Self contained non subscription security camera?

Exodi

I think you have had some good options, but I just wanted to offer an alternative view.

These is kind of a spin off of the classic 'Local vs Cloud' debate that often happens, though I'd suggest it is a bad representation of Local.

One of the biggest reasons is that with the traditional setups, the footage is not stored with the camera but on a storage device somewhere (either in your house or in a google/amazon/etc data centre). The problem with having the footage stored with the camera, is that a thief who spots the camera could either damage it or steal it entirely, effectively destroying the footage in both cases. Indoor cameras are nearly always plugged in, so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to get around it.

Obviously there are steps you can take to mitigate this risk (e.g. outside one might mount the camera 10 feet in the air, but indoors as you mention these options are quite limited outside of trying to conceal the camera in a way where it still has an unobstructed field of view).

A proper local setup would have the camera sending the footage either via ethernet or wifi to a NVR (storage) in your house. This also has the secondary benefits whereby you can check footage whenever you like, including from outside the home, and be notified of any events. With an SD card, you receive no alerts or anything, you could have someone come in through a back door that was left unlocked, steal jewellery from a drawer, and by the time you notice, the footage has been overwritten.

Of course while Local is probably superior if one had infinite money to throw at it, storage is very expensive at the moment (thanks AI) as is the upfront cost for the equipment, so cloud storage may be more approachable by those dipping their toes in home security.

As someone that has a lot of home networking equipment, I place a lot of value in the notifications side of things (not just for security, but also because it's very useful to know things like who and when someone was at the door, why the neighbour was in the garden, who the cat is that keeps poo-ing on the end of my drive (!), etc).

ukdutypaid

Reolink. Notifications are instant via app and or email. App allows live view and or playback of SD card. It would take some time to fill an SD card up or any reasonable size. I don't have a subscription of any kind for cloud storage and double internal to house backup and can encrypted FTP anywhere and I haven't come across another with that feature. You'd have to set it up of course though and to be fair aren't the cam subscriptions approx 40 quid a year anyway? Won't break the bank but a blasted annoying expense. I've seen cams at about a fiver for inside the house with SD card and then their own cloud (all usually to China of course if that bothers you or not).

I myself have no need for their storage hub which itself is SD card and a small device (suspect you're not in the realms of an NVR). Obvs if they're wearing a mask then it's all over anyway but certainly for opportunists, deliveries 2way comms (you'd have to be quick off the mark for though), !!!!!! cats and the bloody foxes is useful also…

Why have the cam in the house anyway? Outside also has spotlight, a siren (although you'd be pretty unpopular with that option turned on) and the cam being there also has a deterrent effect.