Hikvision recommendation and guide price

[techno79]

Looking for some advice for a Hikvision camera setup for my house. I've already got the cat6 wiring preparation done.

I'm not sure if it's overkill but was thinking of an 8MP camera, a turret or dome style and something with good low/night time quality. Looking on the Hikvision website, there are a ton of options and it's all quite confusing which one would be best for me so not sure which way to go. Camera will be providing security of my the front of house, driveway, side alley path and rear garden.

Can anyone give any recommendation on which one would be best? Also, where can I get a rough guide price for each type of camera so I can compare what's best on the cost front?

Given the wiring prep is already done, how much should I budget for the install cost too?

 

[Puntoboy]

I've always found 8MP a bit overkill for most situations in the home, but depending on your home layout, you might benefit from one or two. They are great if you need to zoom in from a good distance, but in most situations you are only concerned with near your property for 4MP will be perfect. I have one 8MP camera, on my garage, looking up my driveway. I only fitted that recently because my driveway is about 12m long and 4MP wasn't quite enough to zoom in to something at the end of the drive. All other cameras are 4MP max as I'm only concerned with 5m distance at the most.

I'm a big fan on the new ColorVu G2 cameras with Accusense. They can provide a full colour image at night in the right situations which I find is more beneficial than black and white. Side benefit is that you get less spiders as there's no infrared.

The G2 ColorVus have 2 LEDs for night time illumination. Depending on how much "natural" light there is in the area, you can adjust how bright they are to provide supplemental light. I have got mine turned right down as even the street lights that are 20-30m away provide enough light for the cameras.

DS-2CD2347G2-LSU is the 4MP G2 ColourVu with AccuSense, it also has a strobe light and speaker (for 2 way talk and audible warnings).

DS-2CD2387G2-LSU is the 8MP G2 ColourVu with AccuSense, which also has the speaker and strobe light.

 

[techno79]

Where can I get a rough indication for prices for these? Is there much of a cost difference between the 4MP and the 8MP?

Just trying to think what kind of budget I'd need for 4x DS-2CD2387G2-LSU (the 8MP one) and the central control box with 2TB of storage. Even if it's a budget for equipment alone, then that gives me a rough idea.

 

[Puntoboy]

Roughly £170 (each) for the cameras and £200 for an NVR with a 2TB HDD.

 

[techno79]

Roughly £170 (each) for the cameras and £200 for an NVR with a 2TB HDD.

Just to confirm, that's for the 8MP camera mentioned above?

 

[Puntoboy]

Just to confirm, that's for the 8MP camera mentioned above?

Correct.

 

[techno79]

Nice, thanks. So looking at around £900 for equipment. Can anyone give a rough amount I should budget for, for the install of the system. The cat6 cabling is already in place so I believe it's just a case of mounting the 4 cameras on the outside of the house, connecting the cat6 to the camera and then connecting the other end of the cables to the video record.

So rough cost for install so I can budget things?

 

[Puntoboy]

Do it yourself? It's pretty straightforward.

Where do all of the CAT6 cables go back to? Is there a cable going to where your Internet router is from that location?

 

[techno79]

Do it yourself? It's pretty straightforward.

Where do all of the CAT6 cables go back to? Is there a cable going to where your Internet router is from that location?

Yep, right next to the internet router and there's loads of space for the NVR.

 

[Puntoboy]

Yep, right next to the internet router and there's loads of space for the NVR.

Should be plug and play then really.

At the camera end of the CAT6, how high off the ground are the points? Do you know what lens size you want? 2.8mm or 4mm?

 

[techno79]

Should be plug and play then really.

At the camera end of the CAT6, how high off the ground are the points? Do you know what lens size you want? 2.8mm or 4mm?

Yeah, I'd imagine it's just plug n play given all the wiring prep is already done. The two higher points are about as high as the top window edge of a standard first floor house. Not sure what height that is but I'd imagine 4 or 5 metres high. The lower points are about 2.5 metres high so not very.

Didn't realise there was a lens option. I think I was looking at the 2.8mm lens option.

 

[Puntoboy]

Sounds like the two higher posts are there for an overview of the area. The issue with having them that high is that they will be looking down onto people, so unlikely to get a face. The lower points are about right for looking at people.

I have a mixture of 4mm and 2.8mm cameras. 2.8 is wider field of view. 4mm is narrower so appears more zoomed in.

 

[techno79]

Sounds like the two higher posts are there for an overview of the area. The issue with having them that high is that they will be looking down onto people, so unlikely to get a face. The lower points are about right for looking at people.

I have a mixture of 4mm and 2.8mm cameras. 2.8 is wider field of view. 4mm is narrower so appears more zoomed in.

Ah that makes sense, didn't think about the fact that the higher ones wouldn't get people's faces so much but I guess they are there for the wider shots that cover the entire driveway and garden.

 

[techno79]

As a consumer, can I purchase Hikvision products? I can't seem to find any websites that sell this so I'm guessing that they are only sold to authorised installers. Given this, I wouldn't be able to do a DIY install, no?

 

[Puntoboy]

You can, but it is a bit tricky.

 

[Souljacker99]

I signed up for this site to do it DIY and didn't have any problems ordering. I'm not necessarily vouching for them as such but everything went ok with my order! All of the sites selling this type of stuff always seem to look a bit dodgy which is ironic seen as they are selling security products.

IP Cameras and IP CCTV webshop..

www.use-ip.co.uk

 

[Puntoboy]

I have a trade account with UseIP and they are always on the expensive side.

 

[Souljacker99]

I have a trade account with UseIP and they are always on the expensive side.

I think they were one of the only sites I could find (apart from gambling on eBay) that would sell to non trade customers at the time. That might of changed by now I guess, I haven't looked into it again since getting my first cameras setup.

 

[Puntoboy]

They are, and I think their prices reflect that. £252 for the same camera that I priced at £170 from distributor. That's quite a mark up, but they do offer the support.

 

[Seb Briggs]

Maybe making the money until they are asked to stop

 

[Seb Briggs]

As a pro installer I don’t like prices for trade only products being advertised and sold . It’s not that I rip anyone off but just that it becomes a race to the bottom

 

[brad123]

Hi can these cameras be mounts on a wall or do they have to be on the guttering so top speak as looks like you mount them at the top of the camera.

 

[Puntoboy]

They pivot so can be mounted on walls, ceiling, even the floor if you want to.

 

[Souljacker99]

Mine are wall mounted and work absolutely fine.

 

[Seb Briggs]

Some of the turrets need a base to fit the cable assembly in