help finding best security cameras for watching wildlife

Meeka

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Jan 6, 2021
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Albany, NY
I am looking for live stream outdoor security cameras. The primary use would be to watch wildlife in my backyard, which is 60’ wide, and the structures I could mount the cameras to have a 50’ to 60’ set back lengthwise from my backyard.

Probably 2 cameras would cover watching the wildlife, but I want to get security cameras for surveillance at some point down the road so if I found some cameras that work well for both purposes I’d purchase extra cameras. I’m fine with having a completely different security system in the future if the cameras I purchase to watch wildlife aren’t the best for security purposes.

I have a Victure game camera which I bought to use for the purpose of watching wildlife in my backyard. Unfortunately the camera is not made to continuously live stream, and while it will live stream for a little while once tapped into my wifi connection, the connection drops pretty quickly. I didn’t realize that they are made to react to a stimulus and that they go inactive if there isn’t any activity. The Victure also burns down the 8 AA batteries it requires like no tomorrow. At any rate the game camera doesn’t meet my needs because I want to be able to tap into a live stream at any time to see if there are any critters on the horizon!

These are the criteria I am looking for with regard to investing in a security camera for watching wildlife:
  1. Cost effective (I want to spend as little as possible on quality equipment)
  2. Does not require a monthly charge for footage storage. I am fine with the footage recording over itself after a reasonable period of time - I believe this is possible by upgrading to a higher capacity footage storage card than what most cameras come with (I think 8gb is what a lot come with, but they are compatible with 128gb cards)
  3. Highest clarity possible for the cost effective price (I understand there is likely a tradeoff in picture quality with regard to lower priced cameras)
  4. I don’t want cameras where there is the possibility the manufacturer (or anyone else) can tap into my system (I have read reviews where buyers state certain systems are vulnerable to this happening)
  5. I’d like the energy source to last a long time. I’ve seen where some cameras are solar powered, which would be ideal, as long as there is proven efficacy. I have solar lights and have not been blown away by their performance, some charge all day long and last a couple of hours into darkness and then die (assuming they turn on at all). Over time, even with solar battery replacement, I have found their performance to just decline. These are all decorative though, and pretty inexpensive. I’d be fine with getting cameras with rechargeable batteries as long as I don’t have to charge them too frequently. I could make wired cameras work but non wired would be easier on my end.
  6. It’d be cool if they had motion/zooming capability (where I could manually move the cameras and zoom in on something while watching live)
  7. I’d like something with a decent warranty, preferably at least a year. In a lot of negative reviews, buyers state that the cameras stop functioning just after the warranty period ends. I have had this happen with other types of technology I own and want to avoid this by purchasing something with a decent warranty.
Thank you for any help!
 

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