Ok, I’m back with the second security camera review for you from Geeks.com. This camera features a Sony sensor, while the last had a Sharp branded sensor. The price for the Sony is about the same as the Sharp, so I was curious as to how well they would perform against each other.
Don’t forget to stop over at Geeks for a nice selection of wired and wireless surveillance cameras.
1/4" Sony CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera
This CM705CH Surveillance Camera is the perfect addition to your video surveillance system!
With thirty (30) LEDs, the CM705CH offers an infrared distance of up to 20 meters (65.6-feet) and is ideal for day or night video surveillance. This water-proof color camera is equipped with a 1/4-inch Sony CCD image sensor with 420 TV lines of resolution and a 3.6 mm lens. Simply mount the CM705CH on a wall or ceiling, attach a monitor and connect the power adapter (monitor not included)!
General Features:
-1/4-inch Sony CCD image sensor
-Thirty (30) Infrared Night Vision LEDs
-Infrared Distance: 20 m / 65.6-feet
-Built-in A/D converter
-Resolution: 420 TV lines
-TV System: NTSC
-Lens: 3.6 mm
-Water-proof
Unit Dimensions: 7 x 3.25 x 5-inches (H x W x D, approximate)
Price: $36.99
If you recall the review I posted a few days ago then I’m sure this box looks familiar, or at least very similar. It’s a different camera altogether that’s inside though.
Once you get things unpacked you’ll see the camera, user guide, power supply and BNC to RCA adapter. What’s missing is mounting hardware with this camera.
This particular camera comes with a nice sturdy mount, I like the design of it. The mount can swivel all around and up and down as well. It has three holes to attach it to your desired mounting surface. Over the main camera is a fixed shroud to keep out the sun and rain. The fixed is nice, but I much prefer a movable one so you can adjust it if need be.
This particular camera has 30 infrared LEDs in it to illuminate the night. There’s also a sensor there to detect when the infrared LEDs are needed. The sensor is placed oddly, it’s off center. On every camera I’ve used the sensor is located at the bottom, directly in the center basically so you know which way the camera should be oriented.
Installation is easy, I had to provide my own screws of course. I already had lines run for it, but chances are you’ll need to run power and video lines to set up your camera.
I figured for a review it would be good to compare it to the last camera, I mounted it in the same place so I could get a good comparison.
Here’s one taken in the daytime. Color is decent actually, and it’s fairly clear.
A security camera has to work well in both day and night, so let’s see how well it works. Here’s one of the pictures from the Sharp camera review:
Then here’s one from the Sony, the LEDs in this one seem a lot brighter and they cover more distance as well.
Here’s a picture taken with my regular camera with no flash to show you just how well the infrared LEDs work:
I think the LEDs work very well. Originally I was going to put the Sony camera on the back of the my house, but seeing as how well these LEDs work I’m thinking of just leaving it right there on the side of the house for the better coverage.
So what have we learned? Well I learned that you don’t necessarily have to pay hundreds of dollars for a security camera.
One thing I really can’t test is longevity so I’m not sure just how well this will hold up in the long run. Maybe I’ll let you know with an update if something happens. For the price though I’d be happy if it lasted a year or two I think.
