Any recommendations for good open protocol cameras? I heard about Reolink cameras, are they ok? I need them to be Ethernet and be able to stream with RTP/RTSP and expose some sort of API for control/monitoring. And not depend on cloud, if possible. Thanks.
My Reolink cameras are firewalled from communicating with the internet, so I can confirm that they function fine without cloud access.
Dahua. They’re the producer of a lot of other brands (have a look here)
I’ve had exclusively Amcrest’s in the past, but for my new house bought some rebadged Dahua’s from empire tech. Only set one up so far but seems good too! Reolink often keeps some pretty damn impressive pricing for their feature set, too.
This seems like the best option for my country. They are easily available and seem cheaper than Reolink. Do they have free API for all the smart functions as well? Like movement detection etc.
Happy with my Reolink RLC-820A cameras. 4K, powered via PoE, and no dependency on cloud services.
I have mine configured in a Frigate docker container, recording to my NAS.
Reolink should be good, they support ONVIF for control, and some models come with ethernet. They offer some cloud stuff but you don’t have to use it.
Another vote for Reolink.
Be aware that for initial config of each camera, you need to run an app (windows, iOS, android, I couldn’t get it to work in Wine), or craft a QR code containing network information.
Also be aware that their 4K cameras use h265 when at full resolution, which isn’t supported by a lot of FOSS due to licensing costs.
I was able to config mine by finding it’s IP address and going there with my browser. Haven’t needed any app yet.
Adding to this as I’m also interested. I’m currently looking at cameras recommended in the Frigate wiki, since any camera that works well in Frigate also ought to work well in HA. One interesting thing I’ve noted is that some of the Hikvision and Dahua models have onboard AI features for object recognition. Does anyone have experience with these? Can they report these events back to home assistant and are they worth using?
Roelink (wired) as others have said, Amcrest is also good. Have a look at The Hook Up on YouTube for reviews. He does only comparative reviews and local control is one of his most important metric.
I have foscam cameras and have been pretty happy with them. Regardless of the brand, make sure you firewall them from the internet or they will phone home.
Reason I went with foscam was because at the time they were the only brand with an outdoor PoE camera that had a spotlight, 2-way audio, PIR, and ONVIF support. Which was what I wanted for an entryway camera. They’ve since discontinued that “SPC” model, so if I had to do it over again I would be just as likely to pick reolink (had shitty luck with amcrest).
