Review on 📷 SMONET 5MP 8CH Lite Home Security Camera System with 1TB HDD - Waterproof Bullet Cameras, Night Vision, Remote Viewing, and App Alerts by Amy Cook

UPDATE July 2021] So for now everything is working fine except 1 camera is foggy. There are only 2 cameras right in the rain, one is fogging up now, it's been at least 6 months since the fog so it's been less than a year in the rain alone (I bought these on December 19th). I tried cleaning it but it was clean but I could clearly see water droplets behind the lens. I'm buying a Honic 100-130 night vision scope with WDR that completely eliminates blowout. I bought one and it's amazing so I'm buying another to replace my fogged up camera. This is a great starter kit as you get a DVR and lots of cameras. You can then replace or add really good cameras to your setup. It would be unfair to compare these SMONET cameras with HONIC. Each of them costs $53, so for 8 of them it's $424 + DVR + HDD. Manual zoom really helps them "close to the ground," and WDR really helps prevent a breakout. More powerful IR blasters help illuminate the ground/room for night vision. But then again, that's all "good enough" and for homes where you're likely to install them closer to the ground and have less light, that's fine. You can use IR illuminators to help, and since the DVR has 16 channels, you can buy a PTZ camera and 7 manual zoom WDR cameras and not waste your money. [January 2020] They color much better than our old ones. . This leaves more light in the shadows compared to the sun, but looks much better overall. The DVR had strange color settings from the factory, which made the flickering even worse. I moved everything to 50% and it looks fine. When someone walks in the frame, you can see them very well. Also, they only have 3 LEDs, so the night mode isn't very impressive when it comes to illuminating the floor. BUT, I tested it and when someone steps into the frame, the LEDs are powerful enough to light them up. They do have some fisheye around the edges, but that's probably a good compromise. Distortion is very low in the center but covers a much larger area than our old cameras. I was concerned about the "cover" to keep out the rain because it's not adjustable and doesn't overhang the lens too much. But I am very glad that neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor fog fell on the lens. And we experienced all this in the first month of its existence. The pictures are very clear. Our last ones got foggy from time to time. 2 tips: 1. Don't connect them to your old power adapter. I toasted 2 of them thinking the first one was torn. The power supply was different so we had to use the included power adapters.2. Send the email address listed in the PC app instructions and ask for an address that isn't Denali. Denali works great on your phone, but on PC you can only view 4 cameras at once. Another program they sent (after I complained) lets you see them all at once. 1.b. If you have multiple monitors set up, move the program to the desired monitor, hover over the system tray icon, right-click the preview and click Maximize. This allows you to maximize the window on the correct screen. Using the built-in maximize button will open full screen on your main monitor, not the monitor you have the window on. If you want to be fancy and add a camera that can move, I've added this camera to the DVR and it works great. : SUNBA Outdoor PTZ Camera with RS485 Control (405-22X) After messing around with the settings and reconnecting everything, I rebooted the DVR and it just worked! If you want better software and more "moving" cameras, IP cameras are probably your best bet. But I never bought or installed this type. I already have BNC coaxial cables everywhere.