cheap security camera

hdh74

I want a cheap security camera, just to watch the front of my house. I would prefer one I could stand inside a window looking out that doesn't need to be mounted. I've seen a few on Amazon but, being totally rubbish at tech I'm not sure I understand what I'm looking at.
It seems most of them need an app to run. I found one that used the 'Wansview cloud app' for example, but when I googled to see if it was free I got, 'it has a free trial for 30 days' I really don't want to have to subscribe to anything.

Umm, yeah I'm kind of stuck there, don't know what to look at next. Also, am partially sighted so not keen on having to use a phone with it, ipad or better still PC monitor would be much easier for me.

Any help gratefully received.

Neil_Jones

The only caveat I will tell you is that if your aim to be able to see what's going on after dark you will need a camera that supports infra-red. However these are no good on a camera inside looking out because all you'll see is the reflection of the light on the glass through the camera - they need to go outside.

Note that most apps that say they "need a phone" can usually be installed on an appropriate tablet.

I suppose the easiest and quickest (but not the most elegant) is to hook up a USB webcam to the computer and have that looking out the window. However no recording with this (you may be able to add something to the computer) and its going to be very very basic, plus of course it won't work if the computer isn't on...

bengalknights

A Yi Camera with the YI app should do what you want for cheap.

that

If you want colour night vision on the cheap, you need to set up an external floodlight with a pir. if your camera is sensitive to ir, then you could set up an ir source outside, but you will only get ir images - grey scale, often grainy. Some cheaper cameras will not let you turn the ir off which as Neil said will reflect back to the camera

Some cameras do not record sound, video only.

an old mobile re-purposed as a camera does work and often gives superior pictures, and possibly free. Old posts here and YouTube have ways of doing this.

If you want an excellent low light camera then one with the sony imx226 sensor is to my knowledge the best on the market. You are looking at £100+ and up to £500-ish for something reasonable.

Most wireless cameras need wires for power. There are some that use batteries. Being a person that never replaces batteries, curse my phone for needing to be constantly recharged, know that the battery route is not for me, as less maintenance is better
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The elephant in the room - poor eye site on a mobile. Personally have not tried any of these, though if your mobile supports mhl.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrBkQ4GUXf0

If your mobile does not support MHL, then software like ezcast could be for you.

ezcast2 (wireless)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv2UG7WlkI4

ezcast (wired, for mobiles, laptops and other devices that do not support mhl)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7knFj2bFZA

hdh74

Just to clarify, it's much more for day use than night. Don't need sound. Lots of info there, will work my way through it all.
Thank you very much for all the suggestions.

UncleZen

This was covered recently on a similar topic I raised (link below)
You need to think about where you want to save the video it takes, because if its "in the cloud" it uses a ton of your internet bandwidth. If you only have ADSL (like most of us) the you may find you cant stream a tv program at the same time as your bandwidth is consumed by the continuous uploads.
For that reason Im looking at storage to a local SD card.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6037276/outdoor-security-camera-reccomendations

hdh74

UncleZen wrote: »

This was covered recently on a similar topic I raised (link below)
You need to think about where you want to save the video it takes, because if its "in the cloud" it uses a ton of your internet bandwidth. If you only have ADSL (like most of us) the you may find you cant stream a tv program at the same time as your bandwidth is consumed by the continuous uploads.
For that reason Im looking at storage to a local SD card.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6037276/outdoor-security-camera-reccomendations

Yes I was definitely thinking storage to sd card. Thank you for this.

Neil49

Take a look at the Neos smartcam.

https://shop.neos.co.uk/

It got a 5 star review in ComputerActive magazine.

Yugen_Bonsai

Keep an eye out on Amazon, the home security cameras are prone to going on offer. There are so nany available but I'd highly recommend getting one with infra-red even though you think it might be excessive. You never know what you might capture on it at night.