Which camera has the best features, in your opinion?

What if we don't have a security system yet? Is there any way to just purchase one of the DVRs/HDD plus a remote without the cameras, and then buy the cameras here?

Are there other deals on Woot that have the DVR right now? I wasn't impressed with the reviews on the Zmodo system that I see pop up here occasionally.

paperthinwalls wrote:What if we don't have a security system yet? Is there any way to just purchase one of the DVRs/HDD plus a remote without the cameras, and then buy the cameras here?

Are there other deals on Woot that have the DVR right now? I wasn't impressed with the reviews on the Zmodo system that I see pop up here occasionally.

Good morning,
All of the Zmodo-related Woot sales this time around only include cameras. No DVRs, power adapters, or cables are included in these listings.

The cameras run on 12V DV power and require a BNC video cable to transmit video from the camera to which ever recorder they're connected to. You can locate these accessories for sale at other online venues that I won't mention because I don't want Woot forum moderators to get mad at me.

zmodo wrote:I don't want Woot forum moderators to get mad at me.

Hey zmodo! Thanks for keeping it real around here and helping out there with the clarification.

I have a Zmodo 4-channel system which works great but want better IR range on 2 of the cameras and on a 3rd I want a wider angle of view. I see that there is a 100' range on one of these cameras, but does any have a wide field of view??

l33tDad wrote:I have a Zmodo 4-channel system which works great but want better IR range on 2 of the cameras and on a 3rd I want a wider angle of view. I see that there is a 100' range on one of these cameras, but does any have a wide field of view??

I have the 4 channel as well. Had a cam go "white" on me, so I bought a 1/3 inch Dome from a major online place for the same as the Dome ones here. Better image, IR works great out to about 25 foot. Wide field of view. The specs on the these domes are the same, so I'm gonna grab 2 more to replace the original package ones.

Sorry, but unless it WiFi ready, it's far outdated by my standards. But hey, if you don't want or need that, these are good quality cameras!

Last time Woot had these cameras for sale I got the Vari-Focal Weatherproof 4 -9mm Variable for $45. I was VERY VERY impressed with the improvement in the night vision over my original cameras. It also is really built well, much stronger then many of the "included with" cameras you get in the packages. Many that I have seen come with a very flimsy 3 way metal mount that is just plain cheap. The 4x9mm Vari Focal has a built in mount that is rugged, period. I had originally had the "stock" cameras you see that come with the basic offering from many of the budget CCTV vendors. They usually come with a 4 or 6mm Lens and rarely is it a variable focus. (Remember, the lower the number the more wide angle you get. For rule of thumb your 2.8mm is a wide angle and some could say that 3.6mm is also "kinda" a wide angle. So as the mm number goes up, your image gets narrower. A good site that shows how this works is located at http://tinyurl.com/c72flgk But the 4-9mm Weatherproof Varifocal I am mentioning was wider then what I originally had and is doing the job for me. (Using to cover a small townhouse deck with a fence and a gate. Mounted from my second story bedroom balconey I can see everything well. The IR beam is so bright, it is making a bright SPOT on the ground way outside my fence. So very impressive.

The $45 price point was a deal and I would recommend to any other WOOTER. But keep in mind that the other camera they marked as the Long Range Outdoor CCD w/ 12mm for $42 is not a variable focus and it will have a narrower field of view. Good for maybe getting a Front Door at night, but not say a backyard. (In my opinion) In fact Im thinking about another one. We want quality but we would prefer not to pay for it!!!

No Wi-Fi enabled cameras? Sigh.

inkycatz wrote:Which camera has the best features, in your opinion?

Some of the things to look for when purchasing a security camera:

1. The number of lines of resolution. Try to get one with at least 520 lines. The higher the number, the better. The 4 pack for $80 only has 420 lines so I would stay away from those; however, the single one for $79 has 650 lines.

The number of lines is important if you want to see detail like people's faces. If you only care if you notice a person in your back yard, then any of these would work for you.

2. The mm rating. The larger the number, the more zoom it has. If you want to capture a wider angle, get a 4mm lens but if you want to capture something farther away and zoomed up, get a 9mm lens. You can compromise by getting something in between.

3. The number of LEDs is really a useless rating. You can have one single LED that is brighter than 45 LEDs because there are different technologies involved in some of the newer LEDs. Notice, however, that the LEDs in these cameras are quasi infrared and some of the newer bright cree leds are usually in the visible spectrum. I call these quasi infrared because you can still see them glowing a faint red and are not completely invisible to the naked eye. If you are to compare two models of the same brand using the same LED types, then the number of LEDs can give you a sense of brightness difference. Do not believe anything that says they go hundreds of feet in complete darkness because the LEDs scatter light too much to concentrate it all into that kind of distance.

I have a bunch of cameras around and have tried so many brands and discovered you really do get what you pay for. Those cheap ones are generally crap while the more expensive ones really do have a better picture.

4. Notice that some models include audio so keep that in mind when selecting which one to buy.

5. I got some crappy cameras with one of my Zmodo DVRs that I bought from woot and I'm looking at those SONY EFFIO-E ones as a possible replacement for them. I'm just going to check around to make sure the pricing is right and then I'll probably buy the maximum of 3 that woot will allow me to buy. Too bad they impose a limit of 3 on something like a camera for people that have a 16 channel DVR.

nozero wrote:Sorry, but unless it WiFi ready, it's far outdated by my standards. But hey, if you don't want or need that, these are good quality cameras!

Although a Wifi model is easier to hook up, they are not completely wireless. You still need to provide power to them. So if you plan on having them outdoors or on your roof, how do you get power to them? Why not also just run a video cable too? As for me, I use a balun and then run Cat 5e cable for audio, video, and power, all in one cable.

Besides, Wifi models usually do not connect to a DVR and are normally self-contained. That being said, how would you record your video with a Wifi model unless you plan on having a computer installed for that purpose. Those stand-alone security DVRs usually do not have support for Wifi cameras. Additionally, if you have multiple Wifi cameras, setting them all up so you can watch them from outside your firewall can be a challenge considering every camera will need to be on a separate open port.

Can one of the woot staff answer a question for me? Why does the CM-S22926BW-AD description say 6mm and the picture shows 12mm:



Also, just noticed that this camera has 4 pictures and the one I posted is the only one that shows the mm rating on the front of the lens. All the others look a little different.

cengland0 wrote:Can one of the woot staff answer a question for me? Why does the CM-S22926BW-AD description say 6mm and the picture shows 12mm:



Also, just noticed that this camera has 4 pictures and the one I posted is the only one that shows the mm rating on the front of the lens. All the others look a little different.

Good morning,
It looks like someone grabbed an image of a different camera for the head-on picture. If you look at all of the other images for this camera, you're right the lens does look different than it does for the head-on shot. I actually pulled one of these from inventory to double check, and its definitely a 6mm lens.

I'm sorry for the mix-up! The erroneous party will be punished! ...It was probably my bad, actually. We ran out sugar in the office so I've been having tea instead of coffee. That was a poor life choice.

zmodo wrote:Good morning,
It looks like someone grabbed an image of a different camera for the head-on picture. If you look at all of the other images for this camera, you're right the lens does look different than it does for the head-on shot. I actually pulled one of these from inventory to double check, and its definitely a 6mm lens.

I'm sorry for the mix-up! The erroneous party will be punished! ...It was probably my bad, actually. We ran out sugar in the office so I've been having tea instead of coffee. That was a poor life choice.

Thank you for your response. I did not want a 12mm lens so I'm glad that was an erroneous photo. I'll order my maximum of three of these now.

zmodo wrote:We ran out sugar in the office so I've been having tea instead of coffee. That was a poor life choice.

I'd send someone to buy sugar at lunch! Thanks for the clarification.

zmodo wrote:Good morning,
It looks like someone grabbed an image of a different camera for the head-on picture. If you look at all of the other images for this camera, you're right the lens does look different than it does for the head-on shot. I actually pulled one of these from inventory to double check, and its definitely a 6mm lens.

I'm sorry for the mix-up! The erroneous party will be punished! ...It was probably my bad, actually. We ran out sugar in the office so I've been having tea instead of coffee. That was a poor life choice.

In regards to the tea... for shame. I've recently been exposed to the wonders of loose leaf tea and since my first cup, have not been back to coffee. Perhaps you should pick up an appropriate steeper and some good quality loose leaf tea.

I've found that a good cup of Oolong or Rooibos to be much more satisfactory than coffee. Visit a quality local tea shop and try some real tea. You will be amazed at what a good cup of tea can taste like compared to that awful bagged tea you are used to having. Enjoy!

Are any of these cameras powered by cate5?

nozero wrote:Sorry, but unless it WiFi ready, it's far outdated by my standards. But hey, if you don't want or need that, these are good quality cameras!

These are analog cameas, if you wated to use them on a IP based system you can use an encoder which can be ethernet or wifi. If you use a multi channel encoder it can be cost effective compared to some of the hi end IP cams. It depends on your needs.

keithanthonyrobinson wrote:Are any of these cameras powered by cate5?

These cameras are not PPPoE (Powered by Internet) but you can use Cat5 cable to run power to the cameras if you want.

In order to do that, you'll need to get familiar with an accessory called a video balun. Video baluns convert certain signals to Cat5 so that you can use Cat5 cable instead of whatever type of cable the device is supposed to use.

The cameras require a 12V DC power cable connected to it in order for it to operate, and some video baluns can convert a 12V DC power signal to Cat5 signal.

Its definitely not a "plug-and-play" simple solution, but if you're keen on using Cat5 or Cat5e cable then its worth looking into!

zmodo wrote:
In order to do that, you'll need to get familiar with an accessory called a video balun. Video baluns convert certain signals to Cat5 so that you can use Cat5 cable instead of whatever type of cable the device is supposed to use.

And here's the type of balun that I use. This particular one is from monoprice.