The Lowest Cost Reliable IP Camera For Sale Online?

JH
John Honovich
Sep 14, 2013
IPVM

Often people need a camera to learn or just to test things out. Understandably they do not want to pay a lot of money but they need something that will not fall apart or refuse to connect (see this discussion).

The camera needs to be ONVIF Profile S OR have direct integration with multiple large VMSes.

That said, what would you recommend? Please give a specific model number, price and URL for sale online.

There's no point in suggesting anything over $150 as there's lots of cameras from big brands available at that price.

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Brian Rhodes
Sep 16, 2013
IPVMU Certified

The ONVIF S requirement apparently washes out anything sub-$150.

That said, there HAS to be someone reselling a reference design for under this price point. Anyone?

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Sean Nelson
Sep 16, 2013
Nelly's Security

You are lucky to find alot of high priced cameras right now with Profile S, let alone sub-$150

That being said, most of the inexpensive cameras are Onvif conformant, just not profile s

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Ethan Ace
Sep 16, 2013

There are 1,800 Profile S conformant devices listed on ONVIF's site, including a lot of low cost manufacturers. That's nearly as many as are listed as generically "conformant" (1,987).

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Jason Hill
Sep 16, 2013

All the LILIN L series cameras are Profile S, starting with the LD2222 at $199 MSRP LILIN

Note: they are all 1080p.

I only found one online retailer when I searched for the US though, showing $169... but based on the US pricing structure it should be available to the trade for the $150 mark.

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Sep 16, 2013

This D-Link 2132L cube camera looked kinda of cheap

JH
John Honovich
Sep 16, 2013
IPVM

What does D-Link integrate with these days?

Also, what's the lowest cost generally available ACTi, Dahua, Hikvision or Vivotek camera? You got to figure at least one of these is ~$100. Even if it's not Profile S, those cameras are directly supported by many VMSes.

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Sep 16, 2013

I didn't see ACTi having any ONVIF profile S cameras, but their new cameras have been pretty cheap (($120~$140). Knowing my Vivotek prices they might have one arould $190 ish. granted its been a while since I really looked their prices up. The D-Link camera claimed it was profile S

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Daniel S-T
Nov 27, 2013

I know this is an old post, but I've been looking into HIK Vision a lot lately and my search brought me here. According to the link that Ethan Ace provided, there are a large number of HIK Vision models that are apparently profile S. I've only been looking at indoor models lately, and I know I can get the DS-2CD2112-I for $135 right now. So that's sub $150, for something rated for the winters I go through.

Also sorry for excessive linkage :P

JH
John Honovich
Nov 27, 2013
IPVM

Daniel, thanks for reviving this.

We actually found an interesting candidate recently. The Zmodo ZH-IXA15-WC which is listed as ONVIF Profile S conformant and is for sale for the insane price of $55 on Amazon (though it has bad reviews).

I bought one for Derek. His Christmas gift from IPVM. Even if the video quality is poor, if the ONVIF support works decently, it might be good for people to get started with cameras. We'll update / do a post on it in the next month.

JT
Jason Thiele
Dec 09, 2013

Thanks, I think I may pick up a few of these two get started.

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Ethan Ace
Dec 09, 2013

Don't thank us yet. A day after receiving it, the Zmodo camera is officially bricked and we have no idea why. I barely got into configuring it to try and test it. Tech support couldn't revive it, either, so we're sending it back.

Some key points on it from my initial setup:

  • I couldn't get it to add via ONVIF to anything using a couple of different username/password combinations. There was no help on ONVIF in the manual or in their knowledgebase, and it died before we could ask tech support or try the ONVIF DM.
  • Installing the ActiveX plugin was a nightmare. It took about half an hour of playing with settings to finally get it to work. It does not work in other browsers.
  • The setup I did manage was clunky as heck. It's all in a popup window with weird nomenclature for common features. Not exactly user friendly, and the manual was little help.

But hey, for $55, maybe you'll have better luck than I did so far.

JH
John Honovich
Dec 09, 2013
IPVM

Camera - $55, hours wasted due to bad quality, priceless....

JT
Jason Thiele
Dec 09, 2013

yea... scratch that. lol

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