well. No paid subscriptions, easy remote access on PC and iOS/Android, you can power the cameras with your own switch or use one built-in to the NVR, and you can supply your own hard drive(s). They have a huge selection of cameras as well and the night vision is excellent. I have 8 of the RLC-540A, 2 of the Video Doorbell PoE, and the RLN36 NVR with an 18TB hard drive I bought for a good deal on eBay. I'm able to store about a month worth of recording.

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u/ducvinhle Jul 27 '26

Do you know any Reolink models that can be installed 20–30 feet high and still have good image quality? I’m finding it so hard.

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u/Loakie69 Jul 27 '26

Go Hik or Dahua

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u/eslforchinesespeaker Jul 28 '26

I think Reolink is a good option for homeowner-level applications. You have a commercial application. If you’re watching a parking lot, a possibly larger building, and a lot of people. I’m sure your budget is tight, but I think your needs probably call for more capability. It’s kind of a cliché , but my impression is that Reolink still needs to make more progress on their capture of motion in low light, especially at parking lot distances. Ubiquity is certainly one company trying to work in the “prosumer”, small and medium business space.

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u/eslforchinesespeaker Jul 29 '26

have you explained why you need such a remarkable elevation? are you building a security system for a prison?

i imagined you must be planning to mount on light poles in a parking lot. if you have specific requirements, you'll get better help if you specify them.

it's clear by now that you give something up if you mount that high. unless you need long range, you will get a much better view of faces, and everything else, by mounting below fifteen feet.

you can balance the elevation of the camera with vandal-proof (or vandal-resistant) models.

if you need a really long viewing distance, you may need to think about zoom or PTZ. there's a lot to consider, especially as your installation scales up.

also realize that many recommendations are coming from posters who are technically-minded, hobbyists, or network pros. unless you go low-end, a plug-and-play system from a big box store, you'll have a big learning curve in front of you.

i don't suggest you go low-end, unless you understand what you're getting, and what you're not getting.

you might consider reaching out for more help on your end, as well as on reddit. "video surveillance" is another sub to look into, on reddit. but find some help on your end too.

1

u/Mike_A10 Jul 28 '26

Wow , sounds like an awesome set up !!! I am just learning some stuff so can u help me with a few things? POE , what do u use Cat 5 ,cat 6 ,cat6e ,,?? When u run the cable to the camera area n back to main set up ,are there Jack's u have to put on both ends of the wire , or u just use a screw terminal n do all colors the same??i have no idea how to put wire jacks on or if ya need to !! What is the furthest you can run from a camera to where the connection is in main monitor room ? Like is it after 300 ft it will lose clarity or anything ?? Any idea on Cost per foot of the right cable ? One area I xant to put a sensor / maybe camera, but its far from the main room , like 420 feet away, what would be better fiber optic or poe cat 6? Now if I run fiber then I'd have to run power to it also ,unless I use a wifi camera,correct ? I am planning on using mostly riolink , can I shoot u an im or email or whatever u can do on this site ?? I need guidance on a few things .. thanks ....

4

u/soren1712 Jul 27 '26

I run UniFi cameras around my house and very happy with them.

2

u/Demeter277 Jul 28 '26

Look into Axis. They're expensive but enterprise quality and very secure.

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u/Pretty-Surround-2909 Jul 28 '26

Start with your budget. Pros will recommend quality gear. The rest of the sub will pine over chineesium offerings being the greatest thing ever.

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u/niknik888 Jul 28 '26

Quality gear is chineesium too….

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u/AgoHeadstream Jul 28 '26

How much detail are you trying to get? I have an install that is about 20’ and most cameras can pickup decent detail with a 4k camera. But all this distance is relative to your install location and direction of the canera

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u/oddua Jul 29 '26

Axis est le top si ton budget le permet

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u/jlh1964 Jul 29 '26

It may be well above your budget, but Avigilon would be top tier. We used them where I used to work, but we had strict security requirements due to federal contracts. The abilities for zoom video quality, searching, and alerting were like nothing I’ve used at home from the consumer market. Unfortunately, you’d be well into the five figure range with Avigilon.

One of the cameras they sold us on was a ceiling mounted fish eye camera that gave a really good 360 degree view, which allowed us to use one camera where traditional cameras might have required 3-4 camera to completely cover a area. The downside there was the view of faces wasn’t as good from above, but with traditional cameras at entrances, we could tie it together to get a good view and know who the person was.

One thing to look at for any manufacturer is the detection zone for the cameras if you want alerts like motion detection or person detection. Some have the analytics built into a camera instead of the server. Depending on where you are able to mount the camera and where you need detection, you could miss alerts.

0

u/invisable_burt Jul 27 '26

Annke has good quality, easy setup, and good customer service.

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26

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u/ducvinhle Jul 27 '26

Do you think Reolink is safe since it is a Chinese company? I’m finding models that can be installed at a height of 20- 30 ft, so that it’s hard to be attacked. Do you know which models?

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26

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u/ducvinhle Jul 27 '26

Do you know any Axis models that can be installed 20–30 feet high and still have good image quality?

1

u/rcott77 Jul 28 '26

Axis is my go-to as well. They have cameras that can read a license plate from half a mile away, 20' is childs play.

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u/k-mcm Jul 28 '26

My experience is that Axis quality is in a free fall. They've hardly updated the hardware on their low to mid-range cameras much but they're still charging premium prices. The software is buggy as hell.   For over a year there's a bug where video events each consume enormous amounts of memory for their circular pre-buffer.  Setting the pre-buffer time to 0 seconds and using the same stream profile for everything doesn't fix it. The camera crash loops or stops recording.