Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Security Cameras Reviews: How to Select the Right Security Camera?

Security Cameras Reviews
Security is the biggest problem for anyone and so is essential while setting a home or business. Security cameras hold the major part in a good security system. Basically, security is all about awareness, and the right camera setup gives your complete whereabouts of your surroundings. Some people setup security cams at home to watch for any vandals, destructive animals or detect noisy neighbors. Whereas few others might set up the surveillance cameras around their office premises to stop potential theft as well as to monitor the employees and customers.

Whatever may be the reason, the security cameras are our best friend in spying or monitoring others. So, let us know more about different types of home surveillance cameras available and how to setup and use them.

Security Cameras Reviews – What Are You Spying

The first thing before you even begin purchasing a security camera, you'll need to choose or decide what you're going to do with that camera. Is it only to monitor a single room or a handful of rooms or an entire office? Knowing your area or length of your spaces to monitor is mandatory before deciding the camera type.

Below are a few cases for you to get started
  1. How large is the room or space? - You'll need to install zoom able cameras with high definition if you're trying to monitor larger spaces.
  2. Do you want the cameras to be hidden? - If you're trying to catch a known thief, then obviously you don't want them to know that you're spying.
  3. How many cameras will you need for your purpose? - This question can be answered if you're clear with the above two questions. If you're trying to spy on a larger area, then you might need more cameras and for single or small rooms you'll need a lesser number of surveillance cameras.
Note: You should also keep in mind your local laws about installing the security cameras. In areas like trail rooms or private areas, hidden cameras are not allowed. So, before purchasing any security camera, please clearly check with your local laws.

Benefits of a Security Camera System


Security Cameras Reviews – Types of Security Cameras

Below are a different types of Security and Surveillance cameras available in the market.

Bullet Security Cameras

These cameras are used when you want to position your security camera in a corner. As these bullet cameras come in cylindrical or rectangular shapes, you can easily fix them to the wall or ceiling. Most of the bullet cameras are fixed and do not move remotely. However, the latest (advanced) models are having the pan and built-in zoom feature. These are cheap, ubiquitous and conspicuous.

Dome Security Cameras

These are another type of cameras that are replacing the traditional bullet cameras. You can usually find such types in department stores, school hallways, suspended from cables. One best thing about the Dome cameras which the bullet cams don’t have is they're harder to destroy or vandalize. They have a smoked dome so that the thief mistakes them to be not working.

Outdoor Security Cameras

They come in different styles and features, depending on how you wanted to use them. You can either choose a simple motion-activated camera or an infrared to spy during the night times. One good thing about the outdoor security cams is that they're waterproof i.e., you don't have to worry about the sudden climate changes.

Discreet Security Cameras

These are also known as spy cameras and they're available in different shapes and sizes in the market. Different sizes mean you can find cameras that are the size of a quarter, embedded in a pen or wall clock, or even stuffed in a playing doll. However, you cannot expect the discreet cameras to record high quality videos or pictures as they come in miniature design. They just record in normal quality viewable by all.

Networked Security Cameras

They come with either wired or wireless support, with a main computer installed somewhere in your home or office. These cameras will not have any internal storage capacity and so they send the recorded video as a signal to the central or main computer for monitoring real-time. Of course, you can also save those live-stream videos on your computer for future viewing.

Network security cams are ideal in situations where you need to use or monitor more than 1 or 2 cameras at a time.

PTZ Security Cameras

Pan Tilt Zoom security cameras are in short known as PTZ cameras. These come with many mobile features which enhance their effectiveness and are generally used to monitor larger open areas. PTZ cameras usually come with zoom functionality and high resolution recording support.

HD Security Cameras

As the name implies, these security cameras will have the support for high definition video recording. That means, the output file size of those recorded videos would be much higher than the usual or normal cameras. So, these are normally wired to a central computer with larger hard disks to store the data.

HD Cameras are ideal in situations where you need an evidence to submit as everything in HD would be crystal clear.

How to Select the Right Security Camera?

It can be a daunting task to choose the right security camera for your needs. So, you may need a consultant who can guide you about how many surveillance cameras you need, where to install them and other concerns you have. Below are a few suggestions for selecting the right surveillance camera.
  • If you're installing your camera outside in the open areas, then you should check for a weather/water proof camera.
  • You don't need a weather proof camera if you're placing it inside your house or office, but you may want to have one with vandalism protection.
  • If you want to monitor different areas or rooms, then you may consider installing more than one camera and then connect them through the network wirelessly so that you don't mess up your building with cables hanging everywhere.
  • You can depend on IP networked cameras if you're installing it in your home or smaller offices, but larger spaces or businesses have no specific reason to check security remotely.
  • Hidden cameras can be useful great for discreet surveillance, but they can't prevent theft in most cases.
  • Apart from the above all rules, you'll need an infrared supported security camera or HD camera in most cases. The infrared cameras help you spy during the low-light or night times while the HD version is useful for long-ranges without losing quality. It is better to buy security cameras with both HD and night vision support.
So, by now you might have got the basic or a rough idea of how many cameras you need, what features are required and so on... Take a look at some of the top-rated and best selling security and surveillance cameras in the market.

Best Selling Security and Surveillance Cameras


Security Camera ModelRatingPriceDeal
Samsung SEW-3037W4 1/2 Stars~ $229Buy it on Amazon!
Dropcam DROPCAM3-HD4 Stars~ $150Buy it on Amazon!
Foscam FI8910W4 Stars~ $80Buy it on Amazon!
Motorola MBP364 Stars~ $240Buy it on Amazon!
D-Link DCS-930L3 Stars~ $45Buy it on Amazon!