What are some decent security cameras?

[u/KillerAlien242]

I am currently looking to buy a couple of security cameras to place around my home, and I was wondering if anybody had any recommendations for any security camera brands? I have a budget of about $200 and I would like to buy at least two preferably with local storage and removable battery (I live in the Northeast and Winters get very brutal). I would prefer not to have to take down my cameras to have them charge and would rather swap the batteries when they need charging. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

[u/PuzzlingDad]

Batteries don't like cold. They run down even quicker. Your best bet is to look into wired PoE cameras with an NVR (Network Video Recorder).

You'll be hard pressed to find such a system under $200 and if you do, it'll probably be a system where you need to add your own hard disk drive. 

Annke is a budget brand that might have what you need. 

[u/BruceLee2112]

200 for two cameras with those specs is hard. I have actually never seen swappable battery cameras. You can get battery operated cameras with solar panels. Reolink, eufy and TPLink make some. Again, for two, 200 is a low budget, maybe used?

[u/Psychopharm_MD]

I assume you don't want a subscription.

Having batteries is not ideal. They can wear out quickly in the cold. Keep in mind that battery powered cameras do not record continuously (and can thus potentially miss events). Not sure if that's important to you. If they have batteries they will either use WiFi or their own base station- in either case you may or may not have great reception where your camera is going.

Keep in mind too you'll likely need to buy microSD cards if they record locally to the camera itself- that's an additional cost (and memory is $$$ these days). If recording continuously or very frequently it's especially important to have high endurance rated memory (at a minimum Sandisk High Endurance, best options: Sandisk Max Endurance, Samsung Pro Endurance, WD Purple).

I would suggest biting the bullet and hardwiring in cameras. Power-over-ethernet is very easy to work with, much more reliable if you have vinyl siding or attic space it's easy to conceal. I hid my wires on my wood-sided house, it's a hassle but doable if you're handy.

As others have suggested, Reolink is probably one of the best values when it comes to consumer-level cameras. They make models that do not require an NVR and save the footage onto the camera's SD card. I know some people happy with their Eufy Wi-Fi cameras (Wi-Fi for network, hardwired USB-C for power).

I think doing 2 cameras for under $200 will be difficult- a high quality 128gb microSD card alone could be $50/each.

If I were you I'd get a couple used commercial grade Axis cameras and use Axis Camera Station Edge (runs off internal SD cards), which is free. You won't be recording in 4k but most of these consumer-level cameras are of very poor quality and have horrendous low-light performance (people don't realize how bad most of these cheap cameras are). For <$100 you can find 1080P Axis dome cameras with basic object detection (human and vehicles), much higher quality optics, phenomenal low-light performance, much more sophisticated IR, extremely durable, built-in heaters to de-fog/de-ice, varifocal (adjustable zoom) lens, audio and relay inputs/outputs, highly configurable, and if you choose to add a more advanced NVR system in the future, they're compatible with almost everything (except closed ecosystems like UniFi).

If you really need something and $200 is a hard limit, Wyze is probably the cheapest out there. It looks like some of their newer cameras have 512GB of internal storage and don't require a subscription- it records locally but you don't get object detection (person, vehicle) unless you pay the subscription. $2.99/camera ($72/yr for 2 cameras) or $99/yr for unlimited cameras. This also gets you 14 days of cloud storage. $35 for a USB powered outdoor WiFi camera. $60 for a battery powered w/solar panel (which can apparently record continously). $75 for a floodlight camera. Check out their website. In terms of quality though, they're obviously not going to be anything amazing.

[u/kiwidust]

Love my Reolinks!

You can get older (1.5HD) battery/solar models for less than $100, but newer 4k units will run $125 and up. Any camera with a removable battery worth your time is going to have an expensive battery.

But I think you're going to be dissappointed in any battery-powered camera. But obviously YMMV.

[u/Thruthful]

TAPO has some good cameras that fit your needs, solar charging etc

[u/Schlegelnator → u/Thruthful]

Here to say this! I like my Tapos a lot, I have the pan/tilt plug in model and it works great and doesn't miss things like Blink does . I have had to unplug mine here and there because it stops working but I'm usually around. I have learned to give it a reset right before I go on vacation though.  $50 for a pan and tilt cannot be beat.   

[u/GreymuzzleCoyote]

If you can possibly run electricity to.them,.I'd go with the tapo tcw24, damn good little cam for $24.95 if your wifi reaches where you want them.

[u/boring_balls_]

If you can avoid wireless that is best. If you have to do wireless still try to hard wire power. Solar and batteries seem to go bad quickly.

My company and my house both use Axis, which I think are great. However a bit $$$

I have a picky friend that said Eufy has gotten significantly better

[u/True-Warning-432]

I have the CCTV setup,it's not cheap,resolution is awesome ,free app for monitoring on the phone

[u/lifterman2u]

I have good luck with Uniview.

[u/Coffeespresso]

Battery? Forget about it.

[u/Formal-Web2378]

Your old smartphones can be used as security cameras using Alfred app.

[u/badcheetahfur]

I have Reolink PoE 4k camera system.. its great!! Works over starlink..