Inexpensive camera?

Devices & Integrations
1

Now that I have all my ST door switches and motion alarm set up I am guessing the next thing I need should be a camera. I know there was a samsung brand near all the smartthing devices at best buy so I guess I’ll start my research with google and that brand.
But since you all have probably a ton of experience, is there a better camera out there for less $?
I don’t need top of the line but I don’t want terrible quality either. I’m thinking one for insie and maybe one for outisde although it will be under a covered porch most likely. So I doubt that one will get much, if any rain. Although I’m not sure how easy it will be to power it???

Any suggestions are appreciated.
thanks.

2 Likes
2

I decided not to go with a wired system for ease of installation and I could never really find what type of system was best to use for integration with SmartThings (or home automation in general). I was hoping to find a system that allowed viewing of each camera via IP address (for use in SmartTiles /etc). Also integrated IP cameras, motion detection output for SmartThings, etc…

I went with Arlo wireless/battery/outdoor cameras by Netgear, they are officially integrated with SmartThings. They aren’t cheap though, you might find some holiday deals get them down to about $100 per camera. Biggest con for them is a delay between motion and start of recording which could cause you to miss important face shot of intruder. There is also a new “Pro” line out that adds local recording (vs cloud). I thought old Arlo’s were getting local recording to USB stick???

There is also Blink, similar to Arlo (wireless/battery), but not outdoor yet (probably ok if kept dry).

I didn’t research the other Samsung, Nest, etc… camera as they seemed to be even more expensive or not outdoor.

2 Likes
3

look at the blink cameras

4

thank you both. guess I’ll need to do alot more research and even see some videos of quality.

5

Still researching. I might grab a couple of the Blink cameras just to test out. The one thing that I don’t like is the 10 second recording. Needs to be at least 30 second or user configurable. I would rather have to change out batteries than miss something important.
Speaking of that, does it reset after x amount of time and then if it senses motion again, capture another 10 seconds?

How far away has anyone placed the “hub” from a camera? I think their site says 100ft. Just curious if that is what users here experience.

Any other suggestions please feel free to let me know.

6

Blink. They are pretty freaking awesome and cheap and easy to install and just works

7

Do you need to purchase the Blink hub, or will the cameras work with the smartthings hub alone?

8

You need the HUB (Sync Module) but it’s only $10 when buy the camera(s).

You need to use RBoy’s DTH and APP which is a paid subscription but well worth it.