Best security camera for inside barn?

[Cayuse]

Christmas is coming and Santa said he would buy me a security camera for my barn. After forty years of midnight trips out to check the ponies if I hear a noise, this is a most welcome gift (and my husband will appreciate it too as he won't get sent out to check in the wee hours as he sometimes is)

So what is a good camera?

Low tech is fine. My barn is small, maybe 20x24 with two pony stalls on one side and the mini's abode on the other in an L formation.

I've been told nursery camera's are less expensive than cameras sold specifically for horses. True?

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[AngC]

...

I've been told nursery camera's are less expensive than cameras sold specifically for horses. True?

...

We don't have cameras yet. But when Coco was pregnant, I looked at some of the "mare-stare" type cameras. I was surprised at the price, considering the specifications (or rather the lack thereof.)

I don't know about nursery cameras though? I would think nursery cameras are designed to be used indoors and might not do well if weather is an issue? I've started researching and was looking at regular security cameras; the type you can put outdoors to "cover" your house/yard. ...just a thought.

 

[Cayuse]

Thanks, I went to Walmart today, they had all kinds of security cameras but I got distracted before I could give them a look. I have heard the "mare stare" ones are expensive.

My old farrier used the baby camera's or whatever they are called in his horse trailer when he was shipping a mare and foal. He said it was much less expensive than cameras sold for horse trailers. I wish I had paid more attention to him at the time!

My barn is only about ten steps from the house but in the winter it's trudge to go check them if I hear something.

 

[chandab]

Do a search here on the main forum and on the mare stare forum for barn cams and try different variations or perhaps just camera. I know it's been discussed at length in the past, so hopefully those old threads are still available to read and see what others have done (a few in those discussions haven't been here for awhile, so their knowledge can only be found in those old threads).

 

[Jean_B]

I bought one at Walmart for around $50 - it had to be "hard wired" so I ran a cable from the barn to the house. It was the type that would show an image even in very low light. It did NOT have sound - I used it only for my foaling stall and used a Breeder Alert system to let me know when one was down. I had tried one of those wireless ones but the transmission was terrible, and if the wind blew at all, it was even worse.

 

[AngC]

I was kind of looking at these:
http://www.cctvcameraworld.com/hikvision-2032-dahua-4300s-ip-cameras/

I'm going to have a further look at Bonny's link. Perhaps that one is better. One thing I didn't think of when I first started looking at these things is IR/night vision.

All of the cameras (of decent quality) are a bit expensive. We'll be able to save a smidge because we'll wire them ourselves. Our next project is to "re-do" the barn electrical. Right now, what we have is scary. I don't even like to turn the lights on out there (which is not a problem, because sometimes I get one set of lights, or maybe two, or on a good dry day--three.) I've been looking at the FarmTek catalog trying to figure out what to do for lights.

I wonder whether you can get sound with the "snoop" cameras. That would be fun; I could find out whether Nicky snores.

 

[Jean_B]

I wonder whether you can get sound with the "snoop" cameras. That would be fun; I could find out whether Nicky snores.

Believe me - if you have sound you will quickly turn it off because you will hear every snort, toot, stomp, rattling of buckets, meowing of cats........

 

[Cayuse]

I have not had a chance to look into the camera more. I dunno where the time goes. Hopefully this weekend.

I don't need the sound! I am so close to the barn I can hear them all too well!

 

[sfmini]

We use inexpensive outdoor cameras, color with IR for night time. I agree, don't worry about sound, it really isn't worth it. Even though the camera(s) will be inside, the barn is really outside and exposed to all kinds of nasty stuff. Just wait until your first attack from the giant monster spiders! Really freaky on the cam, magnifies those suckers.

The cameras really do give you peace of mind. I can't tell you where to get yours, we got ours at Radio Shack and they are still going strong. Because of distance, ours had to be hard wired. You have so much more flexibility if you have the close distance and can go wireless. The tricky thing is to split the signal if you have more than one cam. If you only have one cam you don't need the splitter and much money is saved.

 

[R3]

You can check out some information that I put on the forum several years ago about cameras. It is still listed in the "The BEST of" section of the forum. It is titled "Barn Cameras". It's older, but the principles still apply.

I was just looking on 'a popular online auction' and saw several security cameras that were wired, night vision, IR, and priced below $20, even after buying a 12v power supply and shipping costs.