Security camera that works

caveat_emptor

Looking for the above as my first the Tapo C310 cannot tell the difference between a person and anything else that ,moves.

shiraz99

Depends how much you want to spend and what sort of system infrastructure you want to buy into. A cheap standalone camera like the Tapo C310 is made and sold at a budget so you can't really expect too much, although you can tweak the settings a bit.

The cheaper end of the market would be something like the Blink Outdoor system but the trade off for that price is you are buying into the whole Amazon methodology and inevitably have to sign your soul away with their privacy (or lack of) agreements to use it. You've also missed the boat slightly as these were heavily discounted in the latest Amazon Prime Day sales. The system I'd go for personally (although I did just buy the aforementioned Blink system for my Dad's house in that sale) would be the Eufycam 2C Pro system. These cameras are quite well regarded and also importantly they don't require you to sign over all your data to use them.

bengalknights

For bells and whistles you cannot go wrong with Hikvision systems.

caveat_emptor

shiraz99 said:

Depends how much you want to spend and what sort of system infrastructure you want to buy into. A cheap standalone camera like the Tapo C310 is made and sold at a budget so you can't really expect too much, although you can tweak the settings a bit.

The cheaper end of the market would be something like the Blink Outdoor system but the trade off for that price is you are buying into the whole Amazon methodology and inevitably have to sign your soul away with their privacy (or lack of) agreements to use it. You've also missed the boat slightly as these were heavily discounted in the latest Amazon Prime Day sales. The system I'd go for personally (although I did just buy the aforementioned Blink system for my Dad's house in that sale) would be the Eufycam 2C Pro system. These cameras are quite well regarded and also importantly they don't require you to sign over all your data to use them.

Thanks. The issue I have is that this camera is sold as a security camera and it clearly is not. It is a very nice video camera but is not fit for purpose. Did the Blink camera do the job? As you then bought the Eufycam 2C suggests it did not.

caveat_emptor

For bells and whistles you cannot go wrong with Hikvision systems.

Thanks. All I wantis a security camera that works and will look at the Hikvision. 

EssexExile

I suspect you'll come across the same problem with Blink. Sometimes ours will detect people 20' away, sometimes they have to come within 5'. They detect wasps and spiders pretty well though.

shiraz99

caveat_emptor said:

shiraz99 said:

Depends how much you want to spend and what sort of system infrastructure you want to buy into. A cheap standalone camera like the Tapo C310 is made and sold at a budget so you can't really expect too much, although you can tweak the settings a bit.

The cheaper end of the market would be something like the Blink Outdoor system but the trade off for that price is you are buying into the whole Amazon methodology and inevitably have to sign your soul away with their privacy (or lack of) agreements to use it. You've also missed the boat slightly as these were heavily discounted in the latest Amazon Prime Day sales. The system I'd go for personally (although I did just buy the aforementioned Blink system for my Dad's house in that sale) would be the Eufycam 2C Pro system. These cameras are quite well regarded and also importantly they don't require you to sign over all your data to use them.

Thanks. The issue I have is that this camera is sold as a security camera and it clearly is not. It is a very nice video camera but is not fit for purpose. Did the Blink camera do the job? As you then bought the Eufycam 2C suggests it did not.

I only bought the Blink camera(s) as the price was too good to miss and I'm not intending on using it in my own house, it's not been installed yet, but by all accounts (and following the many reviews) it's not a bad system. As mentioned, the more expensive systems (eg, £300 plus for a two camera setup) such as Eufycam, Arlo etc are arguably better systems (you do tend to get what you pay for) but out of all of them the one I've discovered doesn't involve having to agree to handover loads of data is the Eufycam, which is the one I'd probably get for my own home.

As mentioned, if you want a more traditional CCTV system then do look at the likes of Hikvision or Swann.

KnownMaynard

I've also got the Eufy ones for reasons stated above. It definitely detects people, not pets etc, and you can configure how you want it to work to some extent such as schedules and geofencing. I have the 2K cameras and they are really good. Not cheap, but it's a one-off payment as the recordings are stored on the hub hard drive so doesn't require a subscription. 

Chickereeeee

Reolink cameras are pretty good. They detect people and vehicles and ignore a lot the stuff that previously caused false triggers - changing sun/shadow, moving branches, spiders. Not perfectly, but vastly reduces false triggers.

WeAreGhosts

bengalknights said:

For bells and whistles you cannot go wrong with Hikvision systems.

I have a Hikvision, wasn't my choice, and I wouldn't have one again. 
I have motions sensors set up but they're triggered by anything that moves - plants that blow around in the wind sets the sensor off - then they don't trigger when I want them to. There's one neighbour who has damaged our garden previously, always seems to be able to nip by without setting the sensor off. No idea how that happens when it picks up passing cats.

I can't find a way to reduce the motion sensor time (it's set to record each motion for 2mins), but if something else happens within that 2mins you'd never know as it doesn't record it as a separate motion.