Best (simple) CCTV system

[Overby]

I know the question has been asked before but wanting some up to date info.

Any recommendations for a simple but effective farm CCTV system. Around 6 cameras dotted around the farm, viewable on phone or pc, ideally recording anything untoward.

I'm not a total tech novice but am a bit of a Luddite when it comes to this sort of thing so the simpler the better.

Rough prices too.

Much obliged.

 

[wanton dwarf]

You need to give people an idea of what you are looking for.

For example, do you want livestock cameras for lambing and calving ?

What do you expect from the system ? Mug shots & Car regs for the Police or just monitoring deliveries and busy bodies ?

 

[Overby]

No stock monitoring, basically security / deterrent , and, as as you say, clock reg's and faces of anyone coming in, and basic monitoring of stable yard just to see what's going on.

There's so many options out there I thought I'd ask what others have found work best, apols for lack of detail.

Any info much appreciated

 

[farmer92]

Try Farmstream, we have one of their 4G cameras, very good and simple to use , they have a website you can look at

 

[Clive]

I know the question has been asked before but wanting some up to date info.

Any recommendations for a simple but effective farm CCTV system. Around 6 cameras dotted around the farm, viewable on phone or pc, ideally recording anything untoward.

I'm not a total tech novice but am a bit of a Luddite when it comes to this sort of thing so the simpler the better.

Rough prices too.

Much obliged.

Ring camera. plug and play - mains, battery or solar power and like £50 -£100 each !

Outdoor Security Camera | Stick Up Cam Battery

Add smart security anywhere with Stick Up Cam Battery. Countless placement options and adjustable motion settings. Indoor or outdoor. 1080p HD camera with two-way talk & quick-release battery pack.

en-uk.ring.com

cant see why anyone buys the expensive “farm” solutions from flaky suppliers frankly

 

[Highland Mule]

cant see why anyone buys the expensive “farm” solutions from flaky suppliers frankly

I’ve had consumer type cameras, although not a Ring. I’ve tried Panasonic, Swann and some cheap Amazon brand. The specs on the ones from Farmstream are vastly superior - 50m night vision, long optical zoom, high definition.

Sure you could get a direct import of it from some other website, but for the support they offer its worth buying direct. Flaky they are not.

 

[Clive]

I’ve had consumer type cameras, although not a Ring. I’ve tried Panasonic, Swann and some cheap Amazon brand. The specs on the ones from Farmstream are vastly superior - 50m night vision, long optical zoom, high definition.

Sure you could get a direct import of it from some other website, but for the support they offer its worth buying direct. Flaky they are not.

i’ve got a load of Ring stuff and its been great

also got a fancy commercial system that cost x10 as much its ok but has less functionality than the Ring and needed pro installation

this stuff all comes out the same Chinese factories truth be told

 

[Clive]

I saw an advertisement recently for some really high spec cameras - full 4k colur at night, zoom like the hubble telescope etc - looked amazing but serious £££ I guess

 

[milkloss]

The thing about Ring stuff is the upload speed required….. for the doorbell as an example you need at least 2meg upload speed on your broadband. We have 1.6 so ruled that out. Also you would need Wi-Fi round the yard or wire it up with data cable but the bonus there is that you wouldn’t need power at the camera.

I believe nearly all their stuff uploads the streams to a server which you then view from which is fine if you don’t mind paying for it and have a fast data connection.

 

[Highland Mule]

also got a fancy commercial system that cost x10 as much its ok but has less functionality than the Ring and needed pro installation

I saw an advertisement recently for some really high spec cameras - full 4k colur at night, zoom like the hubble telescope etc - looked amazing but serious £££ I guess

I’d say that the Farmstream (other companies are available) comfortably occupies that middle ground. £300 or so for a self installation system that can read a ewe’s ear tag at 40yds, in the dark.

this stuff all comes out the same Chinese factories truth be told

Yup, as I said. But the difference between direct and through a reputable dealer isn’t enough to merit the lack of customer service, imho.

 

[neilo]

I’ve had consumer type cameras, although not a Ring. I’ve tried Panasonic, Swann and some cheap Amazon brand. The specs on the ones from Farmstream are vastly superior - 50m night vision, long optical zoom, high definition.

Sure you could get a direct import of it from some other website, but for the support they offer its worth buying direct. Flaky they are not.

Agreed, Farmstream were very fast in processing my refund when I sent it back as practically unusable. Mounted high up centrally in a lambing shed, it took about 20 minutes to scan round the shed fully. Whether it would have been faster on a 4G signal (flaky here anyway), but this was installed via an existing wireless bridge.

The older Agricamera (that had died after 9 years) used to take about a minute to do the same, operating over the same connection.

Still needing to sort something before next lambing.

 

[Steevo]

Agreed, Farmstream were very fast in processing my refund when I sent it back as practically unusable. Mounted high up centrally in a lambing shed, it took about 20 minutes to scan round the shed fully. Whether it would have been faster on a 4G signal (flaky here anyway), but this was installed via an existing wireless bridge.

The older Agricamera (that had died after 9 years) used to take about a minute to do the same, operating over the same connection.

Still needing to sort something before next lambing.

What made you choose Farmstream and not go back to Agricamera? Sounds like that would be the logical choice.

 

[neilo]

What made you choose Farmstream and not go back to Agricamera? Sounds like that would be the logical choice.

Price. Lots of cameras about that are higher spec and cheaper, and I didn’t feel I needed to pay a premium for a ‘everything you need in a box’ package.
Disappointed with the performance of the Farmstream camera (still only a cheap Chinese camera), although the picture quality was certainly a vast improvement over the 9 yr old Agricamera. Technology moves on apace.

 

[tracymmartinez15]

I've been thinking for a long time that I want to install several cameras outside the house and garage. My house is big and has two entrances, I think I should install two cameras. I wanted to turn to ajax because I remember installing smoke and water sensors there, but unfortunately they don't install cameras yet, and they can be trusted. It's a shame that I can't buy cameras from them. But I will continue to search for a good quality video surveillance system! And what do you think about smoke, motion and water level sensors? Is this a good investment in security?

 

[wanton dwarf]

Price. Lots of cameras about that are higher spec and cheaper, and I didn’t feel I needed to pay a premium for a ‘everything you need in a box’ package.
Disappointed with the performance of the Farmstream camera (still only a cheap Chinese camera), although the picture quality was certainly a vast improvement over the 9 yr old Agricamera. Technology moves on apace.

What did you find wrong with the Farmstream camera ? for example night vision ?

 

[neilo]

What did you find wrong with the Farmstream camera ? for example night vision ?

Night vison and clarity was great. It took 20 minutes to rotate fully round though, which I need to do to scan round the lambing shed. Whether that was the camera at fault, or the quality of the connection/WiFi bridge? It was certainly many times slower than the old Agricamera one though, and too slow to be usable.

To their credit, the return/refund was no problem at all.

 

[Highland Mule]

Night vison and clarity was great. It took 20 minutes to rotate fully round though, which I need to do to scan round the lambing shed. Whether that was the camera at fault, or the quality of the connection/WiFi bridge? It was certainly many times slower than the old Agricamera one though, and too slow to be usable.

To their credit, the return/refund was no problem at all.

Thinking about this again, did you set up presets and cycle between them or just nudge the camera around 5° at a time? I can see the latter taking time, but with presets it is very quick.

 

[wanton dwarf]

Thinking about this again, did you set up presets and cycle between them or just nudge the camera around 5° at a time? I can see the latter taking time, but with presets it is very quick.

Night vison and clarity was great. It took 20 minutes to rotate fully round though, which I need to do to scan round the lambing shed. Whether that was the camera at fault, or the quality of the connection/WiFi bridge? It was certainly many times slower than the old Agricamera one though, and too slow to be usable.

To their credit, the return/refund was no problem at all.

It's also worth checking the camera settings to see if there is any adjustment. There's usually a menu you can bring up - for my DVR iand newer cameras t's linked to the PTZ controls (Don't ask me which button).