Has anyone got any suggestions for a cheap outdoor CCTV camera? Literally one camera that can record around the front of my house, that I can access from my phone and records somehow? don't want to spend loads.

Ring stuff ? During the "troubles" in my road some years ago ,I found that I got better results with a highly visible dummy camera and a covert one. Anyone intent on wrongdoing avoids the obvious one ,and is easy prey for the covert one .

Depends on needs. You'll still need to run power out to it and somehow record or monitor the feed.

 

I have seen a battery powered wifi camera but I can't imagine the battery lasting very long.

One of the easiest to fit are the Ring solar powered cameras, provided you get a reasonable amount of light during the day. The solar bit charges a battery. Couple of friends have them and get good results.

I had a chat with local PCSO ,the other day. Inside your property- no problems. Outside, you may have to register and be willing to give access to anyone who wishes to view. Be worth checking out.

This, from the ICO gives good advice https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/domestic-cctv-systems-guidance-for-people-using-cctv/

Liger- best to be water tight, as I've had problems threatening use of cameras on yobs. The come back to "taking photos of kids". My old mate a LA tenancy enforcement officer had one comment "that old chestnut".

Best one I have found is the IeGeek range from Amazon work very well and are not too expensive, as said you will have to get power to it.

 

John

17 hours ago, VWD said:

Liger- best to be water tight, as I've had problems threatening use of cameras on yobs. The come back to "taking photos of kids". My old mate a LA tenancy enforcement officer had one comment "that old chestnut".

 

It's all about the intent. Getting caught taking picture of little 'uns at the local swimming pool is nt the same as capturing 6' tall teenage neds on your CCTV system.

There are rules around CCTV but they are basically that you have to try to onlt record on land you have permission to record on (so have to avoid public streets and communal areas) and you should have a notice up that you are recording.

 

However if you are doing your best to adhere to that and slip up a little you are unlikely to be picked up for it again because your intent is honorable so to speak.

Aspman- problem is that to try to be clever, the ones causing the problem are not 6" tall yobs, .They are more likely ( in this area ) to be circa 12-14 years old ,with damage in mind as pawns of the older kids/nasty neighbours.

i had a chat with our PCSO recently ,and as you say , recording inside your property needs no registration. Covering outside ( car parked on pavement e.g.) , may lead to recording on public property and it's best to get advice of ICO/etc. Other point she made was that  on communal land anyone has right to ask for a copy of the recording.

Best to be careful ,though . The mentality that exploits the loopholes in honest folks taking precautions will also try to exploit any thing else.

Years ago , next door had a very noisy party. Same night that Grand daughter stopped over . I'd bought her a mobile with a torch and she loved to play with it at night. Room overlooked the back of our house and next door where the party was being held. One member saw the torch light and invented a story of me taking photos of the party ( attended at 2300+ with his primary school kids ) ,and next day he was seen ( and heard) in full alcoholic voice  accusing me of taking photos of his kids.  Police advice to him was to shut up before action was taken.

But that is something to consider.

Again, I believe that a notice is advisable.

 

Used to be that police looked on car coverage  as fair game and any excess due to camera was accidental.

We have a Reolink Argus Pro that is currently used as a baby cam – you can get a wall mount for it if you want it outside. It doesn't constantly record, but will capture on a PIR sensor if you have a SD card in it. The battery lasts a few weeks with occasional triggering, but you can buy a solar panel that connects to it for about 15 quid which should boost the longevity if you have it in/near a place that gets sun? Connects via WiFi and you can access it from a phone app. It won't integrate with an existing CCTV system or 3rd party software though - so may not be what you're after?

 

I'm probably planning to repurpose it as a CCTV camera when we don't have need for it in the nursery anymore.

Edited 10 December, 20196 yr by Mort
typo

I fitted a CCTV system after an attempted break in just before Christmas 2017. I looked at various systems and initially wanted a wireless one but in the end I went for wired 4 camera system including a 2TB hard drive with the scope to add 4 more cameras should I need it.  The system was by Swann and the setup was fairly painless with the most difficult part passing the wires into the roof void. The connections are just BNC and once switched on everything just worked. Next was downloading the app and scanning the bar code on the recorder so we could view the cameras over the internet. Back up the ladders to make some small adjustments to the camera angles to get the best views. Final part of the setup was to blank out some areas of the views so as not to record in the neighbours windows. I let the neighbours see the views on the app so they knew their privacy was protected and none were actually bothered if I’d blanked it or not but thanked me for letting them know anyway. There is also facilities to send emails when the camera detects motion but you soon get tired of viewing cats in the garden. 
 

During the last two years since I’ve had it installed the only maintenance it’s required is the occasional removal of spider webs, as infra red lights on the cameras attracts insects. The image quality is great, day or night, and viewing them on the app is good too. I’ve only needed to use it once to take an image of some kids playing knock and run, which got tiresome but showing the picture to their parents and the faces of the kids denying doing so until they were shown the image was priceless.  On another occasion I was able to provide a video to the police when a neighbours daughter had her bag stolen from an unlocked car. Other than that it has been a visual deterrent and a source of confusion to the dog who can’t understand how I can see what mischief she’s up to at all times. 

I've had a lot of experience of the reaction of those "of ill intent" wrt Cameras, as the local custom of those "with intent" was to try and intimidate with few/nil witnesses around or intimidate witnesses so nothing was seen. Cameras are good, but what often works better is to place a dummy highly visible with some form of indicator ( flashing LED works well) in a prominent position and then a covert active camera close by. It's amazing the lengths folk with something to hide go to to hid their identity to th visible camera, whilst exposing full features to the covert one.

like you I had one little brazen kid who thought knock and go was fun. He then tried to deny it. I'd no actual footage but I'd spotted him hiding behind the fence, not knowing that from upstairs we have a good view of the outside. When I asked him if his dad would like th footage, he went white.

Locally in recent weeks, I've noticed appeals from local police for folks with CCTV to register. If you get one ( any one who's got one) might be worth contacting locals to see if they're interested and what you can look at. So it looks as if due to manpower problems ,folk with CCTV are being looked on as benefactors rather than busybodies. 

This is old but HIKVision make amazing quality, cheap kits on Amazon. I dont have some at home, but at work we do, and the quality is spectacular. I would avoid expensive options like Yale etc because theyre just selling marked up tat with no real good performance.

To for the best quality cameras/recorder you can afford and then when something does happen you can get a decent picture of the event 

 

Again. I've stuck an old cheapo dash cam up in a bedroom window. I've no idea if it's recording or what. But  I've got a neighbour across the street who has a works van with a lot of kit in it. He's got kids, so out of courtesy ( and anyone setting up a system might like to consider this ) I pointed it out to him. His attitude as would be the POV of most reasonable folks is that any deterrent is something worth having.