Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
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Zmodo 8 Channel Surveillance System with 8 Weatherproof IR Cameras
$169.99 + $5 Shipping
Condition: New

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

video review

Used these at a small business - very durable, good picture. If you are decent at running wire, install isn't too bad either. But, definitely buy a hard drive for DVR function.

I know a lot of people don't read the write-up. Moofi has a 16 channel set in case eight channels aren't enough (oh it also comes with a 1TB HD)

(Protip: Despite conventional wisdom 'Eight Isn't Enough')

I'm too young to be telling that joke.

I have to say, this is the first time I have seen a spec that says 480 lines HORIZONTAL, usually they talk about vertical lines - Seems like a nice fake way to boost specs - I would assume it is 320 Veritical

is BNC video signal same as RCA video?

this would be a great item to use your $20 (or $40) coupon on.

now, if i hadn't already used mine, i'd be golden. damn!

My reason for wanting one: my last woot shipment got jacked from my doorstep when I was out of the country. Small price to pay for peace of mind. Remote view via smartphone is an added bonus.

There are adaptors to convert from bnc to rca - they are passive and just convert the BNC to RCA - so the answer is Yes - it can be the same. Many systems come with a few adaptors - if not - they should be cheap.

The BNC video signal is the same as the RCA (the "yellow" cable, typically). You can use a < $1 connector to go from BNC to RCA video.

Anyone have any experience with installing a hd into these? Is there a guide? What about formating?

I bought a 4-channel version. Cameras work very well, even in complete dark, monitoring the heating system in the mechanical room in the cabin. The DVR is another story - works for a couple days, then stops working then works again. Zmodo support is horrible - I am still trying to resolve the issue with them, as I don't know if it is bad unit, or another problem.

I can't be the only one that's getting kind of tired of seeing surveillance systems on Woot, right? I don't remember seeing this many this regularly in the past.

The cameras alone are worth the price, had to pull the trigger.

The one over at Moofi said it only had 420 horizontal resolution, typo ?

I figure I will either put a hard drive in or just use the cameras and ZoneMinder.

So, here's something I've been considering for a while. Is there any ability to use a system like this one (or this one specifically) as an instant replay machine for sports broadcasting? If we tie the normal Sony/Canon broadcast cameras we use into the input ports, would we have the ability to: 1) focus in on only one of the cameras without on-screen graphics from the DVR itself; 2) easily time-shift backward to replay a certain event from 30/60 seconds earlier; and 3) switch to another camera's angle/history seamlessly? What is the video quality in such a situation (at least 30fps at 640z480 or better)?

Most computers and software are unable to do this with more than one video camera's view -- so a unit like this, if it would work as I'm suggesting, would be invaluable for us in our broadcasting of small college football and basketball games -- and allow for basketball video replay verification by officials if we knew that we had a seamless way to assist in the replay process.

Thanks for any info anyone can provide.

- Frank

carl669 wrote:this would be a great item to use your $20 (or $40) coupon on.

now, if i hadn't already used mine, i'd be golden. damn!

A bit off topic, but are these emailed? I am new to the site but I've spent over 1k on Woot deals (that darn projector got me) coupon but haven't seen any coupons yet.

On a related note, I seriously get closer to pulling the trigger each time these come up.

How is the night vision quality? Will these be sufficient for a small warehouse?

Amazon has this setup with a 500gb HD for $410. 4-1/2 stars.

Even with the current hard drive prices, $235 is a huge difference.

jnam22 wrote:A bit off topic, but are these emailed? I am new to the site but I've spent over 1k on Woot deals (that darn projector got me) coupon but haven't seen any coupons yet.

On a related note, I seriously get closer to pulling the trigger each time these come up.

I got my $20 from voting and posting on deals.woot.com if that helps ?

If these are to be used outdoors they should be white to match the trim of the average house Plus, I would rather have 720 or 1080 recording.

For this price, it helps to scare the bad guys away

pupyluvr wrote:If these are to be used outdoors they should be white to match the trim of the average house Plus, I would rather have 720 or 1080 recording.

Many of my neighbors do NOT have white trim, so that's quite a blanket statement.

Higher resolution ... of course it's preferable. Not everyone has that kind of budget, however; because of NTSC signal limitations, you're dealing with a whole different type of setup.

As a cop this will be a little bit more security at home, or at least next time I’ll catch the bastards who put nails in my driveway.

YA!!! A new woot site: Moofi.woot.com!!! Or has it always been there, and I never noticed?

How far (close?) does one of these cameras need to be from a license plate to insure that the plate can be read from the saved video? How does that distance change at night? Thanks.

The cameras and the DVR are, to be blunt, complete garbage. Frankly the value simply isn't there because you're trading too much quality for the price reduction. (There's a reason the cheapest DVRs I or any other installer would ever use for an installation go for around $300; the drawbacks of the cheap units don't outway the price diference) Although, if you are looking for a method of deterrence, these will, barely, get the job done; the cameras look puny and the brackets will sag / move over time.

My biggest complaint with these cameras is their horrible resolution and picture quality. 320 vertical resolution, interlaced mode, cheap sensor and cheap processing all lead to crappy image quality. This becomes a problem when you need to take a still-shot from your video to identify someone, and since the picture quality is so grainy and crappy, you will NOT be able to identify the person 9 out of 10 times.

I guess it's better to buy and install these cheapest of the cheap cameras than to have none at all. Other piece of advice, if you buy this kit, install large signs (usually ~10"x10" in size) as an additional deterrent (Funny thing is, the signs cost more than these cameras).

PS do not run your cable like the guy in the video....

Medicfrost wrote:YA!!! A new woot site: Moofi.woot.com!!! Or has it always been there, and I never noticed?

It's been up and running on the hush-hush for a while... The link always changes... I bookmarked:

deals.woot.com/deals/search?q=store%3Amoofi.woot.com&sort=mostrecent

mwarrenus wrote:How far (close?) does one of these cameras need to be from a license plate to insure that the plate can be read from the saved video? How does that distance change at night? Thanks.

In the video review, it was written on the box the cameras have a 3.8mm lens (non-variable and no focus adjustment) so you would have to stand approximately 6 feet away from the camera to be caught in the camera's viewable area. Past 10 feet everything will be extremely fuzzy and grainy so really this is not a camera for capturing license plates. License plate cameras are much more expensive. You'll get the greatest value if you purchase a digital video camera (not these analog ones) that are IP based. Soon all security cameras will be digital as the prices go down, but for now the lowest you can purchase 2MP interlace cameras are for around $200 - 250, each.

Google license plate cameras...

How difficult is this to get up and running for the technologically impaired layman?

ultrasparc wrote:The cameras alone are worth the price, had to pull the trigger.

The one over at Moofi said it only had 420 horizontal resolution, typo ?

I figure I will either put a hard drive in or just use the cameras and ZoneMinder.

Jeez, I'd seen someone comment on Moofi before, but never understood the site previously. How long has that been in existence? I had no idea. Seems like that is a better unit with the potential for 16, but still only has 8 cameras. (as far as I can tell, the same 8 as this one.)

mwarrenus wrote:How far (close?) does one of these cameras need to be from a license plate to insure that the plate can be read from the saved video? How does that distance change at night? Thanks.

I was disappointed by very similar cameras for reading license plates, especially at night. Maybe in bright sunlight with cameras specifically positioned to see license plates, like at a gate or driveway entrance. With cameras mounted up under the eves, I wasn't able to read a license plate at dusk.

But, this Woot! is a great deal and plan to pull the trigger. The deal is just too good to pass up!

I want to read more about installing a hard drive. Hopefully somebody will post a link or explain it here.

blaze0ne wrote:The cameras and the DVR are, to be blunt, complete garbage.

My biggest complaint with these cameras is their horrible resolution and picture quality. 320 vertical resolution, interlaced mode, cheap sensor and cheap processing all lead to crappy image quality.

They are advertised as D1 here and on their website (D1 is 480 vertical lines). All the reviews I see say the DVR has issues but the image quality is pretty good. You talking about the same system ?

blaze0ne wrote:The cameras and the DVR are, to be blunt, complete garbage. Frankly the value simply isn't there because you're trading too much quality for the price reduction. (There's a reason the cheapest DVRs I or any other installer would ever use for an installation go for around $300; the drawbacks of the cheap units don't outway the price diference) Although, if you are looking for a method of deterrence, these will, barely, get the job done; the cameras look puny and the brackets will sag / move over time.

My biggest complaint with these cameras is their horrible resolution and picture quality. 320 vertical resolution, interlaced mode, cheap sensor and cheap processing all lead to crappy image quality. This becomes a problem when you need to take a still-shot from your video to identify someone, and since the picture quality is so grainy and crappy, you will NOT be able to identify the person 9 out of 10 times.

I guess it's better to buy and install these cheapest of the cheap cameras than to have none at all. Other piece of advice, if you buy this kit, install large signs (usually ~10"x10" in size) as an additional deterrent (Funny thing is, the signs cost more than these cameras).

PS do not run your cable like the guy in the video....

I've seen Q-See advertised at Costco (in fact, there is an 8 channel 500GB version currently that sounds like better cameras than this set for $400). Any thoughts on that brand?

ultrasparc wrote:They are advertised as D1 here and on there website (D1 is 480 vertical lines). All the reviews I see say the DVR has issues but the image quality is pretty good. You talking about the same system ?

You realize the definition of horizontal differs from the definition of vertical right?

Brad47 wrote:I was disappointed by very similar cameras for reading license plates, especially at night. Maybe in bright sunlight with cameras specifically positioned to see license plates, like at a gate or driveway entrance. With cameras mounted up under the eves, I wasn't able to read a license plate at dusk.

Thanks. Toshiba's white paper says 40 pixels/foot are needed for license plates and cctvlenscalculator.com calculates that one of these cameras mounted 9' up might be able to read a plate 25' from the camera or ~23' horizontally. (1/4" sensor, 4:3, 6 mm focal length, 704x480 (4CIF NTSC) camera resolution, adjust distance for a Target Resolution >= 40 pix/ft).

Oddly enough, this deal comes with higher-res (slightly) cameras than the moofi deal.

480 lines tall vs. 420 lines.

(EDIT: I just noticed this was commented as a possible typo in one of the two descriptions by someone else ... personally, judging by staring at the photos, I think the camera models are actually different, though I'm certainly not possessing additional knowledge, so don't blame me if I'm wrong.)

CowboyDann wrote:I know a lot of people don't read the write-up. Moofi has a 16 channel set in case eight channels aren't enough (oh it also comes with a 1TB HD)

(Protip: Despite conventional wisdom 'Eight Isn't Enough')

I'm too young to be telling that joke.

StatiK wrote:You realize the definition of horizontal differs from the definition of vertical right?

Opps your right. looks like security cameras are specified in horizontal lines.

D1 is defined as 704 x 480. That's the highest resolution supported by NTSC. The sensors may differ. But as far as analog resolution these are as high as it gets.

The Zmodo web site for this kit has some more pictures.