Home surveillance?

Had a little incident today at the home, and was thinking about a security camera. Is anyone an expert on these? Or at least have some experience? Some of my general needs/questions:
Can you have a camera set to record directly onto an external hard drive? As in no pc involved at all for the actual recording, just to view the video/images.

I was imagining, ideally, a camera set up in a window inside, that can see at least..100ft. I think being able to zoom in to a car at 100ft and see their license is what I am thinking as a sort of test, so a camera that could do that. So, have this camera in the window, hooked up ONLY to an external hdd. Every time something happens, we just wanna check out the footage, whatever, the hdd would just be unplugged from the camera and into a pc.

If a pc is needed, you would need a capture card to hook your camera up? There are no good USB cameras?
Really that is my only specific need, but, can someone recommend me to a good retailer, or forum with good information on the subject? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys and gals.

reply to post by smashdem


I'm sure there's hundreds of sites but I have an 8 camera system that I bought years ago (for my PC) and even though they don't use my current card because they updated it, My system runs flawless. That being said....they have kits that come with DVR recorders you could buy.

EZ Watch Pro

Like I said I'm sure you can find other sites and cheaper prices but I personally NEVER had any problems. All outdoor/nightvision cameras. Depending on what you want to spend, yopu can buy cameras that pan, tilt and zoom. You'll love it. It covers every angle of your house, and I have my PC hooked up to my BIG screen. You can also acces it if your away on vacation.

The average camera is usually about 40 ft. You can buy longer range ones though. I have a couple of 200 foot range with a remote to zoom in. I think you'd be better with an exterior camera. The infrared lets of light so you can see in the dark. I'm not sure if it would reflect off the window which might degrade the quality of your picture and the reflections of the infrareds may burn out you'r lens. I've had a camera burn out like that once. When I was 1st testing my system out I hookes it up in my son's room and when he went to bed, he turned the camera towards the wall because of the light and it was fried in the morning.

If you want a cam that can pull a license plate off a moving vehicle in the dark at a hundred feet your going to spend $1k minimum, just for the camera, and that's if it is facing the plate head on; perpendicular on both vertical and horizontal horizons. When people like me need help with the quirks that come from doing it everyday we look here.

www.cctvforum.com...