| Neat tool! Since this discussion is attracting IP camera-savvy folks...I'm struggling to find cameras to buy/recommend. In particular, ones that: * Aren't made by the big Chinese companies (Dahua, Hikvision, Uniview, Huawei) that are actively participating in the Uyghur genocide [1] and/or are considered a security threat by the US. (Most of those are banned for US government installations by the National Defense Authorization Act [2]; future models won't get FCC approval for private use either, according to the Secure Equipment Act of 2021 [3].) * Support direct RTSP use rather than require a fast/reliable Internet connection and/or proprietary cloud service subscription. (This excludes eg the Nest and Ring stuff, as far as I can tell.) * Are reasonably priced, although not necessarily as cheap as the Chinese vendors. * Have decent night image quality. I'd be thrilled to find a model with the larger 1/1.8" sensors. I know I should renew my IPVM subscription and see what they say. I'd love to find (other) quality review sites or forums that aren't super invested in Dahua/Hikvision (like ipcamtalk seems to be). [1] eg https://ipvm.com/reports/dahua-uyghur-warning [2] https://ipvm.com/reports/ndaa-guide [3] https://www.cepro.com/security/senate-passes-secure-equipmen... |
I looked at many expensive cameras, particularly the Axis and Ubiquiti. I was looking for outdoor rated, power over ethernet (easier cabling), standards copmliant, and not requiring any cloud access or service. I ended up with a pair of RLC-410s for $80 total, less than half of the alternatives. I didn't realize at the time how big an advantage it would be to have two. Both had IR illumination and I pointed them both at my driveway from two different angles. I got twice the illumination, two useful angles, and they were twice as easy to notice. Day and night quality was quite good, I could even see a black seat belt, inside a black car, with a black interior. They support RTSP streaming, as well as emailing clips (using your mail server), and hitting a URL to notify you have motion detection.
I've not tried their vehicle/person detection yet, but it's a nice solid camera if you want to build your own monitoring system, it seems to play well with others and avoids requiring some cloud service.
Mine were blocked completely from the internet, so no concerns with backdoors, privacy, etc.