Security cameras

Welcome to RCTalk

Come join other RC enthusiasts! You'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

alpinehyperlite

Original RCNT Nutswinger
Supporter
Police
Messages
9,053
Reaction score
254
Location
Baton Rouge, LA
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
  2. Racing
Didn't really have a place here to put this write up/review, so I dumped it here in case it could help someone.

I have been looking to install a security camera system at the house for the past few months and finally after hours and hours of research, I settled on the Amcrest 720p 4 camera system.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R3QLLA2/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1429078418&sr=1&keywords=Amcrest+720

I purchased for $399, but it appears to have gone down $20 form when I ordered last week. I had been looking at the basic system, but the $100 upgrade to HD was totally worth every penny.

So today I got in the system packed in the typical amazon brown box. When I opened it up I was pleased to find a solidly packed thick cardboard box.

A3103A8A-3F02-41CE-95BC-88DB71F815B4_zpshn3gxhr4.jpg


Inside I found all components (DVR, cameras, chords, accessories and manuals including mouse and remote) individually packed into their own boxes.

04A500F5-6F10-486E-8FC1-C7EE693EF550_zpsnb9znlmw.jpg


The wires were individually bagged along with the power supply which powers all 4 cameras.

7F1339A7-5859-4F14-9263-534907CDF95A_zpsg0hsdoy2.jpg


The cameras were individually wrapped with foam as well as a nice thick bubble type packing material.

6EC9A3E8-C18F-4445-BF03-44439F724A42_zpscnhpgdcj.jpg


The DVR is a very clean and compact unit.

033020FE-51EE-440F-BAA8-B462E6C617C0_zpstzc6ar77.jpg


Every entrance to the house is covered and with the wide angled few of the camera, I am able to get much much more in the shot than just the door. The cameras are fairly compact but have very very clear quality. Much more than expected out of a > $400 system. (Excuse the mess, all the white has recently been prepped to re paint)

CC47A3F9-94F5-4186-AD29-5DC75F123635_zpspcabq1gi.jpg


5BF16659-93A5-41B5-85E2-81419EDA65F8_zpsgsyhkrha.jpg



The entire install took about 4 hours including having to decide the exact positioning of the cameras. It is a wired system so I spent about half of the time in the attic running wires through the walls. I installed the DVR system in the cabinet with the rest of my A/V equipment because I could connect direct into my receiver as well as my router. The system is connected directly into then 60in samsung tv and it comes in extremely clearly even at night. Keep in mind that the next picture is a picture of a tv screen. It is much more clear in person.

C1ADC48F-ACE8-4BF9-B642-DCCF138D4E0C_zpspb390yzm.jpg



To show the night vision capability of this system this picture is of my back yard. The other side of the pond is almost 175 ft away.


9574F096-6BB3-490E-945E-559417452E9F_zps1hltbhod.jpg


Overall I am very very happy with this system. I will get more pictures of the cameras during the day which has an extremely clear picture.

Now to the cons.

It's loud. The fan in the DVR is a constant on fan. Makes a good bit of noise. I'm sure they did it this way to keep the costs down, so I can't complain too much about it.


The software is very difficult to use. The mobile app is a total pain in the ass. It worked decently on my ipad. I had been avoiding updating my iphone but when I tried to sync the phone to the system, it actually caused the DVR to shut down and restart. It did this several times. I aid screw it and just decided to update my iphone to see if it would sync correctly. Surprise surprise. It worked. I'm still learning how to manipulate the system to my needs so I will not comment on the layout of the software quite yet. One thing I will say is that the quality of the mobile/remote view is the picture quality is not near as good as the view on the tv. The lag time over LTE connection on the phone is about 2 seconds. So that was not horrible.

D5BED8F0-4204-4A8F-B122-25CA67881FE3_zpsxhzeccb4.png






Over all, I am extremely satisfied with the system and look forward to using it in the future. Day pictures will come soon. I will update this thread as necessary.
 
James thanks for detailed review, I was hoping you'd post something like this when you mentioned you bought it. The night shots look pretty decent, if you or wife was standing in the shot do you believe it'd be pretty easy to make out who it is?

I've been eying a Samsung SDC-B3040 720p system at Sams Club and the Ubiquiti Aircam but the Aircam is going to be a much pricier option. I'd really like to have one that points at the road so I can capture license plates of the cars that come and go but I don't think most of the box kits are going to be able to perform at that range.
 
An 802.11ac camera might have the range to get back to the DVR if you mounted it closer to the road, @WoodiE.
 
An 802.11ac camera might have the range to get back to the DVR if you mounted it closer to the road, @WoodiE.
I don't have anything to mount it on in the front yard other than the house, at the most would be my mailbox but I'd still have to run power to it somehow or another at which point why not just go with a more stable wired camera?
 
At about 20 ft I can recognize both my wife and my buddy who help me install it in pitch black.

Update:
It started screwing up with the mobile app again so I emailed the customer service this morning:

"I recently installed the Amcrest 720p 4 camera system and was unable to connect my iphone 6 to the system. All it would do is time out on the phone and force restart of the DVR system. I upgraded my iphone to the latest version of IOS and was able to connect for approximately an hour or so, then the same issue began again with the DVR forcing restart. One of the key factors in purchasing this system is the mobile viewing of the system, and it is not working at all. What needs to be done to be able to connect my phone to my DVR system?"


The sad outsourced reply:
"Good Morning ,

We are currently working on the App for the Iphone 6, as of now our Apps work with every phone but the Iphone 6 at the moment.
Were currently in the process of testing and gong over little issues concerning the Iphone 6 App.
There is no set date on it but its release but should be available in the couple weeks.
But you can try using any other Android or Iphone and it will function with ease.

As for your DVR, please try disconnecting all the cables from the DVR for approximately 30mins-1hour & plug everything back in then turn it back on.

Best Regards,
John "
 
James thanks for detailed review, I was hoping you'd post something like this when you mentioned you bought it. The night shots look pretty decent, if you or wife was standing in the shot do you believe it'd be pretty easy to make out who it is?

I've been eying a Samsung SDC-B3040 720p system at Sams Club and the Ubiquiti Aircam but the Aircam is going to be a much pricier option. I'd really like to have one that points at the road so I can capture license plates of the cars that come and go but I don't think most of the box kits are going to be able to perform at that range.

I installed one of the Sams Club Samsung systems about a year ago and while it was very user friendly, you aren't going to be capturing any license plate numbers!
His system was about 60ft from the road and you can tell make and model but that's about it. Its great for the money but even the 720P camera's aren't anything special.
 
...you aren't going to be capturing any license plate numbers!
His system was about 60ft from the road and you can tell make and model but that's about it.
I've been asking around more the last few days and have come to the understanding getting a nice clear shot of license plate numbers are not going to be very likely without spending big bucks on a camera. So if I can at least see the cars and make out the make and model maybe that might help a little in the event of a home robbery or whatever in our small neighborhood.

That said I've been getting a ton of recommendations for the Hikvision cameras which claim to be 1080p 3MP cameras from China. There are two models most people seem to like, the Hikvision DS-2CD2032-I and the Hikvision DS-2CD2332-I which is likely the one I'll get (the dome) as it is said to have a better IR for night shots. Perfect to cover the door of my shed in the back yard.

To top it off, I have a Synology NAS that I use for my home lab and it comes with a camera app that many also praise and supports the Hikvision cameras so I can buy one camera, try it out and either then expand my cameras using the NAS or go out and buy a NVR if I need. The very least I can still use the Synology for a camera inside the house.
 
I finally got in touch with someone on the american side of customer support, and they explained that they are having issues with the app working with the iPhone 6 but have recommended the IDMSS (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/idmss-lite/id517936193?mt=8) app for the iphone to be used until they could get their bugs worked out. I have downloaded it and it is working fine on my iphone.

I thought i had uploaded a picture of the day time picture on here, but i guess i hadn't. Since the app was not up and running on the phone, this is again a picture of the TV that was taken with my phone.

58EDE126-43F2-4B4E-9DFB-9CAB75BF481D_zpsmxngpdkd.jpg


It is not a system that i installed with the intention of being able to count the hairs on a fly's ass, but just some extra security/deterrent for someone entering my property. So far i have been extremely pleased with the system. Especially for being under $400. If i ever decide to upgrade the cameras, the DVR i have, and the software included will be able to handle it and will have full control over camera movement.

As stated above, the 720 cameras that i have installed are not the best, but it is a HUGE improvement over the 960H quality on all of the other systems I was looking at in my price range.
 
Good to see support is responsive and those pictures look great even if it's a screen shot of a screen. ;)

BTW, that back yard cleaned up real nice. I remember seeing it buried under 6 foot tall brush!
 
Here are a couple more shots of daytime. On Sunday when me and the wife were in Florida, apparently one of the women in the neighborhood lost her dog and it ran into my back yard, so the camera caught her and it running all over the place when she was trying to catch it. Here are a couple screenshots of her running back toward the street after the dog left. These screen shots are from the iPhone app, so the picture is pretty low quality in comparison to the direct from DVR and photobucket (as we all know) further degrades the picture, but it still shows the potential of the clarity to be able to identify people.

E3E65D9F-BA4A-463B-8AC7-2E0E370DD0AB_zpswxxhhtxu.png


66A49534-3250-4D42-8294-C74AEBBFF1F7_zpsiphmvecf.png




And yea Woodie, the yard has come a LONG way since i bought the place.
 
All the yard needs now is a little red flag with numbers and a dancing gopher....
 
You also have a cute neighbor!!
 
Yea her friend is really cute. Like 4'9 too. Lol. Always wears yoga pants when hanging out at the house.
 
Damn.... I need to friend Alpine on facebook it sounds like.. Live vicariously through him! My wife.... has only on attractive friend and she never wears yoga pants....
 
The wife and the friend.

98c756d9fd26ed6cf0e1809f145e509c_zps7rdocapv.jpg
 
@alpinehyperlite are you still liking this system?

Had a car parked in the front of the house for nearly a week and finally called about it this morning, after calling the police they came out and turns out the car was stolen and left there. We really don't live in a bad neighborhood but being a few blocks away from a busy street we do get some traffic. I just think it's time we get something setup.

Stopped by Costco today and they actually have a Lorex LHV1008A (8x 720p cameras) for $375 which seems like a decent price. May check out Best Buy tomorrow.
 
I love it. Still going strong and havent had any more issues since the App update. I have actually been thinking of ordering the 8 cam setup and adding 4 more to the current system. My neighbor wants the same one i have, so i will hook her up with my 4 cam dvr and 4 of the cameras that come with the new system, and just use the 4 i have already in conjunction with the 4 already installed.
 
Back
Top