CCTV Cameras

Actually even a cheap digital camera has better resolution than the average CCTV camera. Even the expensive CCTV cameras aren't all that great IMO. Its always been a tough for sell for me when a camcorder provides better video quality than a CCTV camera. In fact years ago because of this we setup an old camcorder camera for the check cashing line at my parents grocery store. It was one of those with an recorder carried on a shoulder strap. We modified it to go to a regular recorder, and it worked great for many years of continuous service.

We as an industry are deluding ourselves if we want to compare CCTV imaging to digital cameras, most camocredrs or any digital camcorder. With SVHS and HI-8 recorders as cheap as they are these days I can't understand why CCTV cameras cost so much to get a fraction of the resolution and still have to be tweaked and adjusted for a particular application.

Even so I tend to only use the better res cameras. The only positive is the cameras we use today are so much better than the cameras we used 15 years ago that commercial customers are still pleased with the improvement. Well atleast commercial customers who had cameras 15 years ago. LOL

Awesome! I can't think of a single application where a laptop computer with an expensive single frame Digital Camera could be utilized in a real world surveillance situation. At least you'd have the "flash" for covert night operations... I think you're a little confused...but do let us all know how your marketing campaign goes...

Take your crap somewhere else. There are a multitude of digital CCTV cameras, processing, and recording devices that will deliver better than DVD quality video. Digial "Megapixel" CCTV cameras are readily available that are designed to integrate into a real CCTV system.

There are so many inaccuracies on your garbage website that I don't know where to start. Suffice to say, I've been involved in the design of many high-end video systems for customer with nearly unlimited resources. These people would laugh at your ideas.

Give me a break PLEASE! you are comparing a $1000 plus digital camera to a $59 noname crap camera.

I'm pretty impressed with the resolution I get off most of the Network Cameras we use. When you place a 470 line resolution camera on a 380 line resolution monitor...that's the effects most customers see. The digital chip sets are certainly much better, but you also get what you pay for. Panasonic makes a

970 lines resolution camera, but at $975 a camera (fixed)...if there are used in the right application, with the right lens, displayed on the right monitor? Most CCTV installs are always the low bid, at low to medium specifications. You get what you pay for. Cameras serve their purpose...unless you're a photographer. Then nothings good enough.

website that I don't know where to start. Suffice to say, I've been involved in the design of many high-end video systems for customer with nearly unlimited resources. These people would laugh at your ideas.

Let's see who is talking crap. Post just ONE image produced by "one of your many" high-end video cameras so it can be compared with the CCTV images on

I think your customers will throw their CCTV cameras into the nearest garbage bin when they see the quality that an ordinary digital stills camera can produce when it is connected to a laptop or pc.

So the proof is in the pudding...either put up just ONE quality image taken with your "mega pixel" cameras, or shut up.

Mega pixel video cameras mean nothing if your shutter speed is stuck at

1/50th of a second, as most CCTV cameras are. That is one reason why you get such bad quality when using video cameras -they can't capture people in movement. You just end up with a blur, or pixelation, and that is even before the video is compressed to the hard drive for storage.

Panasonic makes a

970 lines resolution camera, but at $975 a camera (fixed)...if there are used in the right application, with the right lens, displayed on the right monitor?

If you display any image from a CCTV camera on a VGA monitor you will get a nice clear view of the camera scene.

You are however simply monitoring the live feed from the camera -you are not looking at the saved images or video which has to be converted from an analogue TV-lines-signal to a digital compressed file - and therein lies the problem.

In the capturing, conversion and compression of an analogue signal coming from an analogue CCTV camera, you end up with a dog's dinner of an image, so that in almost all cases it is impossible to identify the people in the image unless they are standing completely still right in front of the camera with their nose pressed to the lens!

This is so even when the video camera is a digital "megapixel" variety, as in a network ip camera. The resolution of 2 megapixels together with a slow shutter speed and inferior lenses used in the technology mean that one cannot obtain clear enough images of people's faces - one can only get a general impression for example of a car park - one cannot see the car number plates or other levels of detail.

If however you connect a simple digital stills camera such as a Canon Powershot S2iS via a USB cable to a laptop or pc, which can reside under the shop counter on in a cupboard in your home, it will capture stunning pictures of anyone in the camera scene, even if they are running past the camera.

This is because you are able to set the shutter speed to 1/125th of a second, and the sensor on a digital stills camera is at least 4 megapixels even on a cheap version. The technology and lenses are also geared up for taking clear images, whereas digital video cameras are more geared up for simple monitoring purposes - not for saving clear sequential jpg images of a camera scene.

We are not marketing anything - we've made our money and have retired long ago.

What we are pointing out is that by connecting an ordinary USB camera like a Canon Powershot S2iS to your laptop or pc, you can save wonderfully clear images to the hard drive on a time lapse or motion detection basis.

Even if someone is running past the camera across the street, it will capture them in sharp detail.

The camera comes with its own Remote Capture Software - all you need is a pc or laptop to connect the camera up and you've got the best CCTV system money can buy, for use in homes or businesses.

A Canon S2iS digital stills camera costs about $700 and most of us already have a laptop we can use for storing the images.

If there is any confusion it is not on our part - we're not confused when we look at the quality of the images a digital stills camera produces, even at night time using a separate motion detection light.

What is confusing is having to look at images from video CCTV cameras which in almost all cases resemble a dog's dinner.

So go out and buy a cheap digital stills camera that has remote capture software, connect it to your laptop or pc, and relax knowing that it will capture clearly anyone moving within the camera scene.

A CCTV camera is an industrial model, made to run 24/7, a still camera is not.

A still camera is absolutely useless for CCTV. Lets see, will you find a 1000' USB cable for each camera? Whats that about day night? Are these cameras weather resistant or vandal resistant, do they have a 5 year unbreakable warranty, can they see 500' in pitch dark, can i install one in my motion detector, or place it outside in a gang box, can i roll over it in my SUV, ... etc etc.

None of the images for CCTV you have on your web page represent the high quality of any CCTV system I have used, and I have a long list.

List some of the many CCTV systems you have used and then we can talk.

But if you want still images only, then go right ahead, the other

99.999% of security customers want some kind of motion, and now even more than in the past, the need for speed is dominent in the security world.

Yes alot of the london systems were pretty much crap, most of them were still tape systems, and low res cameras, installed in the wrong locations.

Simply put. all the information on your web page/site is totally incorrect. You are using examples of poorly installed CCTV jobs, and nothing you said about the use of still cameras makes any kind of sense.

Care to discuss, visit us at

I dunno about you jack but I aways bid jobs with Nikon D2X cameras mounted on light poles out in the parking lot. That gives us the opportunity to sell another D2X mounted on another pole to watch who steals the first one.

Hello - You ask the following:

Will you find a 1000' USB cable for each camera?

Ther is no need for a long usb cable between the camera and the laptop/pc -as the images can be stored on a wireless network computer on another part of the premises.

In a few months time (say by November 2005) you should be able to purchase a wireless transmitter that will send the images direct to the pc without any cable.

What about day night? See the images on the website and decide for yourself - you can almost see the veins in the leaves on the trees - you can't get more detail than that.

At night, you need a separate motion detector light of 1,000 watts to illuminate the camera scene.

Are these cameras weather resistant or vandal resistant?

Yes - if you house them in an external housing, although personally I prefer to position a digital stills camera inside a property looking through the window. Then it is less noticeable and there is no need to worry about vandals or the weather.

Do they have a 5 year unbreakable warranty?

I don't know - you can look on the Canon website. Some tests by PC Professional magazine have shown that even if you drop a Canon digital camera on the floor several times, the case may break but it will still work.

Can they see 500' in pitch dark? Yes - provided you illuminate the camera scene with a motion detector light.

Can I install one in my motion detector?

There's no need - you can download a simple software utility that will enable you to set up trigger spots on the live viewfinder display on the desktop, which will trigger the camera as soon as the pixels under the trigger spots change.

Can I roll over it in my SUV?

Yes - but in that case you may be taking snapshots of a clear blue sky.

Give me a break PLEASE! you are comparing a $1000 plus video digital camera to a $59 noname crap camera?

Yes - and the quality is even better. Actually, a Canon S2iS digital stills camera costs about $650-$700.

Well instead of putting a digital stills camera on a pole in the middle of the parking lot, try and put one on a wall bracket inside the parking attendant's kiosk, where it won't be seen so easily.

Until a wireless transmitter is marketed for camera peripherals and not just for printers, you will not be able to stick a digital stills camera on a pole anyway without it physically being connected to a laptop nearby via a USB cable.

We'll all be quite low soon in our retirements- 6' under. Then there won't be any communication with any world, or any need for cctv.

perpetrator is identifiable, and the means capable of intervention.

Agreed. If you have a system in place that works then carry on using it.

We don't need to prove anything - either you use a digital stills camera with remote capture software that can save images to a pc/laptop on motion detection or time lapse basis, or you don't.

All we are pointing out is a method that can take very good pictures for cctv purposes, using an ordinary digital stills camera connected to a pc/laptop.

It may not work in all situations, but some people may find the method practical.

I was just joking.

I did use an old Hi 8 video cam for a webcam last year...great quality images.

Again, other than sitting on a desk next to a laptop, which has next to no applications in the world of surveillance, could this possibly benefit.

Authorities don't care who has the highest quality image, they care that the perpetrator is identifiable, and the means capable of intervention. Your method would be the laughing stock of the professional industry. All you've proven, is what a complete waste of time your efforts have been. Make it efficient, and you might be on to something.

I'd probably spec the Kodak easy shoot disposable camera in a situation like that....

I think I'd lay a little lower in your retirement. Less communication with the outside world might help.