Camera notes & sample images
From L to R, Lorex UHD (4K), Defender Security 4X manual zoom HD (1080p), Reolink 4X power zoom 5 Mpixel:
Defender HD (1080p) TV-CVI 4X zoom at max zoom:
Lorex UHD (4K, 8 Mpixel) "standard" ~3.6mm lens TV-CVI camera:
Reolink 5 Mpixel POE 4X zoom netcam at max zoom:
Note that the 5 Mpixel camera at 4X max zoom is clear enough to read the license plate, so I've blacked it out, with the others you can't read the plate.
If you want images for facial recognition and/or Police ID, IMHO your resolution - field of view trade off starts at 5 Mpixel and 4X zoom (~12mm lens), compare these two examples, top 5Mp ~12mm, bottom 4K ~3.6mm:
4K UHD (8 Mpixel) POE 4mm ~$130 Very nice image quality and among the best adjustment systems -- like a "ball head" tripod. Major downside is I can't get Onvif snapshots to work, as it always prompts for a username/password on the initial http request. It appears to give the full 3840x2160 snapshot image, but it also appears it may only deliver these when the stream is sending a "keyframe" meaning only once every second or two which makes the snapshots minimally useful.
5 Mpixel POE Indoor 4X zoom PTZ ~$100 Not outdoor rated, but I wanted to play with PTZ. The zoom/autofocus yield great images, seems to go to slow shutter speeds to try and keep color images with dull lighting making it prone to motion blur on moving persons. This doesn't seem to hurt the AI detection. If someone is not supposed to be there the alert is all you need, but deciding if its person A or person B before taking action, might be difficult. I haven't fully explored the settings so perhaps this can be improved. The Pan and Tilt is likely too jerky and slow for tracking, but it sure is nice to only go up on a ladder once to install and setup a camera! Other than not being outdoor rated, the largest negative is the Onvif snapshot is lame D1 resolution, so it'll need to use rtsp streaming.
4K UHD (8 Mpixel) 4X zoom ~$120 I've not actually used this one, but its from the same company as the above camera, gaining better resolution but losing the Pan and Tilt. The narrower the field of view, the more cameras you'll need to cover the area, but the higher the likelihood of getting an image of sufficient quality for a Police identification. My Holy grail camera when I replace the TV-CVI DVRs with NVRs will be 4K UHD with 4X power zoom. When these become available for <$100 I will probably make the switch.
HD (1080p) 3.6mm lense, ~$25 Probably the best $25 camera you'll find, plastic case may not be as rugged as you might like, but its got a nice ball-head type mount making it easy to adjust. My two largest complaints: It ships with a fixed IP address and needs a lame unsigned ActiveX control (meaning you need Internet Explorer and Windows, I used XP in a Virtual Machine) to change it to DHCP. The Onvif snapshots are only lame D1 resolution.
To supply Power Over Ethernet you need a POE switch or injector. For one or two cameras injectors work well but for more cameras, get a POE switch.
POE Injector Least expensive way to get started, great for a camera or two but you'll quickly run out of places to plug them in.
4-port POE Switch This is about ideal for a four camera setup, 4 POE ports, and two Ethernet up-link ports -- one for the AI Host computer, the other to your router for sending push notifications.
8-port POE switch One of the best I've found. "Industrial" temperature rating so it should be fine in a garage or attic. Has Gigabit up-link port.
But if you want 24/7 recording get a net DVR instead of a POE switch, they provide the POE function and "solve" the continuous recording problem with minimal hassle. The AI makes the 24/7 recordings much more useful by providing the timestamps for where in the video to look.
IP or "netcams" are the future, but the "analog" camera systems ain't dead yet. They are still significantly less expensive and can support much longer distances to the cameras than can Ethernet.
Qcamera 16 channel HD (1080p) This was a drop in replacement when my original Lorex LHV-2016 HD TV-CVI (1080p) system died. Works well, I still have nine HD cameras hooked to it as I transition to 4K. My only real complaint is that its NTP implementation is flawed so it doesn't keep accurate timestamps on the images.
Amcrest 8 channel 4K UHD DVR I got this to have a test/demo system. I run it without a hard drive so it just streams a variety camera resolutions to my AI for development and testing. Wish I'd found it before I got the Lorex Costco special.
Lorex 8 channel 4K "Costco Special" I got the 8-channel version of this with four 4K UHD cameras "on sale" at Costco. It could reuse my existing HD cables for 4K cameras so it was a nice option. Works well, but ultimately not any better than the less expensive Amcrest.
Inexpensive 4K UHD HD-CVI camera ~$55 Blurb at Amazon says it only works with Amcrest DVR, its not true, I use one with my Lorex LHV-5108 and I've tested the Lorex 4K cameras with the Amcrest DVR and they also work perfectly.