Where to get cameras in 2026? (and the future)

[JPmedia]

"I need to verify the current listed price first since you're seeing $199 on the page. Once I confirm what the live price is, I'll follow up here on eBay. If you want a specific price, you're also welcome to send it through the Best Offer button and I'll review it.Best, Dan / RedByte Technology"

"Thanks for letting me know. I still need to verify the current live price since you're seeing $199 on the page — I'll follow up here once I confirm. I can't change the Best Offer settings or guarantee the $69.99 until that's sorted out. Best, Dan / RedByte Technology"

"I genuinely need to confirm the current listed price on my end before I can commit to honoring $69.99, since the price shown to you ($199) doesn't match what I'm expecting. That's all "verify" means here — not shifting pricing based on interest.Once I check the listing, I'll follow up here on eBay. If it should be $69.99, we'll get it corrected; if you'd rather lock in a price now, send $69.99 through Best Offer and I'll review it directly.Best, Dan / RedByte Technology"

"I understand the frustration, and I'm not trying to give you the runaround. Go ahead and decline that $189.99 offer — once it's cleared, that should free you up to send your own $69.99 offer through Best Offer, and I'll review it on my end. I still need to confirm the current listed price, and I'll follow up here once I have it sorted.Best, Dan / RedByte Technology"

 

[OD1]

“Flock Safety” asset tag.

Should I have left it on there?

This eBay listing is AI generated. I keep getting the same repeated answers from the seller sating they have to verify the price since the price I'm seeing is different from the original listing price. It's a scam and I will be reporting it to eBay.

lol if you’re in the DFW area I’ll give you one for $100.

 

[JPmedia]

Latest from seller: "Price went up due to the size and weight of the items and also the stock value on wholesale."

What a fucking scumbag

 

[JPmedia]

Should I have left it on there?

lol if you’re in the DFW area I’ll give you one for $100.

I'm not. I'm in central Florida. Can't it be shipped?

 

[OD1]

Latest from seller: "Price went up due to the size and weight of the items and also the stock value on wholesale."

What a fucking scumbag

They’re big and heavy AF. My two cameras came in two shipments. If nobody buys any at $200 then maybe they come back down but don’t count on it, been watching this 2018 era Dahua from them for almost a year and they’re still proud of it at 10x what I’d pay.

 

[JPmedia]

How about this answer from the seller: "The listing currently shows a Buy It Now price of $199.99 on my end, and I'm not able to confirm it was ever listed at $69.99, so I can't honor that figure. If you've reported it to eBay, they can review the listing history directly and we'll follow their determination.

Best, Dan / RedByte Technology"

 

[JPmedia]

They’re big and heavy AF. My two cameras came in two shipments. If nobody buys any at $200 then maybe they come back down but don’t count on it, been watching this 2018 era Dahua from them for almost a year and they’re still proud of it at 10x what I’d pay.

I don't doubt any of that, but I take issue with the fact that they were able to increase the price by 280% after they listed it for $69.99 and won't honor the original price. That's just a greedy dick move if you ask me. I hope eBay suspends their account for fraud.

At $69, I can justify the purchase to tinker with it and see if it functions and meets my needs, but when it starts getting near new camera price for an item that is 8 years old and may or may not be operational, I have to bow out, especially if the performance may not measure up.

 

[OD1]

I don't doubt any of that, but I take issue with the fact that they were able to increase the price by 280% after they listed it for $69.99 and won't honor the original price. That's just a greedy dick move if you ask me. I hope eBay suspends their account for fraud.

At $69, I can justify the purchase to tinker with it and see if it functions and meets my needs, but when it starts getting near new camera price for an item that is 8 years old and may or may not be operational, I have to bow out, especially if the performance may not measure up.

Ii think these were released in 2021 and still current, but totally agree I wouldn’t pay $200 for somebody’s contractual waste. $70 is bearable for something that makes my WizMind cams look like toys.

 

[JPmedia]

They’re big and heavy AF. My two cameras came in two shipments. If nobody buys any at $200 then maybe they come back down but don’t count on it, been watching this 2018 era Dahua from them for almost a year and they’re still proud of it at 10x what I’d pay.

You have something in your possession that meets the needs of what you expected for relatively low risk investment. I haven't seen any examples of its performance and would rather not take the chance at that price until I've seen what the camera can do. I need to be sold on its performance

 

[OD1]

You have something in your possession that meets the needs of what you expected for relatively low risk investment. I haven't seen any examples of its performance and would rather not take the chance at that price until I've seen what the camera can do. I need to be sold on its performance

lol I bought this as a Halloween prop. Got 2x because why not. I’ve just been playing with mine and from what I’ve seen so far, my s1/2 era wizminds are reolinks now. Disclaimer I have not done hardly any night testing and I’m mostly used to full color cams.

 

[TonyR]

One of mine had a “Flock Safety” asset tag. Not sure what thy does to the value.

Makes sense...eBay vendor says he's in Marietta, GA which is less than 20 mi. from Flock Safety HQ in Atlanta.
Lots of money IMO for a used camera that costs another $22 for a 1 yr. warranty and YOU pay the shipping if returned.

 

[OD1]

Lots of money IMO for a used camera that costs another $22 for a 1 yr. warranty and YOU pay the shipping if returned.

$69 free returns is gone for now. $200 is absolutely too much given the risk. You do get free returns for a couple weeks but these are contractual waste.

 

[OD1]

And ya so my reference point is some specialty flock cam with a $2k list price but I’m starting to think Uniview is better than Dahua. I mean the Hangzhou step child needs some love too, right? I think they’re like 2 blocks from Dahua and a mile from Hikvision. Also my Dahua turrets/domes aren't great outside of N45EYNZ, that one I like. Still its auto iris is a joke compared to the detail you get with the Uniview p-iris.

 

[JPmedia]

$200 is absolutely too much given the risk. ... these are contractual waste.

EXACTLY! You have no idea what you are getting and the item you receive may or may not be useful/functional. Why would anyone take that high of a risk for $200? Even at $70 the risk is there. I can get a tank and a half of fuel for that $70.

 

[JPmedia]

what I’ve seen so far, my s1/2 era wizminds are reolinks now.

They certainly have great potential from the specs, but specs don't always tell the whole story and can be deceiving. As I mentioned, it would be a neat item to experiment with, but you don't know the condition or operating status of the item you're buying, and they choose which specimen they want to supply you.

Also did not know that they are trying to sell a warranty with it and the buyer had to pay for return shipping if the unit is returned for any reason. I presume that includes if it is under their warranty as well.

This could potentially become a pretty risky lose-lose situation for the buyer

 

[OD1]

They certainly have great potential from the specs, but specs don't always tell the whole story and can be deceiving. As I mentioned, it would be a neat item to experiment with, but you don't know the condition or operating status of the item you're buying, and they choose which specimen they want to supply you.

I think the biggest difference is focus. This Uniview with p-iris seems to focus perfectly on whatever it’s supposed to be looking at. Night and day from my “auto iris” Dahua verafocals or fixed cams where everything seems to be in the “good enough” range but rarely perfect.

This is during the daytime. Not sure about night.

 

[JPmedia]

I think the biggest difference is focus. This Uniview with p-iris seems to focus perfectly on whatever it’s supposed to be looking at. Night and day from my “auto iris” Dahua verafocals or fixed cams where everything seems to be in the “good enough” range but rarely perfect.

This is during the daytime. Not sure about night.

Yeah, the Dahua 2MP 12X zoom has a different focus between night and day settings and focus distance can vary slightly with each cycle.

Like I mentioned, would be a nice camera to tinker with, but too much risk investment at the current selling price. Not to mention the seller seems untrustworthy to me. Red flags everywhere on this listing

 

[CCTVCam]

Yeah, I hope a manufacturer will realize there is a demand for a camera with a decent sized sensor. Any chance we could band together and write an open letter to manufacturers? I am also fussy about the quality, if all I have is a blurry face or license plate that can't identify someone, why did I put the cameras up in the first place.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's a priority. Many commercial businesses have dozens of cameras which makes file size more important that picture quality. That doesn't mean there isn't reason to provide both and give the end user the option, but it seems as business is the target market, their needs are what the targets are set to.

CCTV has always seemed to lag other camera markets with the exception of the 2016 (?) Sony camera that I believe used the sensor from the Sony A7iii. Unfortunately it's high price meant there was little mass market adoption I believe.

I still beleive there's a market out there for such a camera, but the price point is the issue. I'm sure the tooling for the sensor still exists and I'm sure if not, Sony could eg use one of it's later iterations of Sony A7 chip / processor and disable capabilities at hardware level to limit it to the CCTV market so as to avoid reverse engineering issues with people seeking to put it back into a non cctv camera body. I'm sure the manufacturing costs can't be high, although I wouldn't know, as for the A7iii, the R&D and tooling costs are surely paid off, and for the later iterations, I'm sure actual production given bulk sales of the A7 lines isn't that expensive. However, it seems there's little appetite from what we can see for either Sony to enter the CCTV market with such a product, or release the chip & processor board to other CCTV manufacturers for anything like a price that would enable a reasonably priced camera (for its size) - by that I mean something under $500.

The alternative is a much smaller 1 inch sensor or 4/3rds, which are still bigger than 1/1.2". However, these still seem to be stuck in the realm of phones, action cameras, drones and not much else and the many other CCTV manufacturers aren't touching these either seemingly favouring AI as the low light solution.