I am looking for security cameras that run open source software, drivers and hardware that works with Home Assistant. I am trying to avoid cameras that could have any potential spyware style software in them.
edit:
Which current company cameras can be recorded directly without any use of their cloud or any kind of account on their side? I am looking to record the footage straight to a my own hard drive.
Try building your own. Plenty of Raspberry Pi security camera projects on the web using MotionEye. A quick Google search should yield results. A sure fire way of avoiding unwanted “intrusions”.
An esp32 cam with esphome (or other open source software) on it.
Any idea on how many megapixels I should aim for in a security camera to get sufficient resolution for the footage being taken to be usable?
Depends on area size, Point of interest distance and requirements
If only need to “detect” person moving in small room any low res maybe ok
Trying to “identify” person 120meter away you may need highest possible resolution
It’s very use case specific.
Probably budget specific also
Which current company cameras can be recorded directly without any use of their cloud or any kind of account on their side? I am looking to record the footage straight to a my own hard drive.
Dahua, Hikvision, Amcrest
BlueIris runs on a local x64 Windows PC.
Dahua, Hikvision and Amcrest come from sketchy suppliers.
I can also recommend the Dafang CFW hacks, hardware is dirt cheap compared to other options. And it’s HD and night vision, which is difficult or impossible to achieve with the esp32 cam.
I have Hikvision cameras and ran traces on them before installing the first one. They do not reach out to anywhere (i.e. their cloud) unless configured to do so.
There a many great articles on selecting a security camera.
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=how+to+choose+a+security+camera&ia=web
The inexpensive Wyze cameras version 2 and the Wyze Pan can be loaded with DaFang firmware, which will work locally without requiring an internet connection, then the cameras can be connected to the MotionEye Add-on running in Home Assistant. This is a quick, cheap, DIY solution. However, I would highly recommend researching high resolution wired cameras (POE) with color night sensors, and a dedicated NVR for the best quality video. I use both of these types of solutions.
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Works fine with MotionEye….
Currently I use it as doorcam, HA sends notification to my phone when motion is detected. I haven’t figured out yet how to deal with audio, but the original app is working (without using cloud)
Dahua and Hikvision (Amcrest is Dahua) are the two largest security camera manufacturers on this planet. Hardly sketchy.
If you mean the firmware, yeah it’s probably full of backdoors. So what. Just keep it on a local subnet without internet access and the problem is solved. You will never find a fully open source camera with technical specifications that come even close to what Dahua or Hik have.
However, I would highly recommend researching high resolution wired cameras (POE) with color night sensors, and a dedicated NVR for the best quality video
Your saying wireless cameras are going to have problems even if they are the only thing transferring data over the network? No wireless solution is going to be steady as it should be?
Hi Ryu, just to clarify my comment. I’ll say that you should consider the best quality camera resolution, from a reliable manufacturer, using technology that meets your requirements, within the budget that you have for this project.
I’m not quite sure what your asking, but I’ll try a response.
Your saying wireless cameras are going to have problems even if they are the only thing transferring data over the network?
Yes, a Wifi wireless network will eventually reach its maximum capacity with enough cameras transmitting video data, as will a wired network. The difference is that usually a wired network will have much greater video surveillance bandwidth and is less susceptible to interference, and the disruption is causes, than a WiFi wireless network. This means that more vides cameras, with higher resolutions, can be supported on a wired network than a wireless network.
No wireless solution is going to be steady as it should be?
And yes again, a WiFi wireless solution can be “steady” or stable, within its limits, as long as there isn’t any other radio frequency interferance and the radio/access point can support the constant video data communication. Just as there are better quality video cameras, there are also better quality WiFi access points. Unfortunately, in urban areas where I live, the radio frequency spectrum is full of many many devices. And all of these devices “talking” or transmitting/receiving data cause interferance for neighboring devices. And all it takes is for one misconfigured or badly operating device to disrupt communication for all of the other devices in the area, including wireless video cameras. So, even the enterprise-grade WiFi network in my home can be negatively impacted by a neighbors device. And this happens sometimes, which is why I try to keep most of my network services on wired connections.
I use both wired and wireless video cameras, but my highest definition cameras are wired (POE) and my wireless cameras are only used where it isn’t convenient to run an ethernet cable. Both types of cameras, wired and wireless, have their place.
I tried to simplify my response not knowing your technical level. In the end, get the best technology that you can afford that meets your needs. And while Open Source is good, sometimes a closed-source solution will be the answer. Good luck with your surveillance project!
Thank you for this question and the numerous answers.
Available Installation Methods
Unfortunately IP camera manufacturers aren’t yet shipping hardware with OpenIPC preinstalled, so to install OpenIPC onto a camera which is still using factory firmware images, one of the following methods must be used:
I am very interested in an Open Source firmware for surveillance cameras.
I already use OpenWrt on my router and was very happy about OpenIPC.
But unfortunately the flashing / installation is way too difficult for most users.
Are there other ways to build a completely Open Source surveillance camera? As simple as possible.