Wireless surveillance cameras - use, laws and ethics. | 10 Things to Look for in a Home Surveillance Camera

As noted in my previous post - Do You Really Need a Wireless Surveillance Camera - there may be other options better suited to your needs. If only the real thing will do, though, there’s more to it than just pointing at the coolest gizmo and running home with it. Whatever your motivation for getting a wireless surveillance camera, you need to first consider several things before you run out and buy one. Here are 10 things to keep in mind as you shop. 

1. Wired or wireless security camera - in purchasing a home security camera, you may have to make a decision between convenience and expense. A wired system will require running cables to your capture device (computer or video) and that can be a real pain especially if you want them to be discrete. But you’ll likely save money on the initial purchase if you opt for wired. A wireless camera will cost you more and comes with the added expense of requiring a wireless router on your computer, but it will eliminate the need to run cables throughout your home.
2. Image Resolution - Depending on what you’re trying to capture, you may be able to realize some savings by scaling back your resolution requirements. Simply proving it’s your neighbor traipsing through your yard as a shortcut may not require a super crisp image. Capturing the license plate of a car parking illegally 100 yards a way will require much better resolution and optical zoom capability.
3. Indoor or outdoor - If exterior monitoring is your objective, you may be able to get away with housing your camera indoors and aiming out a window. This makes even wireless surveillance cameras easy to manage because you generally have the convenience of a nearby power source to plug into. If you’ll need your camera outside, you’ll have to purchase one made for outdoor conditions and will also have to run power to wherever you want it mounted.
4. Setup - I’m in the technology industry and even I had to jump some hurdles getting my first wireless surveillance camera setup. The enclosed directions were less than helpful and missed steps. If you are tech-phobic, be certain you read as many user reviews as possible before settling on a purchase. Check out the manufacturer’s customer support, too.
5. Discretion - Sometimes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Just the appearance of a home security camera may be enough to deter would-be criminals from setting foot on your property. Other times you want to be discrete such as with a nanny-cam. Pick the camera best suited to your needs.
6. Camera mobility - Want pan, tilt? Make sure your camera has it before you click buy. You’ll save money if you are content with a fixed-mounted camera without all the bells and whistles but you’ll also be restricted to one view all the time. Remote pan and tilt features bring the price up a bit. They are nice features to have, though.
7. Optical vs. Digital zoom - A camera that promises 20x or 300x digital zoom sounds great until you see just how pixilated (distorted) high digital zooming can be. Digital zooming isn’t really zooming at all. The camera simply magnifies an existing image and the image quality suffers as digital magnification goes up. Move your eyes closer and closer to a TV and you’ll see what I mean. By doing so, you aren’t increasing zoom, you are simply bringing your focus closer to the pixels (until they are unrecognizable as an image). Optical zoom is always better than digital zoom. Optical is true magnification. Given the choice between a camera that offers 5X Optical and one that offers 20X digital, I’ll opt for the Optical every time.
8. Software - If buying a wireless surveillance camera, you’re going to get software to manage it. It’s not at all uncommon to find yourself with a perfectly serviceable piece of hardware but utterly lousy software to capture and manipulate what you’ve recorded. Often the software will come feature-poor but generously offer you additional features for some extra coin. It’s deceptive and annoys me. Ask questions in advance of your purchase and read online and customer reviews to ensure the complete package you end up with at purchase meets your needs.
9. Bells and Whistles - Want to be able to check your camera from any computer anywhere in the world via IP? Want to be paged when your camera detects motion? Want your captures transmitted offsite to external storage? I’ll cover this more in a future post but be sure to make a list of what you want your camera to do before you even set out shopping.
10. Power Source - It’s thrilling to buy wireless surveillance cameras until you realize they’re not quite wireless. You do have to plug them in, after all. When you think you’ve settled on the camera you want, make sure you know how it’s powered. If it is a battery operated spy camera, ask about battery life and recharge times. If it is a mounted surveillance camera, ask how long the included power cord is. It’s terrible to come home with the camera you’ve always wanted only to realize you’re going to have to run a whole new electrical line out to where you wanted to mount it just to power it up.

I hope this list helps you in getting the home surveillance camera best suited to your needs. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to comment. I’ll answer as soon as I can.